Albert Camus said....

"I know with certainty that a man's work is nothing but a long journey to recover, through the detours of art, the two or three simple and great images which first gained access to his heart."  

Current work in progress....

From a photo I took standing at Crane's Beach, MA, looking out at Plum Island.

Sonoma County, California

Painted from a photo; once again, I was drawn to the dramatic sky.

Practice with stormy skies

I might add a light glaze of gray over this sky to make the variations blend a bit more. Haven't decided yet because the photo that inspired this painting showed a vary dramatic sky with distinct differences between the grays & whites....

Painting on the beach

Painting with a small, travel watercolor kit is great because it is impossible to get too fussy about anything. 

Carl Jung said.....

"Your vision becomes clear only when you can look into your own heart."

River painting

I am not responsible for this composition; I looked at a book of paintings of California landscapes and used one part of a painting as inspiration for this painting. I think I need to do this sort of exercise more often in order to learn about successful color and compositon.

Pear and tangerines

The photo of this painting somehow doesn't get the colors right; I think they are deeper in real life. Originally, this painting just featured one green pear on the plate. The composition didn't work, so I repainted it, changing the color of the pear and adding the two tangerines.

Tangerine still life

The first time I tried to paint this, the plate of fruit was way too small, so I started over. Then I had to repaint the background and foreground several times to try to get the tangerines to stand out sufficiently.

English church

A friend gave me a black & white photo of this church and I decided to try painting it. I thought it would look more dramatic than it does.

Stray cat

When I was walking in the small town of Pontevedra, Spain, I came upon a side street where a woman was feeding a bunch of stray cats in the street. I took a picture, and from that photo came this small painting.

Nebraska Barn

This was painted from a photo of a barn in Nebraska. I liked the contrast of the bright, white barn against the sky and grass.

Mary Oliver said....

"To pay attention, this is our endless & proper work."

Georgia O'Keefe said.....

• "Objective painting is not good painting unless it is good in the abstract sense. A hill or tree cannot make a good painting just because it is a hill or tree. It is lines and colors put together so that they may say something."

Barn

Originally, behind the barn there were mountains. I couldn't get the scale (or the color) of the mountains right, so I painted over them. Still deciding what to do with the sky.

Painted en plein air at Pepperwood Preserve

I took a class at our local junior college last summer. We painted at Pepperwood Preserve every morning. Even though no one else has ever liked this painting, I love it because it reminds me of some very beautiful hours I spent painting by the pond there one day.

Painted en plein air at Pepperwood Preserve

This was painted on a very hot morning at Pepperwood Preserve. We were all set up to paint across from some dramatic mountains, but I kept looking over my shoulder to where the path veered off to the left. Finally, I turned my easel to face the path and painted it instead of the mountains.

From photo taken in Galicia, Spain

This is from a photo I took on the coast of Galicia, Spain, a bit north of the town of Cambados, famous for its delicious Albarino wine. I was there in June 2010, and since I love Spain, it makes me happy to remember the day I looked out over this coast.

Sonoma County, California

I really enjoy painting landscapes with dramatic lines. As you can see, I prefer to use bold colors in my paintings.