Aaron Murray: Seattle artist

Last Fall, I drove down to Pasco, Washington. Pasco is where my father's family lives, and it is situated near the confluence of three major rivers: the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima. It is also downwind of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, and surrounded by many agricultural fields. I've always been intrigued with the old downtown core, a mix of shady businesses, warehouses, Mexican tiendas, and places for rent. I went out early on a Sunday morning, taking photos and exploring vacant lots until later that evening. These paintings are from the photos I took on that trip. Pasco and the Columbia Basin has magnificent skies on clear days, which is great for painting and photography.

Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge Watercolor, Gouache on watercolor ground cotton rag board. This bridge crosses the Columbia River and joins Pasco to Kennewick. This bridge and others like it helped drive the regional development of the Tri Cities.

Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge, detail

The Blue Bridge, Acrylic on cradled gesso board 10"x 30"

The Blue Bridge is main bridge crossing over the Columbia River linking Pasco and Kennewick.

Blue Bridge (detail)

Blue Bridge (detail). This is the view from Clover Island on the Columbia River looking North.

I was never formally trained in painting. I started painting at a young age though, when my mother bought me an easel and some watercolors, and the last 15 years or so, I've developed my skills solely from practice. Though I am aware of the paintings of my peers, I am trying to find my own style. Many years ago, I worked primarily in an abstracted highly stylized style, but lately I've found it more challenging and satisfying to paint from something I've seen. Some of these paintings will continue to evolve before I show them. I find that it is good to put a painting away for a little while and then come back to it later with a fresh perspective.

Depot Lunch gouache on paper

At One time Depot Lunch was the longest continually operating tavern in the state. Sadly it no longer exists, it was torn down many years ago, as was the old Northern Pacific Railroad Depot, across the street. The white building on the left sits next to the former depot lunch site.

Depot Lunch Detail

Depot Lunch detail

Homes for Sale gouache on paper

Detail, This building had a lot of textures, I tried to capture some of the variations using different washes of paint.

Underpass, Acrylic on rag board. I did two versions of this painting, the other one is below. I believe that this underpass ( it goes under the railroad tracks and this street) is due to be demolished soon

This version has less detail.

Icehouse, oil pastel on canvas

Gravel Loader, acrylic on rag board 6" x 3 7/8"

Pond Generator, acrylic on paper

Pond Generator, acrylic on paper 9x 12 inches

Daily Donuts acrylic on cotton rag board. This painting was a rough draft for a larger, more detailed painting

Daily Donuts, Acrylic on wood.

Detail of Daily Donuts

ACME Machine & Welding Acrylic on cotton rag board. This was the first of three paintings about an abandoned machine shop. ACM is my initials so the subject is interesting for me based on that alone. I am also drawn to the decay of manmade structures, attempts at covering up graffiti, weathered paint, etc.

ACME Detail

ACME Detail of doors.

ACME Machine & Welding, Acrylic on Cradled Gessoboard. This is the 2nd version of ACME. 8"x 16"

ACME Detail

Detail view of ACME

Thunderbird Motel, acrylic on cotton rag board. 2013

Thunderbird detail, The Thunderbird Motel in Pasco is probably one of the scariest motels in the state. Seriously. In one of my photos, I captured a bicyclist and I couldn't resist adding him to the painting. On the left is a Dead End sign, which actually exists and is telling of what lies beyond the Thunderbird.

Stefanie's Boutique, Acrylic on cotton rag board.

detail, El Primo Western Wear

Detail Stefanie's. Stefanie's is really called Stephanie's.

More details, Taqueria La Esperanza

Supermex , acrylic on wood 7 3/4 x 4 inches

Detail Supermex .

Warehouse, acrylic on wood

Warehouse, Detail

Metropolis acrylic on wood

Alleyway, acrylic on wood,

Chinese Gardens, Acrylic on Cradled Gessoboard, 8" x 16"

Pasco, Washington is where I was born and these paintings are a reflection of local history. The buildings in the old downtown core offer a unique opportunity to document local architecture as many of the original buildings still stand. Other buildings are particularly attractive to me because of personal significance or because of their dilapidated state. Though East Pasco tends to get a bad rap because of its generally poor and transient population I find some comfort in visiting from time to time and exploring different places.

Municipal Lot, Detail

Municipal Lot, Acrylic on wood

Hot Catz

The Hot Catz are a group of cat characters that were first developed about 6 years ago.

The Hot Catz theme was further developed as I began depicting them on cups and bowl in various scenarios. Hot Catz in space, Hot Catz Interview, Hot Catz in Hatz, Hot Catz on Film, were a few of many ideas I developed for them. I also made relief block prints, some comic strips, and many drawings for this theme.

Previous to the Hot Catz explosion, I had made a few cat figurines that I mostly sold in Occidental Park during 1st Thursday Art Walks, or at Pike Place Market. This year I decided to re-explore cats through pinching and by using and altering extruded forms. This lead to the creation of new bodies of work.

cat pendants before application of over glazes

Extruded cat

I made a series of cat pendants as a line of jewelry (left), Raku-fire extruded cats(above left), electric fired black cats, and a series of high fire multi colored extruded cats (right)

Raku-fired Hot Catz

The Raku firing process is full of excitement and pleasantly surprising results. I fire these at the Kirkland Art Center in their clamshell Raku kiln to about 1900 degrees F.

Most of the extruded cats will be high-fired. They become waterproof and non-porous at those temperatures. Three new high-fired cats are depicted in the photo directly below. There will be brown, black, white, gray, spotted, yellow, and tan Catz.

These cat pendants are also fired high (cone 10) They are pinched from white stoneware. They are glazed with opaque glazes, with stains used for attributes and a gold over glaze on the eyes. These cat pendants can be found at Fancy in Seattle.

I made a series of extruded cats using a black clay body called Midnight Black. It fires pretty dark at about cone 4. I glazed them in a clear gloss and accented their eyes with underglazes.