12x36", oil on canvas             At the swimming pool the other day, someone mentioned in passing that I wasn’t really a swimmer.  I know, this sounds particularly harsh, and she wasn't being intentionally cruel or anything.  It was more in the context of “here’s something you’d understand if you were a real swimmer.”  Nonetheless it’s been on my mind a bit.             Don’t get me wrong; I know what she meant by ...

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I am very pleased to say that two pieces of mine were accepted at the Arts at the Port juried show in Anacortes, Washington this year.  The artwork I saw as I was dropping off work was amazing; I'm in very good company up there.  The festival itself is this upcoming weekend, August 2, 3, and 4, with lots of artists and craftspeople showing off their wares. Here's a link to ...

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This is one of those images I've wanted to paint for years now.  It's the view from the ferry looking at Seattle's skyline.  I finally was there with perfect light and color.  It wasn't foggy, the wind wasn't blowing 70 miles an hour, and the light was that energized light between day and dusk--perfect.  I spent a lot of time on this under-painting because the skyline should a.) look like ...

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Here are two images showing a bit of the process for this piece, beginning with the finished product. This first photo is not the best one possible as I was too cold and lazy to take it outside to photograph, the best place to take photos of artwork (it's about 40 degrees out there and I've become a weather wimp since I moved North. The second photo shows step one: ...

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  When we think of landscape, I think our minds automatically jump to images of the romantic era--great sweeping vistas, ideal views, the simple calm beauties of the pastoral, the great impressive fervor of the romantic sublime. But the translation of landscape has changed as much as our relationship to place has changed. We are no longer removed, no longer remote from these places. We know so much more about the ...

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Here's another piece in my recent series, where I'm exploring thinner layers of color over an underpainting of sepia tones. It's giving my work a looser, more gestural look as well as building up layers of light. As with "Odyssey", I began this piece with burnt sienna mixed with a glaze, then wiped out the highlights to begin feeling the composition. Subsequent layers deepen the dark tones and add highlights to ...

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This piece marks a solid change for me, in the fact that is is made up of many transparent layers and gestural brushstrokes instead of the thicker, more solid layers I generally use. It brings the excitement of my experimental drawings into my oil paintings, something I've been working towards for years. "Odyssey" used techniques from my watercolor and drawing background, resulting in a fresh approach. I usually begin my oils ...

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So here's the finished piece. I'm pleased with the overall emotion and composition. Even though there was a lot of back and forth in my mind on this piece, the overall resolution works for me. It reflects the spirit and emotion I felt when I stood on that bridge over the river at a point in time last July, with a storm moving in from the west. A sense of ...

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Here are a few images documenting the progress of this painting. It's still a work in progress, but I'm pretty close to resolution I think. The mood is almost there: a storm moving in over this mighty river, an image from last July. It could be the Colorado, or the Snake, or the Green River. There's just something about a river, particularly when you live in the West. It's a blood ...

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