The Columbia River Gorge is much more than the river. We ran across this farm while painting there in July. The field was a beautiful blue with an area of mustard behind it- Gorgeous!

The first real fall day of painting at the pond in Beaverton. I noticed how perfect the light was on Mary Lou, my painting companion. Everything else was so grey, I decided to paint her.

"Study at the Iris Pond"

This small study was the first that I did of the iris blooming at the "Tree island Pond" in Beaverton Oregon. I just wanted to try to play with the light and shapes of reflections and leaves.

It was a gray day in Girabaldi Oregon. I was painting with my friends and loved the colors of this modest little skiff.

 “Summer Willows, June Snow”

Two Medicines Lake, Glacier Park, Montana, 2009

5 PM, 56 degrees, later afternoon sun, still and quiet

 

 

The last day of my time in Glacier Park was beautiful and I could feel that summer ws moving in. Ten days of painting is hard work. An artist gets in a rhythm on a trip like that. Energy is so focused, painting consumes you. Even at night, late dinner in front of a fire with wine and art books and lots of “art talk” keeps you in the zone. 

 It was the last painting session and this spot along the banks of the lake was glowing in the late afternoon sun. It is the kind of light and location that I love. This painting, the last of the trip seems to sum up everything that I loved about being in East Glacier. I love color and my surprise upon arriving was how much color there was everywhere. Today the willows glowed, the summer aspens appeared to light up and the water and snow added a beautiful coolness to the it all. 

Look closely at this painting. Notice the brushstrokes and the seemingly haphazard application of paint. Now, turn around and walk about 20 or so feet away, turn and look at it. Viola!! It becomes a finished painting. It appears to have much more detail and precision in its execution than it really does. That, my friend, is what makes a good plein aire painting. That is what makes it successful. That is what collectors prize in plein air work. What a painting to end the trip with.  It never fails that you are “just getting it” when it is time to leave.

I cant wait for the next trip, the next painting!

This little painting was done at the Caswell Gallery Paint out. Painting at the falls is a bit of a nightmare with hundreds of tourists visiting a day. I found a private little spot with my back to the falls. The light on this rock made it glow even on this gray day,

 “Bear Valley in June”

 (Watching for bears!)

 East Glacier Park, Montana, June, 2009

7:00 AM, 38 degrees, cloudy

 

 

As much as the mountains in Glacier National Park define the landscape, the rivers and streams support it. They are the Yin, the mountains the Yang. The rivers are deep and wide and seem to boil up from some unknown place. The streams are clear and cold and on this trip were singing a new song to summer.

This view down a small valley on the way to Two Medicine in the park was my kind of place. I was surprised to see the color of the willows along the streams. They are orange and red and spring green all at one time. It was such a cold day but those warm colors were so strong and vibrant. I left out the towering peaks at the end of the valley. It was about the stream today.

I had been told to be careful while out painting alone and that the grizzlies love those big willows along the streams. In my walks along the stream I followed paths through them that I imagined as bear paths. That cold day I painted close to my car, tailgate up, just in case. But, I soon forgot the bears and enjoyed the painting with an occasional cup of tea from my thermos. 

A cold and windy fall day near the coast of Oregon. I could almost smell the sea in the wind.

Sometimes when painting on location the sky is what steals the show. On this day, out painting plein air the land just couldnt compete with this sky.

A late afternoon on Puget Sound. The colors were just starting to change. It was lovely.

 “June Snow in Glacier”

Two Medicines, Glacier National Park, Montana, June 2009

Sunny, 65 degrees and glorious

 

My first day in Glacier Park was glorious with Crystal blue skies and mirror reflections of mountains in the Lakes. Here at Two Medicine Lake it was so warm that it felt like the snow would melt before I finished painting. There was just this one patch of snow at that elevation and I had the sense that it needed to be painted before it was gone. Little did I know that the next 8 days of the trip would be too cold for it to melt. I liked the contrast of the snow against the new spring green of the deciduous trees around the lake. I was so happy that day. My long drive from Oregon was over and I was here at last, in mountain country, bear country, with days to paint. The tourists hadn't arrived yet for the summer so I was happy in my solitude. 

