Simple List
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Men's Furnishings
I've belatedly learned that one of my paintings was in an auction of American art at Sotheby's in New York in October 2018. The work sold at the top end of its estimate. It was originally sold c.1989 at Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland OR, to Patrick Duffy, the actor best known for his role as Bobby Ewing in the series 'Dallas'. It was listed in Sotheby's catalogue as "from the collection of Patrick and Carlyn Duffy." Patrick's wife, Carlyn Rosser passed away in 2017.
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Man With Cart
This painting was exhibited at Davidson Galleries in the early 1990s. It was done before the Pergola was destroyed by a truck in 2001. The current Pergola is a facsimile, rebuilt from scratch. I still have this work in my studio inventory. It is one of the few paintings left from this period.
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The 1990s, Early To Mid
Two different circumstances have recently brought me face to face with a number of paintings that I did in the early to mid 1990s. The first was the sale and delivery of a painting (Pilchuck River I) to a couple that have collected several of my paintings at a gallery that once represented me in Portland. The other circumstance was the swapping out of some old inventory for new at the Museum of Northwest Art and Culture (the MAC) Art Resource program, in Spokane WA.
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Civil Architectures - The End Of The Viaduct
An Alaska Way Viaduct painting, a view from Ako Lindley's studio in the old 619 Western Building. This was purchased by the then CEO of Daniel Smith, Inc., and featured on the cover of their annual catalogue. The painting exceeded their budget, so I took half of it in trade for art supplies. I still have some of those.
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Linin' Track
This is a painting from my second show at Davidson Galleries. It depicts the lining of track for a new extension of the trolly that carried tourists from the edge of the International District to points along the Alaska Way Viaduct, all the way to Myrtle Edwards Park. The trolly was short lived. A sculpture park required real estate that provided the only maintenance shed for the trolly, at the start of Myrtle Edwards.
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Portrait Show at Cascadia Art Museum
This painting, a self portrait from 1979, will be in an upcoming exhibition at Cascadia Art Museum, in Edmonds WA. The painting was done in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, where I was living at the time. It was exhibited in Soho at The First Street Gallery. I had just turned 30, and had spent my birthday drinking piña coladas with my Puerto Rican and Colombian neighbors in our postage-stamp sized backyard.
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Studio Practice For The Plein Air Painter
I have 4 seats left for this lecture. First come first served. Senior discounts available. More info at https://classes.williamelston.com
image: Charles-François Daubigny, Soleil couchant sur l'Oise, 1865
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Dodson's is Closing
The Jewelry Store / Gallery that I've been showing at in my hometown of Spokane is closing its doors for good in March of 2019. Dodson's Fine Jewelers, a fourth generation family business, has been a fixture in the Spokane downtown scene since 1887. Current owners Penn Fix and Debra Schultz plan to retire.
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Lecture 2, December 8, 1 PM
The second in my Winter Lecture Series, Studio Practice for the Plein Air Painter, will take place on Saturday, December 8th, at 1 PM in my Panther Lake Studio. It will cover a broad range of material, from practical aspects of plein air painting, to the history of plein air painting and its contemporary incarnations.
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Winter Lectures Series
I will be offering a series of lecture/demos this winter. They will take place in my studio and will cover the following subjects:
Lecture 1: Painting Really Large in a Really Small Studio
Lecture 2: Studio Practice for the Plein Air Painter
Lecture 3: Realism - Two Hundred Years of Revolution
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Raining Bridge
This third image is also from the Picasa download. It's a view of the railroad bridge west of the Hiram Chittenden Locks, from the Commodore Park side. The painting went through many changes; it was one of those variable seasons that Seattle is known for. It ended as a rain painting.
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Pond
This painting was done in the later years that I was painting at Pepper's Farm, on the Snoqualmie River. The only image that I have been able to find of it was uploaded several years ago to Google Photos, when it was still called Picasa.
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The Story of a Painting
This humble still life began as a large figure subject, during the time that I was living in New York City. The model was a woman who danced with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company. She was also the wife of a friend, although they were shortly divorced.
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Lightning Over Spirit Lake
Many years ago, when my mother was still alive, she asked me to do a painting of lightning over Spirit Lake, Idaho. Spirit Lake is where I was born, and where my family had lived for the first seven years of my life.
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Broadway Vampires, 1989
This is another painting from my first show at Davidson Galleries. The subject is from Halloween night the previous year. I wanted to paint some ghouls, vampires and other creatures of the night.
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Running Man, 1989
This painting was included in my first exhibition at Davidson Galleries in 1989. It was purchased by John Hauberg, a noted businessman and supporter of the arts in Seattle.
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Civil Architectures – A Snapshot of an Era
'Civil Architectures' is based on the view from the studio of the late Ako Lindley, where I was teaching painting workshops at the time. It’s a gray, overcast day, very typical of Seattle. Ako’s studio was in the 619 Western building, at one time called the Ace Novelty building, later condemned after the Nisqually Earthquake in 2001.
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More Auction Miscellany
A few more items found while searching Google for recently auctioned paintings:
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Auction Miscellany
Sometimes it’s fun to Google your name and see what turns up. On rare occasions works that have been consigned to secondary market galleries or auctions are listed in the return on query, and these are a few of those.
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Pergola, Early Spring
This painting was initially done as a commission. The clients were a prominent construction and contracting family, and they were brought into Davidson Galleries for my first show.
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An End to an Era
Recently the gallery that has represented me in the Pacific Northwest, Davidson Galleries, announced that they were phasing out their department of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture. I have been a member of their stable of artists for the better part of three decades.
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