Coneflower Foothills

Coneflower Foothills

18" x 24"

oil on canvas

The idea for this painting began while looking at the back mural in the first endowment room in the Sacramento Temple. That panoramic mural covers three walls and depicts nature scenes in the Sierra foothills and mountains.

The summer section in this 8 or ten foot high work is primarily rolling foothills.

But from there various elements, such as the American Goldfinch pair, the purple coneflowers, the large oak and the skyline were artist choices. The goldfinches would feel right at home in the temple mural as many birds and animals are present.

 

Another reason to paint this was that it offered many opportunities to work with a limited palette of oil colors

The temple mural center section is very yellow hued and I struggled to dial that down a bit in this scene. [still yellow right?] Now if I just had my camera in there to take some high resolution pix.....

Lawrence's Goldfinch

Lawrence's Goldfinch
11" x 14"
oil on canvas

Lawrence's Goldfinches are the least common of the three North American Goldfinches. And of the 7 species in the Carduelis genus only the Hoary Redpoll is more difficult for the birder to tick on his life list.

 

I saw my first Lawrence's in the California foothills near Beale Air Force base.

They are mostly restricted to California or Baja California and migrate only relatively short distances.

They generally prefer the drier weedy areas in the foothills, valley and along the edge of the desert. These three are shown in variations of their breeding plumage,  winter would find them duller and more brownish.

The plants on the right are mostly fiddleneck, a Lawrence favorite food along with other small seeds.

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch
16" x 20"
Acrylic on canvas


As you may notice I made some alterations on this earlier painting.
I decided it needed some improvement in balance mostly.

So I am posting it again.

Another try at photography

 

 

It has been difficult to photograph the flesh tones. So I tried a couple of different camera setting to see if I could 'warm' the image a bit to correlate more closely to the painting.

The Gardener in Springtime

The Gardener in Springtime

Dad

12" x 16"

oil on canvas

[click on image to enlarge]
 

Some men love the soil. They love the joys that are found in rich loamy soil, compost, planting, growing healthy crops and anticipating the fruits of labor.

I think that it is only partly the rewards at harvest that make it so. Often the crops are damaged by frost, or hail, or wind, or summer heat or insects or deer grazing, yet next year the cycle will be eagerly repeated.

Faith and anticipation are a large part of the attraction. One harvests only after planting and nurturing.

Dad has had a life-long love affair with the soil. From his youth he worked on the family farm, even missing high school at times to get the work done. Despite trying other things as a young man he came back to farming. Then in retirement his yard has been a steadily enlarging area of vegetable, fruit and flower beds while the lawn steadily shrank in size.

So rather than paint the harvest, I have tried to paint Dad's anticipation and vision that bring forth the bounty of the land

His sons have inherited the same happiness in gardening.

How much I love this man.

Mike

Mike
12" x 16"
oil on stretched canvas
[click on image to enlarge]

Michael is a college student and this pose is somewhat of a reflection of him and his generation.

I just liked the image which captures the text communications with his friends. The down side to this is that his expressive eyes are not visible, however that the eyes would be focused on the iPhone screen rather than those in the room is a part of the point.

He is a good guy and so I dared to paint him without asking for permission to use the copyright of his face. Thank you Michael.

 

Trail of Faith and Hope

Trail of Faith and Hope
18" x 24"
[click on image to enlarge]

While painting Hart Carlile's North Field I was thinking about the old West and then the emigrants and their hardships especially in the early days. Having ancestors among them brings a somewhat personal connection to their struggles.

Perhaps we are also called to walk along sometimes difficult paths of faith in Jesus Christ and sustain the hope that we and our families will be blessed now and in the future.

I have a particular feeling about those possessions that they could not take all the way to their destination. One natural reaction could have been anger and perhaps the reaction to smash or destroy something abandoned.

Instead I like to think that the quilter/mother folded the quilt in the hope that someone they did not even know would find it useful to them. That she might be of service even in through her difficulty.