Goldeneye Parade

     This was the scene across the road from the Big Horn sheep.  I had been watching this group when the sheep showed up behind me.

Enjoying the Snow

     This is from my recent trip to Yellowstone Park.  My friend and I stopped by the Wolf and Grizzly Center in West Yellowstone to get some pictures of the wildlife they have there.  It had snowed the night before and the bears were clearly enjoying romping in the snow.  This bear in particular decided to plop himself down and just enjoy it.

Poipu Sunrise

     This was Christmas morning near Poipu.  I wanted to try painting into the sun again but in the morning this time.  It was best when the sun went behind the clouds.

Poipu Sunrise 12.24.17

This is the Christmas eve sunrise colors that greeted me.   This was before the sun came up.  I painted quickly hoping for a second one.

Poipu Sunset

I missed the sunrise this morning so I decided to catch the sunset.  The sun was really intense and looking toward it I had to just glance or block parts so I could see.  It was interesting to try this though.  When I was doing the sunrise it was usually before the sun came up.  With the sunset I had to do it before it set because I would be walking back in the dark in some rough terrain.

Shipwreck Sunrise 12.20.17

     My family and I recently visited the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian chain.  This is one of my favorite islands, though all of them are very special to me.  I wanted to paint some of the sunrises while I was there.  I missed the day before this one which was spectacular in its subtle hues and never saw another like it the whole time I was there.  There were days of off and on again gentle rain and this one shows those rains far off to the south of Kauai over the ocean.  This is just off of Shipwreck Beach.

High Country Color

     My good painting buddy and I were way up in the mountains looking for color.  As we came down this road I wanted to try and capture this scene of the road going down and the mountain side coming up in the distance.  I found the pattern of aspens and pine forests on the far hill beautiful.

sunrise on the bluff

     I caught this early in the morning not too far below Durango Mountain Resort.  The sun was lighting just the top of the cliffs with the tall aspens in the foreground still in the shadow.  This is a very small painting, so small I had to hold it in my hand to paint it.

Morning Reflections

     This is a small piece I did early in the morning.  The early morning light was hitting the mountain behind the trees giving it a golden color while the trees and valley floor were still in shadow.  I was fascinated by the color combination and reflections in the water.  This is one of my favorite spots along the Dolores river.

On a Moonlit Night

     I love it when the full moon is out.  The softness of the light is irresistible to try and paint.  Even more exciting for me is how the moon lights the clouds.

Cedar Moonset

     This is one out back of my studio.  I love coming out during full moon with the rising or setting of the moon and try to catch the beautiful colors.   I have painted this hill many times but I think this one is the best so far.

Terrapin Ridge

     This scene is to the right of the Tree Line scene.  This has always been a pretty area and I always wanted to find a way to paint it and give it justice.   Early morning light through the trees seemed to fit it well.

Tree Line

     While visiting my mom, I like to sneak away early in the morning to paint.  This is an area of the creek bottom that I have always been fond of.  Tree line usually means the elevation where trees won't grow in the mountains, but in this instance it is the division of two fields.

Late Spring Snow

    This is an update on a piece I did much earlier.  I was never quite happy with the entire composition so I went in and "fixed" a few things.

Boy with Driving hat

     This young man had this great turn of the century "news boy" look.

Conversations

    Now for something completely different.  While on vacation I happened to catch this couple sitting on this picnic bench.  I thought it interesting their pose and imagined all sorts of conversations they could be having...or not.

A Winter's Tale

     This was done up at the pass with a pretty good storm coming through.  The layers of trees and mountain side are what drew me to this scene.

Snow Fog

     On rare occasions we get warmer air over snow cover that causes snow fog.   This scene was just down the road from my house.  There was some sun showing through from above but still had a lovely soft image.

Dappled Light

     I love dappled light and trying to capture it is a real challenge for me.

Snow Shadows

     We had about 18 lovely inches of snow that dumped on us in about 24 hours.  Making my way to the barn to feed the horse I noticed the wonderful shadow pattern from the log fence and my earlier tracks leading to the barn and wanted to paint that.

Heading for Cover

     This was a scene near my house during a very heavy snowfall, the big flakes kind.  The neighbors horse decided it was time to head for cover, swishing her tail in agitation.

Promise of Rain

     Though I haven't been posting for a while, I actually have been painting.  I have quite a few to post so I will dole them out over the following days.
     This painting is a view from my parents farm.  I was captivated by the beautiful cloud and its size building up behind the grain silo.

The Long View

     This is a scene I have always liked.  It is a road going to a trail head but when looking back you get this long view of the valley.

Frozen Reflections

     Late last year I was looking for scenes with ice on the river to practice on.  Though the plein air wasn't great the scene was still staying with me.  This was close to sunset and the light filtering through the atmosphere and clouds created this wonderfully colored scene.  I would like to try it again but looser (if that is a word).

My Brother's Keeper

     This is a larger version of a smaller painting I did many years ago.  It is actually quite a bit different from the first one.  It is the way I had wanted to do it back then but didn't know how to achieve that.  It was a lovely soft mid summer evening by the lake, one of my favorite places to go painting.

      The title refers to the fact that my brothers ashes are scattered under the trees, the place he wished to be.

Winter Woods

     I have been visiting the home where I grew up these last couple of weeks.  I was lucky enough to catch both a nice snowfall and fog while I was there.  Sneaking away from obligations, I was able to catch this nice scene.

In for the Evening

     This scene is up at a beautiful area called Trout Lake.  I was waiting for the full moon to rise and looked across the lake and saw this.  The people living there had just started their fire and the smoke was just starting to hang about the tops of the trees.

La Plata Waterfall

     This is a plein air that I had to go back three times to get.  My first one was okay but I wasn't happy with the composition and reworked a new one to get it the way I wanted.

Nap Time

    This is a friend of mines dog named, appropriately, Fluffers.  I was captivated by this scene and painted a quick one on the spot, this is a larger version of that.

How about me?

     This is another airport sketch.  I was lucky enough to get this girl with her dog sitting across from me.  She was eating her sandwich and had her dogs total attention.  This dog had an odd way of laying with it legs splayed.  I wish they made this color of paper thicker for watercolor.   If I painted any bigger it would warp the paper terribly from the water.