April's end

nearly the last day of April - a hectic month getting ready for the show at Easton Gallery:

It's such an honor to be included with this group of artists in this beautiful and important gallery. Ellen Easton has been the preeminent supporter of landscape painters in Santa Barbara for so long, with the Oak Group painters and others, as well as publishing 3 beautiful and informative art books, 'Ranchos', 'Gardens of Santa Barbara' and 'the Santa Clara Valley of Ventura County'.

This will be the last show, as Ellen has decided to retire. It will be a grand party to honor her and her long commitment to the local art community.

I'll be showing 6 oil paintings and 11 gouaches. Will depend on how much the wall can hold and still look good. There are well over 80 pieces of work from all the other participating artists - so a rich and varied show!

Reception is on May 5 and the show will be up through July 30.

In the middle of all this preparation, I was able to get to Santa Cruz Island with friends for an overnight camp trip. lots of hiking, lots of photos and lots of island foxes. It was just gorgeous - green grass, wildflowers, beautiful vistas, the air and water -

oil drilling hut
santa cruz island
gouache
4"x6"

old wind mill, santa cruz island

gouache, 4"x4"

Also keeping up painting with the Rose Compass group and our "River's Journey" project. We had the opportunity to paint at Live Oak Camp - normally not open except for groups and events. Lovely to have it all to ourselves.

Plus our Monday painting days have been spent near the River as well. It's a changing environment - still water running in the river toward Cachuma Lake.

clouds breaking up near paradise camp

gouache, 4"x4"

young sycamores

gouache, 3"x5"

One more announcement: my work was chosen for the annual Westmont Museum tri-county juried art exhibit. This year the theme is "Out of Place". Very exciting, as only 52 pieces were chosen from 340 entries. I'll be showing 3 of my 'small shack' series: Sierra Resort Shack, Salinas Pump House, Lompoc Train Shack. You can see these on previous posts. Show opens on May 18, reception from 4-6 pm and closes June 24.

April Fools

Yes - it fools us into thinking it's Spring forever and that the world should always be this green. And that the drought is over.
Nice to have longer day length, warm temps and great days out painting.

Still working on the 'small shacks' in gouache - as well as the watershed project. 

salinas pump shack, 4"x4"

santa ynez pump house, 4"x4"

buell flat rock company - 4"x6"

arroyo hondo shack, 4"x6"

Shows coming up:

SCAPE: Gaviota Coastal Conservancy at the Bacara, April 14-15, 2017

EASTON GALLERY: Final Exhibition, featured artist, May 5 - July 30, 2017

WILDLING MUSEUM: A River's Journey, February 2018

ARCHITECTURAL FOUNDATION GALLERY: Double Vision, Paintings by Libby Smith and Nina Warner, September 2108

And perhaps some other exhibition opportunities in between...

small paintings, small buildings

small buildings have always been interesting to me. there is something about the diminutive size and the scale to the surrounding landscape, as well as their purpose - that gets my attention. recently i've come across several that are particularly engaging and started a series of paintings of them.

sierra gas station, gouache on archival mat board, 4"x6"

dam-keeper's cabin, juncal dam. gouache on archival mat board, 4"x4"

train shack, lompoc. gouache on archival board, 4"x6"

weather

March has been relatively calm so far - rain has brought us a new green world, filled the creeks and river and brought the watershed to life. It's been great to get outside again to paint. I'm continuing to work on the "river" project with the Rose Compass, trying to get some larger pieces going. We will be showing at the Wildling Museum in January 2018.
We've been getting out to Surf Beach in Lompoc, where the Santa Ynez river meets the sea. I've posted some of that work on Rose-compass.com

We've also been going out to Naples and Dos Pueblos Ranch, in preparation for the SCAPE Gaviota coast show at the Bacara in April. 

Sad note is that Easton Gallery will be closing this summer - the last show will open in May. Ellen Easton has been such a force for landscape painters in Santa Barbara and the last show will really honor that by including as many of the artists that have shown with her over the years as possible. I am honored to be a part of that group.

