Tangled Sycamore

Here's a little colored pencil drawing I made recently. It is based on what I saw while hiking along a dry riverbed near Sedona. Even in a piece this small (4" x 6"), the laying down of multiple layers is very time consuming. This might explain why I haven't done many colored pencil drawings in recent years. Or, it might have something to do with the time I spent an entire day carefully laying down the initial layer of a large drawing, just to have the paper destroyed by my cat. Talk about a day totally wasted! It didn't deter me, however, and I started a new drawing the next day. (I've included a photo of the completed drawing titled "Entities," 30 inches wide) Either way, patience is a major ingredient of drawing with colored pencils.

Quiet Rain — SOLD

In this miniature oil, my goal was to create a rainy day atmosphere with light from the sun breaking through the clouds. The painting was awarded a 2nd place ribbon in the miniatures oil division of the Masterworks of New Mexico 2011 show, which runs through April 29. http://www.masterworksnm.org/

Three Kinds of Light

I really enjoy the interplay of light — natural and man made — at dusk, with ground objects silhouetted against the sky. Street lights often make the background sky look greener and more intense. This miniature oil is on display at the Masterworks of New Mexico exhibit in Albuquerque through April 29, 2011.

White Tree

This is a miniature I created in celebration of spring. It is not of a particular tree or place.

Sandstone Cliffs — SOLD

This plein air painting was done today from the parking lot at La Ventana Arch, along Highway 117 in New Mexico. The region has some very interesting and varied geology. Dinosaurs once roamed the area. Nowadays, it's cows. One artist, who was painting within eyeshot, had to shoo away some bovine intruders that were getting a little too close. Most of the subject is in shadow, with just a couple small areas of sunlight illuminating the upper cliffs. The reflected light in the sandstone cliffs and the snow in shadow are what caught my interest.

Embudito Snow — SOLD

January 1 was cold in Albuquerque. The air temperature was 21 degrees when I did this painting in the Sandia Mountain foothills. However, the still air and solar heat made it tolerable. The biggest problem I encountered was trying to manipulate the brush wearing gloves. It is amazing how much your ability to move paint is compromised under such circumstances. So, I reworked the painting back in the studio to bring it to a level of respectability. This was the first time I had painted in low temperatures and I wondered if I would encounter problems with paint viscosity or other temperature-related handling problems. None occurred.

Fresh Snow In Bear Canyon

This is a view of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque. The clouds that enshrouded the cliff faces were breaking up, allowing brilliant sunlight to reflect off the snow. The foreground was still in shadow of clouds, which enhanced the drama. Someone had made a snowman alongside the trail. I would've included him in the painting, but he probably would have blended in too much with the background ... The painting was done in the studio, using photo references and my memory and required only a limited palette. I employed the use of a palette knife to create textural effect in the snow.

Eagle Nest — SOLD

This oil painting was created during a demonstration for the Art In The Parks Show on Dec. 8. The demonstration featured pastel painter Lee McVey and me, as we painted the same subject from a photo simultaneously. It made for an interesting presentation and showed our different approaches to painting. The painting, as it appears here, is at a more advanced stage of completeness than it was at the end of the demonstration. My painting, "Along The Pecos," shown below, was awarded Best of Show in the exhibition, which was the first of what is to be an annual event, sponsored by Plein Air Painters of New Mexico and New Mexico State Parks. Proceeds from sales are donated to Friends of the Parks.

Along The Pecos — SOLD

This painting was done at Villanueva State Park in New Mexico. The challenge here was to exploit the many shades of green for variety — and to avoid monotany — in the painting. I started out using a limited palette of cadmium yellow, cadmium red and ultramarine blue deep and titanium white. Later, I added touches of other shades of blue and red to my mixtures to create tones I couldn't get with the original triad of tube colors. To capture the lightness of the dirt in the foreground effectively, I relied on the use of saturated color, analogous hues and modulating of warm and cool tones while avoiding the overuse of white.

West Mesa Rainbow

"At Rainbow's End" was the working title I had for this painting. The scene on which it is based was not of your garden variety rainbow. This rainbow, observed on the West Mesa of Albuquerque, was veiled in a misty, golden glow that lit up the sky and grew more intense as the sun inched toward the horizon. Transferring the visual effect and emotional experience onto canvas was a challenge, and I pushed some color contrasts to accentuate the effect. Not wanting to lose sight of the fact that the painting is based on a real experience, I changed the title to a named place. I hope I was successful in conveying some of what I saw and felt that evening.

Yellow Blossom

Prickly pear cacti from the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque is the subject of three small paintings I created for this year's Little Gems Show at the Open Spaces Visitor Center. The show is from Sept. 3 to Oct. 28.

Black Oak

This painting was inspired from a trip to the foothills of Sierra Nevadas near Nevada City, California. A round format seemed appropriate for the subject and vantage point.

