Happy New Year

I hope you have a safe and very Happy New Year!

My family and I traveled to the Lake Tahoe area for the Christmas Holiday and have returned after a wonderful vacation. Check back soon for the first blog post of 2010!
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My Daily Paintings

Back from the Dormant

This blog has been essentially dormant for the past 3 months and barely had a pulse for a couple of months before that. I plan on changing that as there is so much going on. I'll talk about what has happened for the first few posts though. My other blog - Daily Paintings by Peter Mathios - has been going strong if you would like to see recent completed works. In the meantime, stay tuned over the next couple of weeks as I share about two recent trips to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, shows, works in progress and anything related to art. Pictured is Last Light, 5"x5", acrylic on board.
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Go Oregon State!!!

This isn't really art related (at all), but my wife, Rachelle, and I had the chance to go to the Oregon State - USC football game on Thursday. We were expecting a USC blowout because they were ranked #1 in the country. However, the Beavers pulled off the impossible. The place was a madhouse. The only real way to describe the scene especially late in the 4th quarter was deafening pandemonium! It was incredibly fun to be there. FYI, the below photos were taken with a cell phone.

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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The above 20"x30" painting has been in progress for quite some time and is proving to be a serious challenge. I think it is one of those paintings where a step forward in my abilities could be made. The thing about taking a step forward is that sometimes it takes two steps back and it's those steps where the real learning takes place. This painting has been like that. One day, I'll work on it and feel that great progress has been made and other days, I'll paint for hours and leave thinking that the painting is worse than it was before I started. The hard part, for me, has been blending the numerous branches and the mist to create depth and realism. The image above is the painting in it's current state - now it's back to work.
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Back from Milwaukee

I'm back from Milwaukee, WI where I was signing the Ducks Unlimited prints at Classic Art Prints. Marie and her husband Guiseppi were fantastic hosts and treated artist George Lockwood and I to an authentic home cooked Sicilian meal that was absolutely amazing! I have started painting again after the trip and have progressed on the eagle some more. It is nearly finished. If you look back and forth between the last post and this one you can spot the subtle changes that have occured. And, I should say, that although subtle, they take a while as I am using small brushes and focusing on the detail.www.mathiosstudios.net

Wood Duck Nesting Boxes

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to tag along with Howard Meyer, a retired Oregon State professor, while he checked wood duck nesting boxes on and around his property south of Corvallis. All told, we checked around 20-25 nest boxes and we had some success. In one box was this female hooded merganser and in a couple of others were merganser eggs. The first wood duck eggs were also discovered in one box as the delicate whistles of the wood ducks could be heard out on the nearby water. It is a bit early for wood duck nesting, but Spring has begun in some ways!
www.mathiosstudios.net

Happy Easter

Have a

Happy

Easter!!!

Winter Bug...

I haven't been on this blog too much because I had some sort of stomach flu... not fun. I did manage to work in a daily painting and a newspaper interview, but have been pretty laid out. Fortunately, things began to look up last night as my condition improved and I can get back to painting again!
www.mathiosstudios.net

2 Weeks Left

There are two weeks left to vote online for the 2009 Ducks Unlimited International Artist of the Year competition. I have a painting up for the award (pictured) titled Evening Sprig. You can vote as often as you like at this link... www.ducks.org/2009ArtistVote

Ankeny Hill National Wildlife Refuge

Each Fall, waterfowl migrate to the Willamette Valley to winter. One of the more spectacular sights that one can see are the large flocks of Canada Geese. There are seven subspecies that call Oregon their winter home including the Dusky Canada goose - one of the most threatened waterfowl species in the world. These geese nest exclusively in the Copper River Delta of Alaska and winter exclusively in the Willamette Valley. Three refuges are set aside to help protect these geese - William Finley, Basket Slough and Ankeny Hill (pictured). I regularly visit these refuges to gather reference for my paintings and this morning I was fortunate to be able to see an increasing number of waterfowl (due to our recent storms and cold weather) including this flock of Canada geese coming in.

www.mathiosstudios.net

Signing Prints

I spent the better part of yesterday morning signing and numbering the 2008 Oregon Ducks Unlmited Sponsor Prints. I am excited about Ducks Unlimited and all they do to set aside and restore wetland habitat throughout North America. I hope these prints do well in the state.
www.mathiosstudios.net

Lots to Do!

I'm working madly to get some paintings done for the upcoming Peppertree Art Show. The paintings that were sent to Wild Wings earlier this month have sold which is a good thing, but it leaves me a bit empty handed at the moment. I recently have started work on four paintings, three of which are pictured here. To complicate things and add to the hustle of the past couple of days, I am setting up at the annual seasonal gallery here in town called Cameron's Gifts and Gallery. My art along with artwork from many talented Northwest Artists will show (and be for sale) through January 15th at the Heritage Mall in Albany, OR.









http://www.mathiosstudios.net/

Truman

Ahhh... Monday. I am working on a commissioned painting today of a clumber spaniel named Truman looking alert and playful in the snow. Here is a photo from the painting in it's earlier stages. There will be more to come on this piece. On another note, I am also beginning to get organized for a couple of upcoming shows that I will post about later this week.
http://www.mathiosstudios.net/

Procrastination

After much procrastination, I have started a new heron painting. Although the sketch was already drawn on the board, the vast amount of white was intimidating and was preventing me from starting. I have heard that procrastination stems from fear. Maybe it was the amount of work that I know this painting will require with all the necessary foliage and reflections. Who knows? But, now that it is started, I am excited about it. I also have a couple of other ideas that are brewing in my head including a painting of a fawn that I may start this weekend. The picture posted here has a bit of a glare on it so the true colors aren't showing through correctly, but the idea is there.

