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Memories of Life: Photography by Valerie Stephenson

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Memories of summer transition into fall in Before the Harvest, a photographic capture of life by Valerie Stephenson

We live life day by day, as opposed to a year at a time. Because of this, we assume that the everyday things we did yesterday we’ll do today, and then tomorrow. We won’t forget.

But that’s not the way it is. A year later, two years later, ten, we’re no longer doing the everyday things that we thought would never end. Too often, the only remembrance we have of them is our memory.

Photographer Valerie Stephenson wants to provide something more tangible than memories. Driven by the idea of catching life in its moments, the Burbank artist, who lives just above Sacajawea State Park over the Snake River, works with individual clients to capture vignettes of their day, in effect creating a visual journal of a slice of their lives.

spring snow winter memories tulips flowers valerie stephenson photography

The last memories of winter dance across the tulips of spring in Spring Snow, photography by Valerie Stephenson.

“These types of photos are cherished many years down the road, especially the everyday memories,” Stephenson says. “Because these moments are so everyday, so expected, we don’t realize that we don’t have a photo of them — like reading a book with our child, or the decorations in grandma’s house, a childhood spot by the lake, or the neighbor lady we grew up next to and talked with.

“Often we don’t have those memories captured before the seasons permanently change. I aim to provide a customizable photography experience, one built around a person’s unique story and capturing memories that will be important many years down the road.

“And then when we see these photos, they bring an array of feelings — like thankfulness, joy, wonder — at being able to relive those moments.”

Moments and Memories to Hang Onto

As an example, she described a photo shoot she did with a nephew and his uncle on the family ranch. Before this session, there were no photos of the uncle doing what he had done his whole life on the ranch, and there were no photos of the nephew who spent his childhood summers there working with his uncle. Though she couldn’t go back to the nephew’s childhood, she could capture the essence, the moment, the memories of what the two did every day.

peacock feather green glowing bird valerie stephenson photography

The luminous glow of a peacock’s feather adds a sense of mystique to beauty in Feather Glow by Valerie Stephenson

“The photographs enable us to relive, rewrite, and preserve some of the things we hold dearest in life,” Stephenson says.

When she isn’t doing commissioned photo shoots of people’s lives and memories, Stephenson is outside with her camera, capturing Nature, and her day to day moments. An outdoor enthusiast, Stephenson is a lifelong forager of wild edibles and medicinals, as well as a participant in numerous sports — backpacking, canoeing, road biking, skiing, snowboarding. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Outdoor Recreation, she has a long and varied career of leading and teaching others in these areas.

“I have always found my peace outside, and I enjoy doing most things outdoors,” she says.

“I enjoy most things that go back to a simpler, hands on, more family oriented way of life. That is what I am aiming to capture in my photography — relationships, the emotion of the moment, the wrinkles, the honesty.”

Words to Accompany Photography

power sea memories splash surf rocks ocean valerie stephenson

The Power of the Sea lies not only in the majesty of the ocean, but in its tug upon the memories of those who once visited or lived there.

One of her dreams is to write devotionals that are enhanced with her photography. In them, she wants to include science along with scripture because God, she believes, is the author of both.

“I have been doing lay counseling since I was very young. It involves listening to others, being there as they go through what they’re going through, sharing what I have learned in life. The devotionals are a way of combining visuals with words to create a statement of hope and encouragement.”

Good, bad, funny, sad, light, dark, colorful, grayscale — life is all of these, Stephenson believes, and like a path in the forest, it unfolds before us as we walk, each day, on our journey. There’s so much to it that it’s hard to maintain perspective, keep it fresh in our mind before another experience, another place, another element comes to the forefront. Photography enables us to stop each moment and make a tangible, visible image we can hold onto, hang on our wall, reflect upon before we take the next step.

“Printed photos in my hands bring me back to the moment, the memories, and the feeling,” Stephenson says.

“That’s where I want my photos to take people — to a place they want to be.”

Wenaha GalleryValerie Stephenson is the featured Art Event at Wenaha Gallery from August 23 through September 19, 2022.

Contact the gallery, located at 219 East Main Street, Dayton, WA, by phone at 509.382.2124 or e-mail art@wenaha.com. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday, and by appointment. Visit the Wenaha Gallery website online at www.wenaha.com.

 

 

fence landscape corvallis outside sunset painting montgomery

Outside Adventure — Impressionist Landscapes by LR Montgomery

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The last light of the waning sun dances across the landscape. Last Light at Corvallis, original oil painting by LR Montgomery

Get outside.

It’s not bad advice, and we could probably figure out, without promotional public service announcements, that nature is a healing place to be. It’s calm, quiet, and peaceful – three inducements to thinking and reflection. For fine art painters, getting outside is a means of capturing the moment so that when people see the artwork, though they are stuck in an office on a rainy day, they can escape to a place worth being in.

