Cherry Blossoms and the Moon

Cherry Blossoms and the Moon, oils on board, 14" x 11."

It was only five days ago that the cherry blossoms in our neighborhood were in their glory. Herb and I went out for a walk that evening and lo, the waxing moon was rising as the sun was setting. The flowering cherries in conjunction with the rising moon seemed a special omen, so I took photos for a painting. Today the flowers are fading and the emerging leaves begin to overtake them... Sakura: such brief and evanescent beauty!

The painting is selling for $100, shipping and handling are extra. Please E-mail Elena if you are interested in buying.

Spring is here!

Finally, the weather is glorious and our cherry trees are in full blossom! In this photo you can see the lovely cherry trees at the entrance to my neighborhood. Today it's really warm. I'd better get started on my painting of the cherry blossoms, so I can post it tomorrow or the day after.

Blueridge Mountain Fog

Blueridge Mountain Fog, 11" x 14" oils on Gessobord

A rainy, gray Friday last week inspired me to paint this oil from photos taken along Skyline Drive one spring evening a couple of years ago as the fog enveloped the mountains. I'm not sure I've captured the subtle colors of the fog, or the density of the cloud vapor amid the greens of the young leaves in the dusk.

After the painting dried, it took on more of what I was looking for, a certain depth and mystery. It's now been framed and will be going to Gallery 1683 in Annapolis tomorrow, where it is priced at $450. Please stop by and see it in real life, it's unusual and beautiful.

Another View of the Chama

The Chama River in the Spring, watercolor, 9" x 12"
SOLD

Another rainy day here in Columbia... all the better to daydream about sunnier places for the time being. Not that I mind the rain, which we need for our spring flowers, but it's hard to see well enough to paint on a gloomy day. This little watercolor was painted on location in New Mexico, on the same stretch of the Chama River where I painted last September.

Early spring in northern New Mexico is announced by the apple and cherry tree blossoms in the orchards, but on this dry stretch of O'Keefe country, the cottonwoods don't open their dark buds until later in April. This was painted during the first week of April, when earth colors predominate below the turquoise sky. The river runs less muddy at this time of the year, the water a milky green that is hard to capture in paint but blends beautifully with the colors of the mountains.

Thanks for looking.

Presage of Spring

Old Barn in the Spring, oils on Gessobord, 16" x 20"

Last night it was raining and for the first time this year one could hear the spring peepers starting their nightly chorus...a presage of the coming spring. Perhaps it was just a wishful delusion on my part, but it seemed the grass looked a little greener this morning. The temperatures are not exactly balmy yet, but it's not as chilly as last week.

This oil painting was done from a photo taken during a spring walk with my friends a couple of years ago at Chapman's Forest in southern Maryland. The upland forests were carpeted with Bluebells and Dutchman's Breeches, and the ancient tobacco barn looked so picturesque framed in Redbud and Dogwood blossoms, it just begged to be painted. This one will cost you a bit more, because it's larger than my usual blog offerings, but it's worth the extra amount; it's going for $350, a fraction of my usual price for an oil this size. Hurry up, don't pass it by, send me an E-mail.

Millions of Trilliums

Millions of Trilliums, oil on gessobord, 14" x 11" - SOLD

Last May I spent a weekend with two friends out in Virginia, at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and we hiked at a wildlife preserve known for its botanical richness. This area is home to the largest concentration of trilliums (Trillium grandiflora) known in the US, and covers this entire mountainside. There are literally millions of trilliums here. The flowers open white and gradually turn pink, but there are many natural hybrids across several species too, so the flowers vary from snowy white to deep cerise. Tucked along the paths, many other wildflowers bloom: Yellow Lady's Slipper, Showy Orchis, several types of violets, and many others... nature's perfect wild garden.

This was painted from my photos; I started last weekend and just finished it today (it's still wet). The rocks and trees invite you into the painting to "walk" among the flowers.

The painting is now framed with a nice gold plein air frame; it looks wonderful. I'm selling it for $450, at the moment it's at Gallery 1683 in Annapolis. Please stop by and see it--it looks better in real life.

More Spring Dreams

Raquel's Garden

Today's painting is a view of my friend Raquel's garden in the spring. I was staying overnight, and when I woke up early the next morning, I looked out the window of my bedroom as the mist was lifting from the hillside with the first rays of the sun. The cool shades of bugle and other wild ground covers made a vibrant carpet for the pinks of the bleeding hearts and a lilac.

This pastel painting on Wallis paper is approximately 9" by 11," matted and framed in an antique-look gold frame (finished size is 14" x 18") and sells for $300. Drop me an E-mail if you are interested. If you can't afford the original but like the image, you can order a giclee (digital print) by clicking on Imagekind.

Dreaming of Spring

Feb. 14, 2008

Valentine's Day seems like a propitious day to start a new painting blog. This will be a place to post my paintings and random ravings. Of course, my "daily paintings" are actually weekenders. It's hard to do one painting a day when you have to work ten hours a day (sometimes more) four days a week. That still leaves me with a three-day weekend to work on art.

This is a small pastel I did this past weekend, dreaming about spring...last year my friend Linda and I went for a hike along the Potomac River in early spring, and found masses of wild blue phlox and Virginia bluebells growing along the path by the river at Carderock. It was such a lovely scene, it instantly cheered me to revisit my photos and create this painting. Anything to get over the winter blahs!

Dreaming of Spring is about 9" high by 11-1/2" wide, on Wallis paper (a sanded paper made specially for pastels), and it's at Gallery 1683 in Annapolis at the moment. Please stop by if you are interested, for more information visit the gallery's website by clicking on the link in the Links column.