Small Works Show - Matrix 3

"Power Plant Interior 3"
oil on panel, 2014
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

This painting will be in the Annual Holiday Small Works Group Show at Segil Fine Arts Gallery in Monrovia California.
Opening night is Saturday December 6th 2014 from 5:00-7:00pm.

The Gallery will be changing its ownership and name for 2015 to Saga Fine Art Gallery.

From my Power Plant Interior Series.
It is one of the most fascinating buildings. Several stories high with the interior nearly wide open and a matrix of pipes, valves and walkways, steel and concrete, vast and deep.
Built between 1954 and 1967 it is well-worn and distressed with peeling paint and is a dinosaur in technological terms.

The light filtering through the translucent windows is a cool pale yellow, the walls and pipes are painted in ochres and creams and turn to earthy oranges in the deeper recesses of the cavernous plant.293

The others in this series:
"Power Plant Interior #1"
"Power Plant Interior #2"
"Power Plant Interior-Study #1"

Update
Here are my paintings of the exterior of the same plant:
"Resting Tractor (w / Retired Power Plant)"
"Retired Power Plant"

HB Power Plant Landscape

"HB Power Plant Landscape"
oil on panel, 2013
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

Here I painted the Huntington Beach California Power Plant from Costa Mesa. I have heard talk that it is going to be torn down although I have not confirmed it.
But with that in mind I decided to paint it from afar. The idea of it eventually disappearing from the landscape as new life springs up.

The power plant is pale in comparison to the vibrancy of the foreground.

The lively brighter vegetation painted with a sort of lyrical rhythm, pulsating with life while the background, nearly monochromatic, dissipates into the coastal atmosphere.268

HB Power Plant Backside

"HB Power Plant Backside"
watercolor on paper, 2013
6" x 9" (15.24cm x 22.86cm)
For sale at DAILY PAINTWORKS
Direct link to painting here

The Huntington Beach Power Plant may be getting torn down soon so I present it from its backside and in the background, the marine layer moving in to engulf it, a device I have used before to indicate an eventual disappearance from the landscape. We get so used to some landmarks around us they become a fixture in our lives and we will notice them more when they are gone one day.261

*The color of this pic is a little off, a bit too pink, but when it leaves my photo editing app it looks right.

Marsh, Tanks, Power Plant

"Marsh, Tanks, Power Plant"    SOLD
oil on panel, 2011
6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)

Part of our modern urban landscapes, the mix of industry and adjacent natural areas. Not always good but hard to ignore. This view poses the dense, choked out man made structures against open natural areas. Encroaching sometimes, but always a fascinating juxtaposition.

This is similar in theme to my previous "HB Power Plant - Dusk". If we want to live in the scenic areas, like along the coast, we can't always choose what comes along with that, including the oil storage tanks since this is where the oil is found. At least until we figure out how to build lower profile supporting industry.

We can design and build homes to blend into the surrounding environment, we can restore natural habitats. So someday we'll build industry that is green(er), contained and less visible against these natural areas. It's all about a proper balance.159

Click on image for larger view

Encina Power Station at Dusk 1 & 2

"Encina Power Station-Dusk 2"

"Encina Power Station-Dusk 1"

"Encina Power Station - Dusk 1"    SOLD
oil on panel, 2011
6 5⁄8” x 10” (16.83cm x 25.40cm)

“Encina Power Station - Dusk 2”  
oil on panel, 2011
7” x 5” (17.78cm x 12.7cm)

You won't see this palette from me very often. I have an aversion to pinks and most purples. However it was unavoidable here to accurately depict the time of day.
In "Dusk 1" I pushed the pink/purple as far as I could towards a slightly dirty earthy color, by adding burnt sienna, so it was not Easter lavender (yuck!).
In "Dusk 2", which I prefer over the two, zooming in allowed me to loose the pink altogether and again the purple is earthier, more like a dusty desert chaparral color. I then substituted an orange for pink at the horizon. The black helps to kill the 'pastel' palette too.

These are from my series on power plants.
Two elements of our coastal landscapes and a common motif in my work. The mix of industry and nature. Not beautiful to some but in scenes like these I see themes that go beyond the mere industrial or nature images alone. Themes in the tradition of Homer and Hopper.

Man and nature side by side. Industry has to be placed somewhere so it’s impossible to ignore. Since we like to live in beautiful areas we end up with power stations becoming part of the landscape.


Dusk 1 - This one shown in a panoramic view encompassing the lagoon with the station at it’s center.

Dusk 2 - Set in a palette of soft muted colors but contrasted with black. A calm lagoon and clear sky, it’s all there... maybe even therapeutic.148,149

See the nocturne version of Encina Power Station here.

Click on images for larger view

Matrix 2

"Power Plant Interior #2"
oil on panel, 2011
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

Here is another view of the power plant interior, the first here and a drawing here.
I could do dozens of these and not tire of it, even slightly different views. In fact I have a larger 24" x 30" in progress. I love the limited palette of muted ochre/yellow and sienna, with punctuations of earthy greens and reds.

One of the most fascinating buildings...several stories high...the interior nearly wide open... a matrix of pipes, valves, steel... deep and cavernous.

The light and colors seen here are faithful to the actual site...the walls and pipes painted in these ochres and creams, the floors a mixture of reds and greens, worn and distressed...deep earthy orange reflected light, then the translucent glass filters the outside light...a cool pale yellow.135

Click on image for larger view

One Man Show - HB Power Plant

"HB Power Plant - Dusk"    SOLD
oil on panel, 2011
12" x 16" (30.48cm x 40.64cm)

Here is the painting from the postcard announcement for my show at the Randy Higbee Gallery next Saturday, October 1st 2011. See previous posts for more info.