Later when I looked at this painting I could really see how joyous that day was and how much fun I had.  There was an excitement and a lyrical quality to the brush strokes. Often when I am out painting I think how lucky I am , and what a fabulous life this is. To be able to stand in beautiful places, hear the birds and feel the day is a gift I will forever be grateful for. I like this painting because it painted itself. The best paintings are the ones where we get out of our own way.

Spring in the Tulip fields at Woodburn Oregon is really beautiful. This little house was at the end of the field and all I could think about was how lovely it must be to see those fields full of color out of your own window.

It was a hot summer day in Port Townsend Washington and the coolest place to paint was at the marina. I was so attracted to this lovely old wooden boat with its bright sails. This is a 16X20 painting and it was so hot that I painted it in 2 hours. I was very pleased with the loose and spontaneous feeling of the reflections.

 

This little study was done on a painting trip in the Eastern Sierras in October with my friend Carole Cooke. An unexpected early snow closed several of the passes and temeratures dropped. I painted this on a glorious late afternoon of that early winter day.

 “Dancing Aspens”

The road to Kalispell , Montana June 2009

9AM, 36 degrees, snow, sleet and rain, gray and miserable

 

A miserable day in Montana. Over breakfast we all felt low. The snow was falling, wet and heavy. My friend Gordy is always willing and ready to paint but even he was resisting leaving the restaurant. But, we decided, “let’s just do it”, so out we went into the unknown. We headed towards Kalispell hoping the lower elevation would bring some clearing. We went to a spot 8 miles down the road that another artist had told us about but it was as disappointing as the weather. Dressed like eskimos and still cold we had to paint. This stand of Aspen was all we could really see clearly so that was what we would paint. I dashed off this painting huddled under the tailgate . From time to time I had to move into the car when the sleet blew across my canvas. Laughing and shaking our heads from time to time we worked on in silence, hands wet and numb. After a morning like that there is always a feeling of achievement. Often, it doesn't even matter if the painting was a success. The painter loves to say “at least we painted”. But, today it was more than that. My painting was a good one. I was happy. Happy always wins out over wet and cold! 

"Elk in the Meadow"
Spring on the coast is lovely. On a trip in early spring I traveled to Netarts Bay near Oceanside, Oregon. There was fog over the bay but right across the bay road is a lovely tidal area. It is a beautiful marshy area. The tide was high and I caught a glimpse of some elk moving into the woods from the meadow beyond. The color of the water seemed brilliant and everything about the scene made me forget that I was there to paint the bay. Everything was alive and wet and radiating "spring".

"Light on the Meadow"
In Netarts Oregon near the coast there is a lovely "tidal" pond right across the road from the bay. The morning light was hitting the meadow behind the pond on this April day. The colors were so strong and yet it was a very subtle, silent sort of a feeliing.

This first painting of the Iris series was done from studies at the pond. I was so taken by the textures of the vegetaion, the gold of the Iris and the light and ripples in the water. It seemed like too much to focus on in one painting so I decided to paint it large- 36"x36". I loved doing this painting and it set the stage for more and more in this series.

"The Peak of the Blooms"
After my first spring visit to "The Tree Island Pond" I returned several times to see the Iris in different stages of maturity. The day I saw this creamy mass I knew it was the absolute peak. These blooms almost sang there were so many of them. They were lighter in color than those first bright yellow ones. I wanted to show the soft voluminous feeling I got as I watched them sway in the spring breeze.

I went to the pond every day for a week or so. One day I realized that the birds were getting used to me. They were much less shy and the male red-wings seemed almost to be ignoring me. This one male sat and sang for so long that I was able to do an oil sketch of him. He seemed very happy to have found such a lovely spot from which to perform. There is nothing like the song of a red-winged blackbird. It filled the air.

"Song to the Spring"
This is a small study. It is 10"x12". It was made before painting "Iris Serandade". I made it rather quick and loose and the main objective was to work out the problem of a dark bird against a dark backround. I enjoy these small studio studies because they usually have a fresh painterly quality that is difficult in large pieces.