Kathryn Townsend Painting Studio

Ioana

2012-02-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Ioana", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel
There are many dark tones in this painting and little white. I like the feeling of the warm light.

I'm back from New Zealand and I didn't paint at all there, but took many photos and maybe some will turn into paintings. What a wonderful place to go in the winter! It reminded me so much of Washington State--the rain forest on the coast, the lakes that looked just like the Columbia River, the dry hills of the interior that could have been around Wenatchee.

Purchase this unframed painting for $185.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Lake Powell

2012-02-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Lake Powell", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Panel
This is a funky little painting where I wanted to get the feel of the cool greens of the lake and the orange/pinks of the cliffs.

I should be back from New Zealand by today, but probably jet lag will keep me from writing anything new in the posts. So I will tell you today (Friday in NZ) about yesterday. We went on an overnight boat trip in Milford Sound on the southwestern coast of the South Island--the rock walls of the extremely high mountains were nearly vertical coming down to the water and because of rain the day before there were multiple water falls--it is difficult to describe just how beautiful it was--

Purchase this unframed painting for $125.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Desert Evening

2012-02-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Desert Evening", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
This painting is about distance and the warmth of the setting sun.

Our hiking trip in the Mt. Aspiring National Park in New Zealand was incredible, and yes, I came out with very wet boots which are still drying out. In the heat of the day on the trail it felt so good to walk knee deep through the many streams, but I have to say that hiking for four days in wet boots is strange and at the end of each day, I was ecstatic to get out of the wet boots into dry socks and crocks. The rock walls of the mountains in the Aspiring wilderness are towering and when I get back, I will post photos on facebook.

Purchase this unframed painting for $155.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Alaska Sky

2012-02-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Alaska Sky", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is another sky painting, with a different set of colors and a different feeling of the atmosphere--and in a very wild place compared to where I live in the south part of Puget Sound. It is strange how the land has its own feeling and vocabulary.

Purchase this unframed painting for $125.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Zangle Clouds

2012-02-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Zangle Clouds", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
Sometimes the Cove just calls out to be painted, and the sky on this day was what did it.

I think I will be still out in the Aspiring Wilderness of New Zealand as of this posting. Our take-off point is Wanaka on the South Island, about an hour north of Queenstown. The climate here is so like that of Washington State--on the westcoast a rain forest, beautiful and wet, and then crossing the mountains--well if I woke up here on the narrow lake by Wanaka and didn't know where I was, I might think "Columbia River Basin" with the beautiful gold and purple hills.

Purchase this unframed painting for $125.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Girl with Pink Jacket

2012-02-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Girl with Pink Jacket", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This was another experiment with using even less white and also using thick paint, a thoroughly enjoyable exercise and kind of out there for me.

When you read this, I will be in the Aspiring National Park on the South Island of New Zealand on a four-day backpacking trip--going in by small plane and out by jet boat, along with the hiking. The guide told us this afternoon that there are many rivers to cross and that in New Zealand you just wade through them all and get wet feet, wet boots and wet socks, a prospect I am still contemplating at the moment of writing this--it goes against all my wilderness experience expectations! So I will let you know about the New Zealand way when I get back!

Purchase this unframed painting for $150.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Girl with Green Scarf

2012-02-02T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Girl with Green Scarf", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This was an experiment with using light colors, such as yellows, but little white--a type of experiment that I want to continue.

More from NZ--yesterday we hiked to the mouth of the Franz Joseph Glacier on the W Coast of NZ--very strange to see such a huge glacier spilling down the mountain to nearly sea level as we are hiking through fern trees to get out to the glacier basin. Today we will hike up to the Fox Glacier and I can see blue sky this morning!

Purchase this unframed painting for $150.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Tea at the Empress - SOLD

2012-01-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Tea at the Empress", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel
This is another portrait that is intended to be somewhat flat, with the design being the interesting aspect to me.

