Walla Walla Summer

Walla Walla Summer - 5x7 - Oil on Linen Panel

On a cold winter rainy day nothing quite beats reliving road trips through the Walla Walla countryside!

Frenchtown Farmland

Frenchtown Farmland - 5x7 - Oil on Linen Panel

I found this scene in the Walla Walla countryside near the Frenchtown Historic Site. There are lots of picturesque fields nearby with some interesting out buildings that turned out to be very paintable! I wanted to challenge myself to put more structures in a scene than I normally would, and I like the result.

Summer Pastoral

Summer Pastoral - Oil on linen Panel - 5x7

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I know I've painted this exact hillside outside of Walla Walla probably a dozen times, but it never gets old! Every season and every day it seems to take on a new face. On this summer day I was really captivated by the mass of tall clouds building up over the hills.

I'll be painting as part of the Plein Air Pacific Northwest show this upcoming week in Hood River, Oregon, it is worth a visit if you are in town!! There are spectacular nationally known artists participating and the work is always outstanding. Here are some of the pertinent details:

In the Trees

In the Trees - Oil on linen panel - 5x7

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I've been going through photos taken over the past couple months and found a series that really grabbed me. They were taken outside of Pendleton, Oregon, near and on Cabbage Hill, also called Deadmans Pass. While the pass was named for a group of emigrants killed by natives while traveling the area, the name is also fitting because of how dangerous the road is during the winter; Cabbage was notoriously treacherous even when traveled by wagon as part of the Oregon Trail.

Turning - Plein Air painting

Turning - Oil on Panel - 6x6

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During the early fall I was able to stop in the gravel parking lot of an abandoned church or schoolbuilding in the Walla Walla countryside. There was a beautiful poplar tree turning gold only on top, with its lush summer green leaves left on bottom. Pair it up with the always welcome Blue Mountain foothills and it made for an irresistible scene!

Fast and Loose Foothills

Fast and Loose Foothills - 5x7

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Nothing like a strict time limit to bust you out of a seemingly never ending artistic rut! I haven't been inspired to do any small ones lately, and none of my plein air work for the past month has seemed to work. But I saw some clouds out today and though I only had a half hour or so to work I wanted to paint them! When I got the little sketch back home I didn't want to mess with the spontaneous brushwork, I kinda liked it!

Pikes Peak Under Blue Skies

Pikes Peak Under Blue Skies - 5x7 - Oil on Gessobord

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Pikes Peak is a somewhat prominent point in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, near Walla Walla, Washington. Being at a higher elevation than my hometown, the area stays greener longer than the ridges around Tri-Cities. In late morning light, the distant blue trees really set off the green ground cover; for a second I could enjoy the collision of pastoral fields and wild hillside while forgetting the awful suburban sprawl slowly making it's way to the mountains.