Bend Oregon First Friday Art Hop!
I’ll be showing my fine art prints at Pandora’s Backpack in downtown Bend for the 2009 spring Art Hop on April 3rd. Pandora’s Backpack is located at 920 NW Bond Street, Suite 101 Bend, Oregon. The Spring and the Fall art hops are the most highly promoted and anticipated of the First Friday events in downtown Bend. Typically it is an exciting, festive evening, so please stop by and patronize the arts! Things tend to start to kick off at about 5PM and wrap up at about 9:30 PM. I’ll be there with my fine art prints and, homemade easels a smiling face and a few new images. Below is one of the images I’ll bring along which has been lightly shown but has received rave reviews from the Aspen tree lovers in Oregon.
Aspen grove in fall near skyliner drive west of Bend, Oregon
The pure density of the fall foliage in this aspen grove picture makes it an enjoyable and festive image to view. I’ve always been a huge fan of aspen trees and aspen groves in that they seem to have a special energy. While I won’t divulge exactly where this photo was taken, I’ll tell you that it was taken west of Bend and it probably isn’t where you’d think it is! I’ve searched all around Central Oregon and I had very little luck with aspen groves until I found this scene. If you are an aspen lover, I think you’ll enjoy this photograph. The Next image is one I captured while backpacking along the Broken Top trail with my good friend Old Mike Croxford who is currently on an extensive post retirement road trip. Click here to read more about Old Mike’s Road Trip. Old Mike is a great adventure partner because he can carry a lot of weight, he doesn’t complain, he loves the great outdoors, and because he makes coffee in the morning! I remember how pleased i was to return from taking sunrise shots adjacent to Broken Top Mountain in the Three Sisters Wilderness area and find that not only was Old Mike awake but he’d already made coffee. Excellent!
Picture of spring wildflowers along the flanks of Broken Top in the Central Oregon Cascades
The combination of senecio, red indian paintbrush, and alpine fireweed make a playful wildflower foreground with one of broken Top’s pinnacles as a background. This is a very alpine area where it is difficult to find great flowers like these. I’ve never found an official name for the small glacial lake in the mid-ground of this picture but my friend Dave Nissen of Wanderlust Tours refers to it as No-Name Lake which is as good as an official name as far as I’m concerned. When anybody who is as gifted of a naturalist and as sharp a person as Dave has a name for something, I don’t need any other references. Therefore, my official name for this lake is “No-Name Lake”.
This next picture is a favorite of both my wife and my good friend, Big Todd. It was taken somewhere near Alder Springs Trail Head south east of Sisters, Oregon. I’ll have it at the art hop but my wife will be mad at me until I put it back over her dresser, unless of course I sell it! It is my favorite grouping of Bitterroot blossoms in an area managed by one of my favorite charities, the Deschutes Land Trust. It really is a special area and a great early spring day hike as it is relatively low in elevation and has some diverse and beautiful terrain but if the balsamroot are blooming, please beware because the rattlesnakes are out of their winter hibernation!
Photo of bitterroot blossoms near Alder Springs trailhead in Central Oregon
This final spring art hop preview picture is of one of central Oregon’s favorite locations, Tumalo Falls. I shot this photo with my daughter in a driving rain. Despite the associated gusting winds, the rain was helpful. It served to enhance the saturation of the scene that was already at it’s peak of fall color. despite the fact that one can find hundreds of pictures of Tumalo Falls, this is still my favorite. The combination of color, composition, memories and a long exposure make this photograph a strong representation of a beautiful location.
Picture of Tumalo Falls near Bend, Oregon
Please stop by and say “Hello” if you happen to be out in downtown Bend during the upcoming spring art hop on April 3rd. I’ll have the above fine art prints there as well as many others.
I Hope to see you all there!
Mike Putnam
First Friday Fine Art Photography show at Pandora’s Backpack
I’d like to officially thank Rod Bien of Pandora’s backpack in downtown Bend for hosting my photography show last Friday(3/6/09) The store is great, Rod has always been generous in allowing my huge fine art prints and cumbersome easels to clutter up his store and the staff at Pandora’s backpack is also a great group of people. Mo, Jordan, Thad and everyone who chipped in at last Friday’s art walk. It is very appreciated.
Mt. Bachelor and Red Indian Paintbrush in the Central Oregon Cascades
We had a great turn out and it was especially nice to see some old friends and collectors who I had regrettably lost touch with in the past couple years. Above is one of the many images that are still hanging at Pandora’s backpack which I captured with my large format 4×5 film camera.
For those of you that don’t already know, Pandora’s backpack is according to my understanding a Patagonia concept store. Meaning they are privately owned but carry almost a full line of Patagonia clothing. Perhaps if Rod Bien happens to stumble upon this entry , he could give us some details. Regardless, it is full of high quality, well made outdoor gear from my favorite outdoor company, Patagonia. Old Patagonia catalogs were one of my early photography inspirations. When I lived in Kentucky with my parents, I had a small collection of photos cut out of old Patagonia catalogs taped up next to my spot at the dinner table. It was my happy spot! Back to Pandora’s Backpack. It is a beautiful store with very attractive brick walls and some nice rugged wood details, all of which combine nicely with my large format fine art prints and the hand made cherry wood frames that I create for them.
Lichen covered basalt columns in Central Oregon's High Desert
The above is another one of my fine art photos which is currently hanging at Pandora’s backpack. I captured this image near the alder springs area outside of Sisters, Oregon. I met lots of new Bend residents at the show virtually all of who are living in Bend for the outdoor experiences that are available here. Having the Deschutes River, the high desert, old growth ponderosas, and the Cascade Mountains all within minutes of each other and minutes of Downtown Bend make this an amazing place for me to live.