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A slow-moving river invites the viewer to slow down as well and enjoy the sense of quiet and peace. Warm Hearts, original oil painting by LR Montgomery

“I paint original impressionist landscapes with emotion,” says LR Montgomery, an oil painter from Spokane, WA, who enjoys both plein air and studio work.

“My landscapes show the hidden secrets of our forests, ponds, tributaries, rivers, boulders and open spaces.

“They express the joy of being outdoors.”

Celebrating Nature with Paint

Montgomery’s personal philosophy is to create uplifting images that generate a feeling of well-being and reflect the beauty of God’s creation. At the same time, he also wants to draw people’s attention to the fragility and sustainability of our natural environments. If we pave over forests and build high-rise corporate buildings in the meadows, we lose precious resources that we can never get back.

So . . . Montgomery actively seeks out and finds the unspoiled, natural places. His happiest painting moments, he says, are those spent outside, regardless of the weather.

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The colors of spring create an almost audible melody in LR Montgomery’s original oil painting, Spring Birch at Slavin

“I can be found painting out of doors at zillions of Northwest natural areas. I am the Artist in Residence for Dishman Hills Conservancy, so I paint there often.

“Most recently, I have been painting the Palouse, Lake Chatcolet, Spokane River, Little Spokane River, the hills west of Corvallis, OR, and anywhere grapes grow.”

It’s not only when he’s behind the easel that Montgomery enjoys the outdoors. He spends significant time hiking, canoeing, and kayaking throughout the Pacific Northwest, and those outside experiences, eventually, find themselves as paint on canvas or panel.

Getting Outside as Often as He Can

“My art reflects the joy of outdoor adventures.

“Additionally, collectors and organizations often ask me to paint the areas they love or represent. I accept a very limited number of commissions a year.”

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A bracing blue sky adds to the sense of light and outdoor peace. Blue Halo at Painted Rocks, original oil painting, by LR Montgomery.

Montgomery’s collectors include private individuals, corporations, environmental groups, museums, and educational institutions throughout the U.S., Europe, Russia, China, Mexico, Africa, and Japan. In the Pacific Northwest, his work is in collections at Kaiser Permanente, Spokane Eye Clinic, Pacific Lutheran University, Washington State University, the city of Spokane, Loyola Marymount University, Shriners Children’s Hospital, Providence Medical Center, and the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture.

“Art is a happy business. People collect it because it brings joy, enhances life, or reflects personal experiences.”

Some families, he adds, have collected his work for generations, and to this day, he remembers the name of his first collector.

“Her name was Helen. I was 12 years old when I painted a watercolor of a cougar, which she and her husband acquired. They inspired my love for the outdoors and being outside in nature through their lifestyle and encouragement.”

In fact, his wife Carole swears that he was born with a crayon in his hand. Her assessment is understandable, given her partnership with him in the painting business: he paints, she is his manager. That responsibility requires as much flexibility, adaptability, creativity, and easygoing humor as wielding the brush.

An Artistic Marriage

“She never knows what will happen next. She may have to drop what she is doing at a moment’s notice to attend to the whims of the art business.

“The left brain of our marriage, she is a great supporter of our creative lifestyle. Her support allows me to focus on painting with purpose.”

And that purpose — celebrating the outdoor world, focusing on nature, pointing people’s hearts toward beauty — is well worth taking time to focus upon. Whether he’s in the comfort of the studio or out on the river bank, doing emergency repairs on the legs of an easel, Montgomery draws upon, and draws viewers into, a world that is far, far from the madding crowd, and crowds, period.

“My paintings bring the ambiance and memories of outdoor experience in. Collectors say they can hear the water and smell the forest.”

Wenaha GalleryLR Montgomery is the featured Art Event at Wenaha Gallery from October 19 through November 15, 2021.

Contact the gallery, located at 219 East Main Street, Dayton, WA, by phone at 509.382.2124 or e-mail art@wenaha.com. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday, and by appointment. Visit the Wenaha Gallery website online at www.wenaha.com.

 

 

Painting In the Zone — Nature and Wildlife by Pamela Claflin

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Lone Poplar oil painting Pamela Claflin nature meadow tree clouds

Lone Poplar, original oil painting of nature and meadow, by Pamela Claflin

Pamela Claflin loves to paint with friends, even though once she gets the brushes out, she stops talking to them.

Upon entering “the zone,” Claflin focuses on the task at hand and the scene in front of her, to the point that she — very very literally — notices nothing else.

