Title: "EVENING REVERIE"
Medium: Oil
Size: 11" x 14"
SOLD

Fresh off the easel, this piece was painted entirely with a palette knife in oil on Belgian Linen Canvas Panel. My goal was to capture the essence and mood of the model with as few details as possible, allowing the loose paint strokes to retain their vibrancy.

It felt great to create this work of art.

"EVENING THOUGHTS"
Pastel
9" x 12"
SOLD

Every painting is a new experience and an opportunity to try something different. I started this piece with an abstract acrylic underpainting on Wallis paper. Once dry, I laid in the figure with soft pastels being careful not to blend but allowing the strokes to suggest a blended effect. The play of warm and cool colors create a lively effect - much more evident in the actual painting.

Title: "EMILY ANN"
 Pastel
9" x 12"
SOLD

My daughter graciously agreed to model for me, a rear treat these days - she is a busy teenager. I started this piece by laying in bold strokes of vivid colors, intending it to be impressionistic, hoping to suggest the forms rather than rendering them accurately, but as so often, it ended up being a realistic painting. Realism seems to be my "default" button, the style I revert to in spite of my efforts to break out of that mold. Although the painting turned out to be quite different than the image in my head, I am pleased with the results. I can always try again for the effect I want, perhaps even using a different medium - oil and palette knife come to mind...

"LETTUCE"
Pastel
SOLD

After painting a portrait or two, I will usually paint a still life to de-stress, I refer to it as "clearing the palette." I find figure painting to be the most challenging of subject matters, that is not to say that still-life is easy, all painting is difficult if it is done well.
I have painted this subject several times in different mediums and each time I have been fortunate to sell the painting.

"JULIA"
Pastel
12" x 9"
SOLD

This beautiful young model is the daughter of a dear friend of mine. After painting her in oil with a palette knife, I decided, as I often do, to paint her in pastel, treating the background in a similar loose style as I did in the oil painting.

For this painting, I mounted the wallis paper on board giving me a rigid surface to work with. The rough tooth of the paper was ideal for the many layers of pastel used to create this portrait. I do not blend with my fingers, instead, I allow the many layers to do the job. If I feel the need to soften an area, I use a hard pastel and go over the area lightly - it lends for a much richer effect.

"LUPE"
Pastel, 9" x 12"
SOLD

This portrait was commissioned by a young lady as a Christmas Present for her mother, the portrait is of the mother. I was fortunate to have permission from the daughter to create this portrait in any style and medium with no interference or micro-managing from the client - a dream come true.
I initially did the portrait in oil using a palette knife but realizing that the painting would not be dry in time for varnishing, I did another in pastel.

"ASPEN CHAPEL"
Acrylic
SOLD

The Aspen Chapel is one of the most photographed buildings in Aspen, Colorado. I have painted it several times and have been fortunate to sell each of the paintings. Having rendered it realistically before, I wanted to try something different and so I got out my palette knife and with acrylic paint created the painting above. The texture of the knife strokes and the vibrant color make for an exciting painting.