More about our New Zealand trip--we did make it over the Tongariro Crossing--a trail over a volcanic peak on the North Island of NZ that turned out to be about 13 miles--and honestly I could barely walk the next day. The downhill for me was worse than the uphill because of the number of stairs on the maybe 3000-4000 foot descent (have to look it up--I might be way off). Today we did a hike along the northern coast of the South Island in the Abel Tasman National Park through a beautiful tropical forest--

Cathedral Valley

2012-01-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Cathedral Valley", 11 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
Sometimes, on a rainy day, I just thrash around the studio and pick something to paint that is different and intriguing.

Purchase this unframed painting for $185.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Zangle Sundown

2012-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Zangle Sundown", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Panel
This painting of the Cove was from sometime in the fall--I did about 6-8 paintings at different times of day. These were the colors just before sundown.

From over 100 degree weather in Western Australia to 40-50 degrees in Northern New Zealand just before sun down at a beautiful chalet hotel at the foot of Mt. Ruapehu (I think that is the mountain), a volcano. This is much more like weather I am use to in the Pacific Northwest, but it is summer here! Tomorrow we do the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 10 mile hike. I'll let you know if we make it all the way--

Purchase this unframed painting for $125.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Girl with Blue Necklace

2012-01-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Girl with Blue Necklace", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This painting was about pale flesh tones and deep color of everything else.

Yesterday in W Australia while we were watching the rescued penguin feeding on Penguin Island south of Perth, an enormous black crow opened the zipper of our food bag only to be thwarted by a foot long lizard sitting on the bag when we came out--watched with great amusement by a couple of guys from the Netherlands sitting on the picnic table nearby--

Purchase this unframed painting for $150.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Zangle Cove Winter Red

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Zangle Cove Winter Red", 6 x 6 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is another painting of the Cove, pushing the reds and violets of winter.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Grand Canyon Light

2012-01-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Canyon Light", 10 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
This scene is so typical of the Grand Canyon, with deep shadow on one side and blinding light on the other. It was from a photo and I wanted to make it abstract, so I turned the painting and the photo upside down to finish it.

I also want to let everyone know that by the time you see this I should be in Sydney, Australia, on my way to Perth to visit my sister. I've posted ahead with odds and ends from the last couple of months--some experiments--well, you'll see! If you write a comment and I don't respond, I'm either not in range of a wifi or I'm off in the wilds of New Zealand--next stop on the journey.

Purchase this unframed painting for $125.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Zangle Cove Rain

2012-01-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Zangle Cove Rain", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Panel
This day I look out of my studio window and it was raining, the mist blanketed everything, the colors all gray, and I thought I would like to try painting it, anyway. This type of challenge is interesting.

Purchase this unframed painting for $125.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Girl in Red

2012-01-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Girl in Red", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is portrait where I painted in a background, but didn't worry too much about whether or not it looked like anything. That is also something I have to allow myself to do sometimes.

Purchase this unframed painting for $150.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Girl in Gray

2012-01-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Girl in Gray", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
It is interesting to do an oil portrait sketch without worrying about the background. This one just didn't seem to need a background. I remember once in a workshop the teacher telling me I should leave a background with just the tone of the canvas, but I couldn't stop myself from filling it in with paint. It really was a mistake, but this type of mistake you can't really confirm until you make it.

Purchase this unframed painting for $150.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

In the Garden

2012-01-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

"In the Garden", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel
My purpose with this painting was simply blocks of color and abstract design.

Purchase this unframed painting for $185.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Zangle Cove Winter

2012-01-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Zangle Cove Winter", 6 x 6 In, Oil on Museum Board
The cove is always here in front of me, winter or summer. Its not that easy to paint, even after all these years, but sometimes I like the winter best, because the colors are so different from the summer greens of Western Washington.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Girl with Purple Scarf

2012-01-09T22:04:00.000-08:00

"Girl in Purple Scarf", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Painting portrait straight on is interesting and if I can say anything about this painting, I like the kind of flatness of it and the decorative feeling.

Purchase this unframed painting for $150.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Liz

2012-01-07T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Liz", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is a portrait of my daughter, Liz, from a Christmas event.

Purchase this unframed painting for $150.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Girl with Red Hair

2012-01-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Girl with Red Hair", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel
Here I am in the new year with a desire to do portraits--and this is the first one of the new year. It is a sketch, really, done with a loose brush.