Three Gun Spring Trail

This is the second painting done close to the Three Gun Spring trailhead, which is on the south side of the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque. Although I did some touch up and pushing of color possibilities in the studio afterward, much of the painting is in a rough state. The mountain and shadow part of the trail show just the thin underpainting. My usual inclination is to go in and refine the painting. So, for me, this has an unfinished look. But, maybe that's all that was needed to be said. I'll put it away and return to it later to see if I still like it as is. By the way, on this day, I was prepared for the gnats and flies. But, they still have a way of irritating you. I even had to use my palette knife to remove a couple that landed on the painting. Goes with the territory, I guess.

Daybreak, Three Gun Spring

I got most of this painting done early this morning, before the temperature got too hot. Not to worry, however, the gnats and flies made things miserable enough — buzzing around my eyes nose and ears. Fortunately, a fellow painter friend showed up with some bug spray. Another artist said he saw a rather large rattlesnake in the parking area at the trailhead. Back in the studio, I added some finishing touches.

Morning Fugue 1 & 2

This diptych is the last in a series of five oil paintings done for an exhibition at the Gallery With A Cause, New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation, which runs through June in Albuquerque. The paintings measure 24 x 36 each, and are meant to hang as a pair or individually. Click on the image for a larger view.

Sienna Spring

This is the third of five paintings with a theme of blossoms that is on display at the Gallery With A Cause — New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation show through June 19. This oil painting is 18" x 14" and is shown here with a frame.

Tres Hermanas

This framed oil painting is the second of five pieces of mine that is represented in the Gallery With A Cause — New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation spring show March 14. It measures 24 x 36 and is a larger version of a miniature painting I created last spring.

Cascading Light

This is one of five similarly themed oil paintings I produced specifically for the spring exhibition at Gallery With A Cause — The New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation. The gallery opening is from 1:30 to 4 p.m. March 14. The idea for this series began last spring, when I did several miniatures for the Masterworks of New Mexico annual show, all inspired by the spring blossoms seen around Albuquerque. I thought some larger paintings of blossoms would be a perfect fit for the cancer center show this year, just in time for the long-awaited spring. The round painting shown here is 25 inches in diameter and is the first round painting I have done since college days. It is a nice change in format and I think works well with this subject. The painting is done on canvas, mounted on panel, unframed but has a space between the painting and wall, which gives it a nice shadowed relief effect.

Cloud Study Dec 9

This is a painting of a cloud I saw while in Sedona, recently. It is from a photo I took while gathering reference material for paintings. Over the past few weeks, I've been working on larger paintings for upcoming shows and gallery representation. These paintings will be viewable on my Web site (a link to my Web site is on the right side of this page) in the near future. I will continue to post smaller paintings on my blog when I can fit them into my schedule.

Ghost Ranch — SOLD

Recently, I made my first trip to Ghost Ranch, where Georgia O'Keeffe found inspiration for her paintings. It wasn't until the end of the day that we arrived, just in time to catch the last minutes of sun on the cliffs. The color gradations from purples and reds of the geology to brilliant yellows of sunlit white cliffs, with subtle changes in reflected light are evident in this stunning landscape. I plan on doing at least one larger painting of this area.

Moon Over The Bosque — SOLD

This painting is of an area in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near the Rio Grande, 16 miles south of Socorro, New Mexico. Right after sunset, the sky above the eastern horizon was layered with subdued color, each layer transitioning into the next and creating an interesting textural effect. The air cooled quickly, and the presence of Mr. Moon added a dreamlike quality to the quiet landscape.

The word "bosque" is Spanish and refers to small wooded areas along the flood plains of stream and river banks in the southwestern United States. In the fall, visitors to the refuge will witness flocks of migratory birds such as sandhill cranes, Arctic geese and many kinds of ducks. Many other varieties of migratory and native fauna are here, too. If you're lucky, like we were on this day, you will catch a glimpse of some of the more elusive critters, like the bobcat or mountain lion.

Thunderhead

There is not much pure white observable in clouds. If you study them closely you will see they are made up of shades of gray, with a relatively few brilliant highlights of warm, yellowish white. These highlights of reflected sunlight create the illusion that the entire cloud is "whiter" than it actually is.

Clouds Adrift

The air is cool and fresh after a storm. Here, the fragments of a once larger storm cloud float across the blue sky and bid farewell.

Creeping Shadows

Greens in the desert Southwest are mostly pale or muted. It's necessary to have a presence of mind when observing the subject and mixing paint in order to avoid transforming a painting of the desert into a rainforest landscape. There are times, however, when intense greens can be observed, and these are enhanced when the sun is low in the sky. Such was the case when I discovered this early evening scene along the highway to Cochiti Lake in New Mexico. Dappled light on the foreground shadow area made for spots of intense green.

Load of Firewood (study)

This painting shows another view of Highway 6 in New Mexico. I was attracted by the brilliant sunlight that penetrated the fragmented layers of storm clouds and reflected off the highway surface and building.