BORING, Ore. — The sunny, warm days are fading fast, so Dean Crouser enjoys each moment outdoors where he finds magic in the moment. His focus of attention — sketch pad in hand — is the wildlife that hovers, then lands at feeders spaced around the patio perimeter: hummingbirds!
“Oh, they’re magical! It’s true! Just watching them and the way they move," he said. "They’re fascinating, and you could sit there all day.”
The fascinating actions of the Rufus and Anna’s hummingbirds provide brief but compelling moments the artist cannot resist.
We’ve enjoyed outdoor time with Dean Crouser before, including one winter at the Jewel Wildlife Area following an invitation to see the artist at work.
We were on the western fringe of the refuge, an area where approximately 25 bull Roosevelt elk spend time together. The so called “bachelor herd” congregates here all winter. Some of the bulls are massive animals that tip the scales at more than 800 pounds; with antler spans of five or even six feet.
“Pretty neat to watch their mannerisms, their feeding and the bulls and younger bulls in their hierarchy of who’s pushing who around," Crouser said.
Crouser has enjoyed years of travel across Oregon since he was a boy who would fish at Paulina Lake on family campouts. His paintings reflect the adventures, inspirations and wild moments that he has found along the way.
Crouser has had many interests in his life, and he has set many records too. Like the NCAA Track and Field Championships that he won back in the early 80’s at the University of Oregon. His records still stand at the school. A few years back he was inducted into the University’s Hall of Fame.
He enjoys a family of successful athletes: his son, Sam Crouser, was an outstanding Olympian, and his daughter, Haley Crouser, was the top of her track and field sports in college, too. And then there’s his nephew, Ryan Crouser, a world champion who continues to break shot put records wherever he competes.
Recently, we joined the Oregon native at a wildlife mecca you may have missed: Killin Wetlands Nature Park in Washington County. More than 600 acres of parkland that offers mixed habitat types — especially prized are the wetland areas. Crouser finds the area flush with waterfowl this time of year, so his artist’s eye turns to the birds.
“It looks like a hen mallard or something out there, eh? She’s havin' fun,” said Crouser with a broad smile.
But it’s not a passion for ducks or geese that thrills him most. Rather, the tiniest and most graceful of all the birds; the hummingbirds!
Crouser captures hummingbirds with brush, paper and watercolors in a way no one has tried before. He doesn’t paint every feather — but suggests what could be. That sets him apart from everyone else.
“They are so tiny and their color, their movement, their shape — everything about them is so impressive to watch and paint,” he said.
And it almost didn’t happen. A number of years ago, he was thinking of throwing in the towel because the elk, the trout, the scenery that he captured with paint just wasn’t working, and it was harder still to sell.
His wife, Molly Crouser, had another idea.
“Molly said, ‘Why don’t you paint something other than a fish?’ And I remember my quote was 'What else is there?' That’s what I said: 'What else is there,'” he said with a big chuckle. “She’s a master gardener and she was out in her garden and a little hummingbird came by a flower and she said, ‘Paint a hummingbird for me. Do a few prints for your next show and see what happens.’ I was 'Ohhhh.' And so I did.”
That’s when it happened: He took the eight hummingbird prints and the original to the next art show he was scheduled to attend, and he sold all the prints plus the original before the show even opened.
He recalls that morning as amazing and “that just turned me from this direction to that direction.”
Today, his hummingbird paintings, prints and assorted gifts are found in galleries and shops — everywhere across the planet.
And soon there will be more — a book. He calls his original children’s story “Wonder.” He’s penned the prose, and he’s creating the art for a story about a little bear full of wonder for all that is wild outdoors.
“It’s almost like anything and everything can be explained through iPhones or the internet: ‘Let me explain to you how this works or that works.’ Well, it seems to me that the sense of childhood wonder seems like it’s fading away with all this technology,” he said.
Dean is a big believer that we make a living by what we earn, and we make a life by what we give. He plans to give a lot more for all of us to enjoy.
“I feel like with my painting, I can get better at it and if I can use it to do something new, like a book, that would be a cool thing. It might be so simple, and it might be good … to share with youngsters," he said.
Be sure to watch the weekly half hour program of Grant’s Getaways. The show airs each Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. on KGW.
For something different, you can follow my Oregon adventures via the Grant’s Getaways Podcast: Each segment is a story-telling session where I relate behind the scenes stories from four decades of travel and television reporting.
You can also learn more about many of my favorite Oregon travels and adventures in the Grant’s Getaways book series, including:
- "Grants Getaways I," Photography by Steve Terrill
- "Grant's Getaways II," Photography by Steve Terrill
- “Grant’s Getaways: 101 Oregon Adventures,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
- “Grant’s Getaways: Guide to Wildlife Watching in Oregon,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
- “Grant’s Getaways: Oregon Adventures with the Kids,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
The book collection offers hundreds of outdoor activities across Oregon and promises to engage a kid of any age.
You can reach me: Gmcomie@kgw.com