Outcropping

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I painted the same scene again (as yesterday) but from further up and zoomed out. I really love these two trees and the rocks they cast shadows on. Plus it has the benefit of being off the beaten path. At the top there are a gazillion people. And wind.

People Watching

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I took the reference photo for this a couple of years ago in a very popular park in San Francisco. People were out enjoying the sun, dressed in their hipster bests, seeing and being seen. I was on the fringes, seeing them too.

Soon we will be heading out for another big family trip. We are loading up the jeep and teardrop camper today, and plan to head in general for the wilds of Montana and Wyoming tomorrow. Our time-line is indeterminate, so I don't know exactly when we'll be back - probably early July.* I'm not bringing my oil paints this time - just a brand new, as yet unused guache set, and my camera. We'll see what happens with that... So, until I see you again, happy summer!

*I won't be able to ship paintings while I'm gone (sorry!!), but my stepdaughter will be shipping books for me. Thank you for your patience!

Layers of Light

sold. (6x12in.)

It's almost summer here and the roses are in full bloom. Here's a scene of a couple of our local roses lit from behind.

And my demos from last week's workshop (all sold):

Desert Oasis

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I took the photo reference for this one in Tucson 2 weeks ago, at Catalina State Park. I used a lot of what I learned from the various landscape demos I saw at the Plein Air Convention, tried some new things, and some new brushes. And I'm pretty thrilled with the result! More on this soon...

"Patterns in Pink" 12x12in. $700 - SOLD!

I also wanted to show you one of the paintings from my current show. My plan is to post them all here, eventually.

Also, I got a really nice write-up in the local paper about the show. They didn't get all the details exactly right, but the big picture is accurate. : )

A Rock Journey

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This is another one from Nevada, Valley of Fire. I started it outside, but ended up reworking pretty much the entire thing last week. It is rich with something I never encounter with still life - atmosphere. It's a great challenge for me. (Speaking of that trip, I just finished editing a 20 minute video of it, in case you're interested.)

I also wanted to show you one last painting from Taos. It was my favorite from the trip, and I traded it for one by Lori Putnam. Lucky me!

A Casual Stroll

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We're home from our family adventure! I'm sorry to report I didn't paint once. Or even take any pictures other than with my phone (not because I forgot my SD card, that would be stupid!). I plan to write a bit about our trip, but first I need to catch up on things. This is a painting I did before I left, of a scene from California.

Peninsula of Rocks

sold. (6x12in. - click image to view larger)

I am trying hard to figure out an approach to painting landscapes. Or, better put, approaches. My intention at this point is just to try lots of things and lots of paintings. I am trying many scenes more than once, and posting only my favorites. Ideally I would be doing all these from life, but it's rather dreary here in Oregon at the moment. And cold. So I'll stick with photos for now. This one is from my week in the Sierra Nevadas.

Many thanks for the encouragement regarding home schooling! Today was our second day and it is going very well. : )

Rock Creek

sold. (12x6in.)

Little creeks like this make me very happy. I can't really explain why. My favorite thing is to explore them by myself. I found this beauty at a park in California last year, and snapped a few pictures.

I did this painting over an old one that wasn't so great. I don't do this often, but last summer a friend was telling me about Gamblin FastMatte, so I tried the titanium white to paint over the yicky painting. (notes: the old painting was completely dry; I scraped off any thick bits of old paint with my palette knife; the fastmatte didn't go on opaque like I expected!) I was very happy with the process and the result.

I've done another interview, this one about materials, in case you're interested.

Parked

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Hello! This is a painting I did a couple of months ago. It's a scene I stumbled upon here in Eugene a while back. I loved the colors of the house. I meant to post it a few weeks ago, but kept putting it off.

Meanwhile, after a couple weeks of no painting at all (letting my fields lie fallow), I got a text from a friend who owns a gallery here in town. She suggested a small show next year. With new stuff. All larger than my normal work. At first I said no, but then I realized it would get me out of my rut. Give me motivation to paint the things I've been wanting to but have been too afraid.

Afraid of what? Failing. Isn't that what gets us all? Well, I guess I am only human.

The main thing I've been wanting to paint but haven't because of fear is...people. Not like portraits necessarily, but faces, up close. So I started with my son, as an experiment. I was terrified that it wouldn't look like him, but I think it really does. If you know him, please write and reassure me on this. I'll post a better picture later. It's 16x16 inches. Here are a few progress shots. The first one is just a bad image.

In the Flow

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This was an experiment that I think TOTALLY worked. If I do say so myself. Which I am.

I took the photo reference for this when I was at Sweet Creek earlier this year with my painting buddies, Sue and Patti. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I had the idea to go sort of abstract, using the shapes of the rocks as a guide for the composition. And that's pretty much how I started out, exaggerating colors here and there and making everything blocky like I do. I think it didn't end up being very abstract, but I love it anyway.

