Wheat field and approaching storm, Monteriggione

Oil on linen, 60x30 cm (2.0 x 1.0 feett)
180 euro ($250)

This was started in the field, and finished in the studio. The storm that hit was among the most violent and impressive I've ever seen. Luckily I had enough warning to pack up and get my car off of the dirt road before the storm hit or I'd still be stuck there in the mud.

Olive Grove at Twilight, July

Oil on linen24 x 30 cm ( appx. 0.8 by 1.0 feet)

There are only one or two paintings that I allow myself to keep, and this is one. At least for now. For me this painting captures the exact mood of this perfect summer evening in the olive grove, in a remote farm and up a dirt road. I can almost feel the late afternoon sun on my face and chest, and smell the sweet fragrance of drying wheat fields, flowers, and sun baked olive trees while listening to bridsong and buzzing cicadas. Truly a magical time and place.

Pepi's Vineyard

An older post, but worth revisiting.

Oil on linen24 x 30 cm ( appx. 0.8 by 1.0 feet)

Early afternoon sun, view of San Gimignano

Oil on linen
24 x 30 cm ( appx. 0.8 by 1.0 feet)
90 Euro ($125)

A lovely day, finally I found a shady place where I could work and enjoy this magnificent view.

Vineyards and a view of Monteriggione

Oil on linen
30x40 cm (1.0 x 1.3 feet)
140 euro ($195)

This painting was executed in the searing hot sun, onsite at the little village of Monteriggione. I'm working every day outdoors painting for three weeks in Tuscany, and I am posting pictures of the experience to my blog every day, so please follow along for the ride!

Vineyard and olive field near San Gimignano

Oil on linen
30x40 cm (about 1.0 x 1.3 feet)

Painted on location today, near the many-towered town of San Gimignano in Tuscany. The sun was intense and bright. The olive trees in the distance are set off by a vineyard in the near foreground.

Heart #2

Oil on canvas
100 x 120 cm (3.3 x 4.0 ft)

I showed this painting in an intermediate phase when I called it Blue Fields . It is a fun color exercise, I was playing with student grade cadmium red and phthalo blue, plus white. There are no other colors in this painting.

Red, green, and blue tractor trailor

Oil on canvas
40 x 60 cm

This is one of the paintings that came out of the painting festival in Noordwijk. I liked the colors in this tractor. Flower pickers working by hand were filling it with calla lillies.

Rothko springs a leak.

Oil on board.
31 x 53 cm (about 12 by 21 inches)

This board has been through many iterations, some may remember it as a work of the week last year (Some call it Art, and Some call it Kraft). I like the texture and colors in this small painting. It is now finished, I will not paint over it again.

Blue and purple fields

Oil on canvas
about 80x100 cm

This painting is about playing with paint and is about the texture and color of the painted surface. Every mark leaves a history, and there are layers and layers of painted surfaces on this canvas. It was lots of fun to make.

Heart

Oil on canvas
92 x 60 cm (about 3.5 by 2.3 feet)

This is a canvas I just cannot leave alone. I've finished versions of it several times. I signed and posted it to work of the week in May 14-20, 2009, as "Wave #2" and also in December 7-13, 2008 as "Wave." It started life as a different composition that I painted over and can be seen online as work of the week in October 19-25, 2008 titled "Fire."

"Fire" was originally about the loss of my volunteer for youth little brother in a house fire. Maybe the evolution of "Fire" into something that resembles a scarred but vibrant heart is meaningful, going through a water phase metamorphosis. It certainly was not a conscious decision on my part. And in fact, this canvas did not evolve into a heart until the very last minute. A delivery person from the art supply store stepped on the second to last version of the finished painting, and I so I had to rework it. It sort of accidentally transformed into a heart shape. But now, I'm really and truly done with this canvas and promise never to ever, ever rework it again. I wish that I had all the prior versions of this canvas back because I think it would make a fabulous series. This painting makes me profoundly sad, but also reminds me of why and what it is to be alive. I suppose we all carry around heartache and joy accumulated from a lifetime of experience.

Details of "Heart" are posted below.

Blue fields

Oil on canvas
100 x 120 cm (3.3 x 4.0 ft)

Working big again, and in layers. This painting is not finished, but I thought folksy might enjoy seeing it in an intermediate phase.

Red field

Oil on linen
40 x 50 cm (about 1.3 x 1.6 feet)

I've been looking at the paintings of a Croation artist, Kresimira Niksica. Looking at his work has freed me up to do completely different things with paint on canvas.

The Quicker Picker Upper

Oil and paper on linen
40 x 50 cm (about 1.3 x 1.6 ft)

There are paper towels worked into the paint on this canvas - my brother in law came up with a brilliant title for such a painting, "the quicker picker upper." (For those who don't know, this title is is an old advertising slogan for Bounty paper towels.)

Blue Spot

Oil on linen
30 x 40 cm (about 1.0 x 1.3 ft)

More abstract today.