This is actually the first painting I ever bought. I was 14 years old at the time (1971). My mom had hay fever really bad and we lived in the middle of a hay field. So when it came time to cut the fields we would travel around Oregon for 2 weeks. We stopped in Grants Pass, Or for a couple of days and connected to the motel we were staying in was a restaurant called he Kopper Kitchen. They had 15 to 20 paintings by Dan Scritchfield hanging on the walls. He was a local artist who painted these wonderful redwood trees on velvet. It cost $75 which was a small fortune for a 14 yr old in 1971. While everyone else went swimming I dawdled and then went back to the restaurant and bought the picture. I hid it under the 3rd row of seats in our station wagon and managed to surprise my mother with it on her birthday in late September. It hung above the fireplace in three homes until mom had to downsize. She was going to sell it at a garage sale, so I bought it back and it has been mine for 25 years now. I love the way that the sunlight filters down through the forest and it almost seems like you could just wander up and around the corner following the stream.
I found this Scritchfield on Ebay a number of years ago and bought it. It is about a quarter the size of the one above.
2021 Update
A new painting has been shared! The owner recently purchased it at an antique store on the Oregon Coast. She reports that she "Came around the corner, saw it, and could not walk away without it". Who could blame her???
A new painting has been shared! The owner recently purchased it at an antique store on the Oregon Coast. She reports that she "Came around the corner, saw it, and could not walk away without it". Who could blame her???
2018 Updates
It's September 2018 and just received another picture of a Scritchfield. Here's what the lucky owner says:
My daughter found your web page when looking up info on the artist named "Scritchfield", and passed it along to me.
It's very similar to another you feature, but my husband and I purchased this painting in the Trees of Mystery Gift Shop, while traveling through the Redwoods in July, 1976. We had been married less than a year, and the $270 price tag was pretty steep for us. But we both agreed, we HAD to have it.
It hung front and center in all of our living rooms for more than 40 years. And we both loved it. I put an art light over it, and people would ask if the light was making it look like rays of sunshine. We would say "No, its painted like that," and they would always be amazed.
My sweet hubby passed away a year ago, and I am forced to downsize. It's going with me, but will be relegated to the only bedroom. My daughter has asked for it when I don't want or need it anymore. The answer is "Of course!"
My daughter found your web page when looking up info on the artist named "Scritchfield", and passed it along to me.
It's very similar to another you feature, but my husband and I purchased this painting in the Trees of Mystery Gift Shop, while traveling through the Redwoods in July, 1976. We had been married less than a year, and the $270 price tag was pretty steep for us. But we both agreed, we HAD to have it.
It hung front and center in all of our living rooms for more than 40 years. And we both loved it. I put an art light over it, and people would ask if the light was making it look like rays of sunshine. We would say "No, its painted like that," and they would always be amazed.
My sweet hubby passed away a year ago, and I am forced to downsize. It's going with me, but will be relegated to the only bedroom. My daughter has asked for it when I don't want or need it anymore. The answer is "Of course!"
Here's a painting that another owner shared in July. This is what he says:
My grandparents bought this Scritchfield originally and lived among the redwoods in Del Norte County in Northern CA. I suspect they could of bought it at the Trees of Mystery in Klamath or somewhere in Grants Pass, OR. I have cherished this painting daily as it has always hung in my living room as a reminder of my grandparents and of where I grew up in Del Norte County.
My grandparents bought this Scritchfield originally and lived among the redwoods in Del Norte County in Northern CA. I suspect they could of bought it at the Trees of Mystery in Klamath or somewhere in Grants Pass, OR. I have cherished this painting daily as it has always hung in my living room as a reminder of my grandparents and of where I grew up in Del Norte County.
Here is a true rarity!! I have never seen a Scritchfield in black and white. Here's what the owner says...
