Looking South

This is a view of the headlands where the Mattole River meets the Pacific. It is landscape on a vast scale and it was a challenge for me to capture it's ruggedness and variety. I now have a new respect for those great landscape painters of the heroic mythic west, who painted huge canvas' to portray the grandeur they saw.
48" x 18"

4 Musicians

Live music onstage  =  magic

16 3/4" x 27 1/4"   watercolor and acrylic

Lookin South From The Mouth of the Mattole

This is a