Birds in Paradise

acrylic on canvas, 30" x 36"

This is the last painting in my "Goleta" series.  It is by far the largest plein air painting I have done to date.  There is something freeing about painting large canvases outdoors, so long as the weather cooperates, which it did on this occasion.  

mm

acrylic on canvas paper, 9" x 12"

This started as an exercise in grays, since the reference for it was a black and white photo.  Naturally, one thing led to another, and there you go.

Shollenberger Wetlands

acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"

Painted from a photo I had taken of the wetlands at Shollenberg Park, I wanted to capture the beautiful neutral color of the water.  It had this pearl-like glow the day I saw it.

Red Sunset

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 24"

Goleta Slough, Eastern View

acrylic on linen-mounted gatorfoam, 24" x 12"

Another plein air painting from the Santa Barbara area that was finished in the studio.

Goleta Beach

acrylic on canvas, 12" x 24"

Another plein air painting from my trip south a few weeks ago, this one also finished in the studio.

Desert Dawn

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Goleta Slough

acrylic on linen mounted on gatorboard, 12" x 16"

I recently spent a few days painting at Goleta Beach, just north of Santa Barbara, with Marcia Burtt, hoping to glean a few pearls of wisdom from an absolute master.  In the two plus days I had with her, I started five paintings and finished none.  This was my last effort, the result of a two-hour session on the morning of my return home.  I worked on it for another two hours in the studio, until I was done with it and the next unfinished painting called out to me.  More to come.