I just happened to stumble across your website and got to read the bio of Dan Scritchfield. I have one of his paintings in my living room and always wondered about the artist. My brother-in-law was out on a run one day when he saw someone who was moving out of a house giving away a bunch of paintings. He thought it looked like a good collection and picked out a few paintings. The Scritchfield was my favorite and I have had it for about 8 years now. Because it is black and white it looks very different from the ones you have on your site. But the trees and the light are similar. On my painting the signature only says "Scritchfield" it doesnt include his first name. What a lucky person!!!
I just happened to stumble across your website and got to read the bio of Dan Scritchfield. I have one of his paintings in my living room and always wondered about the artist. My brother-in-law was out on a run one day when he saw someone who was moving out of a house giving away a bunch of paintings. He thought it looked like a good collection and picked out a few paintings. The Scritchfield was my favorite and I have had it for about 8 years now. Because it is black and white it looks very different from the ones you have on your site. But the trees and the light are similar. On my painting the signature only says "Scritchfield" it doesnt include his first name. What a lucky person!!!
Late 2017 Update
This picture was sent sent in mid December 2017. The owner bought it in 2007 at a garage sale in Grants Pass, Oregon for only five dollars. His son reports that the rest of the family thought he was crazy at the time but they have all come to love it for the way the sun shines through the trees to light the path below. Easy to see what they mean.
This picture was sent sent in early December 2017. The owner says... I got it at the Goodwill for $30. Seemed like a fair price for the uniqueness. I have been looking for a nice velvet in general for a while, and then saw this as a unique one and unusual colors and theme for a velvet. It is in flawless shape. The frame is a little dented here and there, but cleaned up the paintings few cob webs with an air jet and a tiny tooth brush. What is written on the paper backing where the former owner says she bought it right from the Scritchfield in Hawaii. From what Dan's family said this is probably one of the last paintings Dan did!
2017 Update
Another owner has been heard from! Natalie is a 3rd generation owner. Here is what she says"
Hello, my name is Natalie xxxxx. I thought you might like to add a picture of my Dan Scritchfield painting to your website. This painting belonged to my Grandmother and used to hang by the front door. The light would hit it just right and it was just breath taking. I always loved this painting. After she passed away, my mother and father hung the picture in their living room. My parents have both now passed away, and the painting is at my home.
For anyone who hasn't seen these in person you are really missing out. Pictures just do not do them justice! They are much more vibrant in person.
Another owner has been heard from! Natalie is a 3rd generation owner. Here is what she says"
Hello, my name is Natalie xxxxx. I thought you might like to add a picture of my Dan Scritchfield painting to your website. This painting belonged to my Grandmother and used to hang by the front door. The light would hit it just right and it was just breath taking. I always loved this painting. After she passed away, my mother and father hung the picture in their living room. My parents have both now passed away, and the painting is at my home.
For anyone who hasn't seen these in person you are really missing out. Pictures just do not do them justice! They are much more vibrant in person.
Biography
Dan Scritchfield was born in 1943 in Los Angeles, CA. In his 20's he was a deputy sheriff and later became an EMT in Grants Pass, OR. He had three children with his first wife (Sherry) Dwayne, Doug, and Diana and one with his second wife (Debbie) Danielle. He had no formal art training, but completed his first oil painting at the age of 15 (see below). He began painting his redwood trees on velvet in the late 1960's and continued into the 1990's. He did a lot of art shows in Reno with his second wife Debbie who also painted. He also did shows as well as along Hwy 101 in California and Oregon and at the Trees of Mystery in Northern California. In the late 90's Dan had heart problems and had a pacemaker put in. He retired and moved to Lahaina Maui in Hawaii to work with his brother on a charter fishing boat. He painted a few paintings in Hawaii, but quit and never really took it up again. He passed away July 7, 2016 in Case Grande, Arizona while staying with his daughter Diana.