Two elements of our coastal landscapes and a common motif in my work. The mix of industry and nature. Not beautiful to some but in scenes like these I see themes that go beyond the mere industrial or nature images alone. Themes in the tradition of Homer and Hopper.

Man and Nature side by side. Industry has to be placed somewhere so it's impossible to ignore. Since we like to live in beautiful areas we end up with power plants like this one becoming part of the landscape.

Here the setting sun and the marine layer provide a dramatic backdrop to both the power plant and the wetlands of Huntington Beach.128

Click on image for larger view

One Man Show at Randy Higbee Gallery

Here is the postcard announcement for the show at Randy Higbee Gallery. More info on this show here and here.
All above paintings are new and were painted for this show so this is the first preview of what the show will look like.

OMA Store 2

"Encina Power Station Nocturne"    SOLD
oil on panel, 2011
4" x 5" (10.16cm x 12.7cm)

Here is another of my paintings at the Oceanside Museum of Art Store.

No moon, the darkness of night slowly consuming the fading light.
The lagoon for now still visible, but just barely. Soon the only interruption to the inky black will be a thin strand of smoldering embers at the horizon, nothing else till morning.124


Click on image for larger view

Matrix

"Power Plant Interior #1"   SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm )

This painting recently sold at the Small Works Show at the Randy Higbee Gallery.

One of the most fascinating buildings... several stories high... the interior nearly wide open... a matrix of pipes, valves, steel... deep and cavernous.

The light and colors seen here are faithful to the actual site... the walls and pipes painted in these ochres and creams, the floors a mixture of reds and greens, worn and distressed... deep earthy orange reflected light, then the translucent glass filters the outside light... a cool pale yellow.84

See the more recent #2 here and a drawing study here.

Click on image for larger view

Drawings

"Power Plant Interior-Study #1"

"Figure #3"
pencil on paper, 2010
10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.32cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

"Power Plant Interior-Study #1"
graphite on paper, 2010
8" x 10 " (20.32cm x 25.4cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Here are two of my drawings, a quick sketch and a graphite drawing.8o, 81

Click on images for larger view

*Update
A study from my Power Plant Interior series. Studies like this don't always end up as paintings directly but instead help me get familiar with the subject through drawing.
This one's strength is its diagonal composition, especially the opposing 'u' shaped pipe or duct.
The interior is densely packed & layered, a labyrinth of pipes, ducts, valves, catwalks, mesh, railings, stairs... steel in a concrete cave, deep and cavernous... heavy industry.


See the power plant interior paintings #1here and #2here.

New Gallery

NEW GALLERY-I have two paintings at Horizon Fine Art Gallery in Jackson Hole Wyoming.

"Retired Power Plant" and "Storage Yard Nocturne" Click on titles to see original posts.

For purchase contact Barbara Nowak at horizonfineartgallery.com , email : HORIZONFINEART@WYOMING.COM

Retired and Resting

"Resting Tractor (w/ Retired Power Plant)"   SOLD

oil on panel, 2009

3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

Although this painting focuses on the tractor I wanted to post it immediately following my last post, 'Retired Power Plant', since the power plant in the background is the same one, different view.

In this case the plant was really used as a foil for the angles of the tractor and the buildings roof lines instead of as the primary subject. It's more grid-like structure from this view simplified, but still having some presence. I should point out that the yellow of the tractor is not as bright as the actual painting which has a bit more of a glow to it (yellow is a tough color to accurately photograph). As soon as I can get a better pic or make the right adjustment to it I'll change it out.

The only reason I bring this up is, in this painting I wanted to depict those overcast but bright days we have when the marine layer is thin and the sun is reflecting off the moisture in the atmosphere creating conditions similar to snow blindness. This usually makes high chroma colors like yellow glow even more. I did however 'cheat' a little by not lightening the darks as much in order to achieve a better glow from the yellow.

What drew me to this scene was the way the tractor was parked with it's scoop extended, instead of retracted, as though it's resting... similar in theme to the retired power plant.24

Click on image for larger view

Retired

"Retired Power Plant"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.32cm)

Here's another industrial painting of a subject that may not be inherently beautiful to many. A 1950's era power plant. One of the many reasons I love industrial subjects is the palette of colors usually found. The blues, greens, grays, earthy & rusty browns, ochres, creams and whites.

I (and my two photography buffs)walked around the block eyeing the plant, searching for an angle that had some kind of drama, exciting composition, anything that might jump out, when I caught this view. I loved the way the stacks of scaffolding planks, steel, and railroad ties walked their way back towards the power plant, repeated by the driveway and concrete berm. The hiccup in the curvilinear shadow from the guard rail playing off the straight lines was one of those happy accidents you almost can't dream up. And of course those tiny bright accents of yellow and red almost always found at sites like this.

Since it was actually a crystal clear day I made some changes to better suit my concept of a retired but still maintained plant. Using cooler tones in the plant itself and dropping it back into an approaching airy mist separated it from the still utilized neatly stacked planks, steel and ties. Warming the middle ground tone a bit helped to ease the stark rectangular stacks, and reshaping the tree mass to echo the forms protruding from the smoke stacks.

It's reasons like this that I'm more of a studio painter than a plein air painter. I need time to contemplate a subject, create an image that would take far too long on site. It just suits my personality better.23

Click on image for larger view