Feast or Famine

I seem to be painting in waves here. No pun intended. Here are two more that were completed yesterday and luckily Don was in the mood to shoot them last night.

"Summer Storm" Watercolor on Arches 140# CP (11x17)

"Summer Storm" is inspired by another image from our 2007 trip to England. Same road as Greener Pastures. The trees behind the barn were not planned but as is often the case with watercolor, you get happy accidents. At first I was upset that my sky appeared to be marred when the green field bled into it but now I like it.

"California Edge" (Title pending)

If I'm going to be honest I have to tell you that this one started out a lot larger. I intended it to have Bixby Bridge on the left but for some reason it was distracting and didn't seem to fit with the natural coastline and led the eye away from the water and cliffs. Funny thing, that. The bridge IS awesome though. We will always refer to it as the "Bronson Bridge" because it was used in the ancient and short-lived TV series Then Came Bronson starring Michael Parks in which he drove his motorcycle across it in the opening credits. It's located on the Big Sur highway and is quite impressive—just not so much in my painting.

I'm a little behind in listing new work but these will also be added to my Etsy shop.

New works

We are back from our wonderful trip to Yosemite and Bodega Bay. It was much too short but we had a great time anyway. I found it gratifying to show off our favorite places to someone who'd never been there. Yosemite is truly California's best National Park and in my eyes all others pale in comparison.  My brain it loaded with new inspiration for paintings but I have not started those yet.

For now I would like to show you the paintings I have been working on for a couple of weeks. They are all unrelated subjects but they've all been fun for me to work on.

This one was a lesson in light for me. I wanted to show the warm glow in contrast to the darkening evening. The castle is also significant as it is Tulloch Castle in Scotland. Our daughter is now a Tulloch and she and her husband actually spent the night at this particular castle on a trip to Scotland a few years ago so I thought it would be fun to paint this. The title is still pending but I'm thinking it will probably be "Castle Moonrise". Suggestions are always welcome though.

The next one is of another favorite place. The path through the trees leading to Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur is something of a delight when you finally make it through the long winding (and somewhat hidden) road off the main highway. There is no indication of what lies ahead when you first make that turn—if you are lucky enough to know where to turn. Once you get to the parking lot you walk a ways through the arching cypress trees which have been bent and beaten by the relentless wind and are rewarded by the expansive beach and massive rocks. I will paint THAT later.

Not sure what to call this yet. "To the beach"? " … "Almost There"… "Secret Path"?  Again, suggestions are welcome. 

And finally a new one of our local haunt La Jolla Shores. I think this one will be called "Shorebird Convention".  I am hoping this one might become a card as well.

That's it for now. I will be listing these on Etsy this week. Thanks for stopping by and supporting my work. I appreciate it more than you know.