Moon Over Rivertown

acrylic on canvas paper, 12" x 9"

This is a study done from a photo taken at dusk of the Rivertown section of Petaluma along the river. 

Night Owl

oil on canvas, 12" x 9"

Another bird painting, this one of a barn owl on a black gessoed canvas where all the black you see is unpainted canvas, except for the eyes, which were painted in ivory black.  To create this painting, I used a limited palette of indian yellow, burnt sienna, ivory black, and titanium white.

The Cheese Factory at Dusk on the 4th of July

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Like many dogs, my dog is terrified of fireworks, so we high-tailed it to the countryside in West Marin on the evening of July 4th to get a bit of respite from the boom booms going on in town.  We stopped at the Cheese Factory, which was nearly deserted, so we had the whole place to ourselves.  The scene was incredibly peaceful and exquisite, complete with a nearly full moon over the pond and all the various colors of foliage shown to best advantage and with a fog bank coming up over the trees.  I am itching to revisit this scene at the same time, from 7:30 - 9:00 pm, to do a plein air sketch.  

Moon Over the Sierras

acrylic on canvas, 12" x 16"

I had the urge to paint this scene for the juxtaposition of the dark violet sky against the pink glow of a snow-covered ridge at dusk.  I find it soothing to gaze at a full moon; it's such a magical orb, so round, so light, so seemingly still.

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.

Zen Barn

acrylic on canvas, 12" x 24"

This was done from a drive-by shooting yesterday near the little town of Bodega, as this barn is situated such that there is no place to paint it on site from this angle.  My trusty camera captured it, though, and I set the time at either dusk or dawn -- could be either, from the pink horizon.