January 2025

I frequently walk on a trail from our barn while Maureen rides Zim. I enjoy looking at a lot of stuff along the way, from distant views to close-ups. Last winter I looked closely at the many kinds of mushrooms that popped up after rainstorms and thought about painting some but didn't. Finally this year I found a nice little grouping of them growing on an old stump that had just appeared one day and I painted them.

December 2024

We started our 2019 trip to Canada by flying to Seattle and driving north. We expected it to be a long day so we had reserved an airbnb in White Rock, just a few miles across the border. We had stayed there once before on a previous trip and found it to be a nice little seaside town. It's kind of a tourist destination and we saw all kinds of people. We walked to the shore and saw a couple of guys decorating the pier for something called the Moon Festival. I don't know what that was going to be, but it made for an interesting photo and then a painting.

On our trips to Mammoth Lakes, we almost always include a visit to Hot Creek. It is an area of volcanic activity and hot springs bubble up right in the cold water stream. It was once a popular place for people to soak in the warm water, but for safety reasons it has been closed to swimming for many years. It's a beautiful high desert place with great views all around and we like to walk there.

When we stay at Tamarack Lodge in Mammoth Lakes, we almost always go for early evening walks along the lakeshore. On out last visit, I was struck by the reflections in the lake and this bunch of rowboats. When I had the painting about half done, I messed up the reflections and decided to start over. I hated to give up all the work I had already done, but the second try came out closer to what I wanted and I am happy with it.

November 2024

On our October 2023 trip we were on our way from southern Colorado to Santa Fe, and we stopped for a couple of hours at the Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu, New Mexico. We were interested because it was a place where Georgia O'Keefe painted some of her best works. It is a retreat run by the Presbeyterian church but it is much like a park with a beautiful wild area with hiking trails. We tried one of the trails leading up into the red rock areas but it was quite warm and we only went a mile or so. The photo wasn't very inspiring and I messed up right at the start when I splashed a drop of water on the still wet blue sky. I tried to patch it up by suggesting some wispy clouds and it turned out better than I expected.

One summer day I looked out the back door and saw Sunny sitting on the table watching her yard. I thought that it might be a subject for a painting. I was working on the idea that just about anything can be made into an interesting piece of art.

October 2024

The night before we left Mammoth, it snowed at the higher elevations and we heard that Tioga Pass was closed. We packed up and left in the morning and when we got to Lee Vining we asked about the pass and heard that it had just opened again. The road was clear and dry but the peaks above the pass were dusted with snow. Near the top, we stopped for photos and I used one of them for this painting.

There was a post on Facebook to advertise Chris Ellsworth's clinic at V6 ranch this year. It included a photo of Chris riding out in the hills of the ranch. It was a great photo and I was inspired to try and paint it. The clinic starts next week and Maureen and I were signed up to go, but she decided that she was not yet ready for the rough riding and long hours in the saddle. I've enjoyed being there the last couple of years and I'll miss it.

September 2024

 

I still wasn't done with Pioneer Basin. I did another painting based on a black and white photo that I took on the 1967 trip with my dad. I used an old Rolleiflex camera with 2 1/4 inch square film. It was a great camera and made very sharp images, but it got stolen when some kids broke into our house in the early 70s. Dad and I were wandering around the basin when we came across this little tarn which made a great view with the high peaks of the Mono Divide beyond it.

We spent a few days in a cabin at Tamarack Lodge in Mammoth Lakes. It was the first trip that we were able to do since June when Maureen came off her horse and broke seven ribs. We borrowed a portable oxygen machine that made it possible for her to handle the high elevation. We had some very cold weather but enjoyed the beautiful location. One evening I saw a pink sky out of the window and hurried out to get a photo by the lake in front of our cabin, and it inspired this painting.

One day while we were at Mammoth, we went up to Lake George and walked along the shore. Maureen was not able to do any real hiking and this was a good alternative. The lake was all sparkles and I wanted to capture that in a painting, I tried a method that hadn't used before. With an old toothbrush I splattered masking fluid onto my paper over the area of the lake. I hoped for nice little round droplets but it turned out pretty messy. I went ahead and quickly finished the painting, but felt that it was not as good as I wanted. Looking at it now, I think it is not so bad.

August 2024

 

For the last couple of months I haven't had the time or energy to do much painting. Just a few days after our trip to Big Sur, Maureen got bucked off of Zim and broke seven ribs. She spent a few days in the hospital and then had to go back for a few more days weeks later. She was in a great deal of pain and was not able to do very much for a long time. She has very slowly recovered and now is doing all right but still taking pain meds and using oxygen most of the time. So I recently got back to my painting, and did this scene from Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. On our October, 2023 trip, we stopped there on our way from Capitol Reef to Moab and found it to be a very interesting place with lots of colorful rocks. There was a little valley filled with hundreds of hoodoos that we could wander among. There were some kids climbing on the rocks, and one of them is in this painting.

I've been thinking about some of the special places that I have known in the High Sierra. One of them near the top of my list is Pioneer Basin. One thing that all of those places have in common is that they are not easy to get to. This one is no exception, being a couple-days hike in from Rock Creek over 12,000 ft. Mono Pass. I first visited it with my dad in 1967. I was young and full of energy, but dad was in his 50's and found it hard but he really enjoyed the spectacular location. I visited it once again in 2008 with my friend, Gerald, and this time it was I who was finding it hard going.

After finishing one painting of Pioneer Basin, I wanted to try another. I chose to do a repeat of a scene that I painted several years ago. I thought that maybe I would be able to improve on my earlier painting, but it turned out to be very similar and in some ways not as good. Anyway, I enjoyed doing it and that's what really matters.

 

July 2024

 

On our 2019 trip to British Columbia, after several days on Salt Springs Island we were headed forVancouver Island. We arrived at Vesuvius just as the ferry was leaving and had to wait an hour or so for the next one. It was another rainy day like much of our trip. I took a few photos with my phone and used one of them for this view from the ferry docks.

As we were leaving the Big Sur area in June, we stopped to walk around the headlands at Soberanes Point. Our car was battered and eventually totalled by our insurance, but it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed watching the waves breaking on the rocks.