Glenwood Canyon Winter

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Spring Snow, Morrison Mountain

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After the NCAR Fire

I started this painting in June 2021 and as I like to refer to a painting that is hopelessly flawed, “A dog’s dinner”. It was a real mess and I was seriously thinking about tossing it in the scrap bin. On March 26, 2022 there was a grass fire to the south of the NCAR, (National Center for Atmospheric Research). This fire burned the grassy draw, exactly where I had started the painting nearly a year earlier. The scorched hillside completely changed the color composition and the bare earth better revealed the contours of the rising foothills

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Eldorado Canyon

My friend Alan Hall came to town and we got a late start and the sun was setting, there was just a sliver of sunlight shining in the canyon. We had to paint our compositions quickly before we lost the daylight. The pedestrian bridge is the focal point and I was able to capture two people crossing.

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Creek, East Boulder

The Denver Art Museum had a block buster show of 120 Monet paintings in the autumn of 2019. I was able to work in the galleries and to closely study Monet's expressive brushstrokes. I will never measure up to the genius of Claude Monet but I thought that I could definitely liven up my brushstrokes. I like how the skeletal remains of an old bleached cottonwood lies across the the vibrant green scene.

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Five Flatirons

The Flatirons are the most iconic image of Boulder, Colorado. I didn't set out to paint the flatirons but I began to feel that I was wasting time looking for the perfect painting motif. I found some shade to set up my easel and I was immediately taken by the dabbled shadows that the cottonwood cast in the foreground. I thought it would make a nice soft cool contrast to the hard warm hues of the flatirons.

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Eldorado Springs, South Boulder Creek

This is the first oil painting that I have done in over a year. It was such a release to plein air paint again! In the year since I last painted I had seen the Monet show at the Denver Art Museum. I was impressed with Monet's expressive light brush strokes. I thought I'd experiment with his technique and I really love the results. I'm looking forward to finding a way to finish the painting.

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Red Rocks

The soft pastel colors of the new spring shoots were a nice contrast to the rough and rugged red rocks. This is the iconic Shiprock formation in Denver's historic Red Rock's Park.

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Mount Baldy, Grand Lake, CO

I love snow scenes and to have a huge mountain in the background is perfect! There are lots of subtle colors variation in the black of the tree covered wet granite patches. The aspen and birch trees have their early pastel leaves in bloom and they make an interesting line of color to a winter scene.

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Fiume di Tevere

Entirely painted from a photo that I took in October 2009. I find it hard to do landscapes from a photograph, the colors that I’m seeing is now coming from the camera. I have to take the colors from the photo and developed a color triad. I was trying push the orange as a warm hueand blue as the cool hue.

This painting was painted from a photograph taken on the grounds of the Seminary of Brother Charles Bramaio, in Rome. The light on the statue and the palm trees was almost heavenly. I didn't notice when I took the photograph that there was a butterfly on the base of the statue, but getting the butterfly just right was the hardest part of the painting

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Frisbee Park

This little quickie study is hardly worth documenting except for the fact that i attempted to paint something from a pretty boring motif. I like the juxtaposition of the old dilapidated building and the modern game of Frisbee golf. I’m happy with many things in this painting like the crude handling of color to show the weathered wood. The scumbled brushwork of the earthen dam. It was a joy to paint.

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Three Pigs in a Poke

This was painted on a glorious spring morning. In another area of this farm there was a pen of over 100 goats of all sizes. Too much activity to paint. Instead, I found the pen with about a dozen pigs. As I was painting a truck load of chickens were dumped in the pen beyond the pigs. I believe I captured the colorful cacophony of sound with this crazy quilt of color and activity in this painting. I won an honorable mention for this painting in the 2018, North Metro Art’s Alliance Show.

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Steamboat Cove, Colorado River

My friend Alan lives in Lake Havasu, Arizona and he loves sailing on the lake. There was not enough wind to sail so we motored out to "Steamboat Cove". Before Hoover Dam was built there was enough water on the Colorado River in Arizona that Steamboats could be steamed up the River. Alan was in the aft of the boat, I set up in the cabin and I had a nice view of the top of the rocks, and good view of Alan but the Bimini shade obscured his head. You can see Alan's portable easel and bottom of his painting. We're not quite Renior and Monet in his water craft. We’re okay for Hall and Smallwood.

