Vashon Farmhouse SOLD

Painted from a photograph I took of a farmhouse on Vashon.  In the photograph there was only a green lawn and the dark wall of house and trees with a straight horizon between the two.  To transform the photograph into a painting I broke up the straight horizon by dropping some of the trees on the right into the middle ground.  Then I added a foreground- just a suggestion of grass and brush and shadow.  The foreground shadow adds depth to the composition and turns the flat lawn into a pathway into the painting.
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Daises and Square Jar on Gray and Gold

It's daisy time again.  The ones in my garden aren't open yet, but I found these in a sunny ditch at the edge of the road.  I like the structure of the flowers and how the white makes a colored background stand out.  On my ETSY store

Nisqually Delta

The best place to photograph the Nisqually delta is on the Interstate overpass with cars whizzing by and no place to pull over. So I took a very blurry picture while we were zooming down the road and played with it a lot in Photoshop  before I used it as the basis for this painting.  This is a favorite view of a favorite spot.  The tidal flow in the delta had been diked for about a century and the area used as a dairy farm.  Recent restoration of the delta removed the dikes and a much larger area is now marshland.
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Edge of the Dunes

Another painting from our clam digging trip to Grayland Washington.  I trudged toward the beach with all my painting gear and set up here at the edge of the dunes.  I've done paintings like this from photographs and it's amazing how much more information there is when painting directly from nature.  I have a tendency to put in everything, so I have to make sure at the end to spend time simplifying and massing the values.  The yellow flower is from the invasive weed, Scotch broom, a pest and a nuisance, but so pretty in bloom.

Southworth Ferry from Colvos Passage

A view of the Southworth Ferry from Vashon Island looking north up the Colvos Passage.  This one is a bit larger, 18" x 36", and was created from photos taken at Valerie's beach cabin.  The ferry turns 180 degrees at Southworth so that it can have traffic pointed in the right direction for offloading at both Vashon and Fauntleroy.  The turn gives a view of the ferry lit up in the late afternoon light.  This one will be in a show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts gallery in September.  Click here to send me your mailing address if you'd like me to add you to my postcard mailing list for the show.  (The mailing list will be used for show postcards only)

Grayland Motel

A backlit scene of a rustic motel in Grayland where we stayed while clam digging.  The long walk  to the beach is behind me and I'm looking at the coastal hills and thinking about where to go in case of a Tsunami.  I had a great deal more detail in this painting but spent the last two minutes smushing it out and wiping it out, and massing the lights in the foreground and the shadows in the background to make it more readable.
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Grayland Shore View North

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At the ocean beach in Grayland Washington--sunny and hazy and windy.  This was painted as the tide was still coming in but almost turning.  The water almost touched my feet but didn't get that far.  Everything was very high key, almost no shadows and pale colors.    I enjoyed trying to figure out how to suggest the shallow waves.
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Tracks on the Beach

Painted at the ocean beach at Grayland Washington.  The day was sunny but hazy;  wind picked up the sand and added to the haze.   I was interested in that space where beach, water, and sky dissolve together.   I like the close colors and values.  I also like the tire tracks.
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Burton from Portage SOLD

A larger painting - 18" x 36".  A view of the Burton Peninsula from Portage looking across inner Quartermaster Harbor.  This painting will be in a show I'm having in Winslow WA at the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts gallery in September.   

Silver Bowl Lemons Lavender

Another painting of a bowl of lemons, this time on a lavender tabletop.  I placed the bowl on a piece of glass on top of a sheet of paper.  There are some lovely reflections in the silver bowl.
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Silver Bowl Lemons and Blue Wall

A bowl of small lemons in the bright light of my spotlight.  I really like the reddish brown of the shadow as it crosses the tabletop.  On my ETSY store

Kwanzan

A Vashon street near the Post Office.  This was painted from a photo taken when the cherry trees were in bloom.   I like the long shadows and gray sky and the warm light on the cherry blossoms.
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Ferry at Sunset SOLD

A late afternoon view of a ferry crossing Puget Sound.  The sun breaks through the clouds and gives a bit of sparkle to the end of the day.

Dockton Marina and Reflections SOLD

A view of the marina at Dockton on Vashon Island in Puget Sound.  Sometimes the light bouncing off the water makes the sky, sea and sand one color and one value.  Very sunny but difficult to capture. The strong dark shadows under the dock keep the painting anchored. 

