Hello! It’s been awhile. I have been super busy teaching Drawing & 2D Digital Environments at DigiPen Institute of Technology AND designing & painting this mural in Poulsbo, WA. It is approximately 65’ x 7’ and the biggest mural I have ever done.

This guy below, Mike Burns, engaged me in the spring before I went to Europe about doing this mural on the new apartment complex he was building in downtown Poulsbo. He wanted to honor the history of the codfishing industry in that town. The Pacific Coast Codfish Co. was one of the last commercial Schooner fleets on the west coast, with the last sailing being in 1950.

He gave me a book called “Salt of the Sea” by Capt. Ed Shields, who was the son of the owner of the Pacific Coast Codfish Co., Capt. J.E. Shields. I got a lot of the inspiration for this mural striaght from this book . And from the Maritime Museum in Poulsbo.

I also learned a lot from this guy, Dave Shields, who is the son of the author, Ed Shields. Here he is posing next to a portrait of his grandfather. He advised me on the mural and even provided an original codfish hook as reference.

The people in Poulsbo were so welcoming and supportive. Almost everyone who passed would comment, and ask what it was about or share stories. I love meeting people when I am painting in public. You instantly feel like you are part of the community.

Today, Thursday, Oct. 20th 2022 was my last day. I sealed it with an anti-graffiti coating of silicone, and just when I was cleaning up, the Mayor of Poulsbo, Becky Erickson, showed up. Like everyone else, she was extremely appreciative, and expressed how important she thinks public art is.. There are murals and sculptures and architecture peppered throughout the town that celebrates it’s Norwegian heritage, most of it being created during her 13 year tenure as Mayor.

A local mover and shaker, Bill Austin, would regularly pop by. He is an Englishman, a sign painter, a collector of jaguar cars and responsible for many of the public landmarks in the town. He gave me a book that chronicled these exploits.

Paul came by a few times a day in his electric wheelchair. Sporting tattoos and an american flag, I learned that he was a chef that traveled the country in his former life.

The Big Leaf Maple bakery and kind folks within made the early morings enjoyable. There was just something endearing about this town, which if you passed quickly through, you might pass off as a tourist trap, but there is genuine quality about it. It’s not Seattle or Bainbridge or even Vashon. It’s a place where people feel they belong. And they work towards that end. It was an honor to be able to get to know the people and the place.

Here is the completed painting/commission for Karen du Four des Champs. It is 3’x3’, oil on canvas.

Although I started painting on location, the weather turned and I took it in the studio and worked from a photo.

I feel like the painting is a good reflection of Karen’s personality: Colorful and bold. The shadows and folliage create patterns that glue the whole scene together like a puzzle. The struggle and joy of owning a home; how large a part of your life it becomes. it’s all in there, bathed in morning light. A place of color and comfort.

Nowhere near finished but I like the abstract shapes in this beginning phase. I want to retain a lot of that in the final pass.

“As Above So Below”. Mike Murray’s boat at the Vashon Marina in Burton. Luckily the slip next to it was open! The painting is currently on display at the Snapdragon Cafe on Vashon Island.

Here is a video that goes through the process. I am liking the results that I am getting using the notan process. Last time, with the Raab’s Lagoon painting, I used black on a yellow/raw sienna background. This time I used green on the same background. Two thing sare being accomplished when you start that way:

1) The composition of the big contrasting value shapes.

2) The dominant color relationship. In this case: Yellow and green. The subtleties sit on top of all that.

I am so busy I almost forgot to blog about this. Mounting a show on such short notice necessitates drastic measures, like painting everyday and bringing to life older, unfinished paintings, and showing some previously shown paintings from my Armeggedon series. It is going to be quite the hodge podge!

Opening is 6pm this Friday. And none of it will be the European paintings. That is being saved for the November December show.

Here is a video Demo of a plein air painting I did yesterday at Raab’s Lagoon on Vashon. A friend of mine, Michael Rosenberg, mentioned that he thought this painting stood out from many that I have done, and I would agree.

“Wherever you go, there you are.” Buckaroo Banzai

Attitude is everything, and I had a bad one upon returning to the U.S. I could have easily traveled for another month. So I figured the best antidote to kevetching was to go out and do what I had been doing all along while traveling: Plein air, on site, in public, painting. I mean I literally live in a vacation destination. People come to Vashon to rejuvenate and get that special feeling one gets when hunkered down on a quaint, rural, artsy island in the middle of Puget Sound.

