First Friday Fine Art Shows

Bend Oregon Art Walk. Split shifts between Volcano Vineyards and Pandora’s Backpack.

I’m pleased to announce that I will be in downtown Bend, Oregon for the First Friday Art Walk from approximately 5-9PM this Friday, March 5th.  I will start the evening at the Volcano Vineyards Tasting Room located at 126 NW Minnesota St I’ll be there from approximately 5-7PM.

The walls of the Volcano Vineyards Tasting Room festooned with beautiful Photography!

The walls of the Volcano Vineyards Tasting Room festooned with beautiful Photography!

At 7Pm I’ll move to Pandora’s Backpack which is located just around the corner at 920 NW Bond St where I’ll reside from approximately 7-9pm.

Patagonia by Pandora's Backpack located at 920 NW Bond St. in Bend, Or

Patagonia by Pandora's Backpack located at 920 NW Bond St. in Bend, Or

I’ll have some of my best work displayed at these locations so please stop by.

Volcano will have their always stellar wines available for a very fair price and the Pandora’s Backpack will have their always awful wine available for free!  It should be noted that while Rod Bien’s(owner of Pandora’s Backpack) taste in wine has been know to make winos gag, they do have a beautiful collection of Patagonia clothing that will make any outdoor enthusiast giddy with excitement.

miling and helpful staff members, like Whitney, seen above, will be available to serve you some semi-toxic wine tomorrow(3/5/10) at Pandora's Backpack

smiling and helpful staff members, like Whitney, seen above, will be available to serve you some semi-toxic wine tomorrow(3/5/10) at Pandora's Backpack

Please stop by for good or bad wine and hopefully great Photography!  Below is a small sampling of the work I will have available.

Mt. Washington at sunrise.

Mt. Washington at sunrise.

Photograph of Shevlin Park in Autumn.

Photograph of Shevlin Park in Autumn.

Photo of a beautiful sunrise from one of Oregon's most photogenic locations, Central Oregon's Sparks Lake.

Photo of a beautiful sunrise from one of Oregon's most photogenic locations, Central Oregon's Sparks Lake.

Sunrise on Central Oregon's Broken Top Mountain with a wildflower filled foreground.

Sunrise on Central Oregon's Broken Top Mountain with a wildflower filled foreground.

Please stop by as it should be a great evening!

All the Best,

Mike Putnam


First Friday Art Walk at my newest Bend Art Gallery: Volcano Vineyards Tasting Room

The First First Friday Art Walk for February 2010 is almost upon us and I’d like to officially invite everyone to the Volcano Vineyards Tasting room located at 126 NW Minnesota St(between Bond St and Wall St.) in Downtown Bend.  I’ll be there Friday February 5th between 5PM and 9PM and my Fine Art Photographs will be hanging there through March 2010.  I will have several new fine art photographs on display and the Quons will be playing as well, which should make for an entertaining evening.

Interior of the Volcano Vineyards Tasting room in Downtown Bend, Oregon

Interior of the Volcano Vineyards Tasting room in Downtown Bend, Oregon

As the First Friday art walk for downtown Bend was cancelled for January( because it was on New Years Day) This Art Walk for February should be especially busy and exciting.  Below is another shot of the interior of The Volcano Tasting Room with some of my fine art landscape photographs on the walls.

My fine art photographs hanging at the Volcano Vineyards mothership in downtown Bend.

My fine art photographs hanging at the Volcano Vineyards mothership in downtown Bend.

Finally one last shot of the lovely and affable Liz Ratcliff who along with her husband, Scott, is the owner and operator of Volcano.  If you see Liz on Friday night, buy a glass of their amazing Syrah and tell her the landscape photography looks stunning!

Liz Ratcliff of Volcano Vineyards fame!

Liz Ratcliff of Volcano Vineyards fame!

I hope to see some of you Friday Night At Volcano! Come enjoy the Great Wine, Great Music and Great photography at my newest fine art photography gallery in downtown Bend!

Thanks for Visiting,

Mike Putnam


Oregon Landscape Photography, Three Fingered Jack at its Best.

