Be UTAH ful

LEANING ASPENS

Here is another small work from my recent time in Utah. These Aspen trees were marching up the hill and visibly leaning toward the mountain.  The Aspens were beautiful at this time of year.

ENJOY

LOVING ARCHITECTURE

The Turquoise House

Before I started painting, I was an interior designer. I practiced commercial design, doing space planning and design mainly for hospitals and other health care facilities.  So my love of architecture is well founded, having studied it extensively in school.  I love architecture to this day, especially of the historical kind.  I love older homes and have always wanted to gut and remodel a house someday.

I spotted this cute frame house during a trip to Ann Arbor, MI.  We lived there at one time, and I had a friend that lived in this historic area called the Old West Side. I loved the color of this house and how the red background that I painted on this board pops through to contrast with the turquoise.

ENJOY

HANGING ON

TWO REDS

There is no doubt that winter is on its way.  The leaves are in full drop mode, rainy skies have a chill and some frost in them, and flowers are slowly dying back.

Geraniums are a favorite summer flower.  I love their sturdiness and their ability to hold out until the weather turns frigid.  I have over-wintered them before,  this time didn't do it soon enough,  and now they are gone for the year.

This painting is in honor of geraniums, the staple of the flower garden.  I even like their smell, because it signals the beginning of the summer season. Time to say goodbye to them. See 'ya next spring.

ENJOY!!

Van Gogh Days

CHANNELING VAN GOGH #1

Two years ago, I got to visit Amsterdam and see the many works by Vincent Van Gogh.  A year ago,  I visited some of the sites in France where Van Gogh painted and the asylum where he spent time recovering from his metal illnesses.  I stood in fields, gardens and city streets where he had painted.  Some of the buildings were still there so it was easy to imagine the artist with his easel doing what he loved.  

This is my attempt at painting a sunflower.  I have tried to do them justice, but have wiped off more panels than I care to admit until I finally got to this one that I am quite happy with. I think it has a somewhat Van Gogh look about it and for that I am pleased.

ENJOY!!

AUTUMN IS UPON US

EARLY AUTUMN REFLECTIONS

I went hiking yesterday with my camera. It was one of those mid-western autumn days that we sometimes get that just feels like a change is about to happen.  Sure enough, today has been rainy and cloudy all day,  a sure sign that the seasons are changing.  This small work is from the hike, and features one of my favorite rivers,  the Olentangy, which happens to be the designated scenic river that runs through Columbus. I loved how the board flat rocks form the bed of the river, making for a great area to stand when the river is low.  With all of the rain today, I won't see this view for quite awhile.

ENJOY!!

A FAVORITE TREE

FINDING AUTUMN

Here is another small work from my recent trip to Utah.  The Aspen trees were at their peak in some areas and had already lost their golden crowns in other areas.  This one was showing off by standing alone in this sun drenched meadow. Aspen leaves quake in the breeze, much like our midwest cottonwoods do, but they also have beautiful white bark that allows them to soak up the sun year round.  They also send up new trees from a single root system, so are actually clones of one another.

ENJOY!!

GLORIOUS

WELCOME SUNSET

Here is a small painting that I did while visiting Utah.  I love hiking near sunset time, especially in the autumn.   The colors are so vivid in the clear mountain air.

ENJOY!!

OLD MEETS NEW

TECHNO WASH

This painting is inspired by a trip to Italy a few years ago.  I was struck by how many people still hung their laundry out, even though it seemed they were very technologically connected.

I loved the shadows thrown off by the tidy whities and the antennas reaching for the sky.

ENJOY!!

Down Memory "Lane"

Knee High by the 4th of July

Growing up, our farmhouse was at the end of a very long lane, a quarter of a mile to be exact.  During the summer, it was enclosed by fields of corn, soybeans, and wheat, almost like a fortress.

Passing by the inspiration for this painting, I was struck by how closely this land resembles the old farmhouse and surrounding fields where I grew up so many years ago.  I loved how the trees created a sparkle where the sunlight filters through the leaves.  I also have fond memories of the saying that I heard every summer about the growing corn.  It needed to be knee high by the 4th of July in order to be a good crop that year. 

ENJOY!