Oliver's NW Gallery

09/20/2026

We had a great class on my back porch this afternoon taking advantage of the wonderful last summer weather here in Oakridge. Our paintings were on 11x14 inch canvas and the subject was a willow tree on a lake.

We started by putting rose pink in the sky for atmosphere followed with Cerulean Blue for the sky. Our skies were featured with clouds and grays as we painted them in our layers. The sky often gets touches of colors as we make them which gives a full look to the painting as if someone were standing there outside. As we added colors, the lake in the foreground received them too.

The foothills were put in with a fan brush and Dioxazine Purple. These hills were blended softly for the background. Using black and green, we described the shoreline and lake shape in the foreground. Tree shapes and bushes were tapped into the dark color with the fan brush for distance across the lake.

We then added lighter greens and yellow greens in small, tapping shapes for sunlight on bushes and trees. The shore line shows the distance to the back of the lake with Sienna. Then we used the palette knife for waterlines.

The willow tree was made with dark, brown and black and blue gray using the small flat brush. The limbs were pulled out with the liner brush followed by bright yellow green with the fan brush showing the flowing leaves on the draping limbs.

Flowers colors and white lilies were added to the foreground to finish our painting session. Great work, class, it was fun and I hope to see you all again soon!

10/28/2024

Well, we had a great time at the Applegate Art Guild this afternoon painting "The Nebula"! It was a lot of fun and everyone did well! I am particularly happy with the creative choices people made when we explored the colors.

Nebula paintings have a lot of flexibility due to movement of the gasses in space and whatever filters the photographers use. Lots of great photos are online and shared for public curiosity and are great inspiration for artists!

We used black 16 x 20 inch canvases and started with Dioxazine Purple for the first color in the middle. Purple works well with all the reds and blues and acts as a shadow giving depth to the subject.

We then added reds, using thin paint and some blending and a little brighter pinks to make the color stand out and look busy. Blues were added with some lighter colors to make the nebula basses seem to move and billow.

The last color added was a mixture of Phthalo Green and Turquoise for brightness and a lightening strike effect. We used white and colors to finish the moving edges and ripples in the gasses.

Stars came last to create the perspective by making them larger on the outer edges and smaller and more plentiful in the middle. White, pink, and light green made the mixture of lights for effect.

Great work, class! These are beautiful and will make great gifts and keepsakes! I love the fact that we painters can create something that will celebrate our decades of discover and be memories!

10/24/2024

This Sunday at the Applegate Art Guild in Veneta we will be doing another Space Nebula. This is the time to make another scene to make a matching set if you did the first one! I find mine get sold or given away! See you there!

10/22/2024

Hello everyone! Don't forget the coming painting class at Applegate Art Guild this Sunday, Oct 27, at 1 pm when we paint The Nebula! These will be done on 16 x 20 inch canvases.

I love photos of outer space and the knowledge we are gaining in our century.
See you there!

09/16/2024

Wow! Great time at the Applegate Art Gallery in Veneta today! We embarked on a big adventure of using 10 x 30 canvases for a panoramic in oils of a waterfall and Spring!

This required careful use of gray colors in the back to keep a fresh foreground in the front with Spring flowers. We put in the sky first and then used Burnt Umber to scrub in where the bank and field would go. Burnt Umber lets us use a soft warm brown that mixes nicely with the greens and bright colors just dulling them a little to keep them in the distance.

As we came forward, we mixed Prussian Blue in the greens and browns to make them darker for closer shadows. The water fall was gently dropped in with a fan brush followed by a little scrubbed white for mist.

Oranges for the field and bank were made with Alizarin Crimson and yellow. The flowers in the front were made with Cad Red Deep and bright Yellow. This created just enough difference to show the bank to be behind the foreground.

Our trees were made with Ivory Black and Prussian Blue for strength and definition. We added green leaves to the trees and finished the foreground flowers with reds, yellows, greens, purples, and blues for all the cheery blooms.

Thanks to the class for a lot of hard work and great attention to detail. This was an ambitious painting and you didn't let me down! See you next time when we will be doing Space Nebulas!

09/10/2024

Just a reminder, everyone, that the "Coming Spring" class is this Sunday, Sept. 15, 1 pm at Applegate Art Guild in Veneta.

This will be a fun and special class using 10 x 30 inch canvases to capture joyous memory of colorful life on a special long panoramic scene to fit over a door or as an accent to a room!

We will be using the palette knife and brushes to achieve the effect of bright, thick blooms of color and a wistful, distant waterfall somewhere in a magical country.

I hope to see you all there! Please call if you need directions or contact us if you are coming. Thank you.

Weldon Oliver 541-991-0648 Sharon Jepson 541-525-1903

09/06/2024

Music has always held a special place in my heart. Youtube has presented some opportunities I never thought possible when I was younger. Now I can revisit the emotions of my childhood by hearing new mixes of original songs presented with technology that makes them live again. Here is my favorite:

https://youtu.be/p33zl1_EEGkhttps://youtu.be/PkplPxx1JBMI've received numerous requests to remix The Beach Boys' 'The Warmth of the Sun' after releasing my r...

08/22/2024

Spending more time in the studio lately since the air has cleared. This is the third in a series of paintings for childrens classes. It is done on a 10 x 20 canvas.

This time I used Diox Purple, Quin Rose along with Alizarin Crimson instead of using only 3 colors for mixing. Using tube colors gives them more strength and purity to accent the layers in the sunset.

As the third composition, students will have gained brush skills and some mixing experience. With this third painting, the knife work will have included some mountains and rocks.

These paintings will be the foundation for more complex compositions and larger canvases.

08/20/2024

I was back in my studio again adding to my class set for children's school. This piece is called Rainbow Lake and is the next study using 3 colors and black exploring distance and color mixing.

Students will have a progressive series of compositions that show brush handling and control of the oil paint. I look forward to the coming classes.

08/11/2024

Fun practice time in my studio today. The heat wasn't as bad and it seemed the air was a little clearer.

This is the Horsehead Nebula, one of the most popular astro subjects that is photographed by large telescopes and small.

Special thanks to Richard Trousdale for permission to use this photo. I'm looking forward to class doing it on Aug 25, at the Applegate Art Guild.

This painting was done on a 22 x 28 canvas painted black with I chalkboard paint. I started by oiling out the canvas and then using thinned Burnt Umber in the corners to warm the sky. Some purple made with Alizarin and Thalo Blue was added for shadow light in the corners and the middle where the light will be.

I used Thalo Blue to map where the horsehead will go and spread it like blue flames. Cerulean blue was added for a lighter layer and then white and blue for the bright flame look. Stars were added for effect with some of them larger with color.

The horsehead was done with black and brown mixed and deepened with blue. This creates the sense that it is in the foreground and there is distance behind.

I look forward to fun the class will have creating this iconic astro scene and the joy of spraying stars to complete the image.