Purchase this unframed painting for $185.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

To the Horizon

2012-01-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

"To the Horizon", 5 x 4 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is obviously a small study. It is strange how free the brush can be on such a small panel.

Purchase this unframed painting for $75.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Dana Passage

2012-01-01T19:32:00.000-08:00

"Dana Passage", 9 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
I'm starting off the New Year by posting a painting of the view outside my studio window because I am brought back, after all the intensity of the holidays, to just this. I can't remember when I actually did this painting, it was sometime during the fall before everything started to change color. I no longer necessarily post the painting I did during the day, I give them a chance to grow on me or need revisions or be just what they are. This is one is like that--just what it is.

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Grand Canyon Sketch 9

2011-12-30T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Canyon Sketch 9", 4 x 6, Oil on Museum Board
This is my last small Grand Canyon sketch for now. Doing this series in the early part of December got me through the holiday postings, a time I never find easy. I've done many more paintings since, and they've been all over the map. It has been two years since I started the "daily" blog. I do paint almost every day but a few months ago decided to post only every two days so I'd have paintings to post during trips and so I could be more experimental, which sometimes means failure! But if failure is success in trying something new, it is well worth it.I wish you all a wonderful New Year!
Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Grand Canyon Sketch 8

2011-12-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Canyon Sketch 8", 4 x 6 In, Oil on Museum Board
In my 20's I hiked down the Bright Angel trail and across the Tonto Platform to Hermit. The feeling of being alone with the immensity of the rock walls was almost overwhelming.
Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Grand Canyon Sketch 7

2011-12-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Canyon Sketch 7", 4 x 6 In, Oil on Museum Board
Downstream from the Inner Gorge, the canyon becomes more open again.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Reds and Greens

2011-12-24T18:00:00.001-08:00

"Reds and Greens", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Happy Holidays to all! I hope the visual world provided you with great bounty over the past year and will continue to do so in the next! It is always there for us--

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Grand Canyon Sketch 5 - SOLD

2011-12-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Canyon Sketch 5", 4 x 6 In, Oil on Museum Board SOLD
Between the rapids on the Colorado, the water is like glass. The first indication of the coming rapids is the inimitable sound coming from ahead.

Grand Canyon Sketch 4

2011-12-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Canyon Sketch 4", 5 x 7 In, Oil on Museum Board
It can be cold on the river, and there's another thing--you have to be careful where you pitch your tent because they release more or less water from the dam.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Grand Canyon Sketch 3 - SOLD

2011-12-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Canyon Sketch 3", 5 x 7 In, Oil on Museum Board SOLD
To see the canyon from the rim is amazing enough, but to travel down the river is another world. The uplift that peaks around the Inner Gorge means that as you travel down stream from Lee's Ferry, the age of the rock at the river's edge is older and older until you reach the black schist that is 1.7 billion years old. And then from the Inner Gorge to Diamond Creek where we left the river, we came back up through geologic time.

Grand Canyon Sketch 2 - NFS

2011-12-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Canyon Sketch 2", 4 x 6, Oil on Museum Board

This painting was given in the painting gift exchange of our local plein air painters group, Plein Air Washington--a wonderful and talented group of people. All the small paintings in this series were painted in 30 minutes. I find doing timed paintings one of the best ways to reconnect with inspiration and motivation.

Grand Canyon Sketch 1 - SOLD

2011-12-14T18:00:00.001-08:00

"Grand Canyon Sketch 1", 5 x 7 In, Oil on Museum Board
A couple of weeks ago when I was in the painting doldrums, I decided to do timed quick sketches of one of my favorite subjects--the Grand Canyon. Twice I have been on the Sedona Art Center painter's trip down the Colorado--200 miles through the Inner Gorge. These were some of the most memorable experiences of my life. We painted at every stop, but also, sitting on the raft (sometimes hanging on), there was time to take hundreds of photos of every bend in the river. So during the holidays I am going to post these small sketches and you can relive the journey with me.

