Rainbow Sherbet

oil on canvas panel, 6" x 6"

Here's a little abstract using leftover paint from the palette I chose for another bird painting I've been struggling with.  I like the abstract, though.  In fact, I think it looks good enough to eat.

Toucan

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

Here is another in what is fast becoming an obsession with big-billed birds.  They are so exotic!

Marshall Petaluma Road in January

oil on canvasboard, 6" x 8"

The sun came out the other day and so I worked on this palette knife plein air sketch until the cold air forced me back into my car.  The grassy hills are intensely green now, after all the recent storms.

Flamingo Portrait in Profile

oil on canvas, 11" x 14"

Not my usual subject matter, but I've been thinking a lot about birds lately.  There are so many exotic species in the world, and this one, an American flamingo, is among my favorites.  

Pond Swan at Ellis Creek

acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

This painting was done from a photo I had taken at Ellis Creek not too long ago.  I painted it with a palette knife, except for the swan and the slim tree trunks in the mid-ground, for which I used a brush.  The black area surrounding the swan was left unpainted, having been primed with black gesso.

Monica

oil on canvasboard, 14" x 11"

This tonal study was an exercise in black and white, for which I used ivory black, payne's grey, and titanium white.

Ellis Creek Reeds and Trees in Winter

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

From a recent foray to one of my favorite spots in Petaluma.  The subtle color variations are so beautiful to me, especially when set against a gray sky.

Ballerina in Dark Blue Tutu

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

Was in the mood for a tutu, what can I say?  They're fun to paint.

Eclectic Love

iPad painting, 10" x 10"

I upgraded my iPad recently and noticed my go-to art app, ArtRage, had been upgraded as well.  This is my first digital painting in a square format, an unexpected perk of the upgrade.  I've only been able to produce digital art in a 10" x 14" format, for which I could choose either portrait or landscape perspective and nothing more.  Now that they've added the square format and a few other nice features (along with a few frustrating setbacks, imho), I'll be doing a lot more square digital paintings.  Now, if they would only upgrade again and actually give the artist complete control over format . . . 

Field of Dreams

oil on canvas panel, 9" x 12"

A simple abstracted palette knife landscape here using a limited palette of pthalo green, cad yellow medium, cad orange, cyan blue, and titanium white.  These color field exercises help to divorce me from labels and the conditioned impulse to define what I'm doing.  I find the process very freeing.

Ellis Creek in Autumn

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

A quick digital impression of Ellis Creek I did the other day while on a walk with the dogs.  It started to rain, so I just had time for the basics.

Fire and Ice

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 18"

With this painting I was trying to develop an earlier idea in a marriage of hot and cold, as in the heat of a setting sun reflected on an icy lake.  I tried to work fast with this one, using a brush in each hand to speed things up, and I must say it was really fun!  

Egret at Ellis Creek

oil on canvasboard, 6" x 12"

I started on this palette knife painting from a photo I had taken at Ellis Creek, but had to finish it from memory when my computer crashed last Tuesday.  It had just rained after a long dry spell and there was a carpet of mustard flowers in the mid-distance that I just loved, not to mention the beautiful snowy egret standing in the shallow water.

Finnish Forest

acrylic on canvas, 24" x 18"

I'm working off an old computer to post this painting, as my laptop crashed last Tuesday and is still in the repair shop getting a new hard drive.  This was an attempt at an abstracted landscape, with just memory and imagination as my guide.  I wanted to see verticals, for some reason, and thought of birch trees, of which there are many in Finland, or so I hear.

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.

Sunset Study

iPad painting, 14" x 10"

This is a study I did as a warmup for an organic painting I have in mind.  Here, I'm playing around with design and searching for the palette I want to use for it.  I've been using a limited palette on all of my recent paintings, which changes from painting to painting.  I try to use between three and five colors, plus white, for each -- colors I choose according to the dictates of each particular motif I have in mind.

On a separate note, I have four of my digital paintings on display and available for sale at a local venue here in Petaluma, the Aqus Cafe, through 2/26/2017.  They are each printed on a 5" x 7" metal sheet and wall mounted, and can be printed larger by request.

Resting Holstein

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

I've had cows on my mind a lot lately.  I love the high contrast patterns formed by cows set against the local landscape.  I am especially drawn to the Holsteins, but I love them all for their peaceful spirits.

White Orchids

acrylic on canvas, 8" x 16"

Here is another addition to my white flower series.  I dropped the ball for a while on these white flower paintings, which I enjoy doing, but I have a few more in mind before I move on to other still life themes.

Finn

oil on cradled panel, 6" x 8"

This is a portrait of my brother's little mini-dachshund, Finn, another palette knife painting.  I used a brush only for the highlight on his eye.  The reference for this commission was a photo my brother had taken, and so I felt obliged to be faithful to it.  If I had used a photo that I had taken and that my brother had not seen, I would have felt much freer in my interpretation.  I typically shy away from commissions, but  I love my brother and so I was happy to do as he wished.

Icelandic Horse

acrylic on canvas, 30" x 15"

I've been playing with a new limited palette lately, the one for this portrait made up of Prussian blue, napthol red, cad yellow light, and titanium white.