In the Pink Boat

oil on canvas, 12" x 12"

This is a painting that I'd been wanting to do for about three years but never got around to . . . until now.  Ever since rafting down the Yulong River in China, I've been in love with the jagged karsts that rise up like monoliths in the distance.  This scene was painted from a photo of a woman boating along the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and I just loved the pink interior of the boat set against the cool greens and blues around it, not to mention the repeating "cone" theme sparked by her hat.

Halong Bay

oil on hardboard panel, 5" x 7"

For this little palette knife painting, I used a photo reference.  Although Ha Long Bay is in Vietnam, this scene reminds me of my time in China in 2013, floating down the Yulong River on a bamboo raft, surrounded by these monolithic karsts.  The haunting echo of birdsong off the karsts lends a dreamy, otherworldly feeling to the scene.  This will be my 22nd painting as a result of that trip, and I feel I have at least 4 more Asian paintings in me yet to come.