Rockin' Out

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I totally fell in love with this spot, so I decided to do this larger version with a focus on the rocks and water. This is actually my favorite painting from the whole trip.

Here is another photo from the same day/area, of Bill Cone trying to catch the last of the light on the mountain. -->

Lost in the Cracks

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Here's another one from the Sierra Nevada trip, at the pond I mentioned earlier. This is where I did a couple of the water/rock studies from yesterday. I was complaining to a guy in our group that I didn't have many pictures of myself plein air painting, so he took this one of/for me, painting at the pond. Thanks, Ernesto!

Rocks in Light and Shadow

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Here's another one from the Sierra trip. This spot was about 5 minutes from camp, on the way to a beautiful pond that I'll show you later.

A few more details about the trip: we had our camping gear packed in on mules. Along with enough food for the week. And a cook to prepare it all. Yep, it was pretty cush! All we had to carry was our painting gear. We hiked 9 miles in, and 9 miles out. Our main view was Mt. Ritter, which you can see in the picture to the left. And our camp was very near Garnet Lake.

Rock Face

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It's probably becoming clear to you already that I was quite enamored with the rocks in the Sierra's. I called them my outdoor still life subject. For some reason I find them much easier to paint than trees.

Just around the bend from this spot, on the same day, my pal Lori was painting a lovely scene. Unfortunately she hasn't posted the painting yet, but here's Lori's website. She's amazing! -->

Jumbled

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These white rocks were everywhere near where we were camped. There was so much to paint in our general vicinity, we never had to go far. This particular scene was a short walk around the lake. Paul walked by as I was painting this and he said, "Looks good. Don't mess it up." Ha!

And speaking of Paul, check out this lovely tribute to him written by Lori Putnam. You'll also see more pictures from our trip, including the helicopter that hauled him out.

Layers

NFS

I've redone this one a couple of times and decided I'm STILL NOT proud of it enough to sell. Alas. But it does illustrate a point I've been promising to make.

This is my final one from Hood River. And it has lots of layers going back into the distance. They say as stuff goes further back it gets cooler because of "atmosphere." I've realized that if you can keep your palette organized as you make your layers, it's much easier to do this, because often the difference between one layer and the next is really, really subtle, and it takes seeing the two colors right next to each other to really get it. So I've made this example, from the photo, taking samples of the colors from each layer and putting them in order (the light side and shadow side of each layer), in the same order I try to mix them on my palette. I haven't gotten a good picture of this on my actual palette because ... well because by the time I think of taking a photo it's gotten messy, but the concept is still a good one.

Notice that the lights get darker as they go back, and the darks get lighter, and in general the values get closer together and not nearly so "contrasty." I've been doing lots of driving this summer, and really noticing this happening as I stare out the window at the landscapes around me. Try it! But uhhhh, watch the road too!

Fertile Valley

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This is my second painting from Hood River. My friends and I were at a park that I'm pretty sure is called Panoramic Point. I was especially inspired by the fields of growing things (orchards, I think?). There was TONS to choose from, but no perfect scene, so I mixed and matched different elements from different parts of the view. It makes me very afraid every time I do this, but I seem to get better each time, and so less afraid.

After we left Hood River there was a plein air competition there. My friend Kathleen won first place with this beautiful painting, done from (I think) the same place, on a different day. You go girl!

Over Hill and Dale

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As promised, (a while ago) here is my first Hood River painting. It is the end of summer here in Oregon, and dry as a bone. All our grass is golden, which makes for some really lovely contrast! I especially love the colors that happen in the shadows on the grass.

My friend's, Patti and Cathleen, were painting just up the path, around the bend to the right, just out of sight. They were my lovely companions on this trip. Here they are standing in front of our hobbit-sized airbnb lodgings.

Wallowa Farmland

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This is another one of my favorites, and the last one from my trip. While we were camped at Wallowa Lake State Park we met a nice fellow who grew up in the area. He told us about a cemetery north of the nearby town of Joseph, and how it had fabulous views. It did, and it helped me discover this area, but I actually painted this one from just down the road. If you were to drive down this road and turn left at the trees, you'd get to the cemetery shortly.

Strawberry Valley

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About the middle of our trip we stayed at a little place called Strawberry Campground for several days. It was pretty remote, at the end of a long gravel road, up in the mountains you see here. A couple of times we hiked about 2 miles up from the campground to Strawberry Lake. I did a painting there, but I think I'd like to do it over before posting.

One day I drove down into the valley (just south of Prairie City). I did a few paintings from the side of the road, including this one. At one point a car stopped beside me and an elderly woman stuck her head out and suggested I come back later to paint Strawberry Mountain when there was snow on it. Yep.