Canon Beach Flower Garden

14X11

Oil on Linen Panel

This flower garden is literally about one short block off the beach in Canon Beach, Oregon. My painting came out much gloomier than I had in mind. I took the photograph on a bright summer day. I still haven't gotten a thorough understanding of shadows and bright, though I do think I'm getting better. Yes, that is a forest with huge trees behind the flower garden just off the beach. 

Rock Water Tank

14X11

Oil on Linen Panel

I do not know how old this water tank is, but I have never seen another one like it. There was surely a windmill beside it in the past, but it is not there now. It's near Arabella, NM. I've driven past it for nearly forty years and never noticed it until the day I took the photograph that I painted from.

Prickly Pear

12X12

Oil on Canvas

Reference Photograph by Melanie Marquez

People who have seen this painting say it screams "New Mexico." We don't have them here in Alto, but they are not too far away and they are plentiful. 

Childhood Memories

12X16

Oil on Linen Panel

Reference Photograph by Dianne Hewitt

I remember swinging in a swing like this when I was a small child in Illinois. When we moved west there were no trees where we lived that would hold a swing like this. We live in the mountains of New Mexico with pine trees. Tire swings absolutely don't work.

The Guardians 

24X12  

Oil on Linen Canvas  

Reference Photograph by Trevor Reeves 

I especially like the colors in this painting. We've tried to make sense of the motion of the waves in the photograph, but they seem to go all directions. There's lots of power in that water. The photograph was taken in British Columbia, Canada, by Trevor Reeves. The birds give an idea of the size of the rocks.

San Patricio Church

14X11

Oil on Linen Panel

Reference Photo by Albert Schenck

We have a lot of small old churches like this one in our area. I've taken pictures of it, but Albert's was exactly the right setup when I got ready to paint it. 

He loves Me Daisies

6X12 

on linen canvas

Reference photograph by Dianne Hewitt

I've always loved this kind of daisy. I remember my friend and I, as second graders, sitting in the field, pulling off the petals as we said, "He loves me, he loves me not." It's such a small canvas that it painted up rather quickly