Clendaniel Studios Plein Air Painting Blog

I have been looking forward to the warmer weather that allows the outdoor painting season to begin, the snow and ice has been keeping me working inside and I am ready for summer to be here.  Nothing is as exciting, that I have run into,  than the beauty of Alaska in the summer.  I cannot wait to paint in plein air!  However, I felt my blog could use a new image and update to keep everyone in the loop.  This painting was done over a 9 hour day in Halibut Cove a couple of summers ago.  Painting the frontal facade of Alex Combs old painting and pottery studio and outdoor gallery.  This structure has always had such a profound influence on me because of the uniqueness of a do it yourself gallery. Not only was this a do it yourself gallery, (put the cash/check in the jar - take your art) it was also full of Alex Combs cheery, painterly, work that I knew was Real Art!  Since my first visit out to Halibut Cove in 1998 I have found Alex Combs paintings to largely influence my work. It was great to live and work in Alex’s old art spot.  From the paint on the floor of the studio, to the most incredible view of the cove, I love this structure.  I am eager to build my first structure to live and work in the beauty of this great state! Part of the fun of working on this painting was that Alex, who passed away a year ago, was able to critique my work.  It was very satisfying to have one of my personal heroes of the art-world sit back and look at my work.  Suffering from mild alzheimer’s and dementia the last few years of His life Alex was still very excited about painting and was still working next door.  It was cute that every time I met him I had to be reintroduced as the painter next door.  Introductions aside, he could still critique a piece of original, Real Art!  Here’s to you Alex! Thank you for making such beautiful artwork and being such an inspiration!

I am so glad to be back In Anchorage Alaska, writing about my paintings and the fun that they bring into my life.  My biggest new project that I completed is the Art Geocaching project www.artgeocaching.com.  In this project I painted along my tandem bicycle tour down the West Coast. The most fun part of this painting project, was taking geocache coordinates when hiding the paintings nearby their creation location.  Now I am offering the coordinates to people who would like to commence the treasure hunt to find these hidden paintings.  They are conveniently located up and down the West Coast of the United States.  I only ask that if the painting is removed from the location a small donation should be made to my company Clendaniel Studios. From this donation a percentage will be donated to the State Parks in California. They are experiencing financial difficulties and I feel that it is imperative that we keep these American treasures open to the travelers who need an affordable place to sleep. I had a ton of fun creating this project and I hope you have as much fun in the treasure hunting.  Happy ArtGeocaching! 

This painting of a saguaro cactus is the cactus that lives in the front yard of Rita and Jack’s house in Pheonix, Arizona.  After working on South-West art for ACE, it was a joy to do some fine art that exemplified the South-West theme.  I love the desert especially in the winter, it was a joy to go out golfing after painting this painting and feel the extreme warmth on the day before Thanksgiving.  I hope all of you have as much to be thankful for this year. I know I am very  thankful for my life and for the successful end of this leg of my tandem trip.  I think that life is good and hope yours is going as well as mine! 

Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School, landmark and icon of the San Jose Area. This Oak Tree is a great example of old growth oak trees in the San Jose Valley. This painting will be up for auction at a fundraiser November 14th.   Since everyone loves this tree it should make for a pretty cool item at the auction.   I had mixed up a new palette of paint, and I feel that it made for a fairly strong painting because of that fact. I love working on the acrylic sheeting (Plexiglass-Lucite)  because It allows the transparency to show and I can look backwards into the history of the layering. It also has this nice reflective aura due to the coating on the sheets.  Best of luck, and happy bidding, if you are in the Bay Area stop by St. Andrew’s for the Auction!

A few days ago I painted this on my way to the OR coast on my tandem tour with Maria.  It was a good ol’ time, and saw this amazing view!  Love the trees, but hate the clear-cuts. I am enjoying my trip and hope everyone is enjoying the paintings!! cheers

I visited my friends Jared Orosco and Moriah Schalock at their workplace, a vineyard in Amity, Oregon. It is right in the middle of the Willamette Valley wine country.  I had fun arriving on my tandem bike with my wife Maria. We climbed to the top of the hill in Jared’s Toyota pickup where we had stunning views and munched on the fresh Pinot grapes. They are ripening in the sun, and are almost ready for harvest.

Here we are on the Tandem ride through the West!  stayed at the Casa D Anderson and had a lovely time.  Fixed the bike chain right here in the back yard at Kelso-Longview Washington. I am liking the plastic supports, I bet their shelf life is about 20,000 years.  Too bad only aliens will be here by then!

Greetings from the trail! Maria and I are currently on the road with our tandem bicycle,  stay tuned for the Art Geo Caching project!  We just got geared up and spent a fine couple of days at the Rock N Anderson ranch in Auburn, Washington.  A fine spot to rest and recoup after a rough start on our coastal tour! Painted this one early on Thursday morning, and had fun playing with my new GPS so look out for a new blog to follow as well! 

On My last trip to Wrangell St. Elias in McCarthy, Alaska I had what I call the tripple M, the most marvelous Mcarthy experience, It was amazing.  Another Super-friend has been dubbed, and the pursuit of happiness was achieved.  I painted this after bringing out three large windows, with a load of stuff for next summer, riding 60 miles whithin’ the park, climbing to near 7000 feet, and drinking several liters of homebrew a night!  Overall it was a very successful vacation/building trip in the national park.  The last day we rode to the  Nizina River and saw the breathtaking Chitistone Valley. After the near 20 mile ride we were pooped sitting around our campfire drinking a treasured bottle of homemade Pinot Noir from the vineyard Jared works at,  my old time friend Mark Wacht showed up and reminded us that we said we would attend a party with him.  20 minutes later we were sitting in this tiny cabin on a lot in the Wrangells sipping rose’ wine from the Willamette Valley,  swapping tall tales in McCarthy, Alaska.  I painted this painting for Kyle, a new friend out there, as a hospitality present. Kyle, I hope your winter is beautiful out there. This last trip was so remarkable I am considering making new t-shirts stating “Ileft my heart in McCarthy, Alaska”

I recently went out on assignment as a oil painting teacher for private lessons. As I was approaching the residence of my group of painters I had the idea that it would be very nice to paint outside.  My first thought was to open the garage door, but on further inspection I was led to the backyard which was directly on Jewel Lake.  We had the most amazing time  getting sloppy with oil paint in the backyard. I dropped this painting off of the dashboard on a driving frenzy to pick-up house paint from my parent’s house.  Fortunately the only damage is a little dirt in the sky.