The best painting I ever did will be the next one I do.

That afternoon I noticed the cloud formations were ideal for a fireworks sunset. I put my gear in the truck and grabbed two large panels. I already knew which one I would use. The place I had in mind would be about a one hour drive. I pulled up on top of the hill and wasted no time in setting up. I tied the easel to the truck so if there was wind my panel wouldn’t become a kite. I began mixing large piles of warm and cool oil on my glass palette because I knew when the time came I would have to apply lots of paint fast. I finished and figured I had about an hour before the real light show would begin. I started building my composition of foreground and middle ground shapes using a large flat brush and quickly punched in the impressions of the landscape as it lay out before me. I knew I needed to keep my values dark because I wanted to capture the light as it would play after the sun went down. But the sky would be my main focus for this painting. As soon as the sun dropped over that ridge I would only have minutes to capture those colors. When the sun started dropping over those worn down mountains I put down the brush and picked up a large palette knife and began mixing and applying lots of paint and the sky began moving across my panel. I brought some of those amazing sky colors down as highlights on to those beautiful ridges and plains below.

I step back a lot to look at the over all painting as it is unfolding and try to pick an area to either leave as it is or add to it. These actions are made consciously it would seem at the time but afterword looking at what minutes before was a blank panel it feels as though something beyond the self is at work. At that moment you become immersed in the present, combined with all you see and so very humbled by creation and your attempt to imply with pigment what Light has already stated before you even had a thought about how you might copy it.

I drove away that evening thinking I had come as close to capturing the essences of a sunset as I ever had. Then I remembered what a friend painter once said.

“The best painting I ever did will be the next one I do”.

Oil on panel plein air 24 x 48 (sold into a private collection 2004) artist: Len Sodenkamp

Food for thought

Plein air oil on framed panel 24 x 40 inches by Len Sodenkamp

The top image is a plein air study from a few weeks ago wile on location in the Saw Tooth Mountains of Idaho. Deeply influenced by my surrounding on a beautiful warm fall afternoon I was impressed to paint all that was before me. It was like a cornucopia of delicious foods and I wanted to eat every thing in sight. I thought by subordinating the foreground it might allow the viewer to move more easily into those amazing light filled peaks off in the distance. Was I successful?


The bottom image is a crop taken from the same painting removing the foreground information. Simplification of subject mater especially when painting plein air can sometimes produce powerful impressions. My point being; which painting makes the strongest statement?
Knowing how much information to depict and when to stop painting is always a big?

Happy painting,

Len Sodenkamp

Fall colors in mid day light

Fall color in mid day light,

For years I practiced not using color straight from the tube; that is to say no white or neutralizing. Needless to say you can find your self in unfamiliar territory using full strength pigment especially with a limited primary palette. Taking the path less traveled invites the possibility of becoming lost. Most of us can recall the feeling of being lost and how humbling it is. Life teaches us to avoid unpleasantness and to stay in our safe zone. So should one not stand metaphorically on the last rung of the ladder and reach out for once thought unreachable fruit?

Fall color in mid day light was painted on location 9-27-11 at Fisher Creek Saw Tooth Mountains of Idaho. Palette: cobalt blue, cad red, cad yellow light and medium.

Oil on framed panel 24 x 24 inches plein air (fall color in mid day light) by Len Sodenkamp www.sodenkampart.com

The Saw Tooth Mountains of Idaho

Visiting an old friend,

The Saw Tooth Mountains live up to their name sake and of all the mountain ranges I have gazed upon these are among my favorites. To make it even better they are only a wonderful three hours scenic drive from our front door.

The painting below was done in 2005 from a place we try to visit at least once a year. Like an old friend this particular view is waiting to pose another spectacular fall sun rise or sun set. I can recall painting from this spot at least a dozen times in the last 6 years and never tire of painting it again and again. Saw Tooth Sun Rise was acquired by close friends of our family; Idaho born folks who grew up playing in the amazing Stanley Basin wonderland.

