New York

Just back from teaching a 3-day workshop in Greenport on Long Island. A great little town to paint, with boats, old buildings on the waterfront and lots of great old houses. This is the last demo I did, in a boat yard where we had permission to paint. (9x12" sold) And yes, those are puddles. It rained on day 2, so we painted in the studio from photos, which worked out well. When it was all over, I spent 2 days in Manhattan, strolling my old neighborhood. Hadn't been back in about 15 years, and it has changed quite a bit. The highlight, was a pilgrimage to the Hispanic Society on W. 155th Street to see the Sorolla murals. OMG! I had seen some of them in books, but in person. . . it was a religious experience. After that, a few hours at the Met in the new American Wing and my optical nerve was happily toasted.

Delta Delta Delta

This is from a photo I took while driving back from the Knowlton Gallery recently. There are so many hills around where I live that it's rare I get to see the sun actually hit the horizon when it's supposed to. This will be for sale at the upcoming MALT show. "Eclipse" 12x16"  sold

Ranches and Rolling HIlls

I'm busy painting for the upcoming MALT show in Nicasio May 19 and 20. Here's one I did last week. Another in the series of over 50 paintings I've done of rancher Richard Respini. It's a common strategy of mine to allow a way for the viewer to navigate through the painting. In this one, I removed the gate for just that reason. (no title yet) 12x16"

Edgar Payne

Last Saturday my family and I went to the Crocker Museum in Sacramento to see the Edgar Payne show "The Scenic Journey". WOW! It was my first time to that museum -- lots to see. And the Payne exhibit was big and really, really good. I think it's up until early May before it moves to another city. If you get the chance, go see it. It's definitely worth the effort. I came home after the show, looked around my studio and felt like SUCH an amateur! That dude could paint. I bought the accompanying book at the show for $60 and love it.

Plein Airs

Lately I've been trying to do more work outside (just when it started to rain around here). I don't always have time to drive around looking for stuff to paint, so sometimes I just set up in my back yard. My neighbors probably don't like that I turn up the music in the studio so i can here it outside, but hey, I don't  like to hear their dog bark all day either. Pansies 6x8"

This is a demo painting I did last week for a small group of 4 students in what I'm calling "semi-private" lessons. This house in Nicasio has been painted a thousand times I'm sure, but this is my first. As you can see, it was overcast, but fortunately not raining.  Go Left  9x12"

One day I drove around town for 20 minutes looking for something to paint, came home, and ended up painting this just down the street from my house.  Spruce and Park 10x12"

Pink Birds

New painting I just sent to my Florida gallery. They like their flamingos down there. I added the ocean and beach, and the flamingo on the left. It ended up being tighter than I like, but just kept working on the reflections to make them clear. I also invented the horizon in the reflection. There was a big truck blocking the whole thing. I often move things and almost always edit things out, but it's never comfortable for me to invent things or add things that are not actually in the scene.

American Flamingo 18x24"

Knowlton Gallery demonstration

This is the demonstration painting I did last weekend during the opening reception for the California Vernacular show at the Knowlton Gallery in Lodi. The upper image is what it looked like after the 1 hour demo. The bottom image is the finished painting after working on it in my studio for another hour. "Morning Calm"  8x16"

see the whole show www.knowltongallery.com