A friend recently referred me to some work by Birger Sandzen (1871-1951)...and I was very intrigued by his impasto approach and also his almost lyrical sense of line and color. I don't intend to spend much time moving in this direction but it is fun (now that I have completed works for my show in September, and prior to going off for a week of Plein Air in the Columbia Gorge) to just play around with a different technique. I mixed all my colors ahead of time...working off of a prior study...and really liked just adding thick strokes with a small bright brush. Think I will do several of these small studies and then "get back to work."

We spent over a week motoring up the Inland Passage of Alaska. It was a wonderful trip as we were on a small, old (1932) boat. We had the opportunity to moor each night in passages with no other boats or people in sight. Then upon coming home I just didn't want to paint. I have been thinking about painting evolution (especially mine) and wanted to think more, feel more, look more at others' work. So I have taken over two weeks off. I think it was extremely beneficial. This is my first painting back from my break. I really felt in the moment while painting and also did not have to scrape out and redo any parts. I am trying to get my values closer together and use fewer colors and think this is a good first step.

This colorful painting may seem like I have turned my back on John Poon's teaching...nope...but did focus on the blue violet of the distand cliffs. While the painting does rely more on chroma than my most recent works, I felt it needed the intensity to capture this part of the desert. However, since studying with John Poon I am particularly conscious of the blue violet distant hills, mountains or cliffs. In fact, being a painter sort of takes some of the relaxing pleasure of just a long drive...one is always looking at value, hue, chroma, light, etc. Well, that is just another pleasure, I guess. (I am going to go back and adjust some of that horizontal in the background, tomorrow...and work on some mid-hi-light colors int he cliffs....

After being in California for the past several days one would think I would be painting vineyards. Well, there will be some vineyards in future weeks, but the first thing I do when getting back into the studio is to look at semi-finished paintings with a clear eye. this one needed a little refinement. so my first task was to work a little on the horizon. That being done I could start a fresh painting. I find that if I start a new painting immediately after a break it is often a disaster. Guess it is like the Russian saying, "the first pancake is always a lump." So just looking and refining works best for me.

This 50x50 painting has been a challenge. In fact there have been three major revisions of the land...I initially painted some hills from eastern Oregon, and then decided the hills and sky did not go together...so then a desert landscape...and again there was a disconnect. I went back to the original photo reference and finally realized that I had another photo with similar clouds taken just a few weeks ago when we were in the Owyhee State Park area...so this is an all new painting!

I really took on a challenge with this picture...kept saying to myself everything I retained from the recent workshop..."mid values" "cluster small shapes to make large shapes" remember "violet blue for distant hills....the "sky is usually the lightest part of a painting....

I do love the dramatic light that comes with turbulent weather on the high desert.

Somehow I committed myself to several shows this summer...so I am madly painting to fill them. But it has been really fun, too. I am playing around with the "inner parts" of the color wheel as described by John Poon. In other words I am really working with complementary colors and muted colors. Having spent a week in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho when the weather was less that perfect did provide perfect subject matter for this muted pallet.

I don't pretend to understand global warming...but we have been getting some very unusual weather here...gray threatening days in June! Last week in Colorado it was storms and flooding...hmmmm. Well, despite the weather, again, I am drawn to the desert. Today is very overcast and very threatening...unusual for June. But I find I am more and more attracted to the moody weather. Of course, I actually like living in the sunshine of the high desert, but it is those dark, mysterious days that capture my imagination.
We all know that sunny landscapes sell...but one has to paint what one feels and today I feel the skies are in transition. (I did give a bit more color to the scene, just to spark some interest/hope?)

At our workshop we were hailed and stormed out several days, resulting in a lot of painting from the other-head projector. This is one of those efforts...I am only posting it to emphasize that I think you "need to be there" to adequately paint a scene. This is of the California wine country. We will be there next month and I expect my work to be must better in terms of "sense of place."
I am not saying that all paintings have to start in the field...I am more of a studio painter...but I think the original notes, sketches, feel comes from actually being on site. Well, we will see if I am right...next month.

Here is the first painting I finished after my workshop with John Poon...we camped two days later in Bruno Dunes, Idaho. I love this area... it is remote and it is high desert. That is heaven to me. I concentrated on using the complements of the primary in my value study...and worked on the blue violets in the background. I can already see John's influence on my painting.