Saturday, December 19, 2015

Mountain Meadow



"Mountain Meadow", 12 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
Mountains with mist or otherwise are ever the place I most want to be painting. This is on the Snake River north of Jackson.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Mt. Moran - Sold



"Mt Moran", 14 x 14, Oil on Panel. Given Honorable Mention Award in the Plein Air
Washington "Meadows to Mountains" show at the American Art Gallery in Tacoma. Thank
you to Michael Situ, Juror of Awards.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Autumn Mist Artist Point



"Autumn Mist Artist Point", 10 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

I painted four paintings that day at Artist Point between Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan. The location
of this one was a short distance down the road by a small lake, looking off to the west into the
mist. The most striking thing was that in spite of the mist and the rain, the color of the alpine
meadows, turning before winter, was so intense and vivid.

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unframed painting.


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Saturday, October 17, 2015

Mist on Mt. Shuksan


"Mist on Mt. Shuksan", 10 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
When the mist rolled in on a very cold late September morning on the ridge of the Artist Point trail between Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan, we thought our painting day was over, because it also started to rain. But it was a "can't dance" moment (when you can't dance and it's too wet to plow, you may as well do something because you can't or don't have the opportunity to do anything else) so we set up our easels anyway. The mist was so thick we could barely see anything but the nearest rocks and lichen. So that is what this painting is about--the amazing color of the steep alpine meadow in fall colors.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Artist Point In Mist



"Artist Point In Mist", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board

When we first hiked up the trail from the end of the Mt. Baker road at Artist Point, the sun was shinning through broken clouds, just as the weather report had predicted. But within half an hour, long enough to set up, the mist closed in and a gentle rain began. We called out for our companion, who had taken off up the trail for an hour hike, but she was gone. So undaunted, we said--might as well paint! This was actually my second painting and shows the one moment when the mist parted briefly. Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker were hidden in the fog but the steep alpine meadows in autumn colors called forth a luminous palette of grays.


Thursday, October 1, 2015

Mt. Shuksan Morning Light - SOLD




"Mt. Shuksan Morning Light", 12 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

After a rainy foggy Saturday up at Artist Point at the end of the Mt. Baker Road, Sunday dawned with a brilliant clear sky. It was so bright I thought to myself that it is a heck of a lot easier to paint in the fog, where you don't have to rig contraptions to prevent glare on the canvas and paint with part of your palette in the sun and part in the shade! Definitely need to re-think my system for that!

But the more important point is that standing in this spot watching the sun come up behind Mt. Shuksan, casting the blue and violet shadows on the glaciers, makes it clear why Mt Shuksan is said to be the most photographed mountain in Washington State.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Fort Casey Beach Road


"Fort Casey Beach Road", 10 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

Sometimes I look at a view and it doesn't seem like much and so the lack of a definitive or
spectacular subject becomes a different kind of lesson. It requires a different kind of thinking.

I wish I could tell you what went on in my mind after those first thoughts about this view,
but I don't remember! But I'm guessing, looking at the painting now, that it had a lot to do
with sticking to abstraction.


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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Malign Lake


"Malign Lake", 10 x 12, Oil on Museum Board

This is one of the beautiful Lakes in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. Members of our group, Plein Air Washington, painted there for a week in July. It was 90 degrees most days and a forest fire began in one of the canyons we had painted in the day before.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Coupeville Wharf



"Coupeville Wharf", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board

I painted this same scene years ago in a plein air competition and won an award, so I was scared silly doing it again. But the fact is, every painting is different--the tide at the very least is different, not to speak of the state of mind and feelings. The hand is different as well, as strange as that is. I always think I will just progress in some direction, but its not to be--the direction takes its own turns.

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Friday, September 4, 2015

Beach at Fort Casey


"Beach at Fort Casey", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
I painted from this spot right above the beach at Fort Casey several years ago. It is strange how paintings have their own memory separate from the scene that I am painting.