Desert Bush

2011-12-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Desert Bush", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
This time of year is both dark and distracting. The sun goes down about 4 pm. There are too many things to do. It is easier to do fast painting and that suits me. This is a fast painting from a simple photo of a desert bush.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Zangle Fall Mid-Morning - SOLD

2011-12-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Zangle Fall Mid-Morning", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Panel - SOLD
Sometimes I go back to the scene outside my window. I don't really know what to say about it--its always there, always changing, and somehow always a challenge to paint.

Quinault River

2011-12-07T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Quinault River North", 6 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
These were painted at another quick stop on the road up the west side of the Quinault River. It was a gloriously cold and sunny day, in between some very rainy days that are typical for Olympic National Park.
Purchase this unframed painting for $100.

"Quinault River South" 6 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
Purchase this unframed painting for $100.

Quinault Back Road

2011-12-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

12/5/11 "Quinault Back Road" 5 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
We painted up the Quinault River in the Olympic National Park, jumping out of the cars for quick sketches. These were painted at the first 30 minute stop. I love doing sketches like this--no time for thought or reconsideration--just the hand and the eye, and then letting it be what it is.
Purchase this unframed painting for $100.

12/6/11 "Quinault Color" 5 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
Purchase this unframed painting for $100.

Green Vase and Pumpkin

2011-12-03T18:00:00.001-08:00

"Green Vase and Pumpkin", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
A pumpkin, round and big and orange, seems a difficult item for a still life, but I enjoyed painting the contrast of colors. I tried to place the objects not exactly the way they were in the setup so that the pumpkin wouldn't overwhelm.

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Green Glass Vase

2011-12-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Green Glass Vase", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
I love landscape painting so much that my choice would rarely be to do still life. But sometimes there is just too much rain around here and that means you need to be inside. A still life is a wonderful challenge.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Still Life with Apple

2011-11-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Still Life with Apple", 10 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
A group of gals painting at a beautiful cabin up the Quinault in the Olympic National Park. This was paradise. But unlike the Tetons where there were stormy days but little rain, this particular National Park is a rain forest. So two of our days were inside with still life setups.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Mt. Moran - NFS

2011-11-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Mt. Moran", 14 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
This is the same spot where the mama grizzly and cubs came through. It was strange painting in the cold and partly overcast, stormy skies. Much too windy for an umbrella, I didn't always gauge the light correctly and some of the paintings, when I brought them inside, seemed pretty dark. But I hope you can see something of how beautiful it was. You can probably tell I like to travel--I especially love to drive across the west. Here is a driving song from my daughter, Liz Townsend.

Sunset Near Jackson - NFS

2011-11-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Sunset Near Jackson", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Panel
We painted every day from morning until after the sun went down. This last painting was a fast one because the light changed so quickly. The evening of this painting a mama grizzly and three cubs ran about 40 feet from us down to the river. It was an amazingly beautiful sight as the bears crossed the river right in front of us in the low but iridescent light and disappeared into the bush. I am awed at the number of mama grizzlies with cubs I've seen in the past couple of years on painting trips--Denali, Glacier and the Tetons. Guess I'm just hanging out in the right places!

My niece, who lives in Jackson, questioned whether the bears I saw there were actually grizzlies. First, in the case of the two Denali mama grizzlies and cubs and the Glacier National Park mama grizzly and cubs on the north shore of Lake Josephine, there were expert witnesses--the guides. In the case of the Tetons I have no doubt it was a mama grizzly because she crossed the river no more than 150 feet from our painting group and I could see clearly the typical hump back shape of a grizzly as compared to a black bear. There are many grizzlies in the Tetons I later found out and it is possible that the mama grizzly we saw down on the river was the same one reported crossing the main Teton highway in June--the famous Bear "399" otherwise known as the Angelina Jolie of grizzlies in the Grand Tetons. I can't be sure about this, because the cubs we saw were a lot bigger and I don't know how much they grow in four months.

Grand Teton - NFS

2011-11-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Grand Teton", 9 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
All bundled up with multiple layers and wind pants, I painted this at a turn out in the Teton National Park during a workshop in mid-October. It was really cold and windy with stormy clouds and a few sun breaks, but an incredibly glorious place. I'm not selling any of these paintings--I'm still pondering the lessons learned.

