Oysters & Painting

My friend and fellow painter Kathleen DePuydt and I went out to Bodega Bay to enjoy two of our favorite activities not long ago: painting & eating oysters. I tried out my new cigar box painting setup. It worked out great...and the cigar boxes only cost $2 apiece!

"La Boca"

This painting was inspired by a plein air painting I did the last time my friend Lola was visiting from Madrid. We love to paint at the mouth of the Russian River! That day was so sandy that my painting was covered in sand!

"River's End"

This painting is special because it is of one of my very favorite places in the world, a place that feels sacred to me: the mouth of the Russian River, where it empties into the Pacific. 

Showing at Lifvendahl Gallery!

I am very excited to be showing my paintings at Lifvendahl Gallery next month (opening reception is Friday, May 2nd, as part of Guerneville's 1st Friday Art Walk). All the paintings I will hang there have never been shown before. This painting is of a view from Duncan's Landing.

Spring Morning at Duncan's Landing

The springtime means beautiful color everywhere, including along the Sonoma Coast. This was painted at Duncan's Landing on a spectacularly bright spring morning.

Car painting on the coast

Earlier this week, I went to paint on the coast. I had thought I would be outside painting, but it turned out to be a quite windy day. I decided to paint in my car. I parked in a pullout across the road from one of my favorite barns (which I have painted a few times before). I kept looking from my left, at the scene I was painting, to my right, at the beautiful light and cloud formations on the horizon. I could enjoy the sea breeze through my open windows. I will try to remember to post a picture of the painting when it is finished. 

Spring morning at Duncan's Point

This was painted one morning at Duncan's Point, south of Goat Rock Beach. The coast is spectacular at this time of year for all its brilliant color. The morning I painted this, the sky was quite pale, which made the bright colors stand out wonderfully.

"Morning Light"

This is a closer photo of the first painting I did with my new pochade box, which I wrote about in an earlier post. I am pleased with the sense of light in the scene. This was painted in the morning along the Sonoma coast, looking inward. When I paint en plein air, I always try to get the shadows down first, and after that to get the lightest areas painted in. Then I build the rest of the painting around those parts. I love the red-orange, rusted roof on this old barn.