My work is inspired by forms and textures of landscapes and riverscapes. For me there is a wonderful connection between the meditative and conscious aspects of fly-fishing and the act of painting itself. As well as the obvious inspirational connection, they share similar processes of observation and execution. In fishing, one is immersed in a river environment subconsciously absorbing its different elements of light and movement, color and form, waterflow and weather, while also making direct observations of the aquatic life of the trout and their food sources, patterns of behavior, all in the context of a larger landscape.
In painting, I begin by visualizing an image out of this stored information. The process then becomes a balance between reflection or meditation on the stages of work, absorbing the work in progress and then deciding on the next step or layer on the way to a complete work. Not only knowing when to stop, but recognizing a surprising change of direction, requires a mindful presence. The paintings complete the process and mirror the experience, becoming another meditation. I work strictly from memory, and I try to create a collage of ideas about a place rather than a specific view. The pieces change for me and become different perspectives. Whether it be a topographical or a “river” image I think the paintings are open ended enough for other viewers’ associations.
As a painter, I’m interested in these images as an expression of my relationship to them, a visualization on canvas of my joys, anxieties and explorations, the mortality and the continuity and change in these forces. In this process I experience a balance between these wild places and my urban life, the paintings are mirrors of necessary experience in the wilderness. I’ve always been interested in the “process,” to know a place well enough to paint an intuitive imaginary image of it but also to transcend the aesthetic, to explore the mystery and the relationship between the intuitive gesture, one’s feelings, and decisive actions. Not unlike I suppose the Zen notion of “mind,” it is a meditation on naturalness, spontaneity, and the relativity of change.
Selected Works and Publications
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2003
Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID2001
Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Robert Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA1998
Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID1995
Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID1991
Harleen and Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA1989
Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID1988
Dubins Gallery, Los Angeles, CA1987
Harleen and Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA1986
Dubins Gallery, Los Angeles, CA1984
Allrich Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Dubins Gallery, Los Angeles, CA1983
Ochi Gallery, Boise, ID
Boise State University, Boise, ID1980
Page Gallery, San Francisco, CA1978
Allrich Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA1975
Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA1974
Crafton Hills College, San Bernardino, CA
University of California, Santa Barbara, CA1973
Cate School Art Galleries, Carpinteria, CA -
2020
Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA2019
Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA2016
Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA2014
Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA2012
Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA2010
Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA2009
Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito CA2005
Robert Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA2004
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA2002
Robert Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA1998
Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID1997
Herret Museum, College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID1996
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA1993
Harleen and Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA1992
Harleen and Allen fine Art, San Francisco, CA1989
Harleen and Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA1988
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA1987
Lakeview Museum of Art, Peoria, Ill.1985
Dubins Gallery, Los Angeles, CA1984
Sun Valley Center Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Lawson Galleries, San Francisco, CA1982
Allrich Gallery, San Francisco, CA1981
Allrich Gallery, San Francisco, CA1980
Page Gallery, San Francisco, CA1979
Allrich Gallery, San Francisco CA1977
Hoover Gallery, San Francisco, CA1976
Hoover Gallery, San Francisco, CA -
AT&T
New York, NYBroad, Khourie & Schulz
San Francisco,CAOr-Ida Corp.
Boise, IDMoana Corp.
HawaiiOak Investment Partners
Palo Alto, CAOlympic Venture Partners
Palo Alto, CASonoma Mission Inn
Sonoma , CAIBM
San Francisco, CAUPSIDE
Stockholm, SwedenPavilion-Inter Continental Hotel
SingaporeCharles Swerz & Associates
New York, NYHughes Aircraft Corp.
Los Angeles, CASan Jose Museum of Art
San Jose, CAPalm Springs Desert Museum
Palm Springs, CALakeview Museum of Art
Peoria, CAPortman Hotel
San Francisco, CAHitachi Corp.
San Jose, CATandem Computer Corp.
New York,NYCarter,Hawley, Hale
Los Angeles, CAPepper, Hamilton and Sheetz
Los Angeles, CAWestinghouse Corp.
San Francisco, CAWilson, Sansini, Goodrich and Rosati
Palo Alto, CASt. John and Cravett
San Francisco, CAConrad Hilton Hotel
Chicago, IllHighlands Inn
Carmel, CAGrosvenor International
San Francisco, CAArnel Development Corp
Santa Ana, CANational Intercity Bank
Santa Clara, CAOki Semiconductor
Santa Clara,CAIndustrial Bank of Japan
San Francisco, CA -
“Arts and Artists”
Santa Barbara News Press (January 27, 1974)“Arts and Artists, Williams Exhibit”
Santa Barbara New Press (February 1, 1975)“Museum Here Will Feature a Native Son”
Palm Springs Desert Sun (January 10, 1978)“Shedding Some Light on Art”
San Francisco Chronicle (July 14, 1978)“Landscape References”
Artweek (February 6, 1982)“Williams’ Art-Water, Rock Images”
Boise Statesman ( February, 1983)“Views of The Land”
Artweek (March 10, 1984)“Eclectic, Lakeview Museum Show”
Peoria Journal Star (July 17, 1988)“Painting and the Zen of Fly-Fishing”
Brentwood Magazine (Summer 1997)