Grand Canyon Sketch 9 - SOLD

"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!

Grand Canyon Sketch 8 - SOLD

"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.

Grand Canyon Sketch 7 - SOLD

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

Reds and Greens

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

Grand Canyon Sketch 5 - NFS

"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 - SOLD

"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.

Grand Canyon Sketch 3 - SOLD

"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

"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

"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

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

Zangle Fall Mid-Morning - SOLD

"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 - SOLD

"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.

"Quinault River South" 6 x 10 In, Oil on Museum Board

Quinault Back Road

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.

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

Green Vase and Pumpkin

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

Green Glass Vase

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