View from the Cheese Factory II

oil on canvas, 9" x 12"

Another plein air sketch of the Cheese Factory and environs.  I love that place.

Ghirardelli Barn

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

This is an old barn in Petaluma, which sits on the Petaluma River.  I've been meaning to paint that barn with real paint.  Will get to it one day.

Silent Watcher

oil on hardboard panel, 6" x 6"

This little ditty I painted on site at the Denman property, a corner of Robert's Barn with a bit of life inside.  

Color Study II

oil on birch panel, 8" x 10"

Another color study, this time with real paint. 

Redwood Way II

oil on canvas board, 6" x 8"

Another plein air sketch of the pastoral scene I pass on my way to the studio every day.  This one was done in the morning along another stretch of that wide area rife with structures, trees, pasture, distant hills, and cows (when they choose to appear).  Done with a palette knife.

Nicasio Reservoir II

oil on canvas, 10" x 30"

I painted this in the studio with a palette knife working from a reference photo and memory.  I loved the pinkish hills in the background and the mottling of rocks and bushes in the foreground hills.  The water was flat and still that day.

Ellis Creek, Western View

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Color Study

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

The idea for this started as an abstract study in purples and greens, but one thing led to another (as usually happens) and voila, another landscape was born!  I guess it's time to admit I love painting landscapes.  Living here in Sonoma County, there is such beauty and variety everywhere you look, it's hard not to be mesmerized by it all.  But this one is still useful to me as a color study.

Portrait No. 17

acrylic on hardboard panel, 14" x 11"

The latest portrait, which I worked on for 2 hours with the model and then another hour in the studio.

Plum Tree with Pines

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Portrait No. 16

oil on hardboard panel, 10" x 8"

The result of a 2-hour session, this one done with a palette knife.  Uniquely challenging, doing a portrait with a palette knife.  There is no possibility of going into detail, which is partly why I do it.  I'd rather sacrifice detail than lose the big picture, the essence of the subject.

Old Eucalyptus

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

I've been wanting to paint this big old eucalyptus tree opposite the property where my art studio is for a while.  It is grand in scale and it is there every day, begging for my attention.  Probably why I keep putting it off.  I'll get to it this summer.