A Balancing Act

acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

This, as in all my abstract paintings, emerged gradually, starting with a simple idea, then letting the paint itself take over and talk to me.  I could go on and on with these, but at some point you just have to stop, walk away, and call it done . . . for now.

Lakescape

oil on hardboard panel, 8" x 10"

No particular reference on this one, just using up leftover paint on the palette.  I love Italian cypress trees and lakes, and wanted to convey stillness and light.

Lakeville Poplars

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

A 10-minute sketch of poplars along a section of Lakeville Highway in Petaluma.  The leaves are turning yellow now, giving the trees a glow around their perimeters, something I find quite beautiful, especially when they sway in the breeze.

Bolinas Lagoon on a Summer Afternoon

oil on canvas board, 8" x 10"

A plein air sketch of a section of Bolinas Lagoon in late afternoon, done with a palette knife.  The oranges of autumn are starting to appear along this beautiful stretch of landscape, of which there are many choice views along Olema Bolinas Road.

River Rock Rose

oil on hardboard panel, 6" x 6"

I've been working on several paintings simultaneously, all of which have presented challenges.  One is a closeup of the Eel River near Black Butte River Ranch in Northern California.  I thought I had finished it, but when I looked again with fresh eyes, I felt the need to rework it with a different palette.  Instead of mostly blues, greens and pinks, I want to see what I can do with blues, browns and oranges.  This abstract painting was created using the leftover paint from that one.

Clover Flowers

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

What do you do when you are sitting on the grass with your iPad and feel uninspired by all the cookie cutter homes around you?  You look down at the little flowers growing at your feet.  So, I focused my attention on these sweet little gifts of nature that humans typically trample on.  I probably killed a few just sitting down to do this sketch.  

Open Door Windows

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Once again on a walk with the dogs, I sat on a ledge across the street from the Open Door Christian Church on B Street in Petaluma for this sketch.  

Black Butte River at Dusk

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

This is a quick sketch done as a loose study for an oil painting which I'm working on now from a photo I took the other day at this beautiful spot at the confluence of the Eel and Black Butte Rivers.  A gorgeous, unpopulated, swimmable place.

On Top of the World

acrylic on canvas, 12" x 36"

This was done from a photo I had taken up on Pan Toll Road the other day on Mt. Tamalpais.  I just had to bash out a painting of it.  The fog was just beginning to claim the trees in the distance, and I loved the shadow patterns created by those trees, set against the blond hills in the foreground.  

Two Plum Trees

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Just playing with color here, using memory and imagination.  This one makes no realistic sense, but I like it anyway.

Pan Toll Road

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

A quick digital sketch done while sitting on a big rock with the dogs under the shade of a pine tree.  There are dramatic views in all directions from Pan Toll Road in Marin County, especially this time of year, with the fog mingling with the cypress and pine trees and the bleached out hilltops.  

A Monumental Love

oil on canvas, 12" x 24"

This is the finished painting of the one I posted in progress a few days ago, under the working title of  "The Session."  I've now renamed it with the original title I had in mind but had been too timid to claim, until a friend of mind saw the painting and helped me get over that modesty.  Victor, former racehorse, and his beloved friend Marilyn at Covelo Ranch having one of their sessions in a big, grassy field.  

Nicasio Poplars

oil on canvas board, 9" x 12"

A plein air study done the other day in the little Marin town of Nicasio, a very popular location for plein air painters, mostly known for the picturesque church nestled against a hillside.  I've painted the church before, but turned my attention this time to a southern view featuring some beautiful glowing poplars. 

Some Kind of Pine

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Another 10-minute sketch done whilst on a walk with the dogs.  They are forcing me to work faster, which is probably not a bad thing.   I have no idea what kind of tree this is.  Could be a pine, could be a palm.  Never seen another like it, that I can recall.

The Session

oil on canvas, 12" x 24"

This painting is perhaps 90% done, a training session Marilyn is having with Victor out in the field at Covelo Ranch.  I used a photo taken in the spring when the grass was green and the temperature cool, unlike now when the heat here is unbearably hot, over 100 degrees Fahrenheit much of the time. 

Sheep Family Portrait

oil on gessoboard, 9" x 12"

A quick palette knife portrait of three sheep at Covelo Ranch, painted from a photo because sheep, like horses and cows, do not sit still long enough to have their portrait painted.  

Night Light

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Now for something different, a night-time iPad painting.  Again walking my dog in downtown Petaluma, I thought this might make an interesting composition.  Rather Poe-like, isn't it?  Truth be told, these digital paintings are much easier and quicker to bang out than actual, organic paintings, one of which I've been slaving over the past few days, and I'm still not finished with it.  