“Chetzemoka” Oil on Canvas. 20”x16”

The ferries are the gate keepers of the island. The is the south end ferry boat, called Chetzemoka. Painting a ferry is right up there with painting light houses. It either signals the ending or the beginning of my painting career. Not sure which. But getting too wrapped up in subject matter is always a pitfall. It’s the painting itself that matters. The process. Standing there as the car lineup rolls past onto the boat, only to fill up again, like the rise and fall of the tides. The sun shifts it’s light with each return of the boat. Curious passers by, tired of scrolling on their phones while stuck in the lineup, stop to talk. Sometimes about the painting….sometimes not. Sometimes people just need to talk. A stranger is just a friend in the waiting.

THE PROCESS - I started with a raw sienna, almost yellow, background. It works wonders when painting landscape. The undercolor informs the layered colors that go on top of it, and it tends to imbue the image with a sense of light. I (an oft arrogant persona-type) tended to avoid tricks and gimmicks like this, mostly out of ego really. Art is just a bunch of tricks that one hopes to put a personal spin on, and this is as it should be. Uniquness is the icing, not the cake. The more tricks the better, just don’t expect them to do all the work.

I will do another today. Maybe go uptown, and spend half of my time talking. Kind of waiting for the marine layer to burn off. But that is not assured this summer. This and many other paintings will be displayed at the August 5th show at the Hastings Cone Gallery on Vashon Island. It will be up all month, but I hope to see you at the opening…..6pm!

Most of this European trip was cooked up in this humble shack of an office studio built on stilts located on Green Gate Farm, Maury island, Puget Sound, Washington State, West Coast, United States, Western Hemishpere. The stairs were covered in Blackberries when I returned and the path leading to it was overgrown. I wish I had taken a photo before clearing.

Yesterday I took a dip in Quartermaster Harbor to shake off some of the quickly accumulating ToDo list that decends on travelers who stop. In the past six weeks I have swum in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific Oceans, and in a lake on the canaled countryside of Holland.

The scope of what is possible for humans to do is nothing short of God-like. We casually accept things like air travel and travel infrastructure in general as a given; a hohum chore that we oft whine about. It is nothing short of miraculous and I feel very fortunate to be able to experience this miracle of travel, doing art as I go. I think I have discovered the best drug ever.

Re-igniting a sense of wonder was a big goal of this trip. That has been accomplished. My appreciation for the world at large has increased significantly; something that a travel show (or blog for that matter) could not do.

We too often mistake virtual reality for actual reality and it just isn’t. All media is a reality unto itself, but is not reality writ large. It’s an artifice, a powerful tool, but by no means the Full Monty. We always need fresh air from the outside world to inform and revive the virtual. Otherwise it becomes a “Black Mirror”, a toxic narcissism reinforced by an algorithm.

Art and Travel is not accomplished in a vaccum. I have literally millions of people to thank. Here is that list whittled down:

- Entire nations of people with their unique cultures, language and history, who graciously welcome foreigners into their midst.

-My Family: My wife Arlette for allowing and supporting me in this endeavor, and being a great travel companion on the 2nd leg of the journey Son Giacomo for being an awesome and level headed traveler who said that he actually liked traveling with his parents. If we could bottle that we’d make millions. To Daughter Louisa for tag-teaming Spain and staying home to take care of things while we were gone.

Our friends and neighbors, Anne & Adam Atwell, for taking care of pets for a week, and for just in general being such great neighbors for 20 plus years. We have lived on the same property for that time and created awesome things together (Adam built the stilt house above). They are a big reason I am able to do as much art as I do.

To DigiPen School of Technology, for the great job/workplace, that obligates one towards being inspired in service of passing that on to students. What an amazing place to be. And meeting the teachers in DigiPen Bilbao was a real treat.

To the old and new friends that hosted me and us along the journey: Pablo in San Sebastian. MariaFe and Angel in Murcia. Gabi & Ron in Sao Luis. Peter and Ingrid Van Pol in (Burren?….some incredibly cute town between Maastricht and Amsterdam). Ludewijk and Desiree and Lucas in Amsterdam (a suburb thereof). Paul Valckx and Peter Valckx: Brothers. Opposites, and each uniquely awesome.

