Overview of the Oregon Coast Collection
I’m excited to launch my Oregon coast Collection series today! I fell in love with the Oregon Coast as a college student and almost every year since then I’ve been able to enjoy its breathtaking beauties. Each painting in this series in an original, one-of-a-kind watercolor that will not be reproduced as a print. It has been a joy to paint them and look forward their finding their ways into the homes and apartments of friends and collectors who share my love for the coast. My goal in this series is to make my hand-crafted paintings affordable and accessible. Every day in October I will unveil a new painting. If you would like a painting but need to negotiate the price of want to make a trade I’d love to talk. Contact me at at 317.209.6768 or j.dorsey23@gmail.com. The get specifics on the paintings go to my gallery here.
October 1: Astoria, Oregon
Our journey down the Oregon coasts starts in Astoria. Nestled in the northwest corner where the Columbia River meets the Pacific, the port city of Astoria is the oldest city. It is named after John Jacob Astor “an investor and entrepreneur from New York City, whose American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria and…established a monopoly in the fur trade in the early nineteenth century” (Wikipedia). I know it as the place to go in August to catch the big King Salmon that make their way from the Pacific up the Columbia to spawn. My childhood friends Steve, Harry and our guide Scotty Landis have hooked some of those Kings. One August fishing trip is especially memorable. It is the only time that I’ve been drunk.
The fishing trip took place a day or two after our Stanwood High School Class thirty year reunion the first weekend of August, 2017.
I thoughtfully packed the gin and tonic I had contributed to the reunion. Steve, Harry and I made the drive to Astoria. The hotel Harry reserved left a few things to be desired. Mainly it had one double bed. One of us would have to sleep on the floor, without a mat, sleeping bag or pillow. While they are close friends, sleeping on the floor seemed a better prospect than sharing a bed with either Harry or Steve, so I volunteered to do that. After eating dinner out, we didn’t have much else to do than play poker and polish off the gin and tonic. Did I say it was a very large bottle of gin that was only 1/2 to 2/3 gone. We started playing cards and Harry poured us gin and tonics and, as the evening wore on, things got louder and more lively. Eventually, knowing that we had to be up and at the dock before 6am, we went to bed.
When I lay down on the firm floor, with my coat as a pillow, the room was spinning. I closed my eyes. It was still spinning. I must have laid there with things spinning and unable to sleep for what appeared to be a couple of house. In any case, I was glad to get up at five and get a bite to eat before getting on the water. As we walked across the Safeway parking lot to the boat I began to feel poorly and soon found myself hunched over a bush puking. I did this a couple of times as we walked to the boat, feeling better each time, but then terribly bad again. I continued my show a number of times on the boat, much to the amusement of Harry and Scotty Landis, our fishing guide. Steve wasn’t laughing much. He never did throw up, but he had a remarkable shade of green on his face as he held things together. Steve said later that he couldn’t stand the taste of gin and tonic and would never have it again.
Anyway, sometime through the morning I started feeling better. I stopped throwing up and my headache. We ended up having a wonderful day fishing and catching some big King Salmon. Here’s a video from that trip. https://www.facebook.com/jason.t.dorsey.1/videos/10206814668997435
We say some beautiful sights on the water. But best of all was that evening after fishing we enjoyed dinner at a restaurant on the pier that juts in the water, the sun catching the houses, buildings, bridge and ships beyond in evening glow. The perfect end to a not so perfect day.
For information on the Painting Astoria, Oregon, go to my gallery here: