Superbloom 2019: Series from the California desert and Walker Canyon

Desert Garden 16 x 21

Lupine of the Storm 14 x 18

Coachella Valley Verbena 11 x 14

The Hills Are Alive 16 x 20

March was a wonderful month for plein air painting in the desert.
 Incredible first spring here in Southern California.
The first three were all painted with a mile of each other in Coachella Valley. The fourth is Walker Canyon.

American Women Artists Exhibition Under a Vast Sky at the Tucson Desert Art Museum until December 3th

Poppies Above the Bay 21 x 21 watercolor on paper

This painting and 144 other beautiful works by women from across the United States, are on exhibit until December 13 at the Tucson Desert Art Museum, 7000 E. Tanque Verde Road. Be sure to attend Under A Vast Sky: Symposium on Women in the Arts, November 4 from 9:00 am - 4 pm, at the Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Street. The event is free to the public. You can view the works in Under A Vast Sky on the gallery page.

"Late Bloomers" ,Plein air watercolor, painted on Mount Diablo

"Late Bloomers" 14 x 14 .
Got the last of the poppies on Mt Diablo before the heat hit this week.

"Poppy Mound" plein air watercolor painted on Mount Diablo

"Poppy Mound" 16 x 20 Plein Air Watercolor .
 Painted on Mount Diablo.
 The best poppies I've seen on Mount Diablo in years, the drought allowed to poppies to grow faster than the grasses. This was so much fun to paint! Perfect conditions, sunny in the 60's , no wind and lots of friendly visitors stopping to take pictures. Probably the most people I've ever seen while painting on Diablo .

I made cards of this painting. They are available here:
http://www.zazzle.com/poppy_mound_greeting_cards-137248925079928988

 Here are two in process shots:

Wild at Heart , A California Hill Painting

Wild At Heart, 14 x 14

I've been tweaking this in the studio after starting it in late spring on Mount Diablo.
It is a meadow from what I consider the heart of Mount Diablo.
Up past Curry Point and the outer ridges, there were some  rare and late wildflowers from this past spring with it's late and sparse rains. I like the soft purple brown colors on the oaks as they were leafing out and how that worked with the greens and oranges in the meadow.

Two Plein Air California Hill Paintings

Poppy Hill,14 x 14, watercolor en plein air

Spring Hill 14 x 14, watercolor en plein air

We have had a lot of wind and the driest April in years, so these may be the only green ones for this month. The Poppy Hill was painted near Morgan Territory. Spring Hill on Mount Diablo on SouthGate Rd less than 1 mile up. It is now that stage where half the hills are brown and half are gold. And of course ,the poppies are gone.