Sparrow Watercolor on archival paper, 4 1/8" x 10" $200.00 + $8.00 shipping in US. In this painting I was trying to catch something of the visual "shock" one gets when outdoors in winter. Contrasts are so extreme; even fairly light objects can appear dark against the snow. Colors which in other seasons might appear drab feel rich and saturated. Even this modest little barn takes on a monumental presence.

Black Pine Watercolor on archival paper, 6"x6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Cool Shadows Watercolor on archival paper, 5"x7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Three Cottonwoods Watercolor on archival paper, 5"x7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD After a great Christmas in Sherwood, Oregon (Portland area) with our daughter Melissa and son Jared, we returned to a dusting of fresh snow in our valley. These Cottonwoods stood crisply against a snow-filled sky, thickets of small limbs bursting upward from pruning points.

Long Limb Watercolor on archival paper, 5"x10" $200.00 + $8.00 shipping in US. SOLD I'll admit it, I'm a little spooked. This old apple tree is right behind the house. I began this painting Wednesday but didn't get it completed. When I walked out yesterday morning that long limb was laying on the ground. It snapped off sometime during the night. What are the odds? This will likely be my last post until after Christmas, as we are traveling to Portland to spend the holiday with our kids. I'd like to thank all of you who subscribe to my email posts or visit the blog. Your support and your interest means a great deal to me. I am fortunate and grateful. Have a wonderful Christmas.

Foothill Shadows Watercolor on archival paper, 5"x7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD During midday this hillside behind our home can appear almost flat. But late in the day the lowering sun brings out the drainages in stark relief. I'm always mesmerized watching the slow crawl of these shadows.

Feeder Watercolor on archival paper, 5"x7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Upstream Watercolor on archival paper, 6"x6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD This is Catherine Creek, a few miles from the town where we are living. I love to walk the banks of this beautiful little stream. It hasn't quite been cold enough to freeze it solid yet. That's not to say it won't happen.

Forecast Watercolor on archival paper, 7"x5" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Marshland Evening Watercolor on archival paper, 7"x10" $250.00 + $8.00 shipping in US. SOLD A larger painting today. The last glow of winter light on the snow-covered hills.

Complementary Apples Oil on board, 6"x6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. A change-up from landscape to a little still-life today.

Not Speaking Watercolor on archival paper, 4"x9" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Hopefully it's just a little spat.

Memory 20 Watercolor on archival paper, 6"x6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD This is a continuation of my "Memory" series, paintings done from old Polaroid photos taken a long time ago. For me, this image is both poignant and a little humorous. My father-in-law, Dallas, had an apple orchard that he carefully tended for many years. He spent long hours pruning, spraying, cultivating, fighting weeds and so on. One year, I guess he decided enough was enough and cut down all the trees to turn the land into pasture and hay ground for his cattle. For me, it was sad to see the trees fall, but the orchard was nearing the end of its productive life and Dallas was nothing if not practical. The following summer I drove by his haystack and noticed that Dal, practical as ever, was using an old fruit ladder to climb up on the stack.

Dallas
watercolor on archival paper, 7.25"x5"
NFS

I recently came across this watercolor, which I had forgotten all about. I did this back in 1983 and gave to my in-laws for Christmas. This is my father-in-law, Dallas.

Dal was a soft-spoken country boy from North Carolina. He moved his family to Oregon when my wife was about ten. He ran a crane unloading log trucks at the local mill for years. When Dallas finished his mill shift, he would come home to tend to his Black Angus cattle, prune his apple orchard, maybe work on his tractor. A small, wiry man, his movements were slow but steady, his capacity for work seemingly limitless.

Dal passed away quite a few years ago. I'm posting this painting tonight because Dallas figures in the next post, and I thought people might be interested to see what he looked like.

The Shop Watercolor on rag paper, 7"x5" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Ocean Waves #7 Oil on board, 5"x7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the snow up here in Oregon. I was out tramping around in it yesterday afternoon. But just for today, permit me this little interlude of sand n' surf dreaming.

Hay Day Watercolor on rag paper, 6.5"x8.25" $190.00 + $8.00 shipping in US. SOLD A larger painting today. Click image to enlarge. The fence post points to a little cluster of buildings you might just be able to make out. This is the home we built and where we lived for 23 years. I traded a painting for an old empty farmhouse and we moved it onto a small acreage we bought. Later, my father and a good friend helped me build an addition onto the house. Our three kids grew up there...the place is resonant with many memories. The trees we planted have grown tall. The woman who owns it now has made many improvements and takes very good care of the property. It makes us proud and not a little wistful to think that we started that little "homestead." There's one thing we don't miss, though: the wind blows like crazy all winter long!