Glads In Memoriam

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 8"

Got a little too frustrated working on this painting, so I wiped it.  I had taken a photo of it at this stage, as I often do, so that when I look back I can feel really bad about what I did.  Instead, I should have just put it in the time-out room.  Lesson learned.

Victory Walk

acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

This is one of the few horse paintings I've done to date.  Just trying to get more familiar with horse shapes and this one in particular, I already have another in mind to do of him.  This is my friend Marilyn's handsome boy Victor, a Thoroughbred and former race horse.  I dare say he's much happier now, living on a big ranch with someone like Marilyn to love and care for him.

Umbrellas of the Theatre District

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Yet another umbrella digital painting done while on a walk with my dog.  For this one, we were sitting in an outdoor plaza in downtown Petaluma, in the theatre district.  I was drawn to the tropical colors and angular shapes of this scene.

Koi Pond Impression, Albion

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

This digital sketch was done while sitting by the koi pond at my friends' Albion residence.  The pond is fairly large (and gorgeous), but in this one I wanted to showcase the beautiful colors in the landscaping around the pond.

Tree Trunks Along the Slough

oil on gessoboard, 12" x 6"

This palette knife painting was meant to be a study in pinks and browns, but as you can see, I strayed a bit from that idea.  It was done from a photo I had taken at Covelo Ranch in the spring, when the slough was full.  I liked seeing that one tree trunk in the foreground set against the others on the far shoreline of the slough.

Blue Heron at the Pond

oil on hardboard panel, 8" x 10"

Here is another rough palette knife plein air sketch from the same afternoon at the Cheese Factory.  I just had to capture the beautiful blue heron I spotted standing by the pond.  I'm currently back at the Covelo Ranch, churning out more work.  It isn't easy working outdoors in 104 degree weather, wiping sweat droplets off my palette as they fall from my face.  Wow, it's hot here!

View from the Cheese Factory, Looking West in Summer

oil on gessoboard, 8" x 10"

This simple scene was sketched looking a bit to the right of the last one I did at the Cheese Factory, along the same ridge of hills, and earlier in the day when the sun was at its height.  I may add some cows later.

Sunrise in the City

oil on canvas, 8" x 6"

Just using the leftover paint from the architectural painting of my last post.  I hate to waste paint, and this gives me an excuse to play with color and form.

Yellow Van

oil on canvas, 18" x 24"

I've been working on this abstracted architectural landscape for the past few days, as an exercise and a warmup to another abstracted urban landscape I've had in mind to do for months but wasn't sure how to approach.  I've hardly done any urban landscapes to date, so just playing around with geometric shapes and perspective has been quite helpful.

The Slough in Spring

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

This was done from a photo I took at Covelo Ranch in the spring, when the slough was full.  Now it is completely dried up and you can walk across the bed to the field beyond.  I loved the subtle gray-greens set against the pink of the plum blossoms and their reflections in the brown water, with the charming little turquoise foot bridge in the distance.  

Plum Trees with Wheelbarrow, Covelo Ranch

oil on linen-mounted panel, 8" x 10"

Another palette knife plein air study.  I've painted these plum trees before, but that was in the spring when they were full of blossoms.  I love the rich dark color of plum trees in summer, which I painted yesterday under the shade of an apple tree next to the horse corral.  I'll get to those horses at some point, hopefully.

Roses and Lavender

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

I started this digital sketch with a black background and, as an experiment, left much of it untouched.  I think I'll leave it that way.  

From the Cheese Factory, Western View

oil on canvas panel, 8" x 10"

My first plein air sketch in a while, working with a palette knife.

Abstract in Orange and Blue

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 24"

I used a very limited palette for this color field study, just cad orange, cobalt blue, and titanium white.  I may do more to it, but I kind of like the overall effect as is.  

The Pond, Late Afternoon

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

This was a quick sketch of the pond at the Cheese Factory along Point Reyes-Petaluma Road in Marin County.  It is a venue worth revisiting for the sheer variety of subject matter.  

Sky Blue Umbrella

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Yet another umbrella sketch.  I do wish they'd change their seating arrangements once in a while, so I could get another angle whilst sitting and watching my dog watch people -- her favorite thing.  What am I to do?  It's a compromise in favor of Lola's well being.  She lives to socialize, and I live to paint; we are at cross purposes, my dog and I.  My deceased partner Roy warned me about this very thing.  Oh well.  I see a lot of umbrellas.

Bunny

oil on canvas, 16" x 8"

I was in the mood for a nude, so here she is.  This was done mostly with a brush, using a palette knife in a couple spots only.  I miss oil painting, and I miss painting with brushes.  Note to self:  do some more.

