William Clarkson

                             Recent Paintings and Sculptures

wclarkson@sbcglobal.net

near to the heart  18”x36”  2024

Conciousness, 18”x36”, 2023

Bend in the river18”x36”, 2022

Past - Present 24”x48”, 2021

Valley view 18”x36”,2022

Landscape # 6, 18”x36” 2023

Behold, 24”x48”

Fusion, 18”x36”2021

Watching, 20”x34”, 2021

Elegy for the Ukraine, 24”x48” 2022

Backroad,17”x 28”,2019

The Road to th Sea, 17”x 28”

the Fire road, 22”x28”

Landscape #5 17”x28”

Truth & Consequences, 16”x20”

Truth & Consequences #2, 16”x20”

Truth & Consequences #3, 16”x20”

He said, She said,24”x48”

Bodies at rest, 24”x48”

the Cocktail Party, 11.5”x20”2016

 The dazzle paintings

based upon a fragment of an image enlarged 3200%

Dazzle 1, 36”x60”

Dazzle 2, 36”x60”

Dazzle 3, 36”x60”

Dazzle 4, 48”x48”,2016

Dazzle 5, 48” x 48”

Life in the Hollywood Hills, 28”x 102”, oil on canvas

                                        Cloud paintings

When i was five years old in 1944.I remember looking up at at the blue sky with scattered puffy clouds. 

 I imagined seeing a squadron of Army Air Force B-17s heading towards Europe.

Ever since then I have been fascinated by clouds and have made many cloud paintings beginning in 1973 to the present. Here are some of them

  Lake Michigan Clouds  36”x60”,oil on canvas,1973

Cloud Reflection 48”x48”

Cloud reflection 2

Clouds on Blue

popcorn clouds, 36”x36”

Betwixt and Between #2, 27”x 92” oil on canvas 2017, revised 2023

Betwixt and Between 25”x92”

           Wave structures

I have always been intrigued by wave shapes 

and wanted to render the shape as implied motion.

wave 1,16” x 15” x 3” lacquer on foam core

wave 4,24” x 48”, lacquer on MDF

wave 5,24” x 42”, lacquer on MDF

wave 3 24” x 42”, lacquer on plywood

waves 6 & 7, 23” x 48”, varnish on plywood

Neue Wave 27X38”

Wave No. 9  24x48” Varnish on  Plywood

The Joshua Tree paintings

For many years my partner Doris and I have visited the Joshua TreeNational Park and other deserts in California. We love the desert and its vast sense of scale.

first Joshua Tree visit, 20 x28”

Cholla Garden No. 2, 18”x24”

Family Reunion, 36”x 60”

 Territorial Dispute 24”x36”

cactus protected souls, 18’ x 28”

Souls at Rest, 10” x16”, oil on MDF

Cholla Garden 1, 18” x 24”

the Death Valley paintings

Shortly after arriving in back in LA in 1998, Doris and I made a trip to Death Valley which inspire the following series of paintings.

Death valley 1, 24”x48”oil on masonite,1998

Death valley 2, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998

Death valley 4, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998

Looking East, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998

Death Valley with water 24”x48” oil on masonite,

Zebrieskie Point, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998

September, 24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998

Nightlight,24”x48”oil on masonite, 1998

Internal landscapes

Green Matter, 36”x60” oil on canvas,2004

view from the Train, 36”x60” oil on canvas,2004

Looking West,24”x48” oil on Masonite, 1998

upon waking 14”x48” oil on Masonite,2004

 Landscapes

I have now been drawing and painting for 70 years and while I have explored various styles and media forms I always return to landscape images.


California Hills, 22” x 28”, 1998

Park at Northwestern,16” x 20,1995

Carol’s Garden,16” x 20,1995

Evanston Garden,16” x 20,1995

Shakespere’s Garden, 18”x24”, 1995

my front yard, 16”x28”, 2000

Memory of Tuscany, 48” x 72”, 2010

Night time LA, 18” x 24”,2002

Santa Monica View, 24” x 48”2016

the washing stone,16”x24”.2016

the Dingle peninsula, Ireland,12”x24”,2016

Our backyard, 16”x20:, 2010

Yard view 16”x 20” 2023

Garden #4  16”x20”  2023

The Yard,14”x24”  2016

The Garden Path 60”x72”  2021

the waves   2016-2024

Garden Path #2  60”x72” 2022

Second wave, 48”x21”x5”, Eurostyle plywood, 2016 

 neue wave  38”x 27”x 5”, foam, resin,paint 2024

Green wave 32”x 23” x 5” foam, canvas, paint  2024

Vortex  24”x 24”   foam, paint  2016

Stripes 1, 48”x48”, 1976

 Hard edge paintings

In the 1970’s I was making hard edge paintings.

Stripes 2, 48”x48”, 1976

Stripes 3, 48”x48”, 1976

Artist’s statement

For me it’s always been about color and the movement, implied of course but seeking a musical like animation on a two dimensional plane.This impulse has taken me on a number of different paths, collage, sculpture and video. I always return to paint, oil based paint specifically, which allows me to paint and blendthe painted surface for several days. I paint because I love the physical process of applying it as though it was a sort of a secret cement and I was making a two dimensional object. 

The western landscape is my recurring subject of choice. Currently I am making a series of paintings based upon a formal symmetry yet subtle enough that It does not dominate the viewing experience.


William Clarkson, August 2022