if you scroll down my website, you’ll see that I tried this painting three years ago. I wasn’t as happy at the time with my horizon because it was kind of bumpy and I wasn’t happy with my rocks. either way, this is a newer and updated version of a view that I had from a rental house in Sea Ranch, California several years back.
I attended a watercolor workshop in Bruges, Belgium. One early morning I was wandering around because the light was perfect and I saw this lovely site. There were some tourist boats parked at the edge of the water and some flower boxes nearby, so I crouched down below the flower boxes to get this picture. It’s a beautiful location. Also a good spot for dark beer and chocolate!
I recently took a great workshop from artist Kathie George in Bruges, Belgium. This was one of the pieces she showed us how to paint, and I was very pleased with the result!
Second try at this shot. This is one of my favorite places in San Francisco to go walking. Nothing really wrong with the first try, I just wanted to see if I could do better.
I took this painting on as a commission. The Robert Burns house in Atlanta is a reproduction of the one in Scotland. Apparently the one in Atlanta is used as a private club. This was a challenge for me both because it’s a very large painting (22” by 30”) and because there’s a bit more pressure when someone is paying you to do the work. I did find it very enjoyable to paint this one.
This is another from the workshop I took from Kathie George. Always enjoy painting windmills!
I suppose I could call this "Motif No. One." This building in Rockport, Massachusetts has been painted hundreds of times by artists. 99.9% of those times it’s painted from the front of the building which has a number of old and faded lobster bouys hanging from it. I recently was on vacation in Rockport and was in a condo that faced the back of the building. I took the photo on which this painting was based while sitting in a nice Adirondack on the back porch, enjoying a glass of wine.
I took a watercolor workshop in the French Alps based out of the town of Combloux. This was a view of the town that we painted during the workshop.
I'm beginning to understand why the Masters painted and repainted the same scene. Each time I paint, I learn something more. This is a redo of my path through the woods in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Interestingly, one of the colors I did not use in this painting was brown! When I really studied the picture I was trying to re-create, I was able to see so many other colors in the bark of a tree, and that is what I tried to show here.
This painting was selected by the California Watercolor Association to be included in their 53rd National Exhibition.
Years ago, I took a photographic Safari to Botswana and took the photo on which this paining is based. I never knew how incredibly destructive elephants are to trees! Many trees had been sort of shredded like this one. If you happened on a grove of destroyed trees, you knew that elephants had been through that way. I called it Eating Greens because when I had finished, I decided it acted as a good reminder to get enough roughage in our diets.
I recently took a watercolor painting workshop in the French alps. It was amazing to wake every morning and look out at Mont Blanc from my hotel balcony. This view was also from the hotel in Combloux, France, with a bit of artistic license thrown in.
I frequently go on hikes with my siblings, who live north of San Francisco. The picture on which this painting was based was taken on one of those hikes in Novato, California. One time on this hike, my sister-in-law found a fully intact snake skin. Ever since, we have called this specific hike the “Snake Walk,” so when it came time to name the painting, I didn’t really have an option. The picture was taken in January, so we had beautiful lush grass on the hills, and the trees had no leaves or buds.
I recently had a lovely vacation in Coastal Maine. Beyond eating gobs of Lobster, I took as many pictures as I could of the beautiful coast, including this lighthouse in Portland. My attempt with this painting was to capture the sound and the feel of the waves crashing on the rocks below the lighthouse.
For the most part I try to paint pictures that I have taken myself. However, I do belong to a Facebook group that provides free photographs for artists. The bear in this picture is from a photograph taken by Denise McQuillan from that site. I liked what I like to think of as the contemplative, content look on his face. Did he just eat a salmon, or is he looking forward to his next meal?
This painting is based on a photo I took driving from San Francisco north to Eureka in California. About 50 miles south of Eureka you can take a detour off the freeway and drive along the “Avenue of the Giants.” The drive takes you through some beautiful state parks full of coastal redwood trees that are among the tallest trees in the world and some of the oldest as well. Fortunately, there are lots of wide spots on the road to pull off and take out your camera!
This was my first real attempt at painting a statue. The picture really appealed to me and as I was looking at it I was reminded of a book from my very early youth “Are You My Mother?” If you haven’t read it, it’s a cute little book about a lost baby bird who goes looking for its mom and asks various types of animals if they are his mother. Somehow, I could imagine this bird asking that of the little angel statue.
I first went to Èze in France when I was about six years old. The town made a profound impact on me, even as a small child. Èze is a small medieval town perched high on a mountain near Nice, overlooking the Mediterranean. The buildings are all made of stone, and a walkway meanders through the town from the bottom of the hill to the top. I recently had the chance to visit it again, and I still found it beautiful.
I often go walking on Ocean Beach in San Francisco. This painting was done from a picture I took after a storm had just blown through. I love the big white fluffy clouds on their way to Marin as well as the raven watching the people walk down the beach sidewalk.
I grew up in the Bay Area in California. When I was a kid, we would often drive over the hill to Santa Cruz and then down to Monterey. Big Sur is just south of Monterey and is an absolutely gorgeous spot on this planet. There are beautiful hikes and tide pools and all kinds of fun things to look at there.
