The Big Apple Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Another odd couple. I enjoyed painting the lush red of the apple against the neutral tones, and the subtle distortion created by the lens.

Peony and Hammer Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD First, there was Guns N' Roses. Now, Hammers N' Peonies! (Okay, so maybe my rock group's name needs a little tweaking...what do you want from me?) Awhile back I did a couple of dailies of an onion and a ball of string that happened to randomly get plunked down side by side. There was something I liked about the incongruous nature of the two together and I started thinking it might be fun to do some paintings of objects that don't necessarily "belong" with each other. Or do you think flowers and hammers are like bread and butter?

Reflections, Morning Light Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Towel Oil on board, 7" x 5" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD I guess it's time to throw in the towel.

Teasel Starts Oil on board, 5" x 7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. I know teasel are invasive and considered nuisance weeds, but I like them anyway. Amazing, interesting plants. The leaf spears before they send up the stalk almost look like yucca.

Stream Willow Oil on board, 5" x 7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. Willows are among the most prolific and water-loving of trees around here. Wherever there is a stream or ditch they pop up in great profusion.

Irrigation Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD This is the "dry side" of Oregon, but still there is so much more water than in the southwest, where we lived for years. When we first bought acreage in Oregon many years ago, I was thrilled to find the land had water rights dating back to 1886. The older the right, the more valid is an owner's claim to irrigation water. Usually, there's plenty of water to go around and the local ditch district meetings are boring affairs that you can't drag people to. But when a dry year comes along, the meetings are standing room only, and neighborly conversations over water sharing sometimes get pretty heated. That's when I discovered that many other landowners had water rights going back as far as 1861, and my 1886 right put me a long way down in the pecking order. Those Oregon Trail pioneers were no fools. Apparently, the first thing they did when they arrived was jump off the wagon and file water rights!

Fog on Top Oil on board, 5" x 7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. Here's another of the small paintings done while we were still living in California. I found a box with a few of these I never posted. There was a city-owned preserve of several hundred acres right behind our home, with great hiking trails to walk the dog. Sometimes the coastal marine layer crept inland at night, leaving the hills shrouded in fog on our morning hikes. I've always loved how fog can transform the familiar into the fanciful or mysterious.

Board and Batten Oil on board, 5" x 7" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD I've often noticed horses standing like this, with their noses close to a building, but I don't know why they like to do that. Any of you horse people out there have an explanation?

High Meadow Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. A snowmelt stream fans across a mountain meadow. I've always had something of a compulsion when spring arrives to try to drive as high up the mountain roads as I can get. In the past this has led to truck tires bogged in gooey mud or uselessly spinning in sloppy snowdrifts, but I got lucky this time.

Shell Soap Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. And now for something completely different.

Arrowleaf Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Our guide on the wildflower excursion was Andy Huber, an agronomist and professor at Eastern Oregon University. He was very knowledgeable, pointed out many different plants and their names, most of which I quickly forgot. I do recall the name of this sunflower, though: Arrowleaf Balsamroot.

The Time of Lilacs 5 Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD This is probably the last of the lilac series--for this year at least. The blooms are beginning to melt back into the bushes like spring melts into summer. The time of lilacs is nearly over.

Meadow"s Edge Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD

Sunflower Morning Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Locals might recognize this view of Mt. Harris from Pumpkin Ridge, at the north end of the valley.

Thunderhead Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD Later in the day these stately clouds grew darker as they covered the sky and scattered showers across the valley. But in the morning they were these huge white mounds of cotton candy glowing in the sun.

Wildflower Ridge Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD This painting was inspired by the wildflower tour I mentioned in Monday's post. It was a gorgeous, breezy spring morning filled with sunlight and majestic clouds billowing up on the horizon.

The Time of Lilacs 4 Oil on board, 6" x 6" $125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US. SOLD It's a great year for flowers here in eastern Oregon. Brenda and I took a "Wildflower Tour" Saturday at an ecological preserve in an area called Pumpkin Ridge. It was a spectacularly beautiful walk through forests and across grassy hillsides overlooking the valley. We waded through seas of flickering sunflowers, camas, Indian Paintbrush and dozens of other varieties. Driving home, we passed this little Victorian with a huge lilac out front. I couldn't resist.