To all the people along the way: Every person that stopped by to comment in whatever language they knew. Every Air BnB host that opened up their space. Art Store sales people. Every cab driver, bus driver, waiter and grocery store clerk. Every attendant at the ticket counter, air steward, stranger on the street, barista or Tapas bar employee. All were friendly and an instant ally. I cannot remember one asshole on my journey. I could probably think of someone if I tried…..Oh yes, ONE slightly rude maitre de at a seaside restaurant in Portugal (and I wasn’t even the one having the interaction with her). But if the price of an incredible meal like we had is a slightly rude maitre de, then bring it on.

To my Art Angels, who purchased, or commmisioned or sold my art work before I left, literally making it possible to afford this trip: Thank you Andre Sapp, Kate Ettinger, Karen Du Ford Dechamp, Jane Gill, Monica Grippman and Kamela Daniels! Huge!

To Friend Doug Parry, for being such a constant cheer leader in my life, inspiring me to stay commited to creating, mostly by example.

To my Mom & Dad, for instilling a love of Art & Travel. This journey was very similar to a sabbatical trip my father took in Europe probably 30 years ago, where he drew everyday while there. This is me keeping that tradition going….but with the added inconvenience of a full plein air paint set up.

And finally, to YOU. You dear blog reader have a been a big part of this journey. There may be like 5 of the 99 subscribers that will bother to read this far, but I have so appreciated every comment, interaction and it has been very grounding to be able to reflect on this journey as it happens. You witnessing this trip has in a very real way helped me do the work. An audience ensures a performance. Thanks for serving that role. (Warning: I plan on doing more of this.)

I just found out yesterday that a show I thought I was going to have in September is going to be this August, at the Snap Dragon Hastings-Cone Gallery.

And all the work generated during the trip is reserved for a show in Nov.-Dec. at Cafe Vino-Olio…..so there will be no rest for this traveling artist, as I try to cobble enough work together in this….two week period. Yikes!

SO COME to the Aug. 5th opening if you are on the Island. These will not be the European paintings, but new work and previous.

I hope to see you at both the Hastings-Cone Gallery show August 5th and the Cafe Vino Show the beginning of November. I will announce the opening dates (as soon as I find out). It will be great to see all the paintings from this journey up in one room.

We all breath the same air.

All the best, Steffon

Last day here in Europe. It has been an incredible trip, and I have a back that is out of whack to prove it! In 15 minutes I will walk across to the chiropractor, have an adjustment and then enjoy what’s remaining of my time here in Amsterdam with Arlette, Giacomo, Peter, Katrine, Jean Pierre, Henri and Hubert. Below is a view of a canal in the moonlight. it doesn’t get more romantic than that.

Thank God for Amsterdam. A truly incredible city.

One of the big reasons I wanted to take this 6 week unofficial “sabbatical” was so that I could actually be places, rather than just virtually being places.. I teach enviornment painting & concept design, and almost all of it is generated through using digital reference. We go anywhwere in the Universe based on collecting and interpreting reference images that we harvest off of the internet.

This is a wonderful thing! The resource at our diposal is nothing short of miraculous. But it does not compare to actually being there. The smells, sounds, tastes, sights and 360 degree context of a unique world whirling around you cannot be replaced with reference images. And so I stepped away from the digital vortex for a bit and actually went places.

This was the location of my last painting. It is tricky finding a spot that fulfills the two prerequisites: Interesting and Not in the way, but this fulfilled those and also probably served as a piss spot for hundreds of dogs. Looking for a location and setting up can often take an hour, but it helps to ensure a modicum of success.

THE PROCESS

Whenever I start a composition my main interest is not the detail, but the big light and dark shapes. I start the drawing layout with that in mind. As usual, I think this painting needs another few hours, but it has been difficult to find time to finish stuff given the current travel schedule. But if I am honest there never seems to be enough time no matter the situation. I think I am going to take out the blue truck on the bridge and put in the railings and bikes that were there.

Although this traveling art trip is now about over, the reality is that all of life is a journey with endless interest everywhere you look. The richness I have gathered here will inform what I do in the future, which will in turn create more opportunities for journeys near and far.

I am so greatful for these experiences and all the people who helped make it happen. The world is a kind place if you expect it to be.

Taking a day to chill at Ludiweg and Desiree’s place just outside of Amsterdam. I sat in the back yard and did a watercolor of their incredible house, while Desiree read a book in the hammock. I thoug ht that thatched roofs were a thing of the past…..not so! This is a modern remodel with a thatched roof in a neighborhood that is filled with them. I hear they have to be maintained annually.

Today I will be going into Amsterdam and getting back to oils. Transport is always an issue with them. I still haven’t figured out the right spacers to put between the wet panels…… Next trip.