I’ve always loved the Monterey bay area in California. I never get tired of looking at the ocean. This painting is an artistic reimagining of that area. I went on a hike recently and took a number of photos. The original photo on which this is based has a 1950’s era house very precariously perched on the rocks. I decided a Monterey cypress tree would look nicer. I also edited out the ice plant that was on the original hill in front. I wanted to paint an area where you would want to place your blanket and eat your picnic as you watched the ocean.
I almost always work from a reference photo. This time, I had no reference photo to work with. I was really just imagining a serene pond in the forest surrounded by snow. I’m sure such a place exists, I just haven’t seen it yet. I think I was also missing Winter weather since I live in California and we haven’t had a drop of rain for months! The painting seems to need something like a Robert Frost poem to go with it.
Gualala Point, from a photo I took during a hike at the Gualala Point Regional Park in Northern California. I love the shoreline in Northern California. I could sit for hours listening and watching as the waves crash on the jagged rocks. Some people consider themselves “mountain people.” I’m definitely an ocean girl!
One of my coworkers took the photo on which this painting is based. He and his family were visiting the coast in Northern California, and he looked up to see a beautiful sunset and his son and a friend walking along the beach. Fortunately, he gave me permission to paint the photograph!
I'm trying to stretch myself and step out of my comfort zone, and painting people definitely qualifies for that! This picture was taken by a cousin of mine hiking in the woods in Northern California. Personally, I don’t know that I would have had the courage of that little girl. Maybe I’m getting older, but that log looks pretty steep to me!
I was lucky enough to have a work reason to visit Charleston, South Carolina. I took a side trip to the Boone Hall Plantation to see the Avenue of the Oaks. I did my best to try to capture the feeling of standing there and seeing the Spanish moss hanging from those beautiful oak trees
I spent a week at a beautiful house in Sea Ranch, California recently. Every window of the house had an amazing view of the ocean. One of my favorite places to sit was the private deck the owner had built, on which he had placed some Adirondack chairs. You could sit there for hours watching the ocean. The chairs were grey, but I painted them red because I prefer the color. I was going to leave out the gargoyle, but then I remembered the old rule: “never piss off a gargoyle!”
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of walking through an ancient redwood forest. There’s the unique smell of the redwoods, and the sound of your footsteps are muted by the trail carpeted with pine needles. These trees are many hundreds of years old or older. Walking among them you marvel at the history they’ve seen and the fact that they have survived all this time. This trail was in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in Northern California.
My now former boss has been with the company I work at over 30 years. She just recently retired. I painted this for her to give her a bench to sit on and contemplate the ocean. I had it hanging on my own wall for a couple of weeks before I presented it to her. I found it very calming.
I grew up in northern California, and my parents frequently took us camping up into the far north parts of California. I realized recently that it had been far too long since I had been to those areas, and took a trip up north. One of the reasons I wanted to go was to visit again the majestic redwood forests. Some of these trees are more than 1,000 years old. I wasn’t sure of the age of this one, but I liked the light and shadows around it, and tried to re-create that in a painting.
I live in the San Francisco Bay area, and during Spring and Summer our days can be very foggy next to the coast. The picture on which this painting is based was one I took while I was on a hike with my sister near the town of Half Moon Bay. The wildflowers were yellow and vibrant under the foggy sky. I tried to re-create that feeling with the painting.
This was my fourth attempt at trying to paint this image. I took the photograph on which the painting is based while on a painting tour of Umbria, Italy. The trees and the beautiful light that morning made me want to sit at one of the tables and have my own coffee!
I think pretty much everyone who visits this beautiful town in the Umbria region of Italy takes the same photograph that I took on which I based this painting. It’s a very picturesque little town in a beautiful area of Italy. I would love to go back and visit again!
An artist looks at things differently than a non-artist. A friend of mine went wine tasting and took a picture of her wine glasses. I saw the picture and saw an amazing array of colors and shapes that I was eager to try painting. Now I want to go wine tasting and see what kind of images I can photograph reflected in the wine! I’d also like to drink the wine!
Back when we could still travel in 2019, I took a painting trip to Italy. One of the stops was this beautiful town of Menaggio. It’s one of those lovely areas that just makes you want to sit and contemplate the view and maybe sip an espresso.
This painting is based on a photograph I took while on a bike ride on a lovely afternoon in Yosemite National Park about four years ago. I’ve named it “lost in the woods,“ because while sketching it I got totally lost and ended up having to put an X on each tree truck so I knew where the trees were!
This painting is based off a picture I took from the balcony of a house that I rented for a vacation in Sea Ranch, California. I would sit on that balcony for hours watching the waves and listening to the sound of them crashing on the rocks. That was the feeling I tried to evoke here.
I live in the San Francisco Bay area in California. Harbor seals are pretty common around here. This little guy was painted from a picture taken by a friend. I liked how inquisitive he looks. Makes you wonder just what he’s looking at! Food? Foe? Tourist?
