Sonoma Hills in Summer

oil on canvas board, 6" x 8"

This little palette knife sketch was done from my deck, which faces the western hills of Sonoma, as the sun was going down and lit up the hills in pink and orange tones.  The colors were changing lickety-split, so this scene reflects my impression of it at the onset of dusk.  

A Friend or Anemone?

acrylic on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

Got side-tracked with another flower portrait, a white anemone growing in a garden.  I'm having fun with this, so there may be more to come.  Now, where was I?

Petunia Study

acrylic on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

This was intended as a study for a larger painting of a tiny petunia.  Whether I get around to it remains to be seen, as I have quite a backlog of paintings in mind to do.  I just loved the golden glow coming out of the centre of this tiny flower and had to try to capture it.

The Blessed at Rest

oil on canvas, 24" x 24"

This painting has gone through some changes, all in the service of experimentation.  I used pretty much all the tools at my disposal, including brushes, palette knives, carving blocks, brayers, paper towels, and my gloved fingers.  I learned a lot from this one.  Next one, though, will be on panel -- much easier to get the desired effects!

Denman Cottage View

oil on panel, 11" x 14"

This palette knife painting is a somewhat idealized interpretation of the view from my cottage on the Denman property.  I painted it from a photo and not from life because, while my camera was off with the colors of the background hills, I quite liked its skewed version, and yet the values were not far off the real thing.  

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.  

Lynch Creek Mustard

oil on panel, 9" x 12"

Painted from a photo taken when the mustard was at its height in April, this scene looks east toward the hills of Sonoma from Lynch Creek Trail in east Petaluma.  It's a scene that I never seem to tire of, always changing yet very peaceful.

Blue Bird

oil on panel, 12" x 16"

After what feels like a long hiatus from painting as I relocated back to California from New Mexico in March, I'm picking up where I left off in my painting explorations before I moved out of state a little over a year ago.  At that time, I had just begun a process with a new set of tools and a new approach to painting that somehow got sidelined in New Mexico, where I digressed starting with a class I had taken at UNM, which may be the subject of a future post.  For now, I am happy to be in an experimental mode weaving abstract shapes in and around my subjects.  

The Fortune Teller

oil on canvas, 24" x 24"

Not sure what prompted me to paint this, except that I've been wanting to tackle it for quite some time.  It was painted with both brush and palette knife, and I am especially pleased with how her bodice turned out.  I wanted to keep it somewhat abstract in design, and yet the pattern does have, for me, a certain logic that I find oddly pleasing.  I also like the black "halo" around her head formed by the chair back; it seems to give her a regal quality which I'm happy with.  I was hoping to give her some gravitas.  This is the third in a series of "Bird Girl" paintings that I'm amassing (actually, the fourth -- the second one I've never posted).  Birds are a symbol of freedom to me, and I like to associate females with freedom.  It is my wish that one day all females of the human species will unclip their wings, fling open their cages, and fly free.

A Rose in Snow

oil on panel, 6" x 6"

This little abstract palette knife painting is from a few months back; I just never got around to posting it.  There are more than a few others in my inventory that have met that fate.  This painting was inspired by the colors of New Mexico in October, like the rich red of chili peppers you see hanging everywhere in clusters, along with the warm yellow of drying chamisa amongst the cool green sage out on the mesa.  And then there's the snow.  It snowed here in Arroyo Seco on Halloween night, and my backyard has been carpeted in snow ever since.  It snowed again last night.  Everything's white.

Come On Baby Light My Fire

oil on MDF panel, 24" x 24"

Here's another one for the time-out room.  As my reference, I used a black and white publicity still of Tippi Hedren with a trained raven from Hitchcock's "The Birds," and had intended to mess with it after the initial block-in, but life demands pulled me away from the painting and my process for so long that I lost my momentum on it.  Oh well.  Life happens.  

To Grow Where We Are Planted

oil on canvas, 30" x 30"

This is an as yet unfinished painting that's been put in the time-out room for now.  My second attempt at a constructed painting, the idea for it was one of hope.  A downcast little girl brushing past a depiction of a life of ease sees a flower breaking through the pavement in its lust for life.  That was the message I was trying to convey, anyway.  This type of painting is entirely new to me.

Rosie

oil on cradled panel, 20" x 16"

It's back to the birds with this painting of a roseate spoonbill wading in shallow waters.  I've been wanting to paint this bird for quite a while, a member of the ibis family commonly found along coastal regions of North and South America.  I just love that long spatulate bill!  And of course, the gorgeous colors of her (his?) feathers.

Kevin's Pond, Late September

oil on canvasboard, 6" x 8"

This is a quick palette knife sketch I did from a photo I took of a pond in Valle Escondido in late September.  The well-known plein air painter Kevin Macpherson painted this scene, which is on view from his living room window, hundreds of times.  It became the inspiration for his book, "Reflections on a Pond."  There is a lot to learn from a scene like this for painting purposes.  It is an ever-changing subject, full of challenges.  I find it particularly challenging to paint water with a palette knife.  Much easier with a brush, but my overriding focus for this study was in getting the value of the distant mountain range right.

San Luis Storefront with Salvia

oil on panel, 9" x 12"

This (mostly) palette knife painting is of a crumbling facade of an old storefront in San Luis, Colorado.  I loved the profusion of salvia, or Russian sage, obscuring all but one window of the storefront, and the cool shape of the facade made me want to paint this perspective.

Seen Better Days

oil on panel, 8" x 10"

I'd been wanting to paint this crumbling adobe home in Taos for a while, but there is no pullout along the road I could use to capture it live.  Couldn't resist the urge any longer, so I took a drive-by photo and painted from that.  I kinda like it.

Taos Mountain from Wisdom Way

oil on panel, 8" x 10"

Another plein air study of Taos Mountain with a modern adobe home in the foreground, amid a field of sage brush.

Truchas

oil on panel, 8" x 8"

Had another plein air adventure yesterday with the Taos group of painters in the picturesque village of Truchas, about an hour's drive south of Taos.  Truchas is an artists' enclave set on a ridge with breathtaking views in every direction.  It was the setting for parts of the Robert Redford film "The Milagro Beanfield War." I love Truchas!

Pearly

oil on cradled panel, 16" x 8"

I started this painting with the idea in mind of messing it up a little at some point, but, as sometimes happens, I grew attached to this little magpie and so decided in the end not to mess with her.  I quite like how her tail feathers blend in with the wood post.  Magpies are beautiful birds, especially when in flight.  

On a Mission

oil on cradled panel, 9" x 12"

This is an attempt to meld architectural elements with abstraction, a painting of one corner of the historic, much photographed and painted church in Ranchos de Taos known as San Francisco de Asis Mission Church.  The simple, clean lines appealed to me, and allowed for the inclusion of my favorite subject this past year:  the bird!  In this one, I've placed the national bird of New Mexico -- the magpie -- on the ledge to the right, and two pigeons (or doves, as the case may be) to the left.  This church has a certain atmosphere conducive to spiritual healing, as I experienced firsthand a few months ago when I was lucky enough to have the place all to myself for some deep reflection . . . well, me and Lola, that is.  St. Francis would have loved her!