Middle Sister, North Sister, Mt Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mt. Jefferson as seen from Tam McArthur Rim
This is yet another fine art image hanging at Pandora’s backpack and yet another reason I feel lucky to live and work in Central Oregon. An endless supply of beautiful photography subjects and some amazing sunsets are nothing to complain about. The above photograph was taken from Tam McArthur Rim high on the flanks of Central Oregon’s Broken Top Mountain in the Oregon Cascades. The sunset was clearly stunning but the view is always grand from this location. From left to right are Middle Sister, North Sister, Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mt. Jefferson. It is truly an amazing volcanic viewpoint.
If any of you are interested in seeing more of my work in person, please stop by Pandora’s backpack where my work is semi-permanently displayed. It is located at the On Bond street in the St. Clair building in downtown Bend.
Central Oregon Photography Fundraiser
Every February for the past several years, I submit one of my fine art prints to the annual photography fundraiser for the Family Resource Center of Bend, Oregon. It is an outstanding event which raises lots of operating capital for this noble charity. The event was previously held at the Riverhouse until last year when it was moved to the convention center at the Riverhouse. For more specific information about the Family Resource center and their annual photography auction please visit their website at Family Resource Center.
The FRC’s annual fine art photography auction is rumored to be the largest auction focused entirely on photography on the entire West Coast. The event has traditionally held both a silent auction and a live auction. It is traditionally quite an honor to be juried into the prestigious live auction. This is my 4th year to submit a fine art photography print. In the three previous years, my fine art prints have been juried into the live auction. I haven’t heard back yet about this year but I like my chances as I submitted an image that is local, recognizable and very attractive. This years fine art print submission is pictured below.
Fine Art Print of Broken Top Mountain and a flower filled meadow.
This picture of Central Oregon’s Broken Top Mountain is my favorite to date. The scene is simply over flowing with wildflowers in the foreground meadow and the warm morning light accenting Broken Top’s summit is intensified by the wispy clouds floating around the summit pinnacles. To find this many flowers in a Central Oregon Mountain scene is rare but it is also becoming a photographic speciality of mine. As I mentioned, this year’s fine art print has not yet been juried so I’m not yet certain that this image will be present in the live auction but that doesn’t stop me from being optimistic.
I’ll not step back in time and give a bit of person history about the FRC auction. My first year with the local pros such as Bruce Jackson, and Loren Irving who does a great deal of work on behalf of the FRC I nervously submitted the following sunset photo of South Sister as seen reflected in the glassy waters of Sparks Lake.
Fine Art photo of South Sister reflected in the calm waters of Sparks Lake during a beautiful sunset.
Despite the fact that this image has some stunning color, and captures a beautiful scene, I was very nervous about submitting it to the FRC for jurying. It was at that time my most stunning large Format fine art print. What if it wasn’t good enough? Well, it was and it sold very well but unfortunately I don’t know who ended up buying that particular print. this is unfortunate because I wanted to thank my new collector and I’ve never been able to do that. If anyone happens to know who ended up buying that fine art print please contact me! The following year I submitted the following fine art print of Central Oregon’s Tumalo Falls in Autumn.
Fine Art photo of Tumalo Falls in autumn near Bend, Oregon
I captured this fall image of Tumalo Falls with my daughter Emma by my side. We’d just finished a day hike together under rainy skies and I realized that the combination of heavy rain and fall color along Tumalo Falls and Tumalo Creek might make for an interesting photograph so we drove to the most iconic waterfall in the Central Oregon area. It was raining and blowing hard but the scene was beautiful. I fought with rain spots on my lenses for quite some time as my large format camera isn’t the speediest photography tool available. I captured many different compositions as I realized that the combination of setting, light and color was special. My little Emma was actually instrumental in keeping my equipment dry during what developed into a rare Central Oregon downpour. This ended up being my favorite of many good images from that day. For another cropped version of this image, please visit our stock photography blog at Pacific Crest Stock and browse the collection of waterfalls, lakes and streams images. Unfortunately, Debbie and I weren’t able to attend the auction that year because we took Emma to Disney Land which Emma probably enjoyed more than the fine art auction or getting drenched with me at Tumalo Falls! When I returned I got a congratulatory call from a fellow photographer who was Impressed with how much that photo sold for and how exciting it must have been for me! I believe that years total netted the Family Resource Center $3,500 which is exciting indeed. I think the excitement from my Tumalo Falls photo helped garner some extra attention for my work around Bend. The next year I was asked to be the featured artist of the event and the following fine art print was the featured print for the Auction.
Fine Art Photo of Mount Jefferson from the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness area of Central Oregon
Being the featured artist for an event that I once was nervous about being juried into was of course a tremendous honor. The same Mt. Jefferson photo seen above is also to be featured on the cover of the soon to be released Visit Bend Central Oregon guide. I recently recounted that honor on our stock photography blog at Pacific Crest Photo Blog.
If any of you have an interest in top quality fine art photography, please visit the Family Resource Center’s website listed at the top of this entry. I’d also like to give a special recognition to Debbie Spicer of Eastlake Framing. She does all of the framing and much of the organizing for this event which is a huge time and monetary commitment. I suspect this event would not be possible without her time and effort. If you happen to go to the FRC photography auction, think Broken Top, bid early, bid often and bid high!
If you have any interest in licensing any of these images for editorial or advertising purposes please visit our stock photography site, Pacific Crest Stock . If you are interested in purchasing any of my fine art prints of these images, please contact me via the contact info at the top of this website’s home page.
Oregon Cascade Mountain Gallery
High Desert Print Gallery
Trees and Wildflower Prints Gallery
Rivers, Lakes and Waterfalls Gallery
All content © 2010 by Mike Putnam Photography