"Over Grown Trail" ©

You can still pick your way through the brush to the creek, watching out for snakes and holes. Not long ago this trail was used often by kids on quads, keeping the wild weeks from taking over. I was wandering about 6pm and found myself captivated by the color mix of lavenders and golds.

Oil on Linen, 14" X 18"

Study with J.

A dear friend and fellow artist was lamenting finding an artist to explore painting a sunset. I suggested she find a sunset painting that she admired and we would do a "paint along" using that image. Today we painted this piece together and I enjoyed taking the day off from serious work, learned a lot and feel the exercise was worth the time.

Oil on Canvas, 11" X 14"

"A Nice Place To Ride" ©

Saturday night I painted in the fastest quick draw ever. We all had a great time. The western music floated in the air as guests nibbled on food and sipped wine. The people watching were so kind, not wanting to bother the artists, knowing how precious our time was. At the end there was an auction and all of the art found new homes. As you can see I changed my painting a bit from the practice paintings. Once I arrived and got all set up, I just painted rather then trying to exactly replicate my practice paintings and it worked out fine. This little piece almost painted it self, I would have been happy to bring it back to the studio.

Oil on panel, 8" X 10"

"A Place To Ride" ©

Tonight I am painting at an event called "Art At Hart", Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival in a quick draw. It is quick, 45 min. to paint a painting and 15 min. to frame and sign. Usually I paint from life or at least a study and digital images to support the view. Tonight I have to paint on the fly, so I took the big painting (which is coming along nicely) off the easel and painted this little painting as a possible idea for the evening. The idea I had in my head was paint a scene that would be a nice "Place To Ride".

Oil on Linen panel, 9" X 12"

"End Of The Day" ©

Saturday at the Earth Day celebration I had the chance to paint this little piece. Today and the next few, maybe several days I am painting a larger canvas of the blog "Cold Creek", from a few days ago. This canvas is 40" X 30", so I have the opportunity to add more rocks and details that I left out of the small study. It's all laid out as a value study and ready for paint in the morning. I spent a lot of guilt free time on the composition since it's so large. It's exciting and I can't wait to wake up tomorrow.

Oil on canvas, 6" X 8"

"Descanso Gardens Sycamore" ©

Today artists gathered in the Rose Garden of Descanso Gardens to celebrate the blooms. We exhibited painting of roses and painted, while visitors watched. It's always fun to field questions, especially from kids. I painted this little piece from under a willow tree.

Oil on Linen Panel, 8" X 10"

"Sundown" ©

This little painting is a myriad of ideas, a gallery wants a few small sunsets, an artist buddy and I have been looking a sunset paintings for a paint along and I need an idea for a quick draw in a week. So after a day of hauling gear and paintings for a show tomorrow, I just sat down at the easel and played. A nice way to end the day.

Oil on canvas, 6" X 8"

"Old Road" ©

Today I was running around, delivering paintings and frames. Then this evening I am painting with a group, so this afternoon I painted a small study to figure out a color problem on a larger canvas of the same view. It's interesting how much information the small paintings provide. Usually I paint small as a study for a larger painting, figuring out all of the issues before tackling a larger canvas but in this case I worked backwards. I have painted the larger canvas and it has a problem in the transition of light in the trees. Now, I can see where the larger canvas needs work and know exactly what needs to be painted. Never ending learning.....

Oil on panel, 5" X 7"

"Once A Farm Field" ©

Out the 126 Hwy, fields of orange trees are being uprooted and tossed aside in huge piles. I can almost hear the trees crying. I've been told it's all about money, what isn't.

Oil on panel, 5" X 7"

"Cold Creek" ©

Over the next few months I am painting solely for a solo show at Segil Fine Art Source in November. Today I experimented with "Cold Creek", looking for a scene that would warrant a larger canvas. This creek is truly freezing water, headed to the sea. Moss and lacy ferns are members of the surrounding forest and on the larger canvas will play a supporting roll to the rocks and water. I think this scene would also thrive with elegant grays.

Oil on panel, 5" X 7"

"California Poppies" ©

The poppy reserve in Lancaster is an austere, desolate place, without the dusting of orange, people would pass though looking forward to what is around the next bend. This is one of those paintings that was lurking unfinished and I tied it together today. The change I made after photographing it, just so you know, is fixing the distant purple mountain on the left into an interesting shape, not a pointed triangle. What was I thinking? Now it's OK.

Oil on canvas, 14" X 18"

"Shades Of Roses" ©

This is the second painting for the Descanso Rose show. It's not my usual work, so it was fun, hard and I had to drudge up my experience from a workshop years ago that fortunately included painting roses. Learning is never wasted.

A note for painters: The key that I was after here was gathering the "light" by using series grays. Without the grays the light would be diluted, creating just a bright painting without any teeth. Because it's out of the box for me, it was a bit difficult, but I am sure that the same principle would work in a landscape. Once I have finished the few paintings that I have in process, I want to take a landscape and key the whole thing in grays first, then add the light and see if I can't create a more interesting landscape then my usual job. Usually I use a value range to gain depth and light, using grays will be very interesting. If this works and I can grasp the concept, my painting will hit a new level.

Oil on canvas, 24" x 20"

"Glorious Roses" ©

Today was the ninth day since I lifted a paint brush. Bronchitis struck with fury, knocking me flat. Boy, did I learn a lot. Days are not short at all, I just pack to much into each and every one. You can be off line for a week and nothing horrible happens. And finally I learned what it's like to be sick and will have more compassion and understanding.

In a couple of weeks I'll be participating in a Rose only show at Descanso Gardens. So a nice way to get the brush moving without too much thought was to play in the petals.

I am still off, and from the amount of effort it took to paint today, I know it will be a few more days till I am "me" again.

Oil on canvas, 24" X 20"