Lockwood Dennis Describes Selected Paintings
Note: A description of a selection of paintings by Lockwood Dennis was presented by the artist at a public lecture at Northwind Art Center, Port Townsend, WA in April of 2012. The presentation as written here is based on notes from that lecture.
For me, my painting began with trying to recall my Peace Corp trip to Africa. We were living in Wapato (Eastern Washington), so I painted our surroundings there in much the same way as Africa. I first painted Port Townsend when some friends invited us to house sit for them and introduced us to many good friends here. When we moved to Port Townsend in 1975, we were living at Fort Worden and I painted from sketches of the gun emplacement bunkers and cliffs. I did a lot of water color paintings with artist Bill Nelson around town and out on the coast (La Push). I used the lithography printing studio of J. Albers to produce 245 editions. And then friend and University of Washington professor Michael Spafford got me started on woodblock prints which I continued to do after we move to our current house in 1990. I did 385 editions of 20 or more each. This changed the paintings a lot, for better or worse. The important thing for me is making a space you can move through. I use places that I find exciting that way. The hills of Africa, Fort Worden, San Francisco, Onomichi; and industrial sites, all of which remind me of where I grew up in Portland. It's about maintaining the mystery of the unexplored.
In the paintings, I work around a center to which everything is related. My wife showed me this in a Monet lily pond on our first date (1960). And I work with layers, based on Cezanne. The subject of my master's of art thesis was about how to conceptualize space in a flat picture with linguistic theory.
In the paintings, I work around a center to which everything is related. My wife showed me this in a Monet lily pond on our first date (1960). And I work with layers, based on Cezanne. The subject of my master's of art thesis was about how to conceptualize space in a flat picture with linguistic theory.
Painting 34: Facing Late Afternoon Sun, TANU office, Ukwama
A circular path with valley. Also a big stretch on perspective. And that is true of everything. Forcing perspective into the plane of the canvas. Learning from Cezanne.
Painting 67: Teacher's House, Magoya (Lake Rukwa)
The foreground into the distance. The merchants in even the smallest towns were East Indian. They invited us to an amazing dinner in their home.
Painting 80: Bulongwa, Distant Hills
Everyone says that in Africa you feel a continent. It still amazes me. These pictures are very emotional for me.
Painting 86: Baldy Mountain, Spring
Unconsciously, this is a classical zig-zag into the center (edge of path, boulders). This is where I got water for the lookout tower in Eastern Oregon.
Painting 99: Brownstown
This is close to a farm where we lived in the Yakima Valley. Later, driving my son to and from college, I sketched and photographed all these towns. But I could not paint them because the receding perspective creates a triangle that cuts out the center. I used white to stop the sideways drift.
Painting 113: Search Light #4, 60"
I accentuated and squared the door to counter the tunnel effect to the searchlight housing.
Painting 122: Battery Stoddard
Centered on a swinging door.
Painting 137: Cliff Over North Beach
Exactly where the beach meets the sea
Painting 149: Barn, San Juan and Discovery Road
This is where things go wrong for me. I wanted to remember Carl's barn before it collapsed, but it completely robs the center, and perspective. I have photographed lots of flat compositions, walls, but I can't paint them.
Painting 207: Dome (Day, Tree)
The tree. But really it is the looming of the Kingdome over a hidden center.
Painting 226: Two Cars, Trolley, Building
This is more implied action. It is the implied motion or relation of the vehicles. Like anime.
Painting 249: Tank Farm
The green edge is the center and gives depth
Painting 268: Fidalgo Island from Mt. Erie
The white in trees is used to give it depth. I tried to make it as simple as possible.
Painting 272: Ferry Departing Edmonds
Here there is a line that hops along the foreground and comes up against a vertical separation. I am using a vertical separation in a lot of my sumi drawings. I work in and out of edges.
Painting 274: Park, Streetcar
I wanted a lot of activity around a dark recess into the park. This is how I remember the many parks in Northwest Portland.
Painting 284: Painting of Paintings #6: LA Views
The paintings seem to shuffle around each other, like getting everybody into a family photo.
Painting 295: Pilings, Duwamish
This has two sides facing each other. I should do more with this arrangement.
Painting 303: Streetcar Cut, Evening Light
One of many paintings of San Francisco. It has a hidden center.
Painting 318: San Francisco Railroad Crossing
Right in the snout. There is no headlight.
Painting 326: Little Barn, Port Townsend
One of many attempts to get to a solution for the problem with Carl's barn (#149)
Painting 410: White Bluffs, Colorado River, from Car Window
Driving by, the land seemed to move like a turntable.
Painting 518: Castle 51
I worked from books of castles, but it was a great way to study architecture and sky. It features in and out of edges, warm parallel with cool. One of many. Each one a new experiment. This was a challenge for my gallery.
Painting 553: Portland, Louis Louis Steam Cleaning
A three chorus line of trees.
