Still Life With Hammered Silver -sold

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase I painted this soon after attending Qiang Huang's workshop, but I'm just now just getting around to posting it. I admired an arrangement I saw at a friend's house. She had made it solely with dried Japanese iris pods. She insisted I take some home, so that's what you see sticking out and all around. I like the assortment of textures in this piece. It has an earthy feel in spite of the saturated fruit color. UPCOMING EVENTS: SATURDAY, MAY 3 Chino Arts Festival 10:00-4:00 at Chino Civic Center. Mostly music and dance performances, but I will have a demonstration booth with a small amount of work on display. SUNDAY, MAY 18TH BALBOA ART WALK 9:00-5:00 Over 100 artists and 4 musical groups along the seawall on the island. More info later on my exact location.

Bottles & Corks -sold

oil 8x8 inches A few years ago I used these bottles as the subject for "Bottle Necked." I painted this piece for a collector in Maine who wanted something similar. Wine labels are an art in themselves. It's a lot of fun to include them in a painting. Their color along with the shiny glass and contrasting cork texture makes for an interesting piece.

Abalone Point -SOLD

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase The last day camping I ventured down into the sand for this one. There was a cold wind blowing, so I practically had the cove all to myself. Having had limited experience painting moving water, here was a great opportunity. I had a blast.

Sea View Path

oil 8x10 inches magnify/purchase

Up Moro Canyon

oil 8x10 inches magnify Second day at Moro Campground I painted this right within the campground. It was early morning and the clouds were clearing from rain the night before. Atmosphere is what I was after here. Not for sale at this time, but you can click on "magnify" to see brushwork.

Warm Cliffs -sold

oil 9x12 magnify From my "paintcation" to Moro Campground, Crystal Cove last week. Standing on the edge of the bluff within the campground was this stunning view of next bluff to the south. Can't beat the views in Laguna Beach. And even on the last day in March I got a bit too warm! I could feel summer coming! I had a great time trying out manganese blue in sky and sea, a recent addition to my palette. It seemed to work well for that Laguna water.

In an effort to lighten my backpack, I ordered the James Coulter mini palette and did not put glass in it. Reduced my 23 lb. backpack down to 16 lb. I thought mixing the color right on the wood might bother me, but it was really no problem. I figured painters have been working on wooden palettes for hundreds of years. The smaller mixing space compared to my compact palette still worked fine. The fresh blobs of paint kinda soaked into the wood even after several coats of linseed oil, but after some layers of paint, I think it will be well seasoned. The palette fits right inside my Kelty Redwing 3100. Dare I say, I was a happy camper!