Libby Smith and I will be preparing for a Fall 2018 exhibit of our work at the Architectural Foundation. So still some things in the works. 
My painting of Contrails was chosen for a feature article on 'OutdoorPainter' web magazine about painting clouds - it was fun (and a surprise) to see it on there.


Here are some recent oil paintings (something about fences going on)

eucalyptus at Naples, oil on panel, 9"x12"

old gate, dos pueblos ranch, oil on panel, 9"x12" 

out building, dos pueblos ranch, oil on panel, 6"x12" 

goats, dos pueblos ranch, oil on panel, 6"x12"

hello 2017

One has to move forward with hope in spite of the things around us that tell us otherwise. Ars longa, vita brevis - what we do with our short time here is more important than ever. Make good art, yes, but also show kindness, dignity, respect, compassion, civility and love wherever you can. We are all in the same small boat and it is not a reality TV show.

So onward with working and exploring this beautiful world. My annual New Year's Day painting, was a short start from the road, finished later:

santa ynez river, hwy 101
gouache on board
3"x4"








I'm continuing to work on the "river's journey" project, which has now expanded to being a larger show at the Wildling Museum, January 2018. We went back to same place a couple weeks later, after the big rains, only to find the river still in puddles.

river ruins, santa rosa road, gouache on board, 3"x4 1/2"

goodbye 2016

So, it is the end of a productive year and the eve of a new and creative time. I reached some unexpected goals this past year - showing my work in the 3 best art galleries in town (Easton Gallery, Sullivan-Goss and Marcia Burtt Gallery), as well as other local venues (Faulkner Gallery, Gallery 113, Palm Loft Gallery, the Bacara) and nearby Museum exhibits (Wildling Museum, Santa Paula Art Museum). Also started working toward some new and future projects: the Rose Compass group (A River's Journey) for 2017, a final group show at Easton Gallery, and a 2 person exhibition with my pal Libby Smith in 2018. Who knows what else may come along? It's just important to keep working, regardless. 

The last few weeks, being hectic with holiday events, still provided some time to paint and have some great adventures. The Rose Compass group spent a day touring Jameson Lake/Juncal Dam with our guides Chad and Louis from the Montecito Water District. The Lake is at about 6% capacity, creeks dried up and watershed sadly barren. It was amazing to see this up close and personal, driving and walking the back-country roads. Thankfully we have had a little rain - enough to pull us out of our year-round fire season - but not enough to offset the drought conditions. Check our web-site, rose-compass.com for updates on that project.

Lib and I got out to paint at Tucker's Grove several times - looking at the same oak tree. 

old oak I, oil on panel, 8"x10"

old oak II, oil on panel, 8"x10"

So here's to a New Year of more painting, more shared adventures and trying to make the best of everything.

mid-december

cold weather snap and even a small bit of rain - enough to green things up, but also to fool you into thinking we might be out of the drought. No such luck.

A break from painting with the Rose Compass group and back to some Monday painting as well as catch up in the studio. Hard to get time during the holidays, but we will get a special treat to visit Jameson Lake/Juncal Dam next Tuesday. This is the first stop in the Santa Ynez river watershed and the reservoir feeds Montecito.
Should be pretty striking to see and great to have time to paint there.

Came back from the Ranch retreat with a fascination for sycamore trees. We found some beauties at Tucker's Grove.

sycamore clump, oil on panel, 9"x12"

this was a gray, low cloud day at tucker's grove, a good 20 minute walk up the trail. we went back 2 days later to keep working on it. the light of course was different, but it was good to have another look.

I've worked in the studio on some of the paintings started at Marcia's ranch:

sycamore at the ranch, oil on panel, 30"x30"

beautiful tree near the road, my pal, Libby is painting in the distance.

early morning shadow, oil on panel, 8"x10"

a quick study, standing in the cold shadow watching the sun light up the distant hills as it rose over the mountain ridge behind us.

late sunset hills, oil on panel, 8"x20"

Marcia would say, "believe the color you see"