Atelier des Chevaux

 

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

This is a horse paddock on a 4.5 acre property in Sonoma immersed in a vineyard.  The central portion of the paddock was converted to an art studio and for a couple years I was in nirvana there.  I painted Kate there, a painting which seems to have vanished, which is strange, since I love this painting and had her hanging in my kitchen in New Mexico as kind of my badass alterego, someone who took no shit.  I remember carefully boxing her up, yet now that I'm setting up my studio and unboxing all my paintings, there are only a few left and she has yet to turn up.  Fingers crossed I find her.

Denman Street Lamp

oil on panel, 11" x 14"

Just one of the many interesting features of the property where I now live, this street lamp sits outside the milking barn-cum-art studio-cum-brewery.  

Green Barn

oil on canvas panel, 8" x 10"

A quick little palette knife study of an old green barn that I intend to paint larger and in a slightly different format at some point.  This was an experiment to arrive at the palette I wanted to use for it, in this case opting for cad yellow light, transparent orange oxide, napthol red, cyan blue, and ultramarine blue, plus white.  I have amassed quite a number of barn paintings by now, an ongoing homage not only to what they symbolize -- shelter and protection for animals -- but also as an expression of gratitude, since they have served me well as art studios in the past.

Supermoon

oil on gessoboard panel, 6" x 8" 

This is my first attempt at a nocturnal plein air painting, again using only a palette knife.  I really wanted to capture that big round ball of a moon from the vicinity of my art studio, so I tried to work fast and furious as it was rising in the east over the hills of Sonoma.  While my lighting setup enabled me to see the panel well enough (the light source was set on a chair), my palette was in shadow throughout, and so I had to later adjust the values in the studio.  What a challenge!  

Denman Studio

oil on canvas, 12" x 16"

This was done mostly en plein air and finished in the studio, the one depicted here.  The red leather Ikea couch was left there after a party on the property and I just had to include it.