Reduction

Reduction is my attempt to reduce the landscape to its most essential forms while using color and shape to add interest. This is a theme that I have come back to again and again.

Translation

Sometimes you have to mix it up. Here is an abstracted landscape. My trademark colors are used with suggested shapes. It was an enjoyable exercise and says what I wanted to say.

Primarily Peppers

It's funny how a snippet of a scene can bring back the memories of a whole day. Fall, food, friends, and family.
This is the second attempt of this composition. The partially completed canvas was leaning on a table leg while the sun shone through the back of the canvas and created beautiful light streams that had to be painted.

Trio Trio

Another scene from the old Texas ranch - the chicken coop, the dairy barn, and the ranch hand's home. The center building was originally a train depot that was moved and repurposed.

The Red Door

This building is part of a ranch in Texas where I got some old barn wood to make a table for my studio. It was a beautiful place and I will be reminded of it every time I see my table.

Sometimes you can't leave well enough alone. I messed with this painting and here is the revision.

I like this better, and it won an award in a show, so at least one other person also likes it.

Change In The Air

A front came in from the north and made a beautiful mark on the sky.

Recollection

A better name might be Reflection, but this painting is more of an idea of a place. I have simplified the surroundings and let the color be intuitive.

Verde Vista

My largest work so far, measuring 60" wide x 40" tall, is painted on a textured hardboard. This painting isn't all about greens, but how they relate to each other. They took me on quite a journey.

Jack

It's been almost a year since tornadoes tore through Hood County. In the aftermath many tree services were out, cutting the way back to normalcy. Here is one worker aptly named Jack.

Afternoon Shadows

The idea for this painting was from a street scene in Montreal. The buildings were grey, but when I painted it, the walls just cried out for more color. So I obliged.

Hay There

Here is a pair of barns, setting in a field of blowing grains. I don't remember where the picture was taken, but I'd like to paint it again. The painting wasn't about the likeness to the landscape, but about the variations of color and shape. 

Nine Heads are Better Than One

I don't consider myself a floral painter, so of course I had to challenge myself when a rogue sunflower sprouted up in my garden. The flower head was painted on an 8x8 canvas panel. I was satisfied with it, but during the process, a lot of "what ifs" came to mind. I painted it 4 times and liked the process of grouping them together. Then I kept going, completing 12 panels. This painting is an arrangement of my nine favorites, with the rejected ones getting a nice whitewash.

Field with Greens

This painting was from a drive in Will County, Illinois. There are so many interesting barns and the farm fields go on forever. The colors weren't as vivid as they are painted, but I love to push the color green. It is always mixed from an assortment of blues and yellows, often with a touch of red or orange.

Farm to Market

The title of this painting, Farm to Market, is taken from the name of small highways in Texas. This road passes quickly through a small town in Hood County.

The Road Goes on Forever

During road trips I started taking photos of landscapes from the car. Split second views of whatever caught my eye. Back in my studio, when I painted the scenes, the road became as important to the story as the landscape. Soon I became known for my road paintings. This is where I will start my blog.