Sky Study

2011-11-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

"Sky Study", 5 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board
Often when I am in between things I turn to the ever changing view from my studio. There is always something to study, always an experiment in front of me.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.

Morning Light

2011-11-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Morning Light", 8 x 10 In, Oil
This is the last of the images from Glacier National Park for now. The mountains had such a powerful impact on me that my feeling memories are vivid. These places are important for our souls.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Above Lake Josephine

2011-11-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Above Lake Josephine", Oil on Panel, 8 x 10
Another vista of Glacier National Park late in the afternoon.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Medicine Lake

2011-11-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Medicine Lake", Oil on Panel, 9 x 12
Some subjects just call out to be painted, even though they are a challenge. This subject, with its nuances, was one of those for me.

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Trail to Grinnell Glacier

2011-11-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Trail to Grinnell Glacier", Oil on Panel, 12 x 16
What I didn't put into the painting were all the mountain sheep in this spot on the way to the Grinnell Glacier. They were on the trail and in the meadows and some hikers were using dubious means to get them off the trail because they had very big horns and seemed very curious.

Purchase this unframed painting for $225.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Falls at Many Glacier - SOLD

2011-11-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Falls at Many Glacier", Oil on Panel, 11 x 14 SOLD
Back behind the lodge at Many Glacier the lake empties into a stream. They told us that if we kept hiking down the trail here, we would likely encounter bears.

Congratulations to my amazing niece, Erica, who summited Ama-Dablam in Nepal on 11/11/11--22,525 feet elevation!

Distance

2011-11-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Distance", Oil on Panel, 9 x 12
Its always interesting to play with color to create distance. This is another scene from our painting trip along the east side of Glacier National Park. The Rockies are so grand compared to the intimate wildness of the Cascades, with the exception of Mt. Rainier and the other volcanos, of course. I often wonder what the Puget Sound area would be like without Mr. Rainier standing as a huge sentinel over the region, yet I have met people who have lived here for years who have never gone up to Paradise.

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Daybreak - SOLD

2011-11-07T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Daybreak", Oil on Panel, 9 x 12
The last morning at Many Glacier we went out early and took photos as the sun was rising. This is Mt. Wilber, directly across the lake from the lodge. Its difficult to really portray the grandeur of these mountains.

Early Morning Mt. Gould

2011-11-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Early Morning Mt. Gould", Oil on Panel, 9 x 12

This is mainly a color study of the early morning light on the lake and Mt. Gould at Many Glacier.

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Lake Josephine - SOLD

2011-11-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Lake Josephine", Oil on Panel, 8 x 10

The colors of the lake and the hillside shadows are deep and so study was about color saturation.

Mt. Grinnell

2011-11-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Mt. Grinnell", Oil on Panel, 9 x 12

This mountain stand across the lake from the Many Glacier Lodge. This view is from behind the lodge a short ways down into the canyon where the lake empties to a series of falls. There is a horse trail down to a valley and another lake, apparently a popular spot for bears.

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

The Garden Wall - SOLD

2011-10-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

"The Garden Wall", Oil on Panel, 11 x 14

Sometimes when I get home from a trip like our painting trip to Glacier National Park, I can paint from my photos and feel that I'm still there. So this painting and the next several paintings are from photos, memory and my feelings about the place.

Falls from Grinnell Glacier - NFS

2011-10-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Falls from Grinnell Glacier", 10 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
This was my favorite painting from the trip and I'm hoping sometime to do a larger version. On the last day, my friend Mary Bee Kaufman and I hiked up the 4 miles from the end of Lake Josephine, 1600 feet elevation gain, to the Grinnell Glacier, the source of the falls in the painting. It was absolutely glorious--we didn't take our paints, just our cameras. There were many mountain sheep on the way up near the top.

NFS

Angel Wing

2011-10-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Angel Wing", 10 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
Another of my four paintings at Grinnell Lake, I think this is "Angel Wing", but I'm not positive. I tried to identify the peaks on the map, but the views change so dramatically from different vantage points. To get up to Grinnell Lake we scheduled on the early morning boat to the end of Swiftcurrent Lake, hiked the isthmus and took the second boat to the end of Lake Josephine. From there we hiked a mile up to Grinnell Lake. There was a family of grizzlies--a mom and probably two year old cubs--on the northern side of Lake Josephine and the second afternoon we came back from there, the cubs were running on the trail on the lakeside. We were glad we had taken the boat!