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Friday, August 28, 2015

Coupeville Stop Sign - SOLD


"Coupeville Stop Sign", 9 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board

The crew was about to repave this Whidbey Island road we were painting next to! So my friend, Jeanne Edwards, and I had to finish in a big hurry once we got the word. No time to angst about the outcome. We made our getaway just as the asphalt truck was coming up the road. It was a beautiful spot and the stop sign just cried out to be the center of attention!

Monday, August 17, 2015

Tilbury Portrait


"Tilbury Portrait", 12 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

At the out-door Tilbury paint out in May 2015, the models dressed in early American costumes. I did a couple of portrait sketches. This was one of them.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Roses with Orange - SOLD



"Roses with Orange", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board

Another painting from my recent "roses" obsession.

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Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.==>

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Two Roses


"Two Roses", 6 x 6 In, Oil on Museum Board

Between all the trips and plein air painting, packing and unpacking, driving to far away places, the heat and the cold and carrying the gear--sometimes its a relief to be out on the deck with a couple of flowers, just smusching the paint around.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Athabasca River


"Athabasca River", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board

Because of the forest fire in the Maligne Valley in Jasper that started the week were painting there, Jeanne Edwards and I decided to leave Jasper early and spend a day driving down the Jasper-Banff Highway. It is 144 miles between Jasper and Lake Louise and has been described as one of the most scenic highways in the world. Early on during the day we stopped at a spot along the river to do our final painting for the trip. It was beautiful and cool in the early morning air and a perfect spot with an amazing view of the mountain behind the river.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Edith Cavell, Sketch


"Edith Cavell, Sketch", 10 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

At the end of our second painting day in Jasper, at the foot of Mt. Edith Cavell, I was tired! I had done one painting facing the mountain and one facing the other direction. But I wanted to do one more! This very fast sketch of Mount Edith Cavell was the result: one of those impetuous and "pray the devil-may-care painting gods will be with me!" And after 20 minutes or so, I just said, "put it in the box and for heaven's sake, don't look at it!" But when I do look at it now, this magnificent mountain and the story of Edith Cavell come back to me.

Wikipedia: Mount Edith Cavell

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Pyramid Mountain


"Pyramid Mountain", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board

This was my first painting in Jasper National Park last week and it was painted close to where were were staying at Patricia Lake. We had beautiful weather, but by the end of the week an intense forest fire in the Maligne Valley filled the valley around Jasper with haze.  Because of the weather, there was little snow on the mountains, but the color of this mountain was beautiful with its reddish rock.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Red Roses White Vase - SOLD



"Red Roses White Vase", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Museum Board

Continuing my exploration of my lovely silk roses out in the sunlight on my back deck.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Palouse Walls





















"Palouse Wall", 9 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board, Plein Air

Painted on my trip with Plein Air Washington to the Palouse in May. How I love Eastern Washington!

Friday, July 10, 2015

Road to Artist Point



"Road to Artist Point", 12 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board, Plein Air

Another painting from the bend in the winding road up to Artist Point. I had painted the two main vistas and I was too tired to pack up and go to another spot. So this was the view!

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

View from Mt. Baker Road




"View from Mt. Baker Road", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board, Plein Air

We stopped at a sharp bend on the winding road up to Artist Point at Mt. Baker.  The view to the Southeast was of Mt. Shuksan.  The view more to the North was this one and I tried to figure out the names of the peaks by looking at the map when I got home.  If anybody knows, I'd love to hear.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Mt. Shuksan from Artist Point


Painted on my trip last week to Mt. Baker, this was actually the first painting of the day. Mt. Shuksan--so iconic and so different from Mt. Baker.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Table Mountain

"Table Mountain", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board, Plein Air

This was painted nearly Bagley Lake on the Mt. Baker road up to Artist Point. We hiked in maybe half a mile.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Roses with Orange



"Roses with Orange", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board

With this painting and with the warm weather, when I'm in my studio that means the back deck! So nice to have my silk roses that never die!

