Willows in the Wetlands

11x14 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$300 unframed (email me if interested)
I need some advice. Do you think I need to go back and lighten up the value of the mountains to make them look like they are more in the distance? I feel as though I painted everything too much in the same value. I would appreciate any input. This is from a photo I took in the Rocky Mountain National Park. What a beautiful place. I love how there are so many different kinds of terrains. It is a painters paradise.

Frio River Reflections

16x20 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$600 (email me if interested)
This was another photo I took when Jim and I went camping back in October, hence the fall colors. I think this painting is more intense with color than I am use to painting. When painting water you have to look at the water surface and reflections as just shapes and color not what you know it to be. I struggled but I do like the end result.

Sidewalk Parking

8x8x1.5 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$75 (email me if interested)
This is number 8 in my series of Austin Landmarks.

Whole Foods Blackbirds

8x8x1.5 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$75 unframed (email me if interested)
I have been gone for a week and it has taken me another week to get back in the swing of things. I had started this painting before I left for the Rocky Mountains. It is #7 in my series of Austin Landmarks. I wanted to finish it before I started a new painting from my photographs of the mountains. Anyone that lives in Austin knows there are thousands of blackbirds around the parking area at Whole Foods and up and down the street. The noise is deafening but fascinating.

After the Rain- Canyon Lake

24x36 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$650 (email me if interested)
While my son was home on leave, Jim, Justin and I took him to the lake to do some fishing. I cooked hamburgers and took pictures. The day was very overcast and it was late in the evening. They didn't get a bite but I got some interesting pics. When I am painting I have to remind myself to use stronger highlights. Because of the late evening and overcast there were no strong shadows. I wanted to keep that overcast feeling.

San Jose Mission courtyard

20x24 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$600 (email me if interested)
The hardest part was making sure I had the arches correct. I still have a tendency to paint shadows the same violet color no matter what they are cast on. I am taking a workshop in August from Robin Hall on color theory. I am excited about learning how to work with my coloring. All and all I am happy with the painting.

Magnolia Cafe

8x8 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$75 unframed (email me if interested)
Another painting in my series of Austin Landmarks. Magnolia Cafe is located on South Congress (SoCo). It is open 24 hours with a massive menu and wonderful food made with fresh ingredients. Last time I was there my daughter and I shared the best Queso dip topped with avocado slices that I have ever tasted and I have eaten a lot of Queso dip.
I have also started a larger painting so the Austin paintings are on hold for a few days or maybe weeks, depending.

Uncommon Objects

8x8 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$75 unframed (email me if interested)

The third installment of my Austin Landmarks.Uncommon Objects is a shop full of found objects that are displayed so creatively its almost like walking through a fun funky art gallery. The fiberglass rabbit was rescued from a dump in Dallas and the cowboy was made from a car muffler. This sculpture was produced around 1992 by Evan Voyles whose other creations are scattered around Austin. This is only one of the many landmark art that makes Austin quirky.

Hotel San Jose

8x8 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$75 unframed (email me if interested)
This is the second painting in my series of Austin landmarks. The Hotel San Jose built in 1939 is located on South Congress. It is an urban bungalow-style hotel. It is rumored this is where all the celebrities like to stay when in town.

Amy's Ice Cream

8x8 oil on stretched canvas
$75 unframed (email me if interested)
I am painting a series of Austin landmarks on 8x8 canvas that is 1 1/2" thick. I have decided they would look the best in a floater frame. I am going to get Jim to make me some frames as soon as I am through. So for I am thinking there will be 12. They could be left unframed as I painted the sides too. My daughter has lived in Austin for ten years. Over the years she has introduced me to a city full of art and culture. "Austinites" take pride in being different in their lifestyles. They have adopted a motto, "Keep Austin Weird" which refers partly to their eclectic lifestyles and also for a campaign that preserves and supports small independent businesses. This is what I wanted to represent in my paintings. Thanks Kristen!

Prickly Pear

6x8 oil on cotton canvas panel
$75 (email me if interested)

We have lots and lots of these in our yard. They begin blooming in June. The pads and the fruit of the cactus are edible. The fruit is ready after they blossom, in the late summer and early fall. Just be careful of the spines on both! The tiny ones on the fruit are really hard to remove. In a drought, ranchers have been known to burn off the spines so their cows could eat the cactus for the liquid inside. I made some note cards from this painting. I would like to paint a series of cacti paintings, especially one with the fruit because I like the contrast of the red fruit against the green pads.

Texas Hill Country

8x10 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$200 (email me if interested)

Another painting of my stomping grounds. My favorite is painting sun dapples through the trees. I always paint them using the same colors. Maybe I should step out on a limb (no pun intended) and try other colors.

Mission San Jose Door

12x12 oil on cotton canvas panel
$250 (email me if interested)

After living in the San Antonio area for over 15 years, I finally took a day to visit the missions. San Antonio has five counting the Alamo. These five missions were built along the San Antonio River. The other four missions continue to operate as active parishes of the Catholic Church. I took lots of pictures. After getting home and looking at my photos, I can think of some other compositions I should of taken. I am from the old school, it is hard for me to just click, click, click. It's digital! This first painting was an unusual size for me. With all the carvings around the door, I probably should have gone even bigger. Thats a lot of detail to do that small. When it comes to architecture, one little brush stroke can throw the whole perspective off. After looking at it for a few days I may go back and tweak it a little.

Enchanted Rock #2

20x24 oil on stretched cotton canvas
NFS
It has been awhile since I have posted anything. Even so, I have been painting everyday. I recently finished this larger piece. It is a gift for my wonderful Air Force son. Shhh! don't tell. He hasn't seen it yet. He will be coming home on leave in a couple of weeks. It is for his new apartment to remind him of Texas. I hope he likes it. I have also been doing a series of urban landscapes of Austin. I will post some of them later.

Enchanted Rock

12x16 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$500 (email me if interested)

The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States.
Tonkawa Indians believed ghost fires flickered at the top, and they heard weird creaking and groaning, which geologists now say resulted from the rock's heating by day and contracting in the cool night. A conquistador captured by the Tonkawa described how he escaped by losing himself in the rock area, giving rise to an Indian legend of a "pale man swallowed by a rock and reborn as one of their own." The Indians believed he wove enchantments on the area, but he explained that the rock wove the spells. "When I was swallowed by the rock, I joined the many spirits who enchant this place." Jim and I climbed to the top a couple of weekends ago. I took lots of pictures to paint.