Country Living

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

This digital painting is from a photo I had taken a while ago somewhere in the countryside northwest of Petaluma.  I found the bathtub to be a charmingly odd curiosity, and one that added scale to the massive barn behind it.  Care for a soak, anyone?

Under a Lichen Tree

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Done on another walk with my dog, I loved the color of the lichen on the trunk juxtaposed with the greens of the grass in shade and sun.

Sidewalk Poppies

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Painted from a bench, looking at the arrangement of orange poppies springing out of a cement sidewalk in Petaluma.

Pineapple Sundae

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 24"

This one nearly didn't make it due to extreme frustration.  But having put it in the time out room for a day, upon viewing it with fresh eyes, I knew right away of one thing it needed.  That result dictated what to do next, and when I got to a stopping point, it went back to the time out room for another brief stay.  It may be finished, I don't know.  I've chosen to stop, and when I look at it hanging on the wall, I am not displeased by the effect it has on me.  This painting has similarities to an earlier work, entitled Lovebirds.  The two will be hanging in close proximity during my open studio on July 4th.  I have filled the walls with new work and wish I had two more pairs of hands to handle all the paintings I feel are in me.  This may be a common complaint of artists everywhere, but it's only gotten worse over time.  My solace is in the digital art I can produce on the spot, no muss, no fuss.  It's a great tool, and I am grateful to have it at my fingertips, literally.  Organic, "real" painting is another animal, it seems.  With the atmosphere so arid lately, my paint turtles dry up within seconds.  Very frustrating!  It makes me want to run to my oils.  Ah, I think I hear the Caribbean calling!

Hot Hill

oil on canvas panel, 6" x 8"

This was a simple palette knife study with an offbeat palette of titanium white, permanent yellow, vermillion, English red, alizarin crimson, and ultramarine blue.  Here I'm working with subtle gradations of cool against warm, pushing the boundaries of subtle in color as far as I can without losing the concept of a landscape, which I wanted to retain with this one.

Cream and Green Umbrellas

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

More umbrellas!  These two were fully deployed, unlike the last one I painted, Blue Umbrella.  You can be sure that when an outdoor umbrella appears on this blog, it's the result of a pause on a walk with my dog.  

Eastside Petaluma in June

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Another sketch done while on a walk with the pups along a path on the eastern side of Petaluma.

Blue Umbrella

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Another umbrella sketch from a walk with my dog along the Petaluma River.

Chileno Valley Hills

oil on canvas, 8" x 24"

This scene has been nagging at me for a long time.  I had taken the reference photo for it in June of 2006.  There was a mist in the morning air, which made the distant hills appear lighter and the foreground brighter, at least as captured in the photo.  I wanted to play with neutrals to see if I could recreate that atmosphere.

Ellis Creek in May

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

This digital painting was done from a photo I had taken in May at Ellis Creek here in Petaluma.  Such a variety of colors and shapes, it was hard to simplify it all.  

Chinese Acrobats

acrylic on canvas, 12" x 36"

This started out as a still life of a stalk of yellow gladiolas in a green vase.  I wasn't happy with it, so I took the bottle out of the picture and gave it an abstract background.  As I looked at it, I started to see these little figures like the Chinese acrobats I'd see on the Ed Sullivan Show back in the '60s.  I'll admit, I was in a peculiar mood when I painted this today.

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.  

Hicks Valley Horses

acrylic on canvas, 12" x 24"

I used a reference photo I had taken last summer on Hicks Valley Road, in the countryside west of Petaluma.  The paint horse in the foreground had risen up out of the landscape like a blossom in the desert.  I spent two hours working on it with a palette knife, then took a lunch break.  But now, after stepping away, I feel that if I go back in there, the painting may change radically, and perhaps not for the better.  As it stands, the landscape is simplified and abstracted, and in harmony with itself, something I can only achieve working alla prima, which is to say completing a painting in one session.  The way I mix colors varies from session to session, and so a reworking of one area can result in a pasted-on look, which causes a chain reaction throughout, and then you're cooked, and the painting is DOA. Still, I may not be able to resist toying with this one later, even though I feel it has a bit of life in its current, unfinished state.  In a nutshell, I am not ashamed to walk away from this one as is.

Tibetan Terrain

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Done from a photo I found online that reminded me of a Tibetan hillside, I loved the color the light made of the distant hills, offset by a shaft of light turning the mustard field a neon green.   

Loma Alta in the Clouds

acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"

This was done as a value study from a photo of Loma Alta, a mountainous region near Santa Barbara (if I'm not mistaken -- I've never been there), prompted by my recent efforts at abstracted landscapes.  Done with a palette knife, I didn't spend too much time on it, but I like the overall effect.

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.