Up the Valley

2011-10-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Up the Valley Many Glacier", 5 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
When we first got to the Many Glacier Lodge in the morning we had to wait to get into our rooms, so we set up on the lakeside in front of the lodge. This are two quick studies just to get my bearings. I turned the panel upside down to do the second one.

"Mt. Gould", 5 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board

Purchase these two unframed paintings for $115.

Lake Grinnell Hillside - SOLD

2011-10-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Lake Grinnell Hillside", 10 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
When I look around at the landscape in a particular spot and find I've already painted the obvious scenes, then I look for something more challenging. This was one of those paintings--a hillside mostly in shadow with a splash of light. It was a good lesson because as I started it I had no idea where I was going with it.

SOLD

Above Grinnell Lake - SOLD

2011-10-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Above Grinnell Lake", 8 x 8 In, Oil on Museum Board
This was actually my last painting of the trip on the day we hiked the mile up to Grinnell Lake, after the first three paintings. I wasn't sure I had another painting in me, but this view looking up from the lake toward the basin of the Grinnell Glacier was worth it.

SOLD

Mt. Wilber

2011-10-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Mt. Wilber", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
This is one of the views from the Many Glacier Lodge across Swiftcurrent Lake. On the day we painted by the shore, there was a moose bathing, drinking, eating--whatever moose do--on the other side of the lake.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

St. Mary Lake - SOLD

2011-10-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

"St Mary Lake", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

When I travel, I frequently use all cotton museum board to paint on, something I learned from the late William Reese. All of these Glacier National Park paintings are on 4-ply Risings museum board.

SOLD

Hillside St. Mary

2011-10-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Hillside St Mary", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
The sun setting put brilliant colors on the hillside behind St. Mary Lodge, partly because it is a burn area. There have been many burns in Glacier National Park and also to the east on the Indian reservation.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
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Haze at St. Mary Lake - SOLD

2011-10-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Haze at St. Mary Lake", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
Its sometimes hard to make anything of mountains that are blue in the distance, so this was an experiment in painting close values. This is the valley where the Going to the Sun Road starts--a journey we could only take by Red Bus Tour because we came on the train.

Mt. Ellsworth

2011-10-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Mt. Ellsworth", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
This was another painting done on the hike up from Medicine Lake. I'm not certain of the name of the peak, so if anybody is familiar with the mountains of Glacier, let me know.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Tower Above St. Mary Lake

2011-10-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Tower Above St. Mary Lake", 8 x 10, Oil on Museum Board
The second day at St. Mary Lake was hazy because of forest fires. We hiked about a mile and a half to a spot on the lake where there was a view up the valley.

Medicine Lake

2011-10-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Medicine Lake", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
This was actually the first painting I did on the trip, having arrived at Glacier Park Lodge in the morning after an overnight train ride from Seattle. I met my friends at Medicine Lake and pulled out my paint gear. But this was the only painting I managed that day.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Above Medicine Lake

2011-10-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Above Medicine Lake", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
We took a shuttle from our lodge to Medicine Lake for the first three days of painting. On the third day, we hiked about a mile into the valley and a half mile up a ridge to get some different views for painting. I have a small Open M box that fits flat in the bottom of my very old and paint worthy backpack--so I can squeeze most of the paint I need out onto the palette ahead of time and get rid of the tube weight for the uphill climb.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Rising Wolf Mountain - SOLD

2011-10-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Rising Wolf Mountain", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
The next series of paintings are from my trip with nine other artists to Glacier National Park in September. This was an amazing journey with sunny weather the entire time. This painting is from a hike up the valley from Medicine Lake in the southeastern part of the park.

SOLD

Zangle with Clouds - SOLD

2011-09-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Zangle with Clouds", 12 x 14, Oil on Museum Board
This was done fast and loose with a big brush--an impression without the angst of re-doing a single part of it.