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Tornado!

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to see a tornado. Don't ask me why - it's some sort of sick fascination. I've even toyed with the idea of going on a 'storm chaser vacation' in the Midwest. Anyway, we don't get very many tornadoes on the West Coast and the ones we do get, thankfully, are very small. Last Thursday, while painting, I heard thunder roll over the house and looked out my window to see some dark clouds rotating a little bit. Having never seen such a rotation before, my blood started pumping faster but knew these clouds were far from being a tornado. However, I grabbed my camera and binoculars and jumped in the car regardless.The rotating continued at varying strengths as the storm moved towards the next town. I parked in a grass seed field and snapped a couple more pictures hoping a funnel would form out of these clouds when a bolt of lightning hit about 100yds from my car! Needless to say, thoughts like "What are the chances of a tornado forming in Oregon anyway?" went through my head, and seeing as my car was the highpoint amongst the grass seed fields of the Willamette Valley, I reluctantly headed home wondering if I was making a mistake. I reached home and told my wife about my experience thinking I had seen all of the excitement, but was I wrong! Here are the next morning's headlines:Ouch! Maybe next time....
http://www.mathiosstudios.net/

Birds in Art Catalogue

Yesterday afternoon, the 2007 Birds in Art catalogue came in the mail. This is very exciting because I wasn't able to make the trip back to the opening this year. So, I eagerly turned each page as a feast for the eyes awaited on each one. Upon waking this morning and feeling inspired, I poured over it again and then started painting. If you are interested in ordering a catalogue, which is produced as a beautiful soft cover book, or in seeing which artists are participating in this year's exhibition, you can visit the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's website.

http://www.mathiosstudios.net/

Have a Happy and Safe Fourth of July!!

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Typical Artist!!

Well, I think I lived up to a typical artistic stereotype this past week. A deadline of Friday afternoon was rapidly approaching to get this mallard painting finished for the Oregon Ducks Unlimited "Artist of the Year" competition. The phone rang at 4:00pm while I was still frantically painting and not even close to completion. I knew it was the contest coordinator saying they needed the painting. I pleaded on the phone that the painting was unfinished, but it was to a point where they would at least be able to see what the painting will look like (especially if they stand back about 10 feet). He graciously said that was fine and they would accept the painting into the contest. So, off it went to the DU state convention in Newport, OR and the ducks have no eyes, the reflections in the water are not completed, nor is much feather detail or any real detail for that matter. Dang Artists!!
http://www.mathiosstudios.net/

Radio Interview

I had the oppurtunity to be interviewed this morning by the guys from The Morning Show on AM1220 KPJC. We discussed life, faith, and art. Pictured from left are Anthony, Bo, myself, Karl, and Ryan running the board. To the left of Anthony and, unfortunately not pictured, are Nathan and Phil. These guys are hilarious and really made the interview fun. Thanks for a great time!
http://www.mathiosstudios.net/

S.W.A.T. Experience

This isn't an art related entry but I recently had an experience worth writing about. I was asked by a friend of mine to participate as a "bad guy" in a S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) team training exercise. All in all, there were two bad guys and 4 victims/hostages against the team as we ran through a variety of scenarios in an abandoned two story office building here in my hometown. What really made this interesting and fun was that we were armed with Airsoft guns. These guns shoot actual plastic bb's that will cause a welt when making contact with bare skin. While I had a spring loaded handgun the SWAT team had what looked to be semi-automatic pistols with lights on them and fully automatic machine guns.

In the fist scenario, I had two victims with me downstairs in the back of the office and the other bad guy had two victims with him upstairs. The lights were off, and watching the S.W.A.T. team methodically and purposefully work their way down the hallway looking for me, was a bit unnerving. I had the freedom to react any way I chose - and I chose to jump out and shoot. What a bad move! I was immediately answered with what seemed like hundreds of bbs ricocheting all around the wall indentation that I ducked back into. The only thing I had a chance to see were numerous flashlights (which are built in to their guns) taking positions. Feeling brave and determined to continue the fight, I poked my head out and fired another shot so I could get a better bearing on where they were. I was met with a barrage of gunfire including a couple right to my face mask. Instant Death. Scenario over.

After each scenario was "cleared", the team met to evaluate their procedures. All told we went through 5 or 6 situations including a botched bank robbery and a drug house raid. Some were gunfights and others weren't. I know this for sure - who ever would want to challenge a S.W.A.T. team has to be certifiably insane. They are professional, quick, relentless, armed, protected and experienced. They can be stealthy and they can be forceful depending on what the situation presents. All in all it was an incredible experience and I only got a few welts.
http://www.mathiosstudios.net/