"Sunny Days" ©

Last week our family grew by one, Eva, a greatly anticipated grand daughter.  In between all the excitement I painted on this piece, a few minutes here and there.  I almost gave up, usually I paint a painting from beginning to end without much interruption, as you would write a story, keeping the original idea in mind.  This painting with it's starts and stops, seemed to get lost.  I'll keep after it a bit.

Oil, 18" X 24"    

"Rocky Riverbed" ©

Over the past 6 years I have been adding to this blog, very rarely has "life" taken the front seat. We buried my husbands Mother last week and another family member is gravely ill. Artwork took a back seat to all that you do at times like this. I am finally in good enough shape to paint and this rocky riverbed was my first effort after several days away from my easel. It felt very good to disappear into a painting. I am thankful everyday to have art in my life.

Oil on Canvas, 20" X 24"

"Eaton Canyon Sycamore" ©

Victoria Finlay has written more about color in her book, "Color, A natural History of the Palette" then imaginable. One of the first chapters is on the color Ochre, describing the mines in Australia and how Ochre played a major role in the lives of the Aboriginal people. While reading about Ochre, I used a great deal of the pigment in the painting of "Eaton Canyon Sycamore", making the experience all the more pleasurable.

Oil on Canvas, 18" X 24"

"Eaton Canyon" ©

Eaton Canyon is a classic Southern California location for painting. This Sycamore dressed in it's fall glory greets every visitor as you head up to the waterfall.

Oil on Canvas, 18" X 24"







The response to the process images was so positive I thought a bit of brush work might be interesting too, since you can't see the work in the full view of the painting.

This little photo is a close up of part of the mountain.

Here is a bit of the sky.

Finally a bit of the tree. I'll keep working on the painting over the next several days. I have found it's of benefit to set the painting where I can pass it often during the day, spotting details that need adjustment at a glance.

"Sycamore Canyon" ©

Some trees feel like old friends. I have painted this tree at least 5 times from different angles over the years and look forward to our next meeting.

I am hanging my "gone painting" shingle again. Heading to the Red Rock country of Arizona to sling paint!

Oil on canvas, 11" X 14"

sold

"Last Leaves" ©

Last Friday afternoon a small group of us painted in the oil field next to my house. Finally today I unpacked my kit and pulled out my attempt at capturing the last leaves on a large sycamore tree.

The weekend was full of art events from a Kevin Macpherson talk on his new TV show, "Passport and Palette", to the opening of "The Beauty Of California Painters" show at Carter Sexton, to "The Red Ribbon" opening at Segil Gallery and finally the opening of "Precious Gifts" at the Pasadena City Women's Club.

Oil on panel, 9" X 12"

"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"