Towards Bow

Towards Bow. ©2013 Lisa McShane. Oil on Canvas. 30"x30".

Winter in the northwest. This is the view to the west in Skagit. I don't know why, but the sky under the clouds is often yellow (when we can catch a glimpse.)

Selah Canyon 1

Selah Canyon 1. ©2013 Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen. 16x20".

This is one of my favorite places in eastern Washington. It's a deeply carved canyon with a small, mostly dry creek at the bottom. Selah Creek. It originates in the Yakima Firing Range and heads west to join the Yakima River. Eventually those waters flow to the Columbia and the Pacific Ocean.

Toward the Islands

Toward the Islands. ©2013 Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen. 22x30"

There's a beach not far from my house that's extremely contaminated. It's fenced off so that people don't walk their dogs but there's a small area where you can sit on logs and look out. I like to walk down there and look at the water. Towards sunset a small and varied army of watchers gathers to see what the sky and water will do.

This is a painting I started nearly a year ago and struggled to finish. Most recently, the water didn't convey what I wanted. Yesterday I rode a ferry out to a nearby island and watched the water carefully, telling a friend what I was seeing. This morning I was able to complete the painting.

Studies, Railroad Cars + Storms

Study for Railroad Cars. Graphite on paper. 2013.

For more than a decade I worked in environmental policy and politics. I haven't mixed that work into my paintings. No reason, it's just that I've painted the landscapes that I love and that's not the direction I've gone.

However, that's changing.

This summer the Whatcom Museum is hosting an exhibit called Nature in the Balance: Artists Interpreting Climate Change.  I'll be submitting one painting and I've given it a lot of thought. For a landscape painter the changes we see - including strange and epic storms - are worth thinking about and capturing.

Peabody Coal and SSA Marine want to build North America's largest coal export terminal in my county, at an aquatic reserve. They intend to turn a high bluff above the Pacific - beautiful land that is a burial site for the Lummi Nation - into an 80-acre coal dump site. I oppose the project for many reasons but it's been on my mind. A lot.

This is a study based on a drive I took several years ago to Spokane. There was a long coal train on my right for miles. Later that day we drove through dark storm clouds, that later turned into brief and intense showers.

Announcing 'in the field', at Lucia Douglas Gallery in Bellingham

'In the field'

a group show of northwest landscapes

Lucia Douglas Gallery

Exhibition: June 7 - July 29, 2012

Reception: Saturday, June 16, 6:30 - 8:00

Lucia Douglas Gallery is at 1415 13th Street in Bellingham. I'm thrilled to participate!

'Year after year, spring comes.' ©2012 Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen, 24" x 24".

This painting is on display in the show and it's my third painting of the Twin Sisters. Spring arrived while I was observing. 

Fields

'Summer Field'. ©2012 Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen. 16x20".

Some paintings come together quickly and some take a great deal of time, week after week. Then others can sit for months or longer on a shelf in the studio gathering dust, challenging me to figure out their issues.

'Summer Field' is one of the latter challenges. I believe I started this nearly a year ago. And then my vision for it faded. But I've always watched fields go by out the side window of the car. I find them compelling and I wanted to capture that quick glance. A few months ago, rather than start a new painting, I picked this back up and sanded it down, built up new layers, sanded them down. I like the texture and I'm satisfied with the colors and the sky.

I finished 4 paintings last weekend, and this is one of my favorites. I just dropped it off for a show called 'In the Field' at the Lucia Douglas Gallery in Bellingham. The show opens June 7th with the reception June 16th, 6:30.

Mountains at Dusk, Framed

'Mountains at Dusk'. ©2012 L McShane. Oil on Linen.

I have most of my frames made for me by Steve Whalen at Mountains Edge Frames. They all look great but every once in awhile, there's a remarkable match between an image and the frame.

I don't usually order my frames with a gold edge. In fact, this is the first one I deliberately ordered that way. But I did, and it's perfect.

Just FYI, in case you're thinking about framing.