Phoenix, Oregon

 2026 Wall Calendar - featuring oil paintings I made of Phoenix, OR. 
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Phoenix - the small, Southern Oregon town I have lived in for 16 years, has been the subject of at least 30 paintings since I moved here.  I started painting Phoenix to get to know my new home town.  At the time it was kind of a sleepy town, but hosted some interesting, kind of quirky businesses, like La Tapatia - a taco shop where in addition to the best tacos in the Rogue Valley, you could get Mexican products, cowboy boots, fresh meat, international phone cards etc.  Another spot was Barkley's Broasted Chicken and Bar - where they had lots of posters of Mel Gibson that seemed like they'd been there since Mel Gibson was young.   Roscoe's was a blues bar with soul food. All these businesses could thrive because rent was cheap, so they didn't have to be hot and new and sparkling. I fell in love with the kind of rough patina. It definitely wasn't a tourist place. Many of the businesses were run by immigrants so it felt a little like living in city, even though Phoenix is a small town of about 4500.  

Phoenix also has agricultural roots, in fact there are still quite a few pear orchards on the outskirts of town, harkening back to the time when the Rogue Valley was mostly known for its pears. The railroad tracks running through the valley are rarely used now, but all have tracks that sidle up to buildings, many which still had mountains of pear crates piled up next to them.  There are still pear orchards and storage facilities, but many have been converted to vineyards and buildings store wine barrels now.  

In 2020 Phoenix experienced dramatic change when the Almeda Fire ripped through burning homes and businesses throughout the entire length of the town.  Five years later, amazingly we're seeing a lot of new buildings. Honestly I'd have thought it would have taken longer to rebuild - the fire left such dramatic devastation. 

Over the years the cost of housing has gone up as well, and now there are a lot more people moving in and making Phoenix a more lively, dare I say even a bit trendy, small town, with quite a few new restaurants and businesses. It's by no means a perfect place, there are many things that annoy me here. I'm not going to harp on them and honestly things that annoy me might be things others like. 

Over the years I've found quiet places to document things I think are beautiful, and try to show people the beauty they might have missed. Contrary to what I've heard, I don't paint things that are ugly. I hope I help people realize that it's beautiful here, that we can care for our small towns, that we don't need a Rite Aid that's just going to close up shop and remove the limited value they brought  to the community anyway.  

Hopefully too these Phoenix paintings will be specific enough to be universally relatable.  I challenge everyone to love their hometown and take care of it, with all its assets and flaws.  Find the quiet beauty that others overlook.