By the Window

2011-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

"By the Window", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Another painting I experimented with, scraping and repainting--I was going to keep going but we went up to Mt. Rainier for the day and by the next day, too much of it was beginning to dry. So I left it as is.

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Margaret - NFS

2011-09-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Margaret", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Sometimes I like to do a painting fast and leave it a little rough because there is the tendency to refine a painting too much, especially a portrait, and the original feeling is lost. I almost went too far with this painting, but slapped my hand before I did too much.

Two Roses - SOLD

2011-09-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Two Roses", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
Sometimes I purposefully paint fast, leaving off before I over-refine and lose the immediacy of a painting. Other times, I work it again and again, scraping and repainting over two or three days. This was such a painting. I hope I learned something that I remember from the exercise!

SOLD

Roses in Yellow Pot - SOLD

2011-09-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Roses in Yellow Pot", 10 x 10 In, Oil on Panel
I know a lot of these last few paintings are similar, but when I'm studying something, that's what happens.

SOLD

Roses in Green Vase

2011-09-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Roses in Green Vase", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel
You can probably tell that I'm not trying to paint perfect roses. What I'm trying to do is interpret the roses in order to work out cool and warm temperatures and darks and lights. There is always something to study with these paintings.

Purchase this unframed painting for $175.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Flowers with Orange - SOLD

2011-09-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Flowers with Orange", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
I was told by someone I trust that I use too much white, so I am experimenting with more saturated color and using lighter colors to modify rather than using so much white to lighten. I think it will take a lot of experimenting to change this habit, and to find the balance of beautiful cool and warm grays.

SOLD

White Roses

2011-09-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

"White Roses", 12 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
When the sun is out, I love to put the vase with the flowers on the back deck and paint quickly before the shadows change too much.

Purchase this unframed painting for $175.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Flowers and Fruit

2011-09-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Flowers and Fruit", 16 x 16 In, Oil on Panel
This painting was done at a workshop in June and I like it well enough to put it on the blog, though it is one I will keep as a marker on the journey.

NFS

Earl's Pond - SOLD

2011-09-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

"Earl's Pond", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
I like to use 4-ply all cotton museum board for outdoor painting trips because it is thin and lightweight. I first learned about using museum board for painting from Bill Reese, my first outdoor painting instructor. I highly recommend Bill's books on painting.

SOLD

Orcas Hills

2011-08-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Orcas Hills", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
We kept going back to Earl's farm in the Crow Valley on Orcas Island. This was the view across the valley.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Orcas Beach - SOLD

2011-08-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Orcas Beach", 10 x 12 In, Oil on Museum Board
The tide was coming in when I did this painting down on the rocks, so I had to work fast.

SOLD

Obstruction Pass

2011-08-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Obstruction Pass", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
For sale framed at the Crow Valley Pottery on Orcas Island, $350.

There are big ferries that go to the main islands of the San Juan's.. Once you get on the ferry, you are in a different world.

Earl's Barn - SOLD

2011-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Earl's Barn", 9 x 9 In, Oil on Museum Board SOLD
We spent several painting sessions on Earl's farm in the Crow Valley on Orcas Island, for the San Juan Preservation Trust paint-out. To see the water in the distance was magical.

Deer Harbor

2011-08-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Deer Harbor", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
For sale framed at the Crow Valley Pottery on Orcas Island, $350.

This was the first painting I did up on Orcas Island for the San Juan Preservation Trust paint-out. It was a cool day and we were hoping that the weather, which has been mostly cool in the Puget Sound Region this summer, would finally turn warm and sunny--which it did later on in the week.

Orcas Boathouse

2011-08-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Orcas Boathouse", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board
For sale framed at the Crow Valley Pottery on Orcas Island, $350.

This painting was done on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of northern Puget Sound for the paint-out sponsored by the Crow Valley Pottery in conjunction with the San Juan Preservation Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving the land on the islands from development. This particular painting was next to a large, beautiful waterfront property that is a member of the Trust.