Along the Stream Pamela Claflin nature stream wenaha gallery

Along the Snake River, original oil painting of nature and stream by Pamela Claflin

“One time, while painting in the Ochocos, I set up my metal easel and tripod on a bed of rocks in the middle of the creek,” Claflin remembers. “I painted for a couple of hours, and when I showed up for lunch my friends asked me, ‘What did the three cowboys say to you when you were  painting?’

“I said, ‘WHAT three cowboys?’

“They said, ‘The three fellas who waded out into the creek and stood a few feet behind you to watch you paint.’

“I was flabbergasted. I didn’t even know they were there.”

That’s being “in the zone,” and it’s also the principal reason why Claflin never goes painting by herself. Claflin, an oil painter of wildlife and the outdoors who incorporates plein air (outdoor painting), studio work, and reference photography, considers her weekly outdoor sessions with friends a form of ongoing schooling, added to a yearly weeklong workshop she takes from nationally known artists.

Dusk on the Saddlebacks original oil painting Pamela Claflin nature trees meadows hills

Dusk on the Saddlebacks, original oil painting of nature and trees by Pamela Claflin

She began her art journey under the tutelage of Del Gish, an impressionist who studied under Russian Master Painter Sergei Bongart, and she took seriously Gish’s admonition to paint from one’s heart.

“I believe that to this day,” Claflin says, adding that, during the time she owned the Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, OR, from 1989 to 2007, she sought out other artists who ascribed to this maxim as well.

Now, the Kennewick artist — who sold the gallery for the sole reason of embarking upon full-time painting — enters her work in museum and gallery shows throughout the nation, one of the most recent being the American Impressionist Society Show in Kirkland, WA, where she received Second Place for the Members’ Outdoor Paint Event.

Known among her friends as the “wildlife spotter,” Claflin believes that maintaining an observant eye is the key to finding subject matter to paint, and while she may be oblivious to her surroundings when she’s in the zone, when she’s on a hike, seeking reference material for future paintings, she’s 100 percent attuned to her surroundings.

Wild stallion horse original oil painting by Pamela Claflin

One Long, Last Look at His Father’s Herd, original oil painting of nature and young stallion horse, by Pamela Claflin

“Nature has its colors . . . wildlife has its colors. When I am out in nature and see a color that doesn’t blend, my head perks up and I look to see what it is.

“A stump that is too dark turns out to be a black bear drinking at a creek.

“A blonde ‘rock’ turns out to be a lone pronghorn.

“A dead tree branch turns out to be antlers of a very old elk who ends up eating the last apple in my backpack.”

Once, while traveling to Taos, NM, Claflin spotted a herd of wild horses, noticing a young stallion being pushed from the herd by an older stallion of the same color, which Claflin deduced to be the young one’s father. After being repeatedly driven away, the young horse stopped, squared up his body as if to take a deep breath, and stared at the herd.

“I photographed him at the moment and did a painting of him entitled, ‘One Long, Last Look at His Father’s Herd,'” Claflin says.

“I believe that if one is to paint life images of nature, one must spend time outside observing and painting.”

Because the outdoors is unpredictable, Claflin believes in being prepared as well, making sure that her car is within easy reach of the chosen painting site. That way, when marble-sized hail falls, or the wind incessantly blows down the easel and declares itself the winner, or yellow jackets take offense at a perceived intruder, it’s easy to pack up and move.

On studio days, it’s warm, dry, and insect-free.

Claflin’s work is in collections throughout the U.S., Canada, and England, and she herself maintains a collection of other artists’ work as well. One these pieces, her first sculpture purchase made in 1987, is by Klamath artist Jim Jackson, and is entitled “Seeking a Vision.” It is, she asserts, aptly named.

“It is a clay, robed figure with his head tilted towards the sky with his eyes, closed,” Claflin explains.

“I have kept that sculpture in my paint room ever since, and it constantly serves as an inspiration for me.”

Wenaha GalleryPamela Claflin is the featured Pacific Northwest Art Event artist from Monday, March 13, through Saturday, April 8. There is a special Art Show honoring Claflin Saturday, April 1, 2017, with the artist being on hand to meet and greet from 1 to 4 p.m. Also occurring at the same time is a Tribute Art Show of work by the late James Christensen.

Contact the gallery, located at 219 East Main Street, Dayton, WA, by phone at 509.382.2124 or e-mail art@wenaha.com. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday through Saturday, and by appointment. Visit the Wenaha Gallery website online at www.wenaha.com.

Wenaha Gallery is your destination location for Greenwich Workshop Fine Art Prints, professional customized framing, and original fine art paintings and sculpture by notable Pacific Northwest artists.   Books, gifts, note cards, jigsaw puzzles, and more are also available. Visit the gallery today!

 

 

 

 

Bend in the River, original oil painting by Wenaha Gallery Artist Jim McNamara.

