Blue Mountain Afternoon

Blue Mountain Afternoon - 6x8 - Oil on Linen

Click to Bid

I've had an absolutely fantastic couple of weeks! I've attended the Wallowa Valley Festival in Joseph, Oregon, where I won second place in my category, and the very next weekend I facilitated a paint out in beautiful Walla Walla for Plein Air Washington Artists. This little painting was completed on location in Walla Walla, near Rooks Park on the edge of town where the Blue Mountains peak above rolling wheat fields.

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.

Nevada Skies

Nevada Skies - 5x7 - Oil on Gessobord

Click Here to Bid

Wow! I can't believe I had another landscape painting in me! I've been painting in the Columbia River Gorge for the 9th annual Pacific Northwest Plein Air show. I guess I wanted to get back into my usual desert territory! This is a Google Streetview scene from a Nevada highway just south of the Oregon border. I loved the shapes and movement in the clouds!

Here's a shot of me (on right) enjoying the show along with the fabulous Diana Moses Botkin, followed by some of my work from the paint out. They're available for purchase through the Columbia Center for the Arts.

East Face Shadows - Sold

Rowena Sunrise

Confluence

High Desert Clouds

High Desert Clouds - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Click Here to Bid

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!

Kittitas Sage

Kittitas Sage - 5x7 - Oil on Canvas Panel

A warm and sunny day in the Kittitas Valley! There's something about fields of sage and distant hills that get me every time.

Rattlesnake Hills

Rattlesnake Hills - 5x7 - Oil on Linen Panel

Click Here to Bid
The past week has been insanely hot, so I took that as a great excuse to go through my many photos taken on road trips. This field of sagebrush in the late afternoon light grabbed me, I loved the blue shadows on the hillside!

Quiet Hills

Quiet Hills - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

Click Here to Bid
I found a little peace and quiet on a virtual drive through eastern Oregon! Thanks, Google.

John Day River Valley

John Day River Valley - Oil on Linen Panel - 5x7

Click Here to BidFor a couple months per year this little area near the John Day River in Eastern Oregon will be green. Soon the grasses will dry out and create the usual summer wildfire threat, but I saw this scene while it was still full of life!

Russian Olive on the Walla Walla

Russian Olive on the Walla Walla - 5x7 - Oil on Gessobord

Click to BidRussian Olive! A beautiful tree when trimmed properly, with gorgeous purple-black bark contrasting against silver sage green leaves. Here in Washington and much of the West it's considered a noxious weed. In Europe where it is a common ornamental tree it rarely produces fruit, but here within three years it bursts with little olive like fruits that birds scatter for miles. They thrive in the poorest soil and quickly take over river and creek shores, pushing out cottonwoods and other native riparian vegetation. But! Despite their noxious status they can be quite beautiful, and this grove caught my eye while I was driving along Highway 12 near Walla Walla.

Pikes Peak Under Blue Skies

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

Click Here to Bid
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.

Yakima Summer

Yakima Summer - Oil on Panel - 6x6

Click Here to BidIt's heating up here in the northwest! I wanted to capture the feel of the sun on your skin that lets you know summer is right around the corner!

Dayton Hillside

Dayton Hillside - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

Click Here to BidThese clouds were the last remnants of a rainstorm near Dayton, Washington. It was a beautiful day!

Simcoe Hills

Simcoe Hills - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Click Here to BidWhile using Google Street View I was cruising down Highway 97 south here in Washington. Something about the pattern of trees and clouds really grabbed me!

Clouds Over the Hay

Clouds Over the Hay - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Click to BidWe've been getting some variable spring weather the past few days: wind, rain, sun, you name it! So the clouds have been fantastic. The hay had just been cut and was in long rows, creating a view I really wanted to paint!

Along 89 I - Tiny Utah Landscape Painting

Along 89 - Oil on Panel - 2.5 x 3.5

Click Here to Bid!

This one is tinier than usual! It looks perfect on one of those tiny little easels you find at craft stores. I've been  really interested in clouds lately, and these little ACEO size paintings are perfect for doing quick studies to capture their essence.

Snow and Sage, Utah

Snow and Sage,  Utah - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Sold

I'm very excited to finally start working from the amazing photographs I took while driving through Arizona and Utah. Not that my photography skills are anything to brag about, but driving through that scenery, it's hard NOT to take a good picture!

We were rolling north along Highway 15, the sun was creeping down and casting the most beautiful light on what I believe, in checking maps after the fact, was the Pahvant Range. We had a great view of them, I only wish the sunlight had lasted long enough to get a view of the Wasatch. Maybe next time?

Calm in Horse Heaven

Calm in Horse Heaven - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Sold

This is a companion piece to the previous one, the variety of shapes and possible compositions in the Horse Heaven Hills of the Columbia Basin are endless! I absolutely loved the atmosphere the rain gave to the desert hills.

Peace in the Foothills

Peace in the Foothills - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Sold

I've been sorting through the thousands of photos I've taken over the year, looking for the ones that bring out the same feeling of the day they were taken. The cut wheat fields and foothills to the Blue Mountains are hallmarks of the Walla Walla, WA area. When I visited the air was thick with smoke from distant wildfires, making the distant trees bluer than they normally would be.

At the Foot - Wallowa Valley Oil Painting

At the Foot - 6x6 - Landscape

Sold

Another scene brought to you by Google Maps! No, I'll never get tired of virtually driving around the beautiful Wallowa Valley of eastern Oregon. Since the Columbia River Gorge is in HD now as well, you may see some paintings from that area soon too!

Wonderland Highway - California I-5 painting

Along the Wonderland Highway - 6x8 - Oil on Canvas Panel

Sold

I HAD to paint this view from I-5 on Google Maps Streetview for two reasons. One: the gold and blue of the landscape really spoke to me and Two: For some reason, GMaps calls I-5 the "Wonderland Highway." Now, maybe it's just because I've grown up in the podunk hillbilly side of the Cascades, but I've never in my life heard anyone, anywhere, refer to it by that name. It kind of fascinated me, and I knew I simply couldn't resist!