Boat House

"Boat House", oil on panel, 8x10, $320

Another painting from our trip to Tomales Bay. When I started this painting I was in full sun, and by the end the fog had moved in and changed the light completely.

Study in Blue

"Study in Blue", oil on panel, 5x7, $75

Last weekend we took a day to do a long and scenic drive out to Marshall, where I ate BBQ oysters and Cheri had chowder. I stopped to do several paintings along the way, and this one is my hands down favorite. Sometimes a painting just comes together seemingly without any intervention on my part, and this painting was like that. Mixing colors to evoke the subtle differences in blues can be challenging, but I felt I hit the different blues right from the start, and so the painting stayed fresh all the way through.

Campfire

"Campfire", oil on panel, 5x7, $75

While camping at Salt Point the other weekend, Cheri built a fire in the fire ring at our campsite. I decided to take a stab at painting it, because I really liked the contrast of the geometric shapes of the fire ring with the more organic shapes of the fire and logs. I've never tried painting fire before, and I'm not sure how successful it is, but I like the simplicity of it.

On an administrative note, I'm in the process of moving my blog to a new location. There's some technical issues I'm still working out, so in the meantime I'm posting to both locations. Those of you getting my posts via email don't have to do anything to keep receiving emails, although if the posts start looking odd, I'd appreciate a note letting me know.

Russian Gulch

"Russian Gulch" oil on panel, 5x7, $75

Another from our trip up the coast. This is also just North of Jenner.

North Coast Fog

"North Coast Fog" oil on panel, 5x7, $75

I painted this standing in a pullout along Highway 1 North of Jenner. I really liked the way the fog made the distant trees almost disapear. Just as I was finishing, the fog suddenly lifted, so I'm glad I was able to capture this moment before it changed.

Wind on Water

"Wind on Water", oil on panel, 5x7, $75

Cheri and I spent this past weekend camping at Salt Point State Park, one of my favorite places on the coast. Friday afternoon we hiked from our campsite down to Gerstle Cove. The hike turned out to be more of an adventure than we anticipated, involving downed trees across the path, and a certain amount of getting lost. But in the end we found the ocean and I settled down in the shelter of some coastal pines and painted this picture.

“Laguna Oak”, oil on panel, 11×14, $425

We’re in a common summer morning fog weather pattern here in Northern California. Sometimes I like painting in the fog because the light stays so constant, at least until the fog burns off. But right now my tomatoes could use a little more sun.

Plums

"Plums" oil on panel, 5x7", $75

I've spent the morning framing new paintings, and now all that's left is to pack the van. Hope to see some of you in Los Altos for the Los Altos Art and Wine Festival this weekend. I'll be on State St, near 4th on the North side of the street.

Trio

"Trio" oil on panel, 8x10


I'm very happy with this painting. I really like how the trees turned out.

Small Barn

"Small Barn", oil on panel, 5x7, $75

I've eyed this barn for a while now as a potential painting subject. It's actually much more decrepit than it looks in this little painting and has a great cupola, but I got distracted by the mowed stripes in the field. Just another reason to go back.

California Hills

"California Hills" oil on panel, 11x14

I never get tired of the blue-ness of distant hills.

Oak Shadows

"Oak Shadows" oil on panel, 11x14, $425

Next show is coming up soon. I'll be in Los Altos next weekend, and of course there's lots to do to get ready. I hope some of the recent paintings will be dry enough to bring with me. I painted this one at Crane Creek, the local regional park. It's a view I've thought about painting for a while now, so I'm glad I found an afternoon to catch the shadows.

Lemon Halves

"Lemon Halves" 5x7 $75

More lemons...when life hands you lemons, paint them.

Summer Day

"Summer Day" 11x14

I did this painting in the middle of the day sheltered under a row of Eucalyptus trees. I don't usually paint when the sun is overhead - it's hard to create a good painting when there aren't any shadows. But this view of the hills and the receding hay bales was too good to pass up.

Lemon Reflection

"Lemon Reflection", oil on panel, 5x7, $75

The fires north of us are still blazing away, but we've had some steady offshore breezes for the last few days, and it's done a lot to clear up the air. I've got several new plein air paintings to share once they're dry enough to photograph.

In the meantime, enjoy the lemon.