Acrylic paint and ceramic tile

Work for sale

The world is an incredibly beautiful place. I choose to paint landscapes because they remind my viewers of this, and they remind me. They make me pay attention. Each image recalls time in the mountains, on the trails, or at the beach. Seeing mountains for the first time was more like a religious conversion for me than anything else that’s ever happened to me, and while I have a crush on all mountains, Mount Rainier is my true love. I’ve always been a painter. I started painting in oils when I was eight, and I wanted to be Thomas Moran when I grew up. After 50 years in ceramics, I have returned even more to my painting roots, this time using acrylic paint. I like the quick drying time of acrylic paint, and enjoy trying to make acrylic paint do things it doesn’t really want to do, such as depict mist or clear water. It’s hard to describe the pure visceral joy of making marks, but part of it is the joy of returning to exactly what I wanted to do when I was ten years old. It really is like being a kid again.

Paul has a BFA (art) and an MFA (ceramics) from University of Montana, and has been an artist all his life, and started painting in oils when he was 8. He has made his living primarily in ceramics, first for 20 years as a potter, and since 1986, doing ceramic tile murals. Since 2009, he has also painted with acrylics, primarily landscapes, but also animals and portraits. He is the author of "China Paint & Overglaze", and has taught workshops in all 50 states, and currently teaches glaze chemistry at Kirkland Arts Center.

Paul moved to Shoreline in 2011. It took 5 years for his wife to convince him to leave Wallingford, and he would only move if he got his dream studio. This is it.

Paul has been an outdoorsman all his life. Earlier in his life he was a mule packer and horse wrangler in Montana. His landscape paintings often feature scenes far from roads, and he loves to share stories with fellow hikers and backpackers.

The studio is fully handicapped accessible.