Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Prairie Hillside

This painting is an 8 x 10 inch oil painting on gessoed hardboard. It was fun to paint these rolling prairie hills with their sparse greenery and minimal trees.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Nisqually Delta

This painting is 5 x 7 oil on gessoboard. It is a brief glimpse across the grasslands of the Nisqually Delta between Olympia and Tacoma in Washington State. It is a beautiful natural habitat for numerous birds and wild creatures.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Oak Tree Prairie

Painting this 6 x 8 oil on canvas panel was a pleasure. It reminds me of the oak prairies that used to exist in the area where I grew up. Many of those prairies are now gone, replaced by "progress."


Saturday, July 28, 2007

Poppy Fields


Yesterday morning I had fun painting this little 5 x 7 oil landscape on gessoed hardboard. This is not strawberry fields forever, but it poppy fields as far as you can see.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Morning Tree


I've been tinkering around with this painting and several other tree paintings for the past few days. I keep tweaking the leaves and branches. I'm not sure that I'm finished, but this is where it stands now. It is a 6 x 8 inch painting on canvas panel.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Highway Trees

This little 5 x 7 oil painting on a gessoed hardboard panel is one I started quite some time ago and abandoned because it wasn't going where I wanted. This morning I put it back on the easel and touched it up. I like it a much better now. These two trees are growing at the foot of a highway on ramp. The one on the left was unusually bent which is what drew me to paint them in the first place.


Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Sunlit Trees

It has been raining for over a week now. Today is supposed to be the turning point for summer weather again. This little 5 x 7 study is from a photo I took before this current rain episode. I like it because it reminds me of the beauty of summer foliage and gives me something to look forward to after the rain moves on.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Field Trees

This 8 x 10 oil painting is focused on a field and a beautiful grove of trees. It is one more practice in my quest for the perfect tree painting. It was fun to paint and reminds me of the loveliness of summer vegetation.


Saturday, July 21, 2007

Apple on Pottery Dish

Yesterday it poured rain again. We're having a record-breaking summer. First we suffered through days of excessive heat, now were having day after day of record-breaking rain showers. It feels like winter again. I guess that's why I am back to painting still life. My inspiration seems to change with the weather. My effort yesterday was an apple on a Pottery Barn saucer. Painting the saucer was the most fun. It appears to be a simple stonewear saucer with a sienna colored edge, but that light colored plate had many more colors than one would first imagine--blue, yellow, violet, sienna, green. It was a delightful challenge. This painting is 8 x 10 on Gessoboard.


Friday, July 20, 2007

Tree Road


This painting is an 8 x 10 oil on Gessoboard. I enjoyed painting it. I'm experimenting with the best colors to use for the dark part of the foliage. The tree folliage in this painting was created using Gamblin's Asphaultum, Grumbacher's Green Oxide, and Grumbacher's Cadmium Yellow Medium. I really like the way the asphaultum blends with the green. It is a nice transparent brown that doesn't get muddy like other browns.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Lunch

5 x 7 oil on Gessoboard
I couldn't help it; I painted my lunch. Yesterday it rained and rained. Seattle broke a record for rain, so I was inside most of the day. This beautiful nectarine helped to remind me that it really is summer in spite of the wet weather.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Summer Daisy

5 x 7 oil on recycled Gessoboard
My backyard is full of these beautiful summer daisies. I couldn't resist bringing one in to paint. Putting it in a little medicine jar and setting it on my work table brought the sunshine into my studio.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Hospital Tree

Today's tree practice is an 8 x 10 oil on canvas. It was inspired by a tree in front of Alenmore Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. The weather was beautiful and the colors jumped at me as I drove by. I had to attempt to recreate this luscious tree that stood so proud in front of the hospital.



Monday, July 16, 2007

Stormy Mountain

5x7 oil on Gessoboard
This little painting is reminiscent of a trip my family and I took last spring to Bellingham, Washington. The weather stormed almost all the way. The hills in the Skagit Valley were shrouded with fog and mist. Thinking of that cool weather trip is a relief during these hot days of summer.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Friday, July 13, 2007

The Lake

This 8 x 10 oil on Gessoboard concludes my walk at Ft. Steilacoom Park. It was a beautiful evening and the sun was dropping, creating beautiful shadows on the grass. The backlit leaves sparkled. That's the way to spend a summer evening. Today I'm going to start working on a large still life; I'll try to fit in some small studies, too, and keep up my daily posting.



Thursday, July 12, 2007

Park Road

I'm back to painting Ft. Steilacoom Park again. After leaving the barns and the old cemetary, there is a road that leads to Woghop Lake. It is a beautiful road flanked by huge trees. I love the way the sunlight flickers through the trees that act like an umbrella over the road. Although this painting only shows the road, there is a lake off to the left. Perhaps tomorrow I will paint the lake. This one is 5 x 7 oil on Gessoboard.



Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Cottages at Gray's Harbor


This little 5 x 7 painting is based on a view of several little beach cottages on the north shore of Gray's Harbor in Washington State. With temperatures soaring into the upper 90's today, this is where I'd like to be.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Steilacoom Barns

These barns are to the left of the tree I painted yesterday. They are what is left of the old work farm that used to be run by patients at Western State Hospital. This painting is an 8 x 10 oil on Gessoboard.



Monday, July 9, 2007

Shade Tree at the Cemetary


This is the final product of today's efforts. 8 x 10 oil on Gessoboard. This tree is on the edge of the Pioneer Cemetary at Ft. Steilacoom Park. The cemetary is just to the right. On the left is one of the barns that was used by the patients at the old Western State Hospital work farm. A rode runs between the tree and the barn. It is a lovely park.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Three Trees

5 x 7 oil on hardboard
Last week was a very busy week, but I was able to squeeze in a little tree practice.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Gourmet Beets

8 x 10 on Gessoboard
My sister-in-law is the best cook ever. On the 4th of July, she gave me these orange beets. Who ever heard of "orange" beets? If there is anything gourmet, I can depend on her to find it. I wish she were here to cook them, too.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Foggy Morning Trees


5x 7 oil on hardboard
Although it is a little out of season, I enjoyed painting this foggy landscape this morning.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Final Touches

Here is the Pear on a Dish again. I couldn't leave it alone--added some final touches. Still 5 x 7 oil on hardboard.