Show opens tonite in Wyoming!

"Desert Call" (16x20) oil on linen SOLD

"Marmalade Sky" (12x12) o/l SOLD

Our 2-Person show (Jill Soukup & Eric Bowman) opens tonight at Astoria Fine Art in Jackson Hole, WY.  I will have a total of 10 paintings, both western subject and landscapes in this double showcase event~

http://www.astoriafineart.com/artist/286/Eric-Bowman---New-Artist- 

"Ancient of Days" (30x40) o/c SOLD

My solo show, "STORYBOOK COWBOY" continues at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles throughout the month of June~

 

This show consists of 12 new paintings (7 of which sold before opening night!) of heroic and iconic cowboys in the American West. 

Please contact Beau at the Maxwell Alexander Gallery for further inquiries:

406 West Pico Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90015

213.275.1060

http://www.maxwellalexandergallery.com/exhibition-1/#/eric-bowman-storybook-cowboy-june-2018/

 

Land of My Nativity...

 To quote Thomas Wolfe & Ella Winter (or, The Shangri-La's) "You can never go home again" is apropos to where my mind is at these days.  'Middle-age' is (for me) a time of living in two camps; the here and now & the fond memories of my past... I know not everyone has fond memories of their adolescence, but I sure do...

"The Land of My Nativity" (24x30) oil on canvas

 I grew up in southern Orange County, California when it still had an abundance of citrus groves -- now there are but a scant few. In fact, the neighborhood where we lived in the 70's was built in an orange grove. Today the grove is long gone (as is the bareness of the hills that surrounded that small valley in San Juan Capistrano) but the memories remain; hide n' seek in the grove, building forts in the eucalyptus trees and coming home with our clothes wreaking of orange juice. 

"The Scarlet Conclusion" (9x12) oil on linen SOLD

In recent years when I've gone back to visit as a painter, the anticipation in my mind's eye never matches up with the reality that exists there now. The barren hills & vistas of the early California Impressionists (or even of my youth) have long since been plowed under in the name of urban sprawl. Those images of undeveloped Southern California are only to be found in history books now, or among the paintings of William Wendt, Edgar Payne and Hanson Puthuff from a century ago...

So although 'I can never go home again' literally, I can still revisit those idyllic places of my youth in my minds eye, and on canvas...  AND (as the Shangri-La's would sing) that's called, "Glad" ~

Out Door Colour Sketching...

 

 Yamhill Valley (8x10) oil on linen

Even though I enjoy studio painting, my greatest exercise & teacher is getting outside to paint from nature. When I do larger, "finished" landscape paintings, they are usually started outside (if not completed there) but never begun from photographs -- I only reference a photograph if  I've actually started the work from life (or from a smaller plein air sketch).  There are just too many pitfalls working entirely from a photograph; most of which is the convenience of time to overwork and "render" a subject to death...

Evening Trees (6x8) oil on linen

Although time can be a task master it keeps us on track, and I often find the outdoor paintings I rush to complete usually retain that fresh spontaneity I'm hoping for.  If I can accept the raw energy of imperfect brush strokes, but get at least the approximate value and colour right, then I'm doing okay... Of course it can be much more challenging than it sounds, but it sure is worth the effort when it works out.

Where??

Super Moon (6x8) o/p

Tomorrow (Wednesday) June 10th thru Friday the 12th I am participating in the "Where In The World Is" three-day live plein air video event! Each day 3 videos will be posted of me painting (one at the beginning,  one half-way through and one of the finished painting) then posted on the gallery's web site for viewing and purchasing. Over 100 artists are participating in this event, some as far away as Australia!
 

 http://www.whereintheworldispleinair.com/ 

Please tune in via the link above starting tomorrow and see where in the world I am painting!

Landscape Variables:

 "Harmony in Silver" (12x16) oil on linen

This piece was painted in Spring near our home in Oregon just before a late afternoon rain storm hit (from behind me). Some of the best 'sky-drama' is right after or right before a storm; clouds are moving, colour is changing -- the design of the sky can determine your entire composition, and often become the focal point of it...I packed up and ran to the car just in time!

 "Sonoma Sunrise" (6x8) oil on panel

This little sketch was painted at dawn (and sold) during the Sonoma Plein Air show in California last October. I knew from the previous morning where the sun would hit first, so I was already set up before light. The intense blue is due to the moisture in the valley and made for a stark contrast of temperature as the sun hit the hilltop -- a very fast, but rewarding execution that I would never have captured with the same spontaneity from a photograph...

"Oak Cluster" (9x12) oil on canvas

This one was done on my way home from the beach in Oregon wine country (not sure what town it was closest to). Early in the evening, I was fortunate to find a spot to pull off the road where usually there is none (as local farmers like to plow every square foot of soil). This was last summer when the sun was low and colour was most intense. Setting sunlight on a subject can make for a more interesting composition with long-stretching shadow patterns like these...

Eric Bowman (1960 - 2057)

(6x8") o/p

Feeling optimistic...

Winter Studies...

 Winter Creek (9x12)

When it's sunny with clear skies here in Portland in the middle of January, it's usually COLD...however it wasn't too bad this month; I was able to get out and do a few plein air sketches as long as I bundled up... I'm used to doing sketches like these in the warmer months when the trees are covered with plenty of foliage, giving them more body and shape to work with...but this was a nice change of (brisk) pace...

January Sun (9x12)

I really enjoyed focusing on the movement of the trunks and branches, and the hues they produce when massed together; beautiful grey-violets and pink-sages that compliment one another. I hope to get out again soon, and gather more colour reference before Spring hits. Not often we have a dry winter like this, and I'm happy to take advantage of it! Hope to turn some of this raw material into some larger works too...

Fall Colour in Plein Air!

 

(9x12)

These are from earlier this Fall, painting with my friend, Anton Pavlenko in Washington state. It was actually a nice warm Autumn day and the colours were turning everywhere -- a great time to paint in the Pacific Northwest!

 

Unfinished (16x20)

This one I didn't get finished on site, but got a good start -- sometimes time and sun light are taskmasters that work in your favor, causing you to stop before you normally would in the controlled light of the studio... I'll finish it later (and with as few strokes as possible to not overwork this foundation done from life).