Oregon-natural

Beautiful white sand beaches defended by North frost and enchanted chessmen who will never play again recognize me as Clan Morrison. Beautiful drawings and enchanted carvings in maple and oak recognize me as an artist. As an artist, one is always looking for ancient forest and Oregon is the best example of that idea of forest. The state was original owned by Russia, US and England. The name is from the French word for hurricane because it rain all the time there. I know a youth pastor from Oregon. He called it the left coast. Worked his way through College at a lumber yard and could not define a two by four. Ironically, his wife drove out a “hanky” place in Oregon before they got married. When he moved to Indiana, he asked if it ever stopped snowing. My uncle also lives there and looks into Northern California from his house. I used to live near the white sands of Galveston in Texas.

Oregon has a very unique mythos even without Bigfoot. Everything is on a plank with a salmon on it. This stands for the Confederate Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon which throw the fish bone into the sea who believed that the salmon are an immortal people who live under the sea. (Salmon is not their real bodies) According to their legend, the tribe asks the Salmon people to come up their rivers. The state is still renowned for salmon. Behind everything is Mount Hood (Wyeast) which is the tallest peak in Oregon. According to the Native Americans, it was from a fight between Wyeast and another brave fighting for the affection of the woman who was magically turned beautiful and became Mount St. Helen. The woven tea pot is to represent the native peoples of Oregon. The pot would not be used for tea but would be used to remove tomanowas which the Native peoples believed caused illness and bad luck. The flowers in the pot are the state flower Oregon grape. It is a traditional medicine but is not a grape but a berry. In front of everything is Japanese maple. This is for the large Japanese population. I drew this picture last March with Pencil and white charcoal and is 8” x 10.”

The name of this piece is “Royal Deer Blessing” and is Sumi-e on 12” x 18” Rice paper. I used color to give life to the deer. It is painted on rice paper; ink spilled on the corner leaf on the flower came out that way. The flower is the imperial seal of Japan. Chrysanthemums are also symbolic of autumn in the four noble gentlemen. The Crane is symbolic of the good luck or blessing. There is a mountain in the far left corner. If you are interested in buying this or any other of my pieces, email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com.