Colin Turner

Memorial Garden

In 1992, when I was a college senior, the internet hadn’t even crested my conceptual horizon. I could have had no idea that, almost three decades later, I would be an accidental blogger (I only joined WordPress to get a website). Back then, as a twenty-two-year-old art student, I had created a final photography projectContinue reading “Memorial Garden”

Precedent

For two weeks now, I haven’t completed a drawing. To keep from wasting illustration board (it isn’t cheap), I had to erase a couple of false starts. Maintaining a positive attitude, along with learning to cope with my compromised dexterity, is a challenge. A larger project would help me stay focused. The last few wereContinue reading “Precedent”

Words About Images

I still keep a few announcements in a cigar box in our office. They remind me of the last time that I had fully committed to having a gallery show. The paintings were almost abstract although with a depth that suggested fantastical landscapes. What bothered me at the opening reception was how many people wantedContinue reading “Words About Images”

Gold Hill House

Last week, Google Maps had worked. Why not use “Street View”, I had thought, to go on a virtual road trip and draw what I saw? Although it was a decent idea, the details were vague. As it turns out, a closer look means relying on other material. A specific style of architecture, Queen Anne,Continue reading “Gold Hill House”

Street View

I’m exploring a sloppier style. Some results are better. Some are worse. I did try a new idea, though. It involved taking a virtual road trip by way of Google Maps. I can use “Street View” wherever I decide to go, look around, stop and draw what I want. Travel is rare these days soContinue reading “Street View”

Overdue

Shortly after I moved to Oregon fifteen years ago, my dad and his wife (at the time) paid us a visit where my wife (at the time) and I had settled down. Some sightseeing was in order. We drove to Golden, a ghost town north of Grants Pass. Afterwards, we stopped off for lunch atContinue reading “Overdue”

The Ghost Within

In March of 2020, I finished illustrating my third novel, IMAGE. Seventeen of the pictures were of antiques, the eighteenth of nothing at all. It took almost a year for me to complete another sketch: a sloppy rendering of a car. I needed to learn to get the chaos under control. With that accomplished, IContinue reading “The Ghost Within”

The First to Work

I had started and discarded twenty sketches or more by the time that I finally finished one. It happened a couple of weeks ago. Until then, none were perfect and that’s where I had gotten discouraged, wadded each up and thrown it away. In the interest of simply filling the page, I saw the finalContinue reading “The First to Work”

Acceptance

I can’t draw or paint like I could once. That’s how it goes. I need to accept what I can’t change. For now, the doctor says that the best thing for me is exercise. In Oregon, spectacular trails abound. Lisa and I spend a lot of our time exploring them. One is at a lakeContinue reading “Acceptance”

My Parkinson’s Story

In 2006, I walked into the warehouse where I would work (off and on — I tried screen printing elsewhere for a while) for the next thirteen years. Within its walls, something went seriously wrong for me. The building is home to a book manufacturer. As an art major with bills to pay, I hadContinue reading “My Parkinson’s Story”