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Bill Williams Preserve, Arizona

A painting that was done with my painter friend Alan Hall in Lake Havasu, AZ. I like the three land swells that drag you into the picture. The greens and purples that linger in this desert landscape are a a joy for the eyes to discover. The faint cerulean blue in the forground are like ghostly images of drought resistant trees.

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Evening Clear Creek

This was painted just to the west of Denver with my good painting buddy, Alan Hall. We were stuck with finding a nice spot to paint with little time to search. Evening stream motifs are always a good bet, however in this tight space Alan got tirst choice of his scene and i had to take the left over cramped composition. My only solution was to concentract on colors because there were no interesting shapes or forms. This painting could almost make a nice abstract painting.

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Denver Botanical Gardens and Rachael

My daughter-in-law Rachael is the focal point of this painting. Her bright figure is located near center of the painting. Diagonal elements lead our eye to her. I like this painting because there is so much activity with an explosion of plants.

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Lorrie State Park, Fort Collins

The 2016 Plein Air Artist's of Colorado Paint-A-Thon, held in Fort Collins, Colorado. This was the third of three paintings. Lorrie State Park skirts the west side of Horsetooth Resevoir. I took a short hike down from the parking lot and I found this cool quiet cove. I was drawn by warm varied pinks of the rocks and the cool green of the cottonwoods and willows in the cove, I wanted to play with the warms against the cool.

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Wild Purple Flowers

This was the first of the three paintings done in Fort Collins at their Paint-a-thon. I started this painting at 7am with long early morning shadows and an explosion of purple against the lush green of the trees.

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Heil Ranch,Bear Peak

The first time that I've been to the Boulder County Open Space "Heil Ranch". I met my friend Scott and we had a short hike to a draw where he had a beautiful view to the North and I had the iconic view of the sharp peak of Bear Mountain looking to the south. This day may have been the beginning of our summer monsoon season, the atmosphere became heavier and obscured the beautiful receding ranges. This 'en plein air' painting was selected to show in the "2016 Boulder County Juried Art Show".

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Rock Creek in Clover

I love painting on a summer evening. The sun is trying to squeeze out the last of the days' colors before we go into darkness. The light surfaces have more warm yellows and oranges than they do in the middle of the day. This 'en plein air" painting was selected to show in the "2016 Boulder County Juried Art Show"

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Table Mesa Park, Boulder CO

An early spring day and I had to get out of the studio. I had heard about a park just at the intersection of Table Mesa Drive and Highway 36. This was close to where I grew up in Boulder and at that time this area was a gravel pit. The gravel is gone but the pit is still here. Trash trees line the perimeter of the park and willows fill in the damp areas. I tried to find the most interesting area of the dog park and this was it. I should have captured some people on the trail. The focal point is the the orange doggie-dirt bag that for some reason someone hung on a fence pole.

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Bear Mountain

I like the slashing brush strokes that capture the trees and the small snow fields. I like the repetition of the planes as they recede in the distance with rocks and ridges. I gazed upon Bear Mountain every day growing up not from this three quarters view but from the full frontal view. This is a mountain that will always be dear to my heart,

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Cottonwood Canopy

It was a strange sight to see so much green in Arizona. We made an early morning trip to this site. A canopy of cottonwoods filled the foreground . I really wanted to show the feeling of floating above the tops of the trees.

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Lizard Rock, Lake Havasu

I traveled to Lake Havasa, AZ at the end of February to visit my friend and fellow classmate from Colorado State University. Alan Hall is the Chairman of the Art Department at Mojave Community College. It was a great trip and Alan helped me remember that the object of painting is not to make a representation of the scene but to make a painting. To make a statement or as Alan like to say. "Have a Punch-Line". It was great to have that reinforced when talking with Alan.

My friend Alan has raved about painting the desert scenes in Arizona. When I finally got there I too was blown away by thef vibrancy of the landscape! Whenever Alan comes to Colorado he has in his paint kit Egyptian violet, that color never works good here but it is a fantastic color in Arizona. Now I'm trying to find ways to use it in Colorado.

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Stanley Lake Cove

This was one of my early Plein aire paintings. I was out with friend Alan Hall. It was hot August day and the cove brought some cool relief. I really like how the cool shades of cerulean blues play off the warm venitian yellow. I will make some minor refinements to the painting and call it finished, I think it has some real promise as a painting.

