August 12 - Tomatoes

Ah, the tomatoes of summer!  Are there any other fragrances so connecting us to the earth than the sun-warmed scents of a freshly picked, ripe tomato?  Here are three of them, garden fresh, and awaiting addition to the salad of the day.  I ate one of them earlier, right out of my hand, and the flavor is incomparable to anything bought in the store, no matter what time of year.
SOLD to Nancy Merrill's collection of Salt Lake City, Utah.

August 11 - Tug of War (Buckskin Horse)

Today's painting is a 12 x 12 oil, from material I took at the trials over at San Juan Capistrano a while back.  I did a lot of photo reference of the "backstretch" area, full of grooms, horses waiting for riders and action in the background.  One of the nicely colored horses (buckskin) was playing tug o'war with his groom's cleaning rag, waiting for the rider to come and mount up for the class.  A breeze kicked up, and I just loved the tail and flapping horse clothes!  Now don't get after me about the rear views here, I do like both of 'em!

  Available for $425.

August 10 - Bing Cherries

Bing Bang, Badda Boom!  That's what cherries do for me!  These luscious dark Bing cherries came home tonight with the groceries and asked to be immortalized forever before disappearing as dessert tonight.  Entitled "Protection", this painting brings more to the eye and mind than just three cherries.  Note the position and the location of the stems.  Do you see the story in the title?   Fun, like life--full of temptations and interesting challenges.  Original 5 x 7 oil
JUST SOLD to Patricia Harris of Ragley, Louisiana.

August 9 - Green Revisited

Cleaning out the studio for the move brought this 12 x 16 oil to daylight. Not quite a frisbee,  I had so many good comments on the last "green machine" painting that I thought you'd enjoy the changes wrought to this one, too.  You can probably guess my creative energy is focused not on creating completely new work this week, but in moving an entire studio from Point A to Point B. A smaller canvas than the first "de-greened" one, this was a plein air painting done on location back in 2000.  

  You can see the original version here, well buried on the web site here.

My goodness, what six years can do to an artist!  I'm sure you'll enjoy the first one ("But it was so GREEN that day!", I'd have told you.) and now this one, where I've laid the color system over it to bring it to a much better painting.  I sure like the color on the new one!  What green???? Enjoy! Same price, $225  

 Reinforces for me the certainty that paintings will ALWAYS get better. 

August 8 - Misty Hunt

"Misty Hunt"  It is so much "fun" to pack. Truly an adventure of discovery! I'm finding in my archives some paintings not on the web site--some starts that I never finished, and some I think are candidates for frisbee championships! (That means they'll go some distance before hitting the dirt of the pasture!)  Today's painting is one I started as a demonstration painting in Kentucky a year or so ago, during a workshop. I was asked to depict mist using my color system.  It came back with me, unfinished, a 9 x 12, and never saw the light of day after that.  Today, as I was packing a box of 9 x 12s, it popped up and said, "I'm ready to be finished now."  

  So here he is, the mist and the hounds, two riders, and trees.  $375 unframed.

August 7 - Morning Sycamores

In packing up some paintings today, I came across this painting which is on my site here:

Now, this is not a new one, and I know I painted it with the five-colors-plus-white I had been using for almost three years before becoming frustrated and desirous of a new color system that would work in all lighting situations.  

  It is fun to revisit "old" work, as you grow as an artist.  The painting never really pleased me, because of the overwhelming greens in the scene.  However, had you asked me about it, I'd have whined, "But that's what I SEE!" and continue to dip into the green to capture the trees, grasses and what not.

  I know now that painting a green scene isn't about painting greens, but is about how NOT to paint too much of green to really get the green to play a leading role.  So I pulled out the oils, and set to work, with the end result being the painting below.  It makes me happy to know I have grown enough to recognize the need for change.

  Yes, they are the same paintings!  16 x 20 oil, $440.

August 6 - Two Trees, Ventura

"Two Trees, Ventura" I love Ventura.  It has always been the precursor and gateway to the drive up to Ojai.  There is a landmark that has been famous since the 1700s when the Spaniards first sailed into the sheltering harbor.  On the top of one of the hills above the town is a place where two oak trees grow.  The Spaniards looked for them out on the ocean, because they knew the safe harbor was below. They are venerable and treasured landmarks.  I, too, always look for them above the city, as it is a comforting welcome, familiar, and a constant.  I've painted them today for you in a 12 x 12 acrylic box canvas (no frame needed), as a memory of those long ago drives from Ojai to Ventura College and every trip back to my home area.  Also, in an incredible coincidence, "Two Trees"  happens to be the name of the road where we will be living if we ever get through the paperwork!  $350 from me, if I decide to sell it.  My studio will be called "Two Trees Art Studio"... if we ever close escrow.