This is the Hameau de la Reine at the château de Versailles. It’s one of a small collection of shepherd cottages that Marie-Antoinette had built so she could dress up like a shepherdess and play.. I took the photo on which the painting is based while on a bike tour of Versailles’ gardens.
This is a wild parrot of Sunnyvale, California. Same breed as the “wild parrots of Telegraph Hill,” but they apparently prefer to live south of San Francisco. Likely the rent in the trees is less expensive. Either that or they are somehow tech-related parrots? They’re fun to see in the trees with their bright green feathers and inquisitive looks on their faces.
I have been a fan of the Lord of the Rings since I was about 11. I was lucky enough to take a Lord of the Rings tour of New Zealand in 2014. This painting is based on a photo I took at the Hobbiton Movie Set and is my second attempt to capture the charm of that location. I didn’t see any Hobbits while there… I assume they were on a quest!
Gus is a French Bulldog owned by a friend of mine. She has uploaded a number of pictures of Gus onto Social Media, and I felt compelled to paint this one. I almost called it “Squirrel!” because he’s so intently looking at something that has just caught his interest!
This painting was done from a photo I took while on a photographic safari in Botswana. I remember how excited my group was when we saw our first elephant in the wild! And how, several days later, how dull it had become as we waited for 1,000 elephants to slowly cross the road before we could continue our journey. I was lucky enough to be there in the Spring time (around September in Botswana) when all the animals had their babies with them.
Happy Holidays 2019! This was the image that I used for my holiday cards in 2019. The original painting is quite large, 18 x 24. When I set the tableau up and photographed it before painting it, I didn’t realize that it looks like the snowman wanted to be drinking whatever was in the cup. That came out in the painting!
A peacock owning the world at Les Jardins de Marqueyssac in the Dordogne region of France. I thought it was very gentlemanly that he agreed to pose for me!
Ok, probably could have given this a more majestic title, but when I looked at it, I saw three bucks. This is from a picture taken by a friend, Ross Meehan, at the Red Mule Ranch in Fiddletown, California.
I just finished this crystal bowl after taking a workshop on how to paint glass. A ton of fun to paint!
This beautiful horse is owned by Kim Minnis, who also owns this painting. Kim and her lovely horse live on a ranch in Michigan. Kim had posted a few pictures of Kat on Facebook, and I could not resist painting her!
Not deep enough to cover a full elephant, apparently. This painting was from a photo I took on a photographic safari in Botswana.
Georg: the incredibly large, sweet, German Shepherd mutt our family had when I was young. He was so large that when I’d come home from school, he’d put his paws on my shoulders and give me a human-sized hug. He’s been gone for 35 years and I still miss him!
Beautiful, sunny day wine tasting at Story Winery in Plymouth, California. I loved how the sunlight cast shadows not only of the leaves above, but also of the zinfandel in the glass!
My best friend’s daughter’s dog, Coco. She was a rescue dog, we believe is a Chihuahua Terrier mix. The painting was a gift for my best friend’s daughter on her college graduation.
Another photo taken at Red Mule Ranch by Ross Meehan. This was my second attempt at this turkey… Not easy to paint!
I brought my paints with me to a business trip in Hawaii. Wondering around the hotel, I saw this little Koi fish swimming in a pond with reflected palm trees, and could not resist painting him.
A wild parrot, famous from the “Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” in San Francisco. This guy lives in Sunnyvale, California. From a photo taken by Ross Meehan.
Trying to paint what I see on my Northern California seascapes. Will have to try more oceans to get it right!
This was the first attempt at that difficult Wild Turkey.
This picture was painted during a plein air workshop I took in Italy. Monterosso is the northernmost city of Cinque Terre, a group of five (hence “Cinqe”) scenic towns on the northern coast of Italy.
Dog of a co-worker. I painted him after he had passed away as a keepsake for her.
This was inspired by photos of wild turtles in Hawaii (honu). The painting named itself when his fin dipped into the sand below.
From a photo I saw in Queenstown, New Zealand while touring there on a Lord of the Rings tour.
This little guy served as my Christmas Card for friends and family last year. I guess if I were going to give it a title, two come to mine: “All in a Mouse’s Night” (for you Genesis fans), or “A Mouse’s Work is Never Done.” :-)
I imagine if a Blue Jay went to a British wedding, he’d wear a fascinator like this, right?
This restaurant - as such - no longer exists. It was purchased by some developers, so the site still exists, but not in this iteration. I grew up going to this restaurant frequently when I was a kid. It was our favorite place to go to in San Francisco.
Painted for my best friend when she was going through a low point in life.
I have had this painting on my office wall for years. I had originally not included it in my website as I didn’t think it was sufficiently good, but it definitely proves that “art is in the eye of the beholder.” I had a specific request from a colleague to put it up. I painted this after a work trip to Hawaii when I kept seeing other paintings by other artists of the Honu: the Hawaiian Sea Turtle.
Back when I started experimenting with painting over 30 years ago, I was working with acrylic rather than watercolor paints. My parents had gone to Australia and sent me a postcard. Based on that card, I painted this very impressionistic version of the Sydney Opera House at night