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UnfinishedCoal Creek Canyon

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Conor and Rachael Portrait

This portrait was a lot of fun to paint even if it was from a photograph. It was painted for my son Conor and his fiance, Rachael for their wedding invitations. With the photograph I could make sure that everything about the portrait was exactly correct. I don't do many portraits and I don't paint from photographs but I was very happy with the results, I should probably paint more portraits from photographs.

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Chataqua Auditorium and Flatirons

A quick oil sketch, done on 3/27/14. To see a completed version of this painting please go to the "Acrylic" section of the web site and look to painting titled "Chataqua House, Boulder, CO" dated June 2015.

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Tractor and Lilacs, Long Iris Farm

It was too cold for the Iris to bloom, I'd never painted a tractor before so a great day to attempt something new. I liked how the early spring green complimented the rusty Crimson of the tractor,

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Sandstone Ranch, Longmont, CO

Plein Air study. This was painted in January with the afternoon sun low in the southern sky. The low direct light is almost like a spot light at this time of year. I wish I had taken a photo graph to finish the painting, because when I went back two weeks later the direct exposure of the sun had changed too much. Oh well, I will be back next January.

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Spring Grasses, Sawhill Ponds

A very early spring painting with the grasses and willows still bent over from the weight of the winter snows. I'm happy with how I captured the grassy hillocks. The trees were a ghostly gray, the earlybuds were not showing their beautiful pastel shades yet.

I was painting with Fritz hence the Title "Spring Grasses."

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Fall Colors

This was painted at Coot Lake I had to search a large area to find a decent spot. I painted this using only the three primary colors and white. I felt confined with the limitation but it worked out okay when I look at the results. I donated this painting to a silent auction for Alexander Dawson school, I hope some anonymous family is enjoying the painting in their home.

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Boulder Creek Tubers

I painted this on Boulder creek hoping to get another painting of a bathing beauty. This was painter on a mahogany panel an I love the rich burnt red that shows through.

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Buffalo Overlook

I found the Buffalo herd on the south side of I-70. By the time I had set up my easel they had grazed on.

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May, Marshall Mesa, CO

This was painted on my birthday to celebrate my 60th year. It had been a wet spring and the foothills were their brilliant green color when the grasses are new. The willows were a muted purple and I couldn't pass up the chance to paint using my favorite palette of greens and purples. I painted all day even though the shadows and light changed, I was celebrating my Birthday!

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Spring, Saint Vrain River

I painted this on the Saint Vrain River, I was drawn to the intense bright colors of the budding willows and trees. I was painting with my son Conor

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Monastery Monument

This painting was painted from a photograph taken on the grounds of the Seminary of Brother Charles Bramaio, in Rome. The light on the statue and the palm trees was almost heavenly. I didn't notice when I took the photograph that there was a butterfly on the base of the statue, but getting the butterfly just right was the hardest part of the painting

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Snow Bird Mountain,Autumn

This painting was done from a composite of three photographs. I could manipulate the three photos to get the correct composition. The finished painting was for a wedding gift. This beautiful painting convinces me that I should do more paintings from photographs.

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Snow Bird Mtn. Autumn

This painting was done from a composite of three photographs. I could manipulate the three photos to get the correct composition. The finished painting was for a wedding gift. This beautiful painting convinces me that I should do more paintings from photographs.

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Spring, Red Willows

Another brilliant colored spring painting with the intense pastel pink colored willows playing against the new green grasses. This was donated for a silent auction, I hope the owners enjoy it as much as I did the painting.

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Evergreen Lake

I searched high and low to find an interesting motif to paint, this was truly the best that I could find. The shoreline is completely developed. I remember working too long and hard on this unsuccessful painting

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August, Morrison Mountain

This was painted and entered in the 2012 Colorado Plein Air Festival. I was painting with Conor and I had to paint quickly and immediately to be finished when Conor was done, this was a true "alla prima painting, wet on wet and no re-touches in the studio. I thought this was the weakest of the 5 paintings that I entered. Was I mistaken, it was the only one chosen and it placed third in the emerging artist category. I was given a three person show at the Humphries-Grant Museum along with the first and second place artists.

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Waterton Canyon, Colorado

This was painted on a hot June day, I was able to find a little shade and a beautiful view of the red rocks, Thisbis painted on a slick mahogany panel that gives the painting a lush creamy finish. I like the jagged rocks thrown in counter to the pastoral fields.

