Lupine Hill

The Lupine is blooming here in Sonoma County. I went out with another painter to Geyserville where we found this incredible view. When we arrived, there were cows munching on the Lupine, but they meandered off to greener pastures.

Newly Planted Orchard

In search of apple blossoms in Sebastopol yesterday, I see that I am about two weeks too early, and that many of Sebastopol's apple orchards are now endangered species, replaced instead by the ubiquitous vineyard. But my friend, Laurette, took me to Luther Burbank Gardens in Sebastopol to show me this delicate, newly planted prune orchard.

Dunnsden Vineyard

Here are some views from my neighborhood.

Road to the Lower Forty

St Helena from Los Amigos Road

Winter Vines

Some paintings are really difficult to pull off, some paintings pull together in a couple of hours, like this plein air which I painted on a sun filled afternoon after a several days of rain.

El Cielo

In search of the desert bloom during a visit to Palm Springs in April 2008, my fellow plein air painters discovered we were a month too late. As a result we had to paint scenes like this, relying instead on manicured lawns and flowers and the ethereal desert light.

Plein air views of Sonoma and Marin County

Alexander Valley
Black Mountain

Two Barns in Geyserville

Rosso & Bianco Vineyard

My most recent painting done at the winery, Rosso and Bianco, owned by Frances Ford Coppola. The winery has undergone massive remodeling for the past two years, and when all the work is finished, the place will be spectacular. This painting was done with the group called Monday Morning Painters. The day started out with heavy fog, which barely lifted at 12:30 pm when our group met for a critique of one another's paintings.