Topiary Tree, East Petaluma

oil on gessoboard panel, 9" x 12"

This is a palette knife painting I did in the studio from a photo I'd taken while walking along a trail in East Petaluma.  I've walked this path often, and each time I have to stare at this lone tree and its sweet, bulbous shape.

Catamount Drive

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Yet another Vermont sketch I did on site.  This is a view of the unpaved drive leading to my friends' house on the lake.  The filtered light through the leaves was eye-popping.

Boat Dock, Lake Dunmore II

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Another sketch done at the lake in Vermont, this time from the patio just above the dock.  The previous post of this scene was done from a window looking down on it, on a hazy day.  The sun was out in full when I painted this version.

Boat Dock, Lake Dunmore

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

This is a sketch I did the other day while staying at my friends David and Rochelle's house at the edge of Lake Dunmore in Vermont, where the fall colors were starting to pop.  Simply gorgeous there!

Central Park Path

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

This is a little sketch I did the other day in New York's Central Park.  I was there for a week visiting friends, going to museums, walking the 'hoods.  I lived in New York for about 10 years but had not been there since before 911.  Central Park was a favorite of mine.  I love nature, what can I say?  There may be some NY paintings coming out of this trip.  What a great city!

First Light Farm

oil on gessoboard, 12" x 9"

This is a palette knife plein air study I did the other day at a vegetable and flower farm in Petaluma.  It offers many painting possibilities and I will return again to this spot.  

Los Altos Hills

acrylic on canvas, 20" x 16"

Another abstracted landscape study, starting with a colorful garden in the Los Altos hills and reducing the shapes to their essence, without any details, and yet it still reads as a garden to me.  I would like to straddle the invisible line between the known and the unknown in my painting.  I also like to work in representational style, but this way of thinking helps divorce me of the tendency to label my world and allows for the possibility of surprise, the holy grail of painting for me.

Sidewalk Lavender

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

The Lollipop Guild

acrylic on plywood panel, 8" x 10"

Another abstract using up the leftover paint on my palette.

Sand Dunes and Pampas

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Viridian Vase

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 24"

This is a work in progress, having run out of the particular brand of viridian used here before I was finished.  To be continued . . .

A Walk in the Park

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 24"

This is an abstraction of a scene from memory, where the city buildings (New York) in the summer had this light mauve aspect that contrasted nicely with the neon green grass and foliage of the trees.

Barn Conversion

acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"

This is cheating a bit by posting a painting I did a while ago.  I thought I had lost it, but I found it yesterday hiding behind another painting, feeling neglected.  I love the simple shapes of barns, so unpretentious.  Using a Wolf Kahn painting of a barn as a compositional springboard, I did make this one a bit more pretentious by converting it to a home in my habitual search for one myself.  

Update, 1/7/2018:  Extensive information on Wolf Kahn and his work can also be found here at www.artsy.net.

Red Umbrella by the Petaluma River

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

A little digital plein air sketch I did while on a downtown walk with Lola.

Untitled 12/10/2011

acrylic on canvasboard, 6" x 12"

This is an earlier abstract painting that I'm posting now because it is going to be part of an exhibit of my work at the aperitif-tasting room on the property where I have my studio.  

Swimming in Miami

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

My response to the recent heat wave here in Northern California.

Christmas in August

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 12"

Another abstracted landscape, playing with color harmonies.

Young David Hockney

acrylic on canvas, 30" x 15"

ON LOAN

This is a work in progress, nearly finished.  Not sure if I want the pink floor to compete with the pink stripes of his shirt, his shoes need some work, and a few other touch ups needed here and there.  I will replace the image when this painting is done.  David Hockney is one of my all-time favorite artists.  I've seen his figures at the National Portrait Gallery in London and an extensive exhibit at the deYoung Museum in San Francisco.  It was his recent plein air work in Yorkshire that inspired me to do more of the same in my area, and also his iPad paintings that gave rise to my own efforts at digital art.

Portrait No. 20

oil on canvas board, 12" x 9"

This portrait is the result of a 2-hour session with the model.  Her slightly downcast eyes and mouth gave her a rather severe aspect, which disappeared during her breaks when she "came back to life," as it were.  Most of the models I've painted in these portrait sessions are first-timers and I notice that they get very serious when sitting, or they think faraway thoughts because it's boring to just sit there.  In either case, the lack of presence is apparent on their faces.  I would like to see what I could do with a portrait where the model is looking at me, where there is a soul-to-soul connection, or just someone who can exude presence in stillness.  It might make a difference in the outcome.  At any rate, it's all a great learning experience and I fully appreciate the opportunity to paint from life.

Tomales Bay at Dusk

acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48"

This is a painting that has gone to live in the aperitif-tasting room on the property where I have my art studio.  I am putting up an exhibit of paintings there, and although I considered this an underpainting to be worked on some more, the woman who makes the aperitifs, Laura Hagar, fell in love with it in its current state and so I feel I cannot touch it now.  I guess it's done.  It is the largest painting I've done to date, but all four of my largest paintings have been snatched up for this exhibit.