Robert Gamblin, Oil Painter
Lives in: Portland, OR
Art Discipline: Oil Paint
Tell us about your background as an artist.
I am a landscape painter. My work begins with oil sketches done along the Willamette River or mountain valleys around Portland, Oregon. My paintings only begin in the landscape. I complete them in my studio where I transform the initial image into the kind of painting I want to do. Outside, I represent the colors of the natural world I see. Once inside, I add high chroma modern colors to charge the landscape with emotion.
How did you get started? Have you always been interested in art?
As a student in the 1960s, I was part of the radical reinvention of art. I participated in filmmaking, mural painting and other group art-making activities. Soon after starting my MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute, I simply fell in love with painting. With my dog, Juliet, I wandered through Golden Gate Park painting the natural world. My small “hand held” landscape paintings looked pretty odd next to the large format expressionist paintings of my peers. I soon dropped out of school and became a full time painter, but it was too much pressure. As most people in our industry know, few painters make a living making art.
What inspires you as an artist?
Why does the world look unremarkable until you slightly turn your head? How does that act change the angle of view enough so you see the sunlight burst across a lake? How does a cloud moving across a hillside alter the sense of a place so we are suddenly filled with awe? Those mysteries fascinate me and compel me to paint. I want to translate the light that reaches our eyes from these mysterious moments. Using oil painting materials, I want to bring the essence of that light into our lives.
What are some of the ways you promote and sell your artwork?
I am a gallery painter. I paint for the Froelick Gallery in Portland Oregon and Michael Martin Galleries in San Francisco. Also, my son built me a lively web page so I can show off my paintings: http://www.robertgamblinstudio.com. But I rely on my galleries to show my work.