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Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Mt. Baker


Mt. Baker, 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board, Plein Air

This was the second painting on the first day of our painting trip to Mt. Baker/Mt. Shuksan. Sometimes, because of time, sun, mosquitos or companions taking off for other spots, there is more of a feeling of painting with abandonment--of not second guessing every stroke of the brush. This was such a painting.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Mt. Shuksan

"Mt. Shuksan", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Musuem Board

I spent the last couple of days with a group of Northwest artists up at Artist Point, between Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan. The days were warm and the sun nearly blinding. No snow at Artist Point, which is an anomaly for this time of year. We are praying for incessant precipitation next winter, because we do like our glaciers!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Bennington Lake

6/18/15 "Bennington Lake", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board, Framed

Bennington Lake is located near Walla Walla in Southwestern Washington. We painted there on our final day of the Palouse paint-out with Plein Air Washington.

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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Wind on the Palouse



"Wind on the Palouse", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
The title of this painting came from the fact that the painting was done in a high wind with gusts so strong they moved the brush! So I can truly say the wind was my mentor in this painting!  Strangely, as soon as we stopped painting, the wind died down!

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Upper Palouse Falls


"Upper Palouse Falls", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board

The 2nd day of the Palouse Falls paint-out, we hiked to the Upper Palouse Falls. The hike involved a steep trail from the upper embankment down to the river. It is not as dramatic as the main falls, but equally beautiful.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Palouse Falls

"Palouse Falls", 9 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board

I painted with the Plein Air Washington group last weekend at Palouse Falls. The dry earth has amazing color and I'm always so excited to be up over the mountains to the east of our wonderful green and often wet Puget Sound region!

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Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Watching

"Watching", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Museum Board

This is another in my portrait series. I'm experimenting with certain things and I'm not at the point where I understand it enough to talk about it. That may seem counter intuitive, because the mind says that I ought to know what my goal is, but changing the processes of the eye, the hand and some notion in the mind is not particularly straightforward.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Girl in Dark Dress


"Girl in Dark Dress", 12 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

I never fail to enjoy painting my daughters.

Pricing for this unframed painting.
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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Nisqually Sky


"Nisqually Sky", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
Every year our artist group goes out to the Nisqually Reach, where one of the main rivers of the region, the Nisqually, flows into Puget Sound from the Nisqually Glacier on Mt. Rainier. The delta has been restored in the last few years and now has a raised board walk out over the tidal marshes.


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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Dana Passage


5/13/15 "Dana Passage", 11 x 14, Oil on Museum Board, Unframed

This is the view from my studio and back deck--ever changing tides and sky. It is always there to paint!

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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Girl in Purple Dress


"Girl in Purple Dress", 12 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

It is good to do a series, such as this portrait series. Eventually I come to something of a procedure, and then finding that, can have the notion of doing it very differently. I am still coming to that point--

Pricing for this unframed painting.
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Sunday, May 10, 2015

Zangle Tideland


"Zangle Tideland", 8 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board, Unframed

To paint over and over what is directly in front of you--that is the exercise of a lifetime.

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Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Girl in Yellow


5/5/15 "Girl in Yellow", 14 x 11, Oil on Museum Board, Unframed

Sometimes I have a an unquenchable thirst for painting my daughters, even when I've painted from the same photo before.

Pricing for this unframed painting.
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Saturday, May 2, 2015

Across to Whidbey


"Across to Whidbey", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

This was a fast 45 minute painting from Chetzemoka Park in Port Townsend looking across the channel to Whidbey Island. I was teaching an outdoor painting class to a group of wonderfully spirited women painters. It was intense and a lot of fun--

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Blue Pitcher - NFS


"Blue Pitcher", 20 x 20 In, Oil on Canvas

This is another painting from the depths of my closet. Strange it is that I've not only lost track, but I don't remember my state of mind or how I was approaching painting at that time.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Nisqually Barns


"Nisqually Barns", 9 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board

This was painted out on the Nisqually Delta with my friends from Plein Air Washington. The barns are an historic remnant of the old dairy farm that used to be here when the Delta was diked.