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March, Marshall Mesa

This painting received the Judge's Award at the North Metro Alliance Show. This was painted on a slick mahogany panel and the paints have a thick creamy texture. As I was finishing the painting a cowboy was moving his white faced black angus to their evening bedding grounds, can you find the cattle?

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Marshall Cows

This was painted on a cold February day. Traipsing around looking for my motif I was stuck by the beautifull field stone lying on the ground. Maybe some day if I have the inclination I'll carve one of the field stones in honor of John Flanagan. A lovely day with the pastel buds of the cottonwoods and a herd of cattle joined the scene.

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Sawhill Ponds, East Boulder

The first attempt at painting on a mahogony panel. I was frustrated at first because the panel was so slick that it was a struggle to get the paint to lay down on the surface. After a little while I was able to figure out the nuances of the surface and now it is one of my favorite surtaces to paint on.

The first attempt at painting on a mahogony panel. I was frustrated at first because the panel was so slick that it was a struggle to get the paint to lay down on the surface. After a little while I was able to figure out the nuances of the surface and now it is one of my favorite surtaces to paint on.

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East Boulder Creek, Autumn

Painted on late Autumn day near the end of October. This was the first time that I realized that even struggling through a difficult painting is better than packing up and going home, maybe never getting around to finishing the painting. I stuck with it and after six hours I was satisfied with the results. I was painting with my friend Fritz.

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Boulder Creek

This was painted on a warm September, with the feel of autumn but warm enough to enjoy cold Boulder Creek. The young lady and her friends came to play in the little waterfall. I asked her to pose for me for five minutes, I begged for another five minutes. I had a couple collectors competing to buy this painting, I sold it to my good friend Sharon.

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13th Ave. Art Building Bridge

This was painted during the Golden Triangle Museum District Plein Air competition. I really like how the geometry repeats itself in this simple design. I think the lights and bold darks work well against each other. The turquoise colored pedestrian bridge works nicely to unity the lights and darks.

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Back Alley Stairs

The rhythm of the back stairways attracted me to this site. I got to use a lot of my favorite color combination, Naples yellow and a crimson-burnt sienna.

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Pergolas

I painted this in my first Denver Golden Museum Triangle Paint-out. This was painted on a wet and cold September, I set up my kit under an exterior stairway to stay out of the elements. I really liked the architecture of the porch under the pergolas. I think this was a very successful Plein air painting even with the difficult perspective. The next summer I used the pergola porch for my succesful painting "Summer Evening".

I changed the height to 850 instead of 1000 so it would fit on the screen.

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Denver Art Museum Roofers

There was an architectural design flaw in roof of the new Denver Art Museum discover the first winter after the opening of the new museum. The roofers reminded me of the Carrara mable cutters in Singer Sargent paintings. This painting was selected to be shown in the Denver Open Art Show at the Denver Public Library. I thought the painting was sold but the collecter never came up with the money.

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Summer Evening

This was painted for the "Broomfield Days" poster contest. I won the contest with this painting of the "Brunner House". The original site of the Brunner House was on 120th. Big box stores and urban development pushed the structure to a much nicer elevated area in central Broomfield at the corner of Main Street and Midway.

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Summer Evening Sky

A large quick pleine-aire painting of the summer skies and the twin towers, the old grain elevators next to the Burlington Norther train tracks. I decided this was not the image that I wanted to paint for the "Broomfield /Days" Poster contest. I chose the other historical site the "Brunner House".

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Red Rocks, Oil Pastel

This oil pastel was done on a sketching trip with my wife's cousin Bill Curtin. This lead to grander" painting trip with Bill in Ireland a few years later.

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Aquarius Trail

The first time that I went out with the Plein Air Artists of Colorado. This was painted at the Aquarius trail outside of Louisville, Colorado. I really like the trees in the distance where the color is best discribed as muted pastel grey.

This painting was juried into the annual Plein Air Art show in Cherry Creek, Colorado.

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South Boulder Creek, Winter

This was painted on a snowy wet spring day in March. I was drawn to this site by the cat tails standing tall and straight in the heavy snow. I think the wet dark shadows really worked well against the snowy white and pastel colored trees in bud. This painting placed second in a small local art show.

