"Sycamores" ©

This group of Sycamore live in the Placerita Canyon Nature Center, just down the road from my home.  The California drought has been rough on all the plant life and this years rains have brought promise for wildflowers and some beautiful landscapes that have been absent for a long time.  

From the creating side of this piece, it's so difficult for me to decide "it's done".  I keep attacking the trees, pushing light here and there, adding limbs and tweaking here and there.  I stopped at this point and will let it rest for a few days, out of my sight and look at it anew.  Usually, only then is it really easy to see, what needs to be addressed to make it a good painting or possibly, decide it's truly finished.  

18" X 24", Oil

"Double Take Show at Hillside Gallery"

"Alpine Glow", 16" X 20", Oil

"A Break in the Storm", 16" X 20", Oil

In a couple of weeks I am showing with PAC6 at Hillside Fine Art in Claremont, with a show that has a very unusual concept.  Here was the task:  Create 2 sets of paintings.  Two views of the same scene in different weather, season or time of day.  Above are images of one of my set's.  Last  October I traveled with PAC6 to Yosemite and we experienced painting in rain storms,  frozen meadows and in sunny fall glory, all in the span of one week.  My first two views are along the Merced River behind the Yosemite Lodge.  What a difference a day makes!

If you would like to come to the show and see the "double takes", created by PAC6, please come!  The show opens on January 17th and runs until February 28th.  We will all be present for the reception February 6th, from 5pm - 7pm.  Here is the gallery website for more details.

*PAC6 is a group of 6 women artists committed to painting the beauty and grandeur of the American landscape.  The group is: Linda Brown, Debra Holladay, Nita Harper, Marian Fortunati, Sharon Weaver and Laura Wambsgans.