Just One tree, 10x8 inches, pastel.
Blossoms are springing out everywhere in California, and the days are warm and long already. This is a painting I did at the Saratoga Library at the peak of the orchard bloom. I tried to do this painting as fast as I could. You will notice that the strokes are spontaneous, which gives the painting a sense of the freshness of spring. I put down so many strokes that the pastel was falling off the paper.

Woodland Barn, 14x14 inches, pastel.
This painting was just awarded first place at the IAPS 10th annual juried show!

Copy of Monet's Water Lilies, 1907, 12x12 inches, pastel.

Here is a painting where I literally copied a Monet water lily painting from a calendar. I like it, but it is just a bit of silliness. I certainly had the opportunity to reach for color combinations that I do not usually use--I think that therein lies the appeal of such an exercise.

Spring Light, 8x9 inches, pastel.

This painting is a study in duplicating the actual light conditions and shapes that I see in the field. I went out for the day yesterday with some friends and painted along highway 84 close to San Gregorio. The daylight had a lovely white haze filtering the greens of early spring. I so often rearrange shapes and manipulate colors while painting en plein air; this painting is a fun exercise in not doing that at every opportunity.