"San Juan Creek" ©

Looking at this image, painting the piece feels like a year ago, yet it was only one week. Untethered to the computer, painting all day everyday for a week as a participant in the San Clemente Plein Air Competition, I enjoyed every second. We were allowed one painting from any place within Orange/San Diego County. Looking for sunshine I found the Caspers Wilderness Park in San Juan Capistrano. This park is laced with equestrian trails, Sycamores, Oaks and dry riverbeds surrounded by mountain ranges. A stunning location for artists. Standing on the deck of the nature center I had a birds eye view of the "San Juan Creek".

Oil on panel, 11" X 14"

"Trestles Trail" ©

I am heading for San Clemente for the "Paint San Clemente" plein air competition. One of my goals is to become proficient enough to do well and attend many of these events that occur around the country. Last year I painted "Trestles Trail" and I still remember the day as if it were yesterday. I have posted it because my brushes are officially packed, along with my paint and panels. I will take my laptop and see if I can't post from the hotel, you never know. This year I am taking my bike, hoping to be able to travel further on the trails with my gear then I could on foot. It's pretty exciting!

Oil on Panel, 8" X 10"

"Sierra Morning" ©

The last 2 days I have been painting this piece and it's getting close to the finish. I photographed it on the easel, any closer and the shine from the lights washed out areas, because of the size of the canvas and wet paint. I miss painting the tiny 5" X 7" daily's regularly but have to be disciplined and paint larger till I have all of the inventory for my November show. A note to artists, this image is from the http://www.wetcanvas.com/ reference library. A great resource for artists that is created by artists, without worries of copyright issues.

Oil on Linen, 24" X 20"

"A Quiet Place" ©

It's not often that we quiet our minds. Cell phones, iPods, TV's, computers, life banging away at our brains. I needed a break and decided to get "quiet", painting a very "quiet place".

Oil on panel, 5" X 7"

"Pacific Sunset" ©

The San Clemente plein air competition and art show is coming up soon and it seems my mind is focused on the ocean. I can't wait to paint the rolling waves, wet sand and clouds glowing with the last of the sunlight.

Oil on Linen, 11" X 14"

"Spring Storm" ©

Sunday during the studio tour I attempted to paint this painting. I wanted people to see what it is like to actually paint in oil, since the tour was all about a peek into our world. Now that I am looking at it online, I think that it would be improved by breaking up the strong dark diagonal shape of the foreground and working a bit more in the clouds. We have had clouds for the past couple of weeks and I have just sat and watched them graze in the sky.

Oil on panel, 8" X 10"

June 15th - The image on the easel is "Spring Storm" after tweaking the painting. Once posted it's easy to see a paintings faults.

"Sycamore Shade" ©

This is the larger painting created from the small blog a few days ago. My main inspiration was the play of the sunlight within the leaves, branches and trunk. Even with the weekend art events breaking up painting time I worked very hard to stay on track and not loose the light.

Oil on Linen, 24" X 18"

"Rancho Camulos" ©

Raymar panels are high quality and I just received a shipment of the double primed linen panels. In order to really compare the support I painted this little view again of Rancho Camulos in the morning light. Since I had just painted the same view plein air on a Fredrix Linen panel (my current favorite) it was a good test to see the differences. I knew how the paint moved and worked into the Fredrix and the Raymar was quite different. I did appreciate the smooth finish of the Raymar and how the paint seemed to stay fresh and lively.

Oil on Raymar panel, 8" X 10"

"Sycamore Shade" ©

Quickly I painted this little sketch to take to painting group this evening so that I could paint a larger piece of the same view. I have most of the idea worked out, as I wanted the viewer to feel as though standing in the shade of the Sycamore looking out over the valley and hills beyond. I am hoping in the larger piece to really develop the tree trunk beautifully. We'll see....

Oil on panel, 5" X 7"

* it's taped to a piece of cardboard for easy transport and viewing.

"Another Sunset" II ©

Painting from the small (5" X 7") panel, I worked out this larger version. Working on stretched linen after several paintings on different surfaces, was such a pleasure.

Oil on Linen, 20" X 24"