PAINTING WHEN FROZEN

"Snow Day" 8" x 10"

This was my third stop of the day. By
now I'm getting cold and I had to
walk about two hundred yards in knee
deep snow to get to this location.
Done in an hour I'm headed home for
some warmth and a cup of coffee.

CHANNELING RICHARD SCHMID

"Frisco Bridge" 9" x 12" o/c

My second stop was this great looking
bridge that leads to some tennis courts
in our neighborhood. A lot of people
where outside now playing in the snow.

I tried to seclude myself, but me painting
in the snow garnered attention and it
wasn't long before I had an audience.

I received Richard Schmid's new landscape
book as a Christmas gift. While working
on this painting I couldn't help but think
that this was a perfect day and location
for a Schmid painting. I'm happy with
my result.

FIRST SNOW PAINTING

"Snow on the Farm" 9" x 12" oil/c

This farm was my first stop and
first on location snow painting I've
done in over ten years. The south pasture
was under water and snowed over.
I was so excited to be painting a
snow scene I could barely concentrate.

The farmer that owns the property mounted
his hay tractor and drove out to see what
I was doing. He thought I was nuts.

SNOW DAY

Snowed here Wednesday and Thursday.
As everybody else ducked out of work
and pulled kids from school I eagerly
packed my gear and headed outside
to paint. We only get snow like this
once or twice a year and it only lasts a
day before it all melts away.

I wish I had a month of this stuff so I could
paint every day or at least have the
opportunity to scout locations. I didn't
have that luxury so I had to choose
scenes close by. Got three paintings in the
box before the brain froze up and
my hands quit working. I'll
post the paintings next.

SORRY FOR THE DELAY

"Lydia Ann" 22" x 28" oil/c

Hello fellow bloggers. I apologize for
disappearing for awhile. I have been busy
redesigning my website which took
me away from painting. Now if I can just
get the thing uploaded to the web, life will
return to normal.

I also finished editing a video from the
Canyon De Chelly paintout, but can't seem
to get it uploaded either. Even Youtube is
rejecting it. I think my file is too big.

The painting up top is of the Lydia Ann
Lighthouse in Port Aransas, TX. One of
my favorite Texas icons to paint and
a great fishing spot. Trout and reds run
up a down the channel next to the
lighthouse. I have taken refuge underneath
the porch on more than one occasion when
a sudden storm passed through.

I did this at the request of my gallery,
Port A Gallery. They are busy helping the
city raise money for a new museum that
has been built and now needs to be funded.
There's a fund raising event coming up in
March so we are making giclee prints of the
painting to be sold at the fund raiser and
at the gallery.

MORE CANYON DE CHELLY

"Reflected Light" 12" x 16" oil/linen

I can't get enough of Canyon De Chelly.
I'm going to have to force myself to paint
something else for a while. I don't
know what's more compelling...the
immediate depth of field you get
because of the overlapping canyons,
the terrific range of color and values or
how much light gets bounced back up into
a canyon wall. Its plain to see what
caught my eye on this one.

This is a larger version of the plein air
piece I did on location. Gotta say I am
pretty pleased with myself.

FIRST OF 2010

"In and Out of Shadows" 24" x 30" oil/canvas

I have dedicated myself to producing
more large paintings in 2010 and posting
more often. Of course that depends
on how many dog days I have in the
studio. I'm hoping to hit a stride and
crank out the best work so far.
We'll see...its still early.

This scene is from my trip to Arizona.
These bluffs stretch for about twenty
miles along the highway. You could
stop just about anywhere along this
stretch and find something to paint.

I've described before how the light
is constantly changing and you have to
pick your battle...so to speak. Well
its worse when you do a scene like this
one where there is one set of rumbling
clouds after another lighting and
darkening segments of the scene at
different times. Ah...the digital camera. What
a good friend it has become with its
large view finder on the back.