Chickadees and Waxwings

Black-capped Chickadees

Oil on stretched Cotton

11" x 14"

We had a couple of my older acrylic paintings in the dining room. I wanted to replace them and Lori agreed only if she had approval of the final paintings. She also wanted to retain the original frames, hence the 11 x 14 format which is not a size that I use very often

Chickadees are cheerful, active little birds

They have a friendly aspect

Bohemian Waxwings

Oil on Masonite

11" x 14"

Waxwings are fall and winter birds in this part of northern California, and I always look forward to the first sighting. We usually have only Cedar Waxwings which are attractive in their own right. They are usually in small/medium flocks looking for fruit trees

Beautiful birds that nest in the northern areas

Trees

Trees

I enjoy trees especially ones without foliage. The trunk and branches and the shadow structure are so fascinating.

So much variety

To keep them interesting they must have variety: spacing, color, shadow, negative space, bark

Working in layers helps

Painted in Sao Paulo

Oil on Textured Paper

12" x 16"

A fair amount of glare from the varnish on this one

As you can see, I like trees with character and water together

Many of my paintings have a dead or winter tree in the scene

Southern California effect.

The actual painting has more saturation in the colors than this

Stillness at the Riverside

12" x 16"

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The paintings above are from Brazil; the two below were painted at home in California

Wasatch Fields

18" x 24"

Oil on hardwood panel

A painting inspired by John Pototschnik

It was painted in my usual fashion from the distance to the front.  It was difficult to avoid overstating the shadows and darks in the background to save them for the focus and front

If you look closely you can see some of the fence wire

I think that this scene could be from Wasatch County

Sweet Waters

30" x 24"

Oil on HDF Panel

This is a much larger painting than the others.

Last Autumn Leaves

16" x 20"

Oil on Masonite

Simple peaceful autumn scene

Water is flowing but calm,  gentle clouds, restful

I like the trees on the right

Rochas Oceânicas

Coastal Cliffs

18" x 24"

Oil on Panel

One of the few paintings of this size from Sao Paulo. I scavengered some panels after being there six months from various construction sites, etc.

Lori didn't want to be seen with me when I was bringing my materials home however otherwise it was paper or poorly made cotton stretched panels for painting

Cutting them with my limited tools was also interesting

The southern Brazil coast has beautiful scenery

This was done with a limited palette including an 'azul turquesa' oil that I acquired in Sao  Paulo - it was a mix of a blue and a green phthalo but reasonably consistent when tinting

I also had an 'azul cobalto' that never came within five kilometers of any cobalt, it was however a buttery ultramarine blue.

12" x 16"

Rocks washed with waves. I suppose everyone is fascinated by waves and the breaking surf. The foamy area near shore is always changing

Cidade perto da Praia

Cidade Costeira

12" x 16"

Oil on Paper

A southern Brazil coastal town

Dickcissel

Dickcissel

Oil on Panel

16" x 12"

Colorful small birds that are common in the middle part of the country. Live in open grassy, weedy areas and are commonly seen on fence posts and fence lines

This is the spring breeding plumage

I enjoyed them on my 2019 spring visit to Texas

That yellow breast would 'pop' more if I had chosen a different background

Still Life with Fruit

Still life with Fruit

Oil on Panel

8" x 10.5"

Reflections, shadows, folded linen lines and a specific size frame that needed a painting...so there you have it

Snow Geese on Pond

Snow Geese

Oil on Panel

18" x 24"

I think that this water is a bit darker than showing here because I reworked that section after taking this photo

Mostly the reflections attracted me

Snow geese come in light and blue (dark) variations; very similar to Ross' Geese

California Poppies

California Poppies

Oil on Panel

9" x 12"

We have some that bloom in the spring under the October Glory maples. They cheerfully come back every year since Morgan planted them

Gazebo

Gazebo

Oil on Panel

12" x 16"

The madrone to the left is one of my favorite trees

Rowboat at Sunset

Rowboat at Sunset

Oil on Panel

A limited palette and playing with the pink values in the sunset

Campbell reading the Scriptures

Campbell reading the Scriptures

Oil on Panel

20" x 24"

Lovely Campbell studying.

The painting has more subtle facial tones than this image suggests

Wonderful subject

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor

18" x 24"

Oil on Panel

I love Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island.

Limited palette painting of 'downtown' near the waterfront.

I had a great dinner on this street

Cold Water

Cold Water

12" x 16"

Oil on Canva-Paper

Not very typical of the areas that we saw in Brazil

I wanted to play with the water

Rua Pequena

Rua Pequena

Oil on Paper

I was painting mostly on textured paper because I brought it with me in 12 x 16 inch sections. Later I did find some more suitable panels

The gentle curving streets and the hanging plants were lovely

Casas com Arbustos

Casas com Arbustos

Oil on hdf Panel

12" x 19"

A small scene with shrubbery and colorful rock and stucco.

Most areas in Brazil were clean; the trash is picked up and the areas tender. Usually fewer potted plants than I chose

It's quite a bit more saturated than indicated here

Rock work is plentiful and not expensive

This panel was a very thin piece of HDF that I found while dumpster diving for suitable panels

Hence the unusual size 

Pequeno Patio

12" x 16"

A small courtyard with potted plants

Gated at the front

I enjoyed working on the wrought iron although it is also tedious

Lighthouse

Coastal New England

Oil on Paper 

12" x 16"

Painted in Sao Paulo, perhaps because it was totally unlike anything we were seeing.

Nostalgia

I liked the light effects on the rocks

Rural Village

Rural Village

Sketch of an older village

Paraty

Paraty

Oil on Paper

12" x 16"

This is an historical coastal town south of Rio de Janeiro. The streets are large round cobblestones, and very uncomfortable to walk on.

I visited here with Elder Ray Anderson and Elder Sharmaud

And enjoyed a terrific local seafood lunch at a small fishing village

The first platter had a huge amount of seafood, as we were finishing it the main courses arrived!! I would have been full with the appetizer course.

Elder Anderson served south of here as a young missionary