Postcards from Idaho #1

"Farm across the Field"

6"x8" oil on panel

This is my first posting from Idaho. We took a couple of days to set up, and now I'm back to painting. My internet reception is a little iffy so I hope that I can keep up with my blog. There is so much to inspire me here, so it won't be hard to keep up the painting.

"Oak Creek Abstract"

"Oak Creek Abstract"
6"x8" oil on canvas
$50 Available

One last painting from home, and then we're off to our Idaho cabin. This paintng was done at Slide Rock in Oak Creek Canyon.
Look for "Postcards from Idaho" during the coming weeks. I'll take a break from posting on eBay until we return. But please contact me if anything is of interest to you.

"Morning at Buffalo Park #2"

"Morning at Buffalo Park #2"
6"x8" oil on panel

My second painting from painting at Buffalo Park a few days ago.

"Morning at Buffalo Park"

"Morning at Buffalo Park"
6x8in oil on panel

A couple of my painting friends and I painted at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff this week. It was a gray day, and no wind, so very comfortable for painting. My daily painting for the next few weeks will be focused on creating quick, expressive landscape studies.

"My Neighbor's Backyard"

"My Neighbor's Backyard"
6"x8" oil on panel

Earlier this week I did this painting from my bedroom window. The shaft of light catching the top of the poppies caught my eye and I rushed to set up my easel. I was able to finish the painting pretty quick before the light shifted. I'm afraid my photo makes the shed look too chalky. Is it still plein air if the painting is done inside, but the subject is outside?

"Garlic on Periwinkle"

"Garlic on Periwinkle"
10x8inch oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #20

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100% of sales proceeds of Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank.

My last painting in the Fruit and Vegetable Series! These little paintings have been the consistent, repetitive practice that have helped me to establish myself as a daily painter after two months of painting almost every day. The habit is in place, and tomorrow I'll be ready to move on to landscape painting. If our wind would just stop, I'm ready to move my painting outdoors for the next few months.

"Crimini Mushroom"

"Crimini Mushroom"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #19

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100% of sales proceeds from Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of the Northern Arizona Foodbank

Only one more fruit & vegetable painting to go! I have the remaining paintings all lined up on a shelf in my house. These paintings really look best grouped with others in the series--as you can see in this photo. I think they would also look cool arranged four in a rectangle.

"Zucchini Onstage"

"Zucchini Onstage"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #18

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100% of sales proceeds for Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed My People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank

Only two more to go and I'll have twenty of my fruit and vegetable series completed. Yea!! This series has been very helpful to me in introducing some new color combos, and also becoming more adept with the palette knife. It's also very helpful in establishing a daily painting routine, to have a simple, consistent subject identified each day in order to be able to begin each day without much planning. A good lesson in establishing a new daily habit--start simple, be consistent, make it so you don't have to think about it too much.

"Schnebly Hill"

"Schnebly Hill"

9"x12" oil on panel


This is one of my plein air class paintings-- Sedona Red Rocks once again. I finished it up in my studio. I feel I'm getting into a color rut. My current intention in my landscape paintings is to: 1) simplify shapes;2) expand color choices and 3)intensify colors--not getting what I'm shooting for. Persistence, Persistence, Persistence.

"Strawberry Kiss"

"Strawberry Kiss"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #17

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100% of sales proceeds from Fruit & Vegetable Series donated to Feed the People Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Food Bank

"Indian Gardens #2"

"Indian Gardens #2"
6"x8" oil on panel

I posted the first version of this painting a couple of weeks ago. On the left was my plein air study as completed on site. The version to above is after my adjustments in the studio. My teacher's critique was to warm up the tree trunks. I'm not sure that the finished painting is an improvement. The camera exposure is brighter on the new painting so it's difficult to compare

"Bulbous Beet"

"Bulbous Beet"
10"x8" oil on wrapped canvas
Fruit & Vegetable Series #16

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100% of fruit & vegetable series will be donated to Feed My people Children's Charity, operator of Northern Arizona Foodbank

I posted this painting yesterday, but somehow it isn't showing up today, so I'm doing it again today. I've been painting a lot this weekend so I'll do a double posting.

"Chapel at Tlaquepaque"

"Chapel at Tlaquepaque"

12"x9" oil on panel

This painting was started in my plein air class when we painted at Tlaquepaque shopping area in Sedona. Since my plein air class is finished now, I am free to finish up the paintings I started outdoors in my studio. I'd like to get to the place that I could do a finished painting in one sitting, but for now it seems like I have to make my plein air paintings a two day event. The first problem is that I can't seem to work fast enough yet, to catch the light before it changes, and second it feels like I can't get a good reading on the color until I get it indoors.

"Cabin in the Canyon " again

"Cabin in the Canyon " 8x6in oil on panel

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I finished my plein air class yesterday, and as part of our final day critique, I learned some important principles I would like to focus on to improve my plein air paintings. The primary challenges for me are:1)utilizing warm and cool colors and 2)to not get stuck in using the same colors repeatedly. With this in mind, I decided to rework this little painting that I did a couple of weeks ago. My intention was to cool down the shadows, warm up the lights, ratchet up the color a bit, and recede the background and enhance the foreground to create more depth .