A Few California Watercolors

I thought I would post a few watercolor paintings I've painted over the past few years. All of these were painted on location. I love watercolor painting and hope to paint more this coming year. I will be posting recent portrait, still-life and landscapes paintings in December. Some of the larger works I've painted this year.

Arch Rock 14x21

Mill 10x13

Barn and Field 7x10

Grey skies 7x14

Fishing Boats 14x21

Fishing Boats 14x21

Day at the Beach  10x14

Beach Party 10x14

Fishing Boats 10x14

Tug 10x14

Snow Patch 21x29

From Bear Basin 21x29

Summer Storm 14x21

Oil Painters of America Show

My painting Cherry Blossom Rhythms will be included in the Oil Painters of America show at Gallery 1261 in Denver, Colorado.  The show opens on October 5th and runs through November 3rd.
Oil on linen on panel  14x11

Early Work 1980-1987

 Perhaps it 's because I turned 60 nine months ago that I've painted six self-portraits during that time and find myself also looking back at some of my earlier work. The earliest I'm posting is 1980 with a few from 84-87. All the paintings from 1980 were painted in one sitting and most are 24x30. I had been painting full time for five years in 1980 but didn't start going out on location on a daily bases until 1979. At that point I had met George Van Hook, James B. Moore and Curtiss Otto and started painting with them each, mostly with George. It was a great learning and growth period. We were painting at least three 24x30's each day. The energy and enthusiasm was addicting. I think the smallest size we worked was 16x20. My work was rough and not always drawn well, but it was fearless. I'm not sure I could pull off a 24x30 in one shot today. I had a naive passion in the early work. The passion is still there except with a much more formed and critical eye. I thought it would be interesting to post these works showing where I've come from. I've also included a couple of portraits. Thanks for taking a look. Some of the paintings are in storage and others I copied to jpeg from old slides. You'll be able to tell the difference.

1980 24x30
Auto shop, Arcata, Ca.

1980 30x36
Auto shop, Arcata, Ca.

1980 24x30
Arcata, Ca.

1980 24x30
Outdoor portrait, Arcata, Ca.

1981 24x36 This is the house I where I grew up in Ontario Ca. I think of this
 as a self-portrait, I'm reflected in the sliding glass door

1984 20x30
I've started working on paintings more than one sitting by the time
I painted this work at the dry dock.

1981 24x30
This is Justin on my pickup truck. He is the son of a friend

1981  24x30
Justin again on his front porch

1982  36x48
Painting of a friend Suk Cho Kim

1982  30x36
This was a commission of Paul Ricards grandfather. He was in his 90's and
I painted this at their home.

1985  12x36
Eureka Ca.

1984 12x24
Tanker and Tug Eureka, Ca.

1980 30x24
Eureka Alley

1980  24x36
Holt and Euclid Ontario, Ca.

1980  30x24
Arcata, Ca.

1980  24x30
Eureka Street

1980  30x24
Claremont College

1981  30x36
Claremont College

1987  40x48
Mt. Lassen
I spent two weeks camping and painting in Mt. Lassen park in the fall
of 1987.

1986  34x50
San Gabriel Mountains, Southern Ca. While visiting my folks in Ontario I have
painted many works throughout the area. I recently took this out of storage and
spent a couple hours reworking some areas. I'm pleased with this piece.

1987  40x60
San Antionio Dam Spillway, S. Ca.
 The grey part of the sky is the valley smog.

1980  30x24
Rouge River, Oregon 

1980  24x30
Above the smog filled valley in Southern Ca.

Self-Portrait 1980  30x30 oil on canvas

Recent Landscape Paintings

Loleta, February Morning oil on panel 12x9

I'm posting several landscapes I've painted over the past six months. Humboldt County
had a very dry and sunny December, January and February. I was outside painting most
of those stunning days. I find the color and tones in the winter months very beautiful as
well as a great contrast to all the greens. This time of year we are swimming in green. I'm
currently working on paintings of our garden, with a few outings to paint other locations.
I hope to get up to Trinidad to paint the ocean and rocks later this summer. All of the work
was painted on site. My photos of the paintings are not the best. I hope to soon buy a better
camera and figure out how to deal with the glare. Thanks for viewing the work. I have also
been working on some still life and portrait paintings over the past eight months and plan
to post those later this summer.

Singley Valley Pond 24x40 oil on linen

Late Light, Winter 12x24 oil on linen

Blue Lake, Late Spring 10x14 oil on paper

View From Manila Dunes 24x40 oil on linen

First Light, January 18x20 oil on linen

December Morning, 10am 12x16 oil on linen

December Morning, 9am  oil on panel

Ferndale Ranch 10x14 oil on paper

Ferndale Field, Spring 6 1/2x9 1/2 oil on paper

Hawks Hill, Morning Light  11x15 oil on paper

Late Afternoon, Hawks Hill 8x10 oil on panel

December Morning, Lake Loleta 18x30 oil on linen

Loleta Bottoms  12x16 oil on panel

Loleta  10x14 oil on paper

Fall, Loleta Hills  16x40 oil on linen

Mad River, June  9x12 oil on panel

Our View, May  18x30 oil on linen

Mad River Poppies  9x13 oil on paper

Barn and Eucalyptus  11x15 oil on paper

Singley Valley, Spring 20x24 oil on linen

Windy Afternoon  8x10 oil on panel

Late Afternoon, May  13x20  oil on paper

Winter Pond  12x16 oil on panel