Superstition mountains

Painted from a chance photo I saw on Instagram. Contacted the photographer/artist who wrote a contract and licensed the photo to me for $20. Enjoyed painting the sunset glow and envisioning Apache Junction as a tile-like abstraction. Sold.

Marfa trailers

Slightly fantastical vision of El Cosmico trailer park. Magenta dust. Private collection.

near Crested Butte

After about a year of trial and error at larger paintings in my new studio, I think I'm
starting to figure out my version of how to make a painting. 60 x 90 cm.

big peach tree, New Orleans

Painted from a photo I took of a side yard near Audobon Park. I was struck by the abstract color pattern of the spring grass, magenta blossoms and sky. I'm happy with the looseness of the tree and the shade it casts. 20" x 16" Private collection.

Oak Creek, Sedona AZ

Painted from a friend's Instagram. I enjoyed developing a long, shadowed view that focused to a sunlit patch in the distance. 32" x 43"

crossing the Frio

The top photo is a preliminary stage of painting, and the bottom is quite a bit later when I stopped. I like the early stage better, and feel that I lost some of the freshness and personal color feel as I worked it to a more naturalistic finish. Live and learn.. 30" x 40"

fall flowers

I started with a careful contour drawing of the main value boundaries of the mass of flowers. That made it much easier to freehand in color shapes. I worked from dark to light. The main problem I had was that the tablecloth was originally a single, flat violet which looked totally wrong. I had to pay the price and work in color gradation around the painted bouquet. Also, next time I do a still life, I'll work the background in sections while the subject is wet. That way I can get softened edges throughout, like those of the submerged leaves in the vase. 20" x 20"