Harstene Rainy Day

2011-08-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Harstene Rainy Day", 8 x 10 In, Oil on Panel
With another overcast day in the Pacific Northwest, painting the grays, blue grays, green grays of the Sound are a challenge. This was actually a couple of weeks ago.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.-->

Flowers with Orange - NFS

2011-08-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Flowers with Orange", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel - NFS
I enjoyed doing this painting as I just let loose with my big brush, trying to stay with big shapes and variations of color.

Roses Late Afternoon

2011-08-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Roses Later Afternoon", 16 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
This day there was a soft light with high clouds in the sky.

Purchase this unframed painting for $225.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Violets and Greens

2011-08-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Violets and Greens", 18 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
On many of these paintings I am using a bigger canvas and sticking to a big brush, at least a #10.

Purchase this unframed painting for $300.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

White Roses

2011-07-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

"White Roses", 11 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
Even with a cloudy day, I set the still life up on the back deck. The days this week are hot and sunny, but I've been up in the San Juan Islands and this painting was done a couple of weeks ago before the break in the weather.

Purchase this unframed painting for $175.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Zangle Summer Clouds

2011-07-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Zangle Summer Clouds", 11 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
We are waiting and waiting for the sun to come out! It is strange weather here in the Northwest.

Purchase this unframed painting for $175.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Small Bouquet

2011-07-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Small Bouquet", 9 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
I am away this week at a paint out in the San Juan Islands, so this is one of the paintings I did last week.

Purchase this unframed painting for $115.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Old Roses

2011-07-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

"Old Roses", 18 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
There has been so little sun this summer in the Northwest that when it does come out, I set up the still life on the back deck or my patio. It sometimes seems so bright I can hardly see!

Purchase this unframed painting for $300.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Harstene Island

2011-07-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

"Harstene Island", 9 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
Harstene Island is part of the view from my studio window. This was a beautiful day as the clouds scudded across the sky. I didn't try to make it a perfect painting, just a sketch of my first impression, just as I've done many times before with this view and will do many times again. It is like a studio meditation.

Roses

2011-07-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

"Roses", 11 x 14 In, Oil on Panel
When my daughter and I watched the BBC miniseries of The Impressionists, one thing that struck me was that Monet intentionally picked up paint on his brush and made three strokes, then picked up more paint. Its easy to get into a habit of just stroking on the paint without thought, so in this painting and others that I am working on I am trying to remember to intentionally pick up more paint more often with variation of color.

Purchase this unframed painting for $175.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Pinks and Reds - SOLD

2011-07-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

"Pinks and Reds", 14 x 14 In, Oil on Panel SOLD
This paintings is a little rough on the surface because I scraped it so many times to get the colors and the values the way I wanted them. Its not always obvious on the first go around and there are habits to overcome.

Overcast Day

2011-07-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

"Overcast Day", 12 x 16 In, Oil on Panel
Sometimes I stay on a theme because I have a better chance of learning something new when some of the variables stay the same. Painting flowers in sunlight and overcast conditions is a subject that has a never ending interest--there are so many things to study.

Purchase this unframed painting for $225.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Red Flowers in Sunlight

2011-07-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

"Red Flowers in Sunlight", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Panel NFS
I'm still following the theme of flowers and since the weather has finally gotten better, I'm able to set them up on the back deck or the front patio. Much of the exercise is about values and color saturation.

NFS

Three Roses

2011-07-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

"Three Roses", 12 x 9 In, Oil on Panel
This is a simple painting, done primarily in order to practice using more saturated color.

Purchase this unframed painting for $135.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.

Roses in the Studio SOLD

2011-06-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

"Roses in the Studio", 16 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
I am still painting almost every day, but because I'm doing a lot of experimenting, some of the paintings are wiped down at the end of the day. Some are wiped down and re-painted multiple times during the day! I was never comfortable with the 6 x 6 inch format of many daily painters and now even less so, partly because I like to use a big brush.

SOLD

Roses on the Deck

2011-06-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

"Roses on the Deck", 16 x 12 In, Oil on Panel
I love setting up these still lifes in the sunlight on the back deck. This is not part of the "Red Flowers" series exactly, but it is part of the overall attempt and in this case, the goal was to work fast and loose, then leave it alone.

Purchase this unframed painting for $225.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.