Danville Weekly Artist Profile

Old Blackhawk View 14 x 21 Private Collection
This is the view of Mount Diablo from the fire trail behind my neighborhood. It is the first view I painted of Mount Diablo (I've painted it a half dozen times)and I still want to paint it again!

The Danville paper has a regular column profiling artists which I hope will raise awareness of how many great artists live and work locally. We seem to have trouble keeping galleries in business in our town. Of course, in this economy it is happening all over.
The setting around the town of Danville appealed to me years ago when I moved here , because there is a ridge line development ordinance intended to preserve the visual integrity of the open space in the hills around town.
I find it wonderful to be able to look up and see open space wherever I go in town.
This article focuses on my philosophy of creating an original style or voice.
For years I did very tightly realistic still lives of flowers which were satisfying as observational and technical exercises but ultimately ran out of steam.
It wasn't until I found the early California Impressionists works that the engine of creativity fueled a body of work, starting with Mount Diablo and moving outward.

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.danvilleweekly.com/story.php?story_id=6473

Three new Carmel Valley Paintings

Emerald Necklace 14 x 14
Top of the World 14 x 21
Last Light Carmel Valley 12 x 16

Here are three newly finished landscapes all from late spring in Carmel Valley. They were painted from Laureles Grade in the mid day( Emerald Necklace), in the early morning on El Caminito(Top of the World) and late evening near Holman Ranch( Last Light, Carmel Valley). One thing I really enjoy about traveling to paint is the opportunity to explore the lighting conditions pretty much from sunrise to sunset, something that rarely happens at home.

Honorable Mention at the Carmel Art Festival and Plein Air Painting Competition

My Quick Draw Painting from Sunday morning 6" x 8" Hill at Carmel River Lagoon. sold
I don't have a great photo of this because it was painted and framed in 2 hours ,but this gives you the idea. It is still on the easel, wet with an awkward shadow on it. I went to Carmel River Lagoon because I like the hills and open space so close to downtown. And you need to limit driving time with a time limit like this.

H0norable mention Carmel Art Festival Top of the World Carmel Valley 12 x 16 sold

The second plein air event in May was the Carmel Art Festival. The best things about this event are the location, the other artists and the artwork one gets to see in the galleries in Carmel. This is my fourth year participating in this event and my third time of being lucky enough to get an award. I painted up in Carmel Valley where the hills and sunshine lend themselves to my technique.

I don't know if I am just exceptionally lucky in my section of the alphabet but the artists around me are really accomplished and are fun to hang out with as the sale progresses ....Larry Moore, Donald Neff ,Michael Obermeyer, Robert Sandidge, Julia Seelos....and that's just M through S! Other favorites at this festival include Cornelia Emory, Larry Cannon, Mary Lou Correia, Kim Lordier, Terri Ford, Paul Kratter and Kevin Courter. There were 60 artists at the festival, so I won't list them all!

After the paintings were hung on Friday night, it was a pleasure to check out the galleries in town. The highlights for me were the William Hook show at Portnoy Galleries, Lesley Rich and Paul Kratter at the Nancy Dodds Gallery, Kevin Courter had a nice selection of work at New Masters and the highlight has to be Kim Lordier's one person exhibit at the Reiser Gallery.

We had great weather all week and I enjoyed the quick draw this year as I tried a smaller format that worked for me as a nicely realized abstract painting versus a sketch.

Sonoma Plein Air Event 2009

Sonoma Hillside Tapestry 14 x 14

Bartholemew Park 12 x 16

Vineyard Verde (Near El Verona) 11 x 14

Lovall Valley View 14 x 11 sold

New Vines Sonoma 14 x 14 sold

May was a very busy month with two plein air events. Here are five of the six paintings I displayed at the sale. The last one is on my easel being tweaked right now.

Despite the challenging weather ( rain through Wednesday afternoon) I feel good about the finished paintings . Bartholemew Park was done in the rain, with my painting under an umbrella and me under an oak and a rain hat. I did a lot of positive reinforcement on these, saying you've got all week, just take your time, because the rain slowed the drying time so dramatically.

Lovall Valley View was painted Wednesday late afternoon just as the clouds were finally lifted. It is the backyard view of the beautiful property where I stayed . I liked the light and dark shadow patterns on the hill and the grasslands half green half gold mixture.

Sonoma Hillside Tapestry and Near El Verona were both painted at Vadez Winery on the sunny day on Thursday and New Vines was painted up the hill from Anderson Ranche's lovely lunch.

Highlights from the 79th Statewide Landscape Exhibit at SCAL

The crowd at the reception near my painting "December Tapestry"

Patrick Woodman "Pelican Point" First Place Oils

Robin Purcell "October Afternoon" First Place Watercolor

Carolyn Lord "Holly's Fig" Best of Show

For those of you unable to get to the exhibit at the Santa Cruz Art League, I took photos of three of the paintings that got awards. I love both Carolyn and Patrick's paintings so I am thrilled be in their company. Coincidently, this is the 90th anniversary of the Santa Cruz Art league, so they had a birthday cake at the very well attended reception. There were 14 awards in all. The exhibit runs through June 28.

First prize Watercolor at the Santa Cruz Art League 79th Annual Statewide Exhibit of Contemporary Landscape Painters juried by Kevin MacPherson

October Afternoon, watercolor on arches, 14 x 21

My Painting " October Afternoon" just won 1st Prize Watercolor at the Santa Cruz Art League this afternoon. Kevin Macpherson was the juror for this 79th Annual Statewide Exhibition of Contemporary Landscape Painters titled "Irreplaceable Places" and I am thrilled! MacPherson is one of the leading landscape painters in the country. His book "Landscape Inside and Out " is one of those books I study again and again. Kevin MacPherson one of the country’s leading plein air painters, is highly respected among collectors and fellow artists alike. Past President of the Plein Air Painters of America, Kevin is a popular instructor, guest lecturer, and art jurer throughout the country and abroad. His website: http://www.kevinmacpherson.com/.

October Afternoon was painted in Danville ,started plein air and finished by glazing over to create darks later. It is Mt Diablo as seen from near Blackhawk. This show is very balanced and overall has a very high level of quality and variety. I have a second painting in it as well and will blog more about the rest of the exhibit next post.