From http://NisquallyDeltaRestoration.org: "The Nisqually Delta represents the largest tidal marsh restoration project in the Pacific Northwest to assist in recovery of Puget Sound salmon and wildlife populations. Over the past decade, the Refuge and close partners, including the Tribe and Ducks Unlimited, have restored more than 35 km of the historic tidal slough systems and re-connected historic floodplains to Puget Sound, increasing potential salt marsh habitat in the southern reach of Puget Sound by 50%."

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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Zangle Gray Day

"Zangle Gray Day", 6 x 6 In, Oil on Museum Board

The last Zangle Cove painting was done with a palette knife. This very small painting was done with a big round brush. The experiment is the joy of painting.

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Thursday, April 9, 2015

Zangle Cove


"Zangle Cove", 6 x 6 In, Oil on Museum Board

Since I'm working to protect Zangle Cove from industrial geoduck aquaculture, I've decided to do a series of Zangle Cove paintings!  Its always there, ever changing and beautiful.  And across the way we have a pair of Bald Eagles sitting on their nest.  They often come to this tideland to feed--the site of the proposed geoduck farm.

To learn about industrial geoduck aquaculture, read "This Isn't Your Grandfather's Oyster Farm" at this link:
http://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org/?p=479

All proceeds from sales of my Zangle Cove paintings, and I've done many in the past s well, will go towards legal costs of protecting our beautiful cove.

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Thursday, April 2, 2015

Nisqually Marsh


"Nisqually Marsh," 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

I went out with the Plein Air Washington Group last week for our first paint-out of the spring. We went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, a spot close to my home and my heart, as the Refuge has been restored to a certain extent, taking out the dam.  The area, which is the delta of the Nisqually River, is now inundated with the high tide.  The Nisqually River is one of the major rivers that comes off Mt. Rainier, from the Nisqually Glacier.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

White on White


"White on White", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Museum Board

I started this painting in the Alexander Zimin class a few weeks ago, but was not satisfied with it, so when I got home I "did it my way" as far as composition, taking the flowers off the edge of the panel. Its an interesting challenge to paint white on white, and that was one of the directions that Sasha seemed to be veering toward in his own work. In the class there was a white on white constraint simply in the arrangements of most of the still lifes that he carefully set up. So there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide!

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Thursday, March 19, 2015

Far Away



"Far Away", 14 x 11, Oil on Museum Board

I painted this model at the Plein Air Washington Group "Paint-In" last month. She is a very lovely young woman.

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Sunday, March 15, 2015

Pot with Orange



I love to paint on a square canvas--there are so many possibilities for graphic design.

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Thursday, March 12, 2015

Grand Canyon, End of Day


3/12/15 "Grand Canyon, End of Day", 6 x 6, Oil on Museum Board, Framed

There were two "6x6" shows over the holidays.  All the paintings I submitted for these shows were of the Grand Canyon. Some of the paintings came back, nicely framed, and this is one of them.

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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Roses in Green Vase


"Roses in Green Vase", 20 x 20 In, Oil on Canvas

I've been painting smaller works on museum board for so long that I forget that I have canvas. So the other day I was looking for canvas to paint on and I found four paintings that I had totally forgotten about.  This is one of them.  I speak a lot about memory, because it often eludes me and I can no longer live with scattered mental organization.  I have to be actually organized.

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Chinese Girl - NFS



"Chinese Girl", 24 x 18 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is an older painting done in 2009 and I think it must have been done from a photo from my trip to China, but I don't remember. It is interesting comparing the old with the new--I often use more paint now, but the brushwork that I like is apparent. I always think I will remember everything, but so many things are forgotten. I am sometimes just lucky there is an actual memory right there on the canvas.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Young Woman



"Young Woman", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Museum Board

For me the portrait is the most difficult in terms of the obsession of the mind that seeks perfection. The compulsion to get a likeness takes over and the process becomes one of fixing and re-fixing--not a happy place to be. In this portrait, I just quit after basically the first take and despite those thoughts trying to hammer me about this and that in the painting, I'm very happy to just leave it. My goal is to actually think differently about it--get out of that old moldy thought process. Make it as unfinished as it wants to be.