Bristly-stemmed Checker Mallow

Bristly-stemmed Checker Mallow

The hike along Cascade Head is one of the most spectacular on the Oregon coast. If you can tear your eyes away from the distant views of rugged coastline and crashing waves to look down at your feet, you will see an beautiful array of wildflowers blooming in the windswept meadows in spring. The conditions […]

Lupine Commission Finished

Lupine Commission Finished

Someone will be surprised this Christmas! (Don’t worry I have permission to share about it online.) This painting started with an inquiry last winter about a commissioned painting featuring Lupine. The client wanted the painting for the following Christmas and gave me artistic license in choosing the variety of Lupine and the composition of the […]

The March of the Insects

The March of the Insects

Insects keep crawling in…through my sketchbook and into my paintings!  I know this sounds like a problem that requires a quick search down a store aisle for a certain spray or powder…but I actually invite the insects into the picture.  I want to indicate that these plants belong to a community, to hint that there […]

Lupines, Paper and Masking Fluid

Lupines, Paper and Masking Fluid

After doing detailed drawings, color studies and developing my composition, the next step is to bring the subject to life…to create the illusion of a 3D image on the two dimensional paper. So as I paint, my focus is on light and shadow, which is how we see shapes. Choice of Paper But before I […]

Sketchbook–Monkeyflower

Sketchbook–Monkeyflower

While hiking in the Pacific Northwest, I have become enamored with Monkeyflowers (Mimulus), after all they have such brightly colored flowers and a fun name too. I like plants with personality! When I saw this Monkeyflower in the native plant section of the nursery I snatched it up so I could study it more closely. […]