McNary Summer

McNary Summer - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

This was a great little wetland area on the outskirts of town. As I drove out to the spot I wanted to paint on a summer morning I was looking forward to painting the hazy light, but as I started working the haze moved off and left a blinding, hot sun. It was still beautiful!

Refuge Sunset

Refuge Sunset - Oil on Gessobord - 6x6

I started this one on location out at McNary Wildlife Refuge, scrubbing in the major color relationships and shapes in about 15 minutes. It was a rough start, but had enough information that I could  polish it up in the studio!

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!

Willow Thicket

Willow Thicket - Oil on Gessobord - 6x6

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The same drainage as the last one, but at a slightly different angle. I think I'm partial to this one, but I can't decide!

Old Oregon Trail II

Old Oregon Trail II - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

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Second in this series! The atmosphere was simply entrancing.

Northwest Clouds - Day 13, 30 in 30 Challenge

Northwest Clouds - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

Click to Bid!I was looking back in my reference photo file and found some fantastic clouds!

A Day in the Sun

A Day in the Sun - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

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Juniper Stand - Day 9, 30 in 30

Juniper Stand - Oil on Gessobord - 6x6

Click Here to BidFound another great bunch of Junipers outside of Bend on Google Streetview!

Oregon Juniper - Day 8, 30 in 30

Oregon Juniper - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

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Well, with the mandarins gone I needed to move on to a new subject. I was listening (for probably the 5th time) to my audiobook version of Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey and was struck by the passage about wanting to study a single juniper tree for a lifetime. It made me remember driving through the sage and juniper filled area east of Bend, Oregon.

So I "drove" around on Highway 26 on Google Maps Streetview, and found not only some amazing juniper stands but some outstanding clouds too!

Mandarin with Leaves - 30 in 30, Day 4

Mandarin with Leaves - Oil on Gessobord - 6x6

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I saw this big bag of mandarins with leaves still on them at the grocery store. Now those of you who live in areas that grow citrus fruit probably don't think twice about it, but I realized that for me, citrus just materialize in the fruit isle, I'd never thought about one growing on a tree! So I had to buy them, of course. And the leaves had such an interesting shape they were perfect for painting!

Surrounded by Orange

Surrounded by Orange - 6x6 - Oil on gessobord

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I think the hardest part of the 30 in 30 challenge might turn out to be coming up with titles for all the paintings!

A Little Sketchy

A Little Sketchy - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

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A little out of my wheelhouse, but hopefully still life painting can keep me entertained until it warms up a little bit! I like the sketchy brushwork, to me it feels energetic.

Chrysanthemum on Blue

Chrysanthemum on Blue - Oil on Gessobord - 6x6

Click to BidThere is something irresistible about these flowers, I think it's how complex they are and the challenge they pose in simplifying them!

October Groceries

October Groceries - Oil on Gessobord - 6x6

I felt magnetically drawn to the chinese lanterns in the grocery store! Maybe it's been a while since I'd been in this particular store, but it seemed like fall suddenly took over with pomegranates, chinese lanterns and pears. I don't even like pears, but I loved their color and wanted to paint them!

Summer's Clouds

Summer's Clouds - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

Click to BidThe summer skies are typically pretty boring here in my little desert, except for when a massive summer storm rolls through. last week we had two big lightening storms only a couple days apart! Now, of course, we're back to the monotonous heat August should have taken with it.

Windswept Farmland

Windswept Farmland - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

Click to BidI saw this scene many weeks ago while driving on the Umatilla Indian Reservation just east of Pendleton, Oregon. At this slight hillside you could see for what seemed like forever as the farmlands rolled on and on! But what I really loved were the big billowing clouds rolling overhead in the wind.

High Desert Clouds

High Desert Clouds - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

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I wish I could remember where this scene was from! I painted it from a screenshot I took while on a Google Maps Streetview road trip through south eastern Oregon's high desert, I believe somewhere near the Alvord Desert. Now THERE is somewhere I need to visit and paint in person!

Flower 3 - Yellow Rose on Blue

Flower 3 - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Click Here to BidI was playing with different set ups for a still life and the pale yellow rose against an almost teal blue backdrop really caught my eye!

Flower 2

Flower 2 - Oil on Panel - 6x6

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More chrysanthemums! I loved the dramatic look of the creamy flower against the purple, I thought it was very striking! I think the best part about painting flowers is I can use the same observational skills that are stretched when painting en plein air, but I can be in the air conditioning when the temperatures are almost 100 degrees. I'm interested in seeing how painting more of these florals will impact the way I approach landscapes when I get back into them!

Flower 1

Flower 1 - Oil on Panel - 6x6

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What! I wanted to get myself something special, so I got a little bunch of chrysanthemums. They looked so beautiful I just had to paint one, but man did I not realize how big a bite I was taking out trying to paint a complex flower in a glass vase. It was very enjoyable despite (maybe because of?) the challenge!