Farm on Adobe Road

Last weekend, I drove to Jaccuzzi Winery for their Olive Festival. The trip showed the beauty of Sonoma County in the late winter - thunder clouds, viridian green grass, diciduous trees slowly gaining back their follage. I pulled away from the ubiquitous traffic on Adobe Road and took a photo of this old farm house with it's Happy California cows and the traffic zooming by, then I painted from the photo.

Soaking Up Sunshine

I must admit that I haven't painted much lately, and since this is the time to make new year's resulutions, I promise myself to paint more often, but I'm not saying how much more, and also to attend at least one art workshop a year.

So, in preparation for Tim Horn's indoor, winter workshop at the end of this month, I've been sorting through my photos to find something to paint. I chanced upon a photo I took of my cat about ten years ago. The picture was taken the day I rescued her from Healdsburg Animal Shelter where she was housed for six months in a small room with lots of other abandoned cats. The photo captures my cat at peace with herself, while soaking up the warmth of the sun.

This painting may or may not be finished. However, because some of the colors were getting muddy, I had to pull the painting out of my studio and hang it on my critiquing wall until I can decide what to do next.

All the Hues of the Rainbow

Here, at Yoakim Bridge Road and West Dry Creek in Healdsburg, sits a pretty little house, barn, and vineyard which I painted last summer, but the scene is even more inspiring now with the colorful autumn leaves.

Hurried Shadows at Eventide

Once again the autumn vineyards shimmer with all the golden colors of the season. Here a Napa Valley vineyard caught my attention in the late afternoon. The shadows moved fast, so I could only capture the image with a few strokes of my brush before taking the canvas home to finish from a digital photo.

Me and the Boys

Diverging from the usual photos of my artwork, here is a photo from my recent trip to Nepal and Tibet. The trip was not your usual vacation, nor was it for the meek. Our accomodations were rustic and many on the tour suffered from altitude sickness after ascending to 12,000 - 14,000 feet along the Tibetan high plateau. I am pleased that I made the journey to see such a mysterious country.

An Autumn Afternoon

Another painting from a photo. I like the Starbucks cup the woman is carrying.

Black Ranch Vineyard

On a drive out West Dry Creek, I spotted these bracero houses. The narrow, twisty road has lots of traffic, visitors driving who are out wine tasting in the area, all in all a leathal combination for setting up a plein air painting. So I took a photo and worked from it instead.