Blue Steel Day Watercolor on rag paper, 4"x8" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD I liked the rigid geometry of these silos in contrast to the folded hills. Click image for a larger view.

Fallow Season Watercolor on rag paper, 6"x6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Mountain Music Watercolor, 7" x 5" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. A little change-up today from the snow. This harks back a few weeks to my drive through the Columbia Gorge in western Oregon. Lovely Wahkeena Creek, lilting its way down the mountainside toward the big river.

Lowering Clouds Watercolor on rag paper, 5"x7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Geologists say the mountains that ring this valley are the eroded rim of an ancient, massive volcano. I look at their serene slopes now and try to imagine what kind of incredible forces were unleashed here. I've been enjoying doing these recent dailies in watercolor. I used to work a lot in that media but haven't used it much for years, focusing mostly on oils and acrylic. Maybe the urge to use watercolor again is related somehow to my returning to the place where I first used it. Or not.

Magpie Hangout Watercolor on rag paper, 5"x7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Each morning at six o'clock, a painting appears as if by magic on my blog. But it actually gets there by an intricate automated system that emails the post to Blogger, complete with the purchase button and linking system to PayPal, and the coding that allows the painting to be made available for sale exactly at noon. Pretty amazing isn't it, how I set all that up? I'll tell you something: I couldn't do that in a parrot's lifetime! Think about it...how high-tech can a guy who pushes colored mud around with pig bristles fastened to the end of sticks be? I wouldn't even know where to begin to set up a system like I have. This is where my awesome kids come in. Heather and Jared are responsible for everything that makes my blog work the way it does. Programming wizards that they both are, they designed the system and wrote all the code. Heather designed a user-friendly admin program that allows me, Mr. Techno-nothing, to set up the posts in advance, easily and quickly. Just last weekend, Jared was patiently trying to explain to me how to go in and alter the html code for my posts to allow the viewer to click and enlarge images. I just wasn't getting it. A few hours later he emails me a new link to my admin. He has modified the code to do just what I want it to...easily and automatically. I'll be using it now for certain of my images, to allow you to see them closer to their actual size. So, when you mouse over a painting and a little hand shows up to tell you it can be clicked on, remember who I owe a big hand of gratitude to: my wonderful kids. Thank you, Heather and Jared--I love you both.

Rural Architecture Watercolor on rag paper, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Blogger tag??

Allright, allright, I’m playing along. I’ve been “tagged” by another daily painter, Brendy Vaughn. I guess the way this works is kind of like “true confessions.” I tell 5 things about myself and tag 5 other artists to do the same.

I don’t usually respond to these “pass it along” internet games, but this one gives us all the opportunity to introduce and highlight the work of other artist-bloggers we appreciate. And of course it allows me to share some little-known stuff about myself.

Here are the rules: 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. 2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here goes with that little-known stuff about me...

1. I was raised by wild dogs. Later in life I began taking in and caring for wild dogs. It just came natural to me.

2. I train and race porcupines.

3. I’m both green and high-tech. I grind my own pigments from recycled computer parts.

4. Pthalo blue works well for stains on carpet.

5. I’ve learned that, over time, paint fumes offer alternate views of reality.

Here are the 5 artists I’m tagging, check them out: Otto Lange, Triecia Gibney, Sharman Owings, John Beder and Joan da Gradi.

Feeding Line Oil on board, 5 3/8" x 12 5/8" $250.00 + $8.00 shipping in US. SOLD A larger painting for today. Craig Mountain catching the last rays of sunlight. Click the image to enlarge.

Snow Route Watercolor on rag paper, 5" x 7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD What a difference a couple days can make! This is the same location as yesterday's post, suddenly transformed by snow. The title "Snow Route" has some personal meaning to me. Years ago our children traveled this route every day on the school bus. I remember once helping dig the bus out of snowdrifts at nearly this exact spot.

A Van Gogh Road Watercolor on rag paper, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Especially in his early years in Holland, Vincent Van Gogh did a lot of drawings and paintings of tree-lined roads like this that seemed to zoom away disconcertingly into infinity. When I was a young artist painting landscapes in this valley, I used to curse that flat line of the valley floor, which became such a pervasive element of any design I came up with. I often thought of the Dutch landscape painters who, since they didn't have the background mountains, had to deal with an even more unremittingly flat landscape. Nowdays I love that flat line. I've come to realize it's my anchor, a touchstone that goes to the core of my identity and my identification with this little piece of the world. Looking anew at Van Gogh's haunting lanes traversing those endless level fields, I suspect he might have felt much the same.