2022 Calendar Images

2022 Calendar

cover: Sandhill Cranes at Rancho Llano Seco, near Chico

January

Pintail, Sacramento Valley near Chico

Ducks can be quite beautiful. Years ago Maureen and I got interested in bird watching and we found that ducks were among the easiest birds to identify because their coloring was so distinctive. In January, 2015, we went with our friends, Terry and Mike, to Chico for the Snow Goose Festival. We saw lots of birds including thousands of snow geese, and I took lots of photos. I especially liked one of a Pintail with interesting reflections in the water.

February

View from Bailey Ranch, Hayward

Spring is a beautiful time in California. The grass is green, the poppies are blooming, and everything is alive. We like to walk at Bailey Ranch, a housing development in Hayward, where below the houses there is a trail with expansive views across the bay. The scene on one spring day inspired this painting.

March

Our cat, Sunny

In January, 2009, we adopted an orange feral kitten from the barn, and we named her Sunny. When we first brought her home, she hid behind a bookshelf for a couple of weeks. She slowly got to know us and became a very nice, affectionate cat. One day I saw her sitting on the dining room table with sunlight coming through the venetian blinds making stripes across the tablecloth.

April

Chris Ellsworth at Novato Cow Clinic

In June we went to a Chris Ellsworth clinic on working with cattle in Novato. Zim got to show off his talent for moving heifers and steers wherever Maureen asked him. As usual, I took lots of photos and used one of them for this painting. Chris was riding a cutting horse and showing how to keep a steer out of the herd with lots of fast turns.

May

Lyell Fork of the Merced and Mount Ansel Adams

In September, 1976, I did a week-long solo backpacking trip in the Sierra, crossing from Yosemite Valley to the east side of the range, looking for some high mounatin adventure. It was fun, but it was also pretty lonely. One of the special places I saw was the Lyell Fork of the Merced River, a very remote spot with beautiful meadows below Mount Ansel Adams. In the early evening, the fish were jumping as the mountains were lit by alpenglow.

June

Cottonwood Lakes, near Mt. Whitney

I love the timberline country of the High Sierra, the places around 11,000 ft., where trees give way to meadows, lakes, rock and snow. I usually like to work from my own photos when I paint, but now and then I find something online that inspires me. This one looked very much like many places that I saw on the John Muir Trail in 2001.

July

 

Sunset, Ruckle Provincial Park, Salt Spring Island, B.C.

In September, 2019, we took a trip to Canada, to revisit some of the favorite places from past trips. For a couple of days, we stayed in a beautiful little cottage on Salt Spring Island. After arriving in the afternoon, we went to nearby Ruckle Provincial Park hoping to catch the sunset. We walked out to the shore with beautiful pink clouds in the distance.

August

 

Zim at Jack Brook Horse Camp

For many years, a week of horse camping was the highlight of our summer. After missing a year because of the pandemic, we were able to go again, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. One day we were getting Zim tacked up and I was sitting on the trailer. As I looked up, this is what I saw.

September

 

Farm on the shore of Ullswater, Lake District, England

In the summer of 2000, we went to England and spent several weeks with my distant cousin, Margaret, and her husband, Bernard. They drove us all around Ireland for a week or so, then we ferried over to Scotland and drove to the English Lake District. The first lake we came to was Ullswater, and we stopped for a photo. When I turned around, I saw this beautiful scene of a farm and misty mountains.

October

 

Chris Ellsworth and Bella, Shamrock and Thistle Ranch

Our horse, Zim, spent a couple of months at our friend Jodie’s ranch near Placerville because of an epidemic among the horses at our barn. We missed Zim, so we went up there several times to see him. One day Chris was training a big Friesian mare named Bella and I took a photo catching the look of the late afternoon light.

November

 

Sunrise at Saddlebag Lake, near Tioga Pass

In October, 1974 I made plans with my friend, Bill Dodge, and couple of his teen-age nieces, to climb Mt. Conness on the eastern boundary of Yosemite. In those days, my plans were often much too ambitious, and this was no exception. We didn’t make it to the top, but we had a nice hike anyway. Camped at Saddlebag Lake, I woke at dawn to a pink glow and got up for a photo of an amazing sunrise.

December

 

Zach and Rio with Maureen

We were very fortunate to have two great horses for many years. We rode them together on the trail countless times with Maureen on Zach and me on Rio. Rio was calm and easy-going most of the time, but he had raced in his past, and he liked to go fast. Zach always had a mind of his own and good sense of humor. Rio passed away three years ago, and we miss him very much. Zach is still with us. He is retired from riding, blind and not too steady on his feet, but he still has loads of spirit.