More from Sonoma Plein Air...

  Bodega Head (8x10)

 Vintage Vespa (6x8)

 September Country (9x12)

Hill & Vineyard (6x8)

Sonoma Plein Air 2014

 Sonoma Skies (8x10)

Just back from Sonoma Plein Air 2014 and what a beautiful place to be and not just to paint; perfect sunny weather and gorgeous landscape and coast to explore. Here are a few of the dozen or so pieces I did there...

 California Cloudscape (8x10) SOLD

It was also great to see and paint with some friends that I only get to see a couple of times a year at events like these -- these are "my people" who understand the artist in me the most, who face the same trials and tribulations that creatives have to deal with...

 Moonlight Drive (12x16) SOLD

So while we encouraged one another, we commiserated some too, to vent our frustrations and compare notes on what's not working and what is...

 Silver Sonoma Coast (6x8) SOLD

But the best parts were sharing the excitement of caravaning thru the pre-dawn hours to reach the coast and capture the first light on canvas, and spontaneous dinner parties at the end of long days painting to share fun stories of triumphs and failures -- camaraderie among artists is a very special and needful experience (and it also elevates the homesickness I often feel away from my girls back home).

 Summers End (8x10) SOLD

This piece (above) was the first of mine to sell on Saturday and was painted on the Annadel Estate Winery where I was given full access of the grounds, and a complimentary glass of award-winning Chardonnay before I left (thank you Abi!)...

Bodega Rocks (8x10)

At Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast there were dozens of paintings in every direction; zero wind, zero clouds, zero crowds -- just nature at it's finest! I only wish I had more time to explore better compositions, but the richness of the day will last me for months to come. Can hardly wait to get back next year, but what a way to close out the summer -- thank you everyone at SPA for a great time and to my host, Bev Raaka for another comfortable stay!

Double Exposure!

I have an 8-page, step-by-step "how to" article in the October 2014 issue of International Artist magazine...AND am a featured artist in the "Artist To Watch" section of the October 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine -- On news stands now!

http://www.southwestart.com/articles-interviews/emerging-artists/emerging-artists-eric-bowman 

Pacific City and the Dorymen...

 Minus Tide (8x10)

We've been having a really nice summer here in the Pacific Northwest this year (doesn't always happen)...so we headed back to the beach and found some great weather there too (which is also "iffy" when it's warm inland). I spent several sessions painting at Pacific City's Cape Kiwanda where the famed Dorymen launch their boats...

 Dory Rocks (8x10)

For more than a hundred years in all kinds of conditions, dory boats have gone to sea from the shelter of Cape Kiwanda. There is no other harbor, port, or fishing fleet anywhere in the world exactly like this. 

The dory's origins come from the turn of the 20th century surf dories and Nestucca River gill net boats that sold their fish to the salmon cannery established in 1887 near the mouth of the river.

After 1927,  commercial fishing was only allowed in the open ocean. Since the Nestucca had a shallow, dangerous bar accessible only at flood tide, a new larger surf boat was needed to be launched in the lee of Cape Kiwanda.

 

Cape Kiwanda Morning (8x10)

 When ocean conditions allow, Pacific City dories fish the waters off of Cape Kiwanda, launching from, and sliding back up on the beach in the lee of the Cape.

The dory fleet is renowned for its incredible safety record. Dorymen are often the first responders to distress calls and other marine emergencies. In 100+ years only 6 known dorymen have lost their lives at sea, making the Pacific City dory and the men and women who sail them some of the safest mariners in the marine environment.

North Side Cape Kiwanda (8x10)

 In 1996, the Dorymen's Association was founded; a non-profit organization with the primary mission to preserve and protect the historic traditions given to us by the pioneers of this fleet. The Association supports Oregon's public beach laws and regulations and works with local, state, and federal agencies.