Blue House in Grayland

Grayland is a cranberry producing town, on the Washington coast. It was built on flat marshy sandy soil, and many older houses and telephone poles are settling into the soft subsoil. So those poles are really tilting! I liked the blue houses against the blue hill. 

Breeze in Quartermaster

Out for a sail near Quartermaster harbor on Vashon Island.  No need to use the motor. 

Daffodil Bouquet on White

A spring bouquet against a white background.  I love the bunches of daffodils in the grocery store.  I bought four bunches (40 flowers) to paint, but when I put them in the vase I found I had to take some out to have some "holes" to make an interesting shape.  Otherwise the bouquet looked like a solid yellow lollipop with a fat green stem. 
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Yellow Daffodils on Gold

A bouquet of spring daffodils to mark the season.  Rather than paint each individual flower I tried to paint the whole bouquet with light values, middle values, and dark values grouped together, to give a better sense of the volume of the bouquet.  It is hard to make a dark yellow - if you add black to yellow, it turns green, the secret is to add a bit of purple which is the complement of yellow.
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Green Onions on Gray

Scallions on a light gray tabletop with a darker gray shadow across.  Even though the tabletop is gray, I see green and purple and gold in the neutral grays.  When arranging the scallions I try to come up with a good division of space and some interesting shapes.  
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Dockton Net Shed with Poles

A view of a net shed in Dockton - low tide in the late afternoon.  I don't know what the poles near the shed are about - maybe remnants of another dock?
I like the light and the contrast of the greenish blue hills and the reddish blue beach.  On my Etsy store

Joe's Chickens in Sunlight SOLD

Joe has been keeping chickens for several years. The flock has diminished several times because of raccoons and hawks and eagles, but then Joe gets more chickens and I have more subject matter. I like the dark interior framed by the doorway - it adds drama.6" x 8" oil on panel. On my Etsy store

Backlit Ferry SOLD

The sun and the ferryboat lined up perfectly to get this high key (light value) scene.  The water was dancing with little lights and sparkle was everywhere.  Actually, there was too much sparkle, so I suggested it with a few dots and simplified as much as possible.
6" x 12"

Silver Cup Green Grapes on Gold and Purple

I like the translucence of green grapes, they can be such fun to paint.  And I love the brown shadow in between the tabletop and the wall.  What is that color?  It just works.
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Bowl of Limes on Pink

A clear glass bowl of limes on a pink tabletop.  Bright top light created shadow ripples on the pink tabletop.  I like the dark raspberry shadow.
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Two Tangerines with Leaves on Pink

Another exploration of deep shadows and top lighting. This time it's a brightly lit pair of tangerines with leaves and stems still attached.  I threw a shadow across the back of the still life setup to create drama and simplify the composition.
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Glass Bowl of Tangerines on Pink

Another bowl of tangerines or clementines, this time with the light on the side and a lovely purple shadow on a pink tabletop.
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Yellow Green Grapes on Teal with Purple

I put these yellow green grapes on a piece of glass on top of a piece of greenish paper on my tabletop.  This gave me interesting reflections as well as dark shadows.  I used a cardboard shield to throw a dark shadow across the back of my still life.  And I trimmed the cluster of grapes to make the shape of the cluster more interesting.  And then I ate the trimmed grapes. 
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Green Grapes, Glass Reflections on Lavender

When I paint grapes, I do a bit of trimming with a pair of scissors in the clusters of grapes so that I have "holes" to paint.  These empty spaces add interest and give the viewer a path into the middle of the action.  I put a piece of clear glass on top a piece of lavender paper for the tabletop.  And I used a cardboard shield with my lamp to throw a dark shadow across the back of the set up.
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Blood Orange Slices

These blood oranges have a brownish red color.  Not as pink as a ruby red grapefruit.  The entire tabletop was white, but I dropped the value lower so that I would have enough contrast to paint the light struck areas. 

Top Lit Limes in a Silver Bowl

Another exploration of dramatic lighting and deep shadows.  The limes are top lit, the tabletop is lavender and a small orange reflection from an unseen object adds contrast and drama.  I especially like the shape of the reflection of the cast shadow on the underside of the bowl.
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Yakima View II

A scene painted from photos I took near Yakima Washington.  The flat valleys are irrigated and intensely farmed and the surrounding hills are dry and bare.  The hillsides turn blue and purple in the bright sunshine. 
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