The little western town of Stanley Idaho is nestled at the base of the majestic Saw Tooth’s on the beautiful pristine Salmon River. Log cabins are available with decks overlooking the water and my wife Elaine made our reservations. We are both looking forward to time away from the city and a peaceful respite. I plan to paint every day and she will keep me company wile catching up on some reading. The air will be crisp with fall colors and we do love aspens this time of year. I sound like a travel brochure but in defense of my ramblings one must be there to appreciate how modern times have not spoiled this wonderful place.

Happy fall,

Peace to you all,

Len Sodenkamp
www.sodenkampart.com



Oil on framed panel (Saw Tooth Sun Rise) 52 inches x 16 inches by artist Len Sodenkamp (sold)

Ten Years Ago Idaho

1966 at age eighteen just out of high school I made a bold move to beautiful but often soggy Seattle. Twenty one years later I was very happy to be living in shall I say somewhat dryer Idaho? Another twenty three years swiftly passed and today my love of painting Idaho can be found hanging on more then a few walls. I decided to take a nostalgic look back ten years and so selected this panoramic landscape of a spring morning painted in 2001. It typifies the volcanic formations of an amazing area appropriately named; The Magic Valley. In this region of Idaho the meandering Snake River flows through deep wide canyons and lush valleys. I often use the long narrow format because it helps accentuate vastness. From this vantage point a viewer might get the impression of looking at a desolate deserted land. Perhaps our best kept secrete.

I do find it helpful to look back at my older works as it provides insight for the creative journey forward. At times when feeling unmotivated a little reminiscing can be just the thing to rekindle a creative spark.

Happy reminiscing,

Len Sodenkamp
www.sodenkampart.com



Acrylic on panel 48 inches x 12 inches by Len Sodenkamp
(part of the artist’s private collection)

Summer Light at Night

Summer Light at Night,

Some might say this reminds me of the black light stuff from the seventies; call me an old hippie, I loved it then and still do. Andy’s soup can paintings blew us away and reminded artists of the day that art is bought for many reasons including chicken noodle soup. www.artbrokerage.com/artist/Andy-Warhol
Mr. Warhol would no doubt shudder at my comparison but perhaps Vincent www.vangoghgallery.com might have approved the use of rare earth phosphorus had he come across it. Starry Night speaks volumes about how night light intrigued Van Gogh and no doubt invaded his dreams.

Phosphorus can be extended into both acrylic and oil vehicles to produce dramatic effects when different types of lights or the lack there of are introduced. When painting with phosphorus; light in a manor of speaking becomes fluid on the palette. Working in a dark room environment the artist is actually painting in the dark. Each artist will of course take creative license as to how this process will unfold for them and as artists we must intuitively know that what we paint is LIGHT. Speaking purely for my self I readily seize every opportunity to explore LIGHT from any and all possible perspectives least of all light at night.

Happy night painting,

Len Sodenkamp
www.sodenkampart.com

Summer Light at Night 24 x 30 inches acrylic and phosphorus on box panel Lights On-Lights Off Series by Len Sodenkamp
As viewed in the dark with lights off and the introduction of a small amount of diffused black light.

Night Flowers

Night Flowers,

Some times I paint the same way I cook, what ever is in the fridge goes in the pot. A stew can be a wonderful meal of acquired ingredients all mixed together in a great tasting sauce. Pulling out old painting techniques and combining materials with dust on their lids can taste wonderful to the soul. Revisiting the first time you tried this or that stimulates warm creative feelings. It’s a lot like the feeling of bumping into an old friend and realizing how much you missed them.

I tend to paint in series of works or variations on a theme; so looking back five years I see strong interesting elements no longer being used in my current work. This is unfortunate because those dormant techniques could perhaps work very well in my next painting.

Yesterday I ran into several old friends and had great time painting Night Flowers.

Happy reunion painting,

Len Sodenkamp
www.sodenkampart.com
Acrylic on box panel 12 x 21 inches by Len Sodenkamp