Last summer, My wife ,Debbie, My Daughter, Emma and I made what has become an annual overnight pilgrimage to one of my favorite camping locations, Canyon Creek Meadows, at the base of Central Oregon’s Three Fingered Jack Mountain.  I visit this location at least once per summer because it is beautiful, relatively easy to access, and I always find some interesting photographic scenery.  Three Fingered Jack is itself a gorgeous mountain which has colorful volcanic striations decorating its rocky towers.  Canyon Creek Meadows, located on the eastern flank of Three Fingered Jack always has a strong wildflower display and in some years it is stunning.  This year(2009) was definitely a stunning year.  The Lupine meadows were the best I’ve seen in the 10 years I’ve been hiking to this phenomenal location.

Picture of Canyon Creek Meadow and Three Fingered Jack in the Oregon Cascades

Picture of Canyon Creek Meadow and Three Fingered Jack in the Oregon Cascades

As a Bend Oregon photographer, this location is a must see.  I certainly can’t promise that the flowers will be as stunning as they are in the picture seen above, but even if the oregon wildflowers aren’t blooming, the scenery is breath taking.  I will introduce a fine art print of the landscape photograph seen above on the first Friday in January at the Volcano Vineyards Tasting room located on 126 Minnesota St in Downtown Bend, Oregon.  I hope to see some of you there!  Scott and Liz, the owners, and operators of Volcano Vineyards, are funny,smart, and talented people who have the courage to operate a winery out of the high desert town of Bend.  They wouldn’t know it until now but they are my heros!  I’d love to have a winery business, but I’ve never had their bravery, or wine crafting talent for that matter.  If you are a wine connoisseur and find yourself in Bend, you should definitely stop in and have a glass.  I recommend their Syrah, it is firm but elegant, and my favorite!  OK, enough about the good folks at Volcano Vineyards.

My new large format camera logo!

My new photography logo!

The following image of Three Fingered Jack was also taken with my large format camera on this trip with Debbie and Emma, which is now pictured in my logo and hopefully as a favicon to the left of the URL in your browser right now.

This fine art print can currently be viewed at Pandora’s Backpack in Downtown Bend.  I hope Rod, Mo and company won’t be mad that I’m changing venues for a month!  It is a rare occasion in which I can capture more than one image in the same trip that is worthy of making a fine art print.  Well, I guess that these two fine art prints are a testament to how beautiful Canyon Creek Meadows was this year!

Picture/photo of Sunrise on Oregon's Three Fingered Jack

Picture/photo of Sunrise on Oregon's Three Fingered Jack

I’ve got a couple more fine art prints to introduce over the next week, so please stay tuned for some beautiful new Oregon Landscape Photography!

As Always,

Thanks For Visiting,

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

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

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

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.


First Friday Art Show- 12/5/08

 

   Hi everybody I know this is short notice but I’ve put together a rather impromptu show for the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Bend which is of course tomorrow night from 5:00-8:00PM (12/5/08).  My work will be at Pandora’s Backpack(the Patagonia Store)  at 920 NW Bond Street.  Please stop by if you are out and about for the evening.  I’ll have several new images available that I’ve never shown before.  Some of which are seen below.
Broken Top Basin

Broken Top Basin

This image I just had printed in a 30×50 size and framed in my standard homemade cherrywood frame.  The mounting and matting was done by David and his crew at Art on the Go, as usual, they did an excellent job!  This image looks great and I haven’t been this excited about new work in quite some time.
The next image is one that has appeared on this blog before but that I’ve never shown in the past.   

Deschutes River in Autumn

Deschutes River in Autumn

The above image was taken near the Deschutes River Trail just south of Bend.  The next photo, also never shown before is of Mt. Bachelor taken from the Three Sisters Wilderness Area.  This is the most dense stand of Indian Paintbrush that I’ve found in the Bend area.  I also like how the small cloud cap adds another element to the composition.

Mt. Bachelor and Indian Paintbrush

Mt. Bachelor and Indian Paintbrush

I’ll have lots of other work there for the show so please stop by and say Hello if you are in the area.  I hope to see you there.
Mike