As the sun finally arrives in the pacific northwet, the shovel is more tempting than the brush. Building a rock wall calls more than mixing paint. Instead of standing by the easel inside, I'm out making caveman drawings of trees and bugs and clouds. Right about now is when everything starts to look like a painting - the stack of books on a shelf, the peony buds pushing slowly skyward like...

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"When are you building the studio?" was the question that inspired a full body nervous twitch these past six months. Sorting out the design proved challenging as the city permit office failed to offer consistent answers to my questions. Depending on which person I spoke to, I received a different definition of what was considered living space, what was a garage, and what was needed to meet...

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Despite any best wishes to paint everyday, cold season and travel will take their toll. That's enough whining. Expect to see a return to form next week.

Red Onion 6" x 5", available


The large old camelia bush to the side of the front walk is starting to blossom. Hundreds of tight blooms are nearly ready for the punishment of the last winter rains.

Camelia Bud 6" x 5", sold

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The basic questions of why a piece comes together so quickly may never be answered. There are, however, answers to the question of how to bring life back to something beaten into submission. The painting should be the boxer that won the match, not the pummeled man, listless, with his head hanging low. Keep the hand moving, and moving with certainty. Be willing to rework an almost success if you...

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Each visit to the grocery store is a chance to find a new treasure. The past week has been hectic, and I needed to pick up the brush again. This time, to paint a pair of peppers.

Poblano 6" x 5", available



Poblano 6" x 4", available


Some new larger works, 4' x 3' landscapes, are coming together in my mind and on paper. I hope to start on them next week before I head to St.Louis for...

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One of the first questions someone buying a painting asks is how I would recommend framing it. Paintings almost always look better with a frame, but this is a personal decision involving both your taste, the piece to be framed, and where the painting is to hang. Oil paintings, of course, aren't usually hung behind glass, and almost never with any kind of matt. There is no substitute for taking...

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I began the hammer with what I thought was plenty of time to work. I ran short and promised myself to not get bogged down in the final sprint the next day. Previously I had always started and finished the works in one sitting. You can guess what happened. I got bogged down. I had hemmed myself in with ideas of what it might be and what was already painted. The hours ticked by. At one point, the...

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You can't make a shot you don't take. But if you make every shot you do take, you're probably standing on a ladder next to the net.

It began innocently enough as another Habanero. But it's pudgy barrel shape refused to take on any form in the painting. The painting refused to be anything but a paint by numbers representation of a little pepper sitting under a light on a stack of boards. More...

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