Grand Canyon here I come!

Next week I take off for fun to the Grand Canyon and play and paint for a week. Here is an oil painted en plein air on the Colorado River: 2009 raft trip. I'll paint at the rim this trip. The two separate views could not be more different to capture in paint. But the energy and brushstrokes pull me through!

I visited this Sugar House and wanted a painting of the activity. Sugaring is great. Its a little boring watching sap boil, but the lore and people are make up for it. Sipping sap from the tree, sloshing buckets and seeing how much wood it takes to keep the fire hot was interesting. How will I paint the Sugar maples-sugarbush-with the sugar house in my next oil? In this painting I dialed up the rich darks as a backdrop and respected the low light ever present in Vermont.

Here is a gem of a painting from my last trip to California, where I painted en plein air south of Davenport at my favorite beach. How to capture the intimacy of the rocks and the stretch of the Pacific Ocean all at the same time. Early California Painters inspire me to use rich colors and warms and cools impressionistically to reach their heights of painting brilliance. I'll be back in California for Pt Reyes Seashore Classes in July! Come painting.