Why this Oregon coast artist has spent half a century painting his hometown

Michael Schlicting was never supposed to move back home. Born and raised in the tiny town of Neskowin on the Oregon coast, the younger Schlicting, like many teenagers, always imagined he would leave for the “outside world” — somewhere, anywhere but where he was from. But the allure of home proved powerful. It’s now been nearly half a century since Schlicting left those outside places — college in Illinois, a stint in Colorado — to return to Oregon, back to his hometown of Neskowin, where in 1978 he set up his Hawk Creek Gallery in a historic schoolhouse on the side of US IOI. That first summer back, when he never expected to stay, he drew people in with a simple sandwich board on the highway, the word “ART” and an arrow pointing to the gallery.

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Enough people showed up, and enough people bought his paintings, that he was persuaded he should stick around and give it a try. “At first it was because I did miss the ocean,” Schlicting said of his decision to come back. “As time has gone on, years and decades, half a century, there is a sense of place that's kind of the cliché, but your history, the history of the people you've come to know ... there's that shared sense of history. “Neskowin's a pretty special place. It’s small, it’s unique.”

The little town is nestled up against a sweeping headland, Cascade Head, on the north-central Oregon coast. With no shops, few restaurants and no big attractions to speak of, it’s one of the coast's quietest vacation destinations. People are drawn there largely for the beach scenery: stately Proposal Rock, a sea stack topped with a small forest, or the eerie Ghost Forest, ancient stumps that emerge from the sand at low tide. Anyone can step outside to see those landscapes, but many choose to get a second look through Schlicting’s eye. His paintings of Neskowin are everywhere. You can find them in galleries, on the walls of the neighboring Cafe on Hawk Creek or in the many charming beach cottages that populate the town. He's painted enough pictures of Proposal Rock to compile a book, “Proposal Rock: 40 Years of Paintings,” which has sold out two printings.