“So there we were, a bunch of artists, not very much unlike that unruly group of Impressionists who back in the 1870′s set out to revolutionize the art world by breaking away from tradition and painting outside from life.”

Here I sit after two glasses of White Zin contemplating the day, and art, and why I enjoy my friends and painting so much.

Terri Van Matre loves Kalama. She organized an artwalk at Camp Kalama with the goal of promoting art. We spent an afternoon under an umbrella of old-growth tree foliage next to the Kalama River enjoying ourselves and the fact that we are artistic. It’s the brand we wear. We’re artists and we paint and we’re special get used to it.

I painted a small watercolor and met some new friends. My neighbor Marisa from Argentina who speaks with the elegent accent of a cultured aristocrat was part of the reason I was there. She’d emailed me at 6:45 that morning. 6:45! I mean, isn’t that the middle of the night? She was headed for Camp Kalama because she wanted to support art in our community, and when I read her email on my iPhone at 8:45 I got out of my recliner and into the shower so I could do the same!

So there we were, a bunch of artists, not very much unlike that unruly group of Impressionists who, back in the 1870′s set out to revolutionize the art world by breaking away from tradition and painting outside from life.

I don’t think there are any traditions left to break, but I do know one thing. The universal rule of communities is that people with the same interests get together and celebrate the fact that they have the same interests. As long as we keep doing that the community is a better place, no matter what the state of the economy.

Our last names aren’t Monet or Renoir or Degas, (although my mother’s family was French), but we share a continuum of thought revolving around the fact that art is of the soul personified in the brush (or knife or whatever). It’s what we do and what we’d keep on doing even if no single person ever saw, or bought, what we create.

I think that’s what any artist I admire would believe.

PS: Marisa’s little watercolor of a ship on the Columbia River is now in my home. It makes me happy.

Here’s the little painting I did of Art by the River at Camp Kalama.

My pictures of Art by the River at Camp Kalama