Post-Retirement Art Classes

After I retired and moved to Ashland I used the educational opportunities offered by Southern Oregon College (as it was known at the time — it has since first become Southern Oregon State College and then Southern Oregon University). As a senior citizen I could by Oregon law audit courses at the college at no charge and under this regulation I audited several political science courses, coursed in history (including hagiography [sic — I think he meant to say historiography], literally the study of history making) and last but not least a course in the philosophy of religion. The latter was really a seminal experience and did much to influence my thinking on religion and philosophy.

Of importance also were the courses I enrolled in for credit concerning art subjects, or later on auditedf under the senior citizen regulation. The first course I took was a beginning watercolor class, the stimulus being that I decided I wanted to render in color various sketches of old cars that I had started to draw in my spare time as a retiree. This was followed by a more advanced watercolor class, several two-week watercolor seminars (held during the summer sessions at the college) at which established watercolor artists were the instructors. I look back on these courses with nostalgia and appreciation for what they opened up for me.

Later on I took some drawing classes and these led in time to figure drawing and figure painting classes. Some of the earlier classes here were taken for credit but the later ones were audited. The instructor for more of these was Margaret Sjogren and she was an excellent teacher and certainly influential in my development of drawing and painting skills. I have also taken drawing and watercolor classes offered by the Rogue Galley in Medford and following these have participated in the non-instructional sessions in figure drawing of painting there. However this activity ceased shortly before my heart attach and subsequent bypass surgery and since then I have not participated in any further classes of any kind.

The beginning watercolor class was given by Jim Doerter, and was an excellent class, giving the students an exposure to various techniques. The next more advanced class was by Cliff Sowell who was nominally the instructor usually assigned to watercolor classes. Sowell was also the motivating force behind the summer two-week seminars (four each summer). These ceased when he died as the result of chasing errant cattle on his ranch near Cave Junction.

Of the artist/instructors at the seminars I participated in the most effective were Judi Betts and secondly Phil Austin. Betts was an art instructor in the Baton Rouge schools and her experience as a teacher made her better than Phil Austin. Jean and I have a small watercolor by Betts and I had a print of one of Austin’s watercolors but disposed of it when we down-sized on moving to Mountain View Retirement residence.

The other instructors I had were Margaret Sjogren and Robert Alston in various drawing and oil painting classes. It was with these two teachers that I began drawing and painting the nude figure, principally female. It has been an area in drawing and painting that has fascinated me ever since.

[My dad's handwritten autobiographical notebooks end here. Next, I will begin transcribing family letters he wrote, beginning in 1944.]