February 26 - One of the Plein Air Paintings, "Got Rocks?"

I didn't get time to work on the horses today, so will share with you one of the two plein air pieces I did while the Plein Air Artists of Riverside were here last Saturday. Called "Got Rocks?", this 6 x 8 oil was done sitting next to my horse's corral, looking out the back gate. I love the light on these monoliths of "exfoliating granite" that make up the exposed rocks in our area.
The trail that is shown in the lower left is the beginning of the "Brittlebush Loop" that i made with the help of Vincent van Goat a while back. It is nice to look at the painting and see the results of good, hard labor!
Now when you look at this painting, you might think, "nobody has rocks that look like that, all round and that big". But we do have them here and they are great fun to paint! The rocks are abou 15 feet tall from this view.
I'm beginning to pack for my trip to the ranch in Arizona next week. And I sure hope the dial up will allow me to post my paintings! My friends are there already, and have written about the activities and ranch life so far. I'm looking forward to it!

The blog (and I apologize for the incorrect link yesterday) is here.
Congratulations to new collector Linda Hughes from Davis, California on her acquiring "Homeless", the painting of the cat head study.
--Elin

February 10 - The Four Seasons, Summer 5 x 7

"Summer Field" The final image of the four paintings depicting the seasons. The first one (Autumn, February 7) came from the source photograph, the other three are completely out of my imagination. The Color System makes it really easy to choose colors that work, and even change the season, because you have room to play since many of the problems are solved for choosing the color. I really enjoyed doing these four paintings, however now I need to produce some more serious work for galleries and the designer. Orignal 5 x 7 acrylic $120.

February 9 - The Four Seasons, Spring 5 x 7

"Spring has sprung, the grass has rizz, I wonder where dem flowers is?"...That's a silly ditty taught to me by my mother. Well, here are some spring flowers along the path, and a field of mustard with its characteristic lemon yellow flowers. We see the same barn off in the distance, and the purple mountains creating another complementary color scheme. Darn it! Guess I can't get too far away from those schemes since nature wants us to see it. Orignal 5 x 7 acrylic $120.

February 8 - The Four Seasons, Winter, 5 xx 7

Brrrrr!!! Yesterday's fall weather has changed with this decent snowfall over those fields and with the trees now completely bare. What a change from yesterday's autumn colors, yet the scheme is still blue and orange--just really subtle oranges! I think I'm going to enjoy spring when it comes through tomorrow! Orignal 5 x 7 acrylic $120.

February 7 - The Four Seasons, Fall, 5 x 7

Every once in a while I get a hankering to do a series of seasonal images of one scene. Thus today's painting, a 5 x 7 acrylic of a farm landscape near where I used to live, closer to Hemet. This is another of those places that is quickly disappearing, as the area is desirable to developers because it is flat, and lends itself to cookie-cutter tract homes. It remains there so far, yet I expect to find it missing in any month in the future. Now we will see it go through four seasons in the next four days--and here is autumn for your pleasure. I love the blue/orange play of color. The summer flushness is gone, and the field lays fallow for the coming winter (tomorrow's painting!) Orignal 5 x 7 acrylic $120.

December 15 - Revisiting an older landscape with new knowledge

How I love revisiting some quickly-done painting from "long ago and far away" (heh heh...) This one never made it in its original form to my Santa Rosa Plateau paintings page . Now this 8 x 10 oil is much better in design and value, and pleases me because of the fresh brushwork and interesting feel of evening distance. Something good is happening as I continue to paint every darned day--figuring out what's important is getting a bit easier, and I have no hesitation in revisiting older work with a certainty that hasn't been part of me prior to this regime of every-day working.
Holiday plans are crimping my planning time for some commission work coming my way, but I'll get to them by Sunday and all next week. My beloved siblings and a few friends are coming over tomorrow for dinner, so I'm chasing dust bunnies as I wish you a good day! $125 from my Daily Paintings web site via PayPal.