I'm Avinoam "Avi" Shmueli. Several years ago my wife and I settled full-time in Orcas Island. I soon set out to acclimate to my new natural environment. It was green, remote, very quiet, and often dark and wet. I picked up painting to process the new scenery: The fir, tsuga, red alder and hawthorn trees, the moss, ferns, bracken, elderberry and ocean spray. Working primarily in abstract landscapes, my work consists mostly of rural scenes from the areas I cover on walks with my dog, Ranger.

 

My typical workflow starts with taking snapshots of subject matter, then processing them digitally using various filters for inspiration, sometimes editing them for composition, then moving to the canvas from the comfort of my studio. There is a lot of planning and preparation involved, but the plan mostly involves selecting and identifying the inspiring setting, not the final image. When all goes well, the final painting is always a surprise.

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My current favorite format is the square canvas, either 16" x 16" or 20" x 20", but frequently in vertical diptychs. There is a fun interplay between the top and the bottom of each duo. They are not exactly independent, but they each contribute something to the set. Diptychs and single squares may also combine like checkerboard to bigger grids. Collect them all! 

 

My formal art education is sparse. Back in Jerusalem, in my twenties, I once took a weekly evening drawing class at the Bezalel Academy of Arts. Decades later, in Kirkland, WA, I took an evening beginners’ oil painting class. A career in software development and IT was not helpful. I only started painting regularly when we moved to Olga. Here I found Terry Johnson's group of painters, and I enjoy the feedback and support of that group and of the broader community on the island.

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