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Twin Towers Broomfeld, CO

A quick plainer-aire sketch that captured the early afternoon winter sky. I quite too soon because i was painting from the backyard of a home and I hadn't asked permission. I had to bug out early.

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Towee Trail

One of my early favorite painting motifs, the yellow east-west ridge pushing up against the red Flatirons. One of my early oil "plein air" paintings, transitioning from acrylic to oil.

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Iris Farms

Painted at an Iris Garden in Lakewood, Colorado. This painting was sold in a silent auction.

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Shadow Canyon

Shadow canyon trail is the prefered hiking trail to the top of South Boulder Peak. The gentle trail climbs in the shade of a poderosa pine forest. The iconic “Maiden” rock is seen to the left which is a favorite techical climb and 150 ft. Free rappel for most dedicated climber in Boulder. I painted this in two daily sessions which gave me a chance to lay in the composition on day one. Review and analyze the painting in the evening and the next day I could make the painted representation into a beautiful painting. I wish i had the luxury to paint in this manner all the time. .

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Broomfield Siding

This was painted on a cold November evening near Thanksgiving. Conor and I went to the other side of the tracks which was the original town of Broomfield. The old siding sign that identied Broomfield is falling down. The train track runs from left to right drawing your eye to the grain towers. I really like the gritty feel of this oil sketch. Unfortunately the next time I went to the site urban renewal had begun gentrifying this area. The only thing missing is the Orange Burlington-Northern train engine driving through the scene

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Bear Mountain, Winter Ridge

Another early oil painting where I'm transitioning from water media to oils. The reason for the change was the water medium would freeze in the cold winter weather. This was painted in February. It was cold and windy and I positioned myself on the leeward side of the ridge protected from the wind. I already liked the texture of the oils and I was experimenting with the palette knife.

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Flatirons and Pine trees in Snowstorm

This was painted after an early wet November snow and it stuck nicely to the rocks and trees. I was trying to capture how the snow adhered differently to the trees and the rocks in this predominantly white landscape. I always thought this would make a nice Christmas Card.

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Morrison Mountain, Snow

Late spring snow storm the previous night and the snow was melting fast on the easterly face of the Mountain. on Morrison Mountain

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Marshall Apples

This was painted at the old Marshall townsite which used to be a coal mining community. The old Apple tree I imagined was planted by a long gone resident. I wanted to capture the light in the last ten minutes before the sun goes down. The light is so clear and precise.

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Clear Creek, Golden, CO

My first plein air in oil painted in one sitting. I love the greys and pink on the mountainside and the Intense phatlo blues. I had a lot to learn about oils, you can see I’m using the watercolor technique of washes.

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Napping, Keith and Conor

This quick oil stick sketch was caught on a late Saturday afternoon when brothers Keith and Conor took a short break from their active play day. They were both sitting on the blue denim rocker, and they happened to both be wearing red T-shirts. I was able to quickly catch them in their quiet nap before they both woke up and began their raucous playing.

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Summer Morning, Mom, Maura and Eamon

This early morning oil pastel drawing of Madona and children were actually my young family. Cathy had probably just fed Eamon and Maura climbed in the bed in the early hours. I thought it was just too precious a scene to pass on and go back to sleep. I pulled out my sketch book and pastels to record this peaceful scene.

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Storm Mountain

This was my first Plein Air oil painting, I painted it even before I had heard of the French word for Outdoor Painting. I'd painted the "Storm Mountain" the previous year in water colors and I was really excited to try painting it in oils the next year when we went to our friend's cabin. I think you can see my excitement. This painting is always hanging in my house and everyday I look at it and hope that I am still able to paint with the same intensity. I hope that I am able to keep improving. I think this is a wonderful painting and what a fantastic beginning to my life long passion of painting outdoors!!

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Locker room stilllfe

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Fritzoid

This was my first assignment in my introduction to painting class in College. The assignment was to make a painting using the tertiary color wheel. Tertiary colors are made by mixing primary colors with secondary colors. I was unhappy with my first oil painting attempt, I wasn't able to manipulate the paints the way that I thought they should be handled; too much glazing. My good friend Fritz, who purchased the painting loved it! The glazing added to what Fritz saw as a trippy painting. I look at it now as an excellent abstract painting. A lot of good movement and strange unidentifiable images. Fritz described it as Disney animation on acid.

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Morrison Mountain autumn 1st state

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