Dan Scritchfield was born in 1943 in Los Angeles, CA. In his 20's he was a deputy sheriff and later became an EMT in Grants Pass, OR. He had three children with his first wife (Sherry) Dwayne, Doug, and Diana and one with his second wife (Debbie) Danielle. He had no formal art training, but completed his first oil painting at the age of 15 (see below). He began painting his redwood trees on velvet in the late 1960's and continued into the 1990's. He did a lot of art shows in Reno with his second wife Debbie who also painted. He also did shows as well as along Hwy 101 in California and Oregon and at the Trees of Mystery in Northern California. In the late 90's Dan had heart problems and had a pacemaker put in. He retired and moved to Lahaina Maui in Hawaii to work with his brother on a charter fishing boat. He painted a few paintings in Hawaii, but quit and never really took it up again. He passed away July 7, 2016 in Case Grande, Arizona while staying with his daughter Diana.
Picture of Dan and Debbie Scritchfield in 1978 during the prime of his artistic period.
I have loved his work for many years but never had much info on him. But the good news is his daughter just wrote me and I should have some more info on him shortly! I had a couple of other examples of his work so I have given him his own page. Anyone with more examples are welcome email me at tguinan@aol.com and I will gladly post them on here.
I don't own this one but wish I did. The owner has posted this on the internet and I totally agree with their opening statement...
Things I'd Save In A Fire: My Velvet Painting
I grew up all the way across the country from my maternal grandparents. They lived on a dairy farm and I lived in a subdivision, but every summer we would go visit them, and those three weeks were some of my very happiest times. Vermont seemed like a paradise of dusty roads and clear lakes and root beer floats, and the old farmhouse that my mother grew up in and that my parents were married in and that my cousin was born in was always the same, and there was something so very reassuring about the set of Time Life books lining the staircase and the chest of drawers full of board games in the dining room and the bush beans in the garden next to the house.
The velvet painting of redwoods hung over my grandparents bed for as long as I can remember. When I was little and before I knew that velvet paintings didn’t hang in the Louvre, I admired it longingly, noting the way that the velvet made the light come streaming through the trees. When I was older and it still hung there and because I was older and so much wiser I knew it wasn’t what one might call fine art, and I think I made some flippant or teasing remark about it to my grandmother, and she said “Oh, I know it’s just terrible. But it was the first thing we ever bought together, your grandfather and I, when we went on our honeymoon to California and we saw the redwoods. We just had to have it, because of how it captured the light streaming through the trees.”
And can’t you just see them? Over half century ago now? Two just married Vermonters, on their honeymoon in California, standing close, gazing up at the tallest trees in the world. I treasure that image more than I can say.
The dates merge a bit in my head, but after I heard the story, and when we knew my grandmother was dying, and when people were having “conversations” over who would get the silver candlesticks and the dining room table and the embroidered sampler from the 1800’s, I only wanted the velvet painting of the trees. It was easier somehow, to let go of the rest of those things, to know that although I would lose my grandmother, I’d have something of value to me, that was once something of value to her, even if it wasn’t worth much of anything to anyone else.
My parents packaged it up in many layers of bubble wrap and cardboard, as you’d pack something of great worth. It arrived in perfect condition, and since I first received it, people have laughed at it, or tried to buy it, or simply asked about it, and I love those moments, because it means I get to tell the story again, of my grandparents, before those things we all go through eventually, the nursing homes and the petty betrayals and the depression and the strokes, gazing up, holding hands, young and in love, and buying bad art.
And now I am here. The painting hangs on my wall, in my bedroom. I have seen those same trees myself, and gazed up at them, and my velvet painting does indeed capture the light streaming through them like nothing else ever could.
Here is another Scritchfield that I don't own but wish I did. It was sold online by Goodwill. I found the photo online a couple of years ago and saved it to my picture file. Glad I did as it is no longer on line.
This one is owned by Dan's daughter Danielle. It was painted in 1976 for his inlaws and was the first time he had included an animal on velvet.
Another one owned by Danielle Scritchfield
Another early painting owned by his daughter Danielle
Here's a great painting! It's the first one I've seen that has Dan's first name on it. The owner reports it is 35 x 23 inches.