Mountain Man Painter — The Landscapes of Jim McNamara

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Bend in the River, original oil painting by Wenaha Gallery Artist Jim McNamara.

Bend in the River, original oil painting by Wenaha Gallery Artist Jim McNamara.

Jim McNamara is a man who moves mountains, because that is what landscape painters do.

“Cameras can do a better job at exact duplication,” the Walla Walla fine artist says, “but one of the great advantages of being a painter is the freedom to move elements around to suit the needs of the composition. So if a tree isn’t where I want it to be, I move it.”

McNamara, whose day job until retirement 15 years ago was in public education as a school psychologist, has been drawing and painting all his life, thanks to a bunch of determined women:

Dirt Road, Big Sky by Wenaha Gallery Artist Jim McNamara

Dirt Road, Big Sky by Wenaha Gallery Artist Jim McNamara

“The nuns at St. Bridget Elementary in Omaha saw a spark in me and coaxed my parents into sending me to summer school at Joslyn Art Museum when I was barely old enough to ride the bus,”  McNamara remembers. Art classes continued in high school and college — interspersed with courses in English literature, counseling, and school psychology — and specialized workshops followed throughout adulthood, as McNamara studied under some of today’s outstanding outdoor painters: Jim Lamb, Ned Mueller, Ken Roth, Matt Smith,  John Budacin, and Ralph Oberg.

The result of all the study, eclectic interests, and hard work has been McNamara’s unique style, blending brushstrokes with realism, plein air with studio work, a painterly attitude with attention to detail:

“My colors and shapes are broadly realistic but I prefer to employ a ‘painterly’ style,” McNamara explains. “I think painting is more interesting and involving if it leaves something to the viewer’s imagination.

“I like to see brushstrokes in a finished painting: it adds a textural dimension, and makes the work more fun to look at close up.”

McNamara, who prefers oil but forays into watercolor on occasion, is a consummate landscapist, focusing on broad, sweeping images of the Pacific Northwest and West, which he captures both on scene — en plein air  — and in his studio, inside an old house, built in 1900, with the high ceilings and quantity of windows that prompt other artists to sigh with envy.

“Where I paint is what I imagine was once the master bedroom,” McNamara says. “There are paintings on the walls, as well as art books, paints and brushes set up. I have an iMac with four or five thousand images to keep my mind occupied in the winter, when it’s hard to get outside.”

Trailhead View by Wenaha Gallery artist Jim McNamara

Trailhead View by Wenaha Gallery artist Jim McNamara

With such an ideal set-up, one would think that McNamara would stay in the studio all the time, content with the absence of rain and wind, but the Great Outdoors seductively calls,  and McNamara has painted en plein air from the Rockies to the coast, covering most of the western states in his travels with his wife. His favorite painting experiences involve backpacking to some remote location, setting up his easel, and painting directly from nature.

“Painting outdoors produces the most accurate color and the most spontaneous result,” McNamara says. “But because outdoor conditions are not always ideal in the Northwest, especially in winter, I do rely on reference photographs, which are always taken by me.” Hence, the iMac, with its 5,000 images.

While in the earlier years of his full-time painting McNamara entered juried shows and competitions throughout the  region — the Wallowa Valley Festival of the Arts and the former Walla Walla Carnegie Art center, the latter where he won People’s Choice Award and sold the painting the same day — the artist now concentrates his time on as much painting as he can get in. Most of his sales generate from his home studio, The Fort Walla Walla Winery on Main Street, or Wenaha Gallery in Dayton, with one of the most pleasurably memorable sales being to a collector in France, in Walla Walla for a wine tasting — from one area known for its wines, to another.

“I think representational art always makes a statement because it regards its subject as important and significant,” McNamara reflects upon what he does. “Just the act of intensely looking at a subject for the sometimes lengthy time required to render it gives it significance.

“I believe the natural world deserves being looked at intensely and wordlessly.”

Wenaha GalleryJim McNamara is the Art Event: Pacific Northwest Artist at Wenaha Gallery from December 16, 2014 through January 10, 2015 at Wenaha Gallery’s historic Dayton, WA location, 219 East Main Street.

Contact the gallery by phone at 800.755.2124 or e-mail art@wenaha.com. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday through Saturday, and by appointment. Visit the Wenaha Gallery website online at www.wenaha.com.

Wenaha Gallery is your destination location for Greenwich Workshop Fine Art Prints, professional framing, and original fine art paintings and sculpture by notable Pacific Northwest artists.   Books, gifts, note cards, jigsaw puzzles, and more are also available. Visit at 219 East Main, Dayton; phone 509.382.2124; e-mail art@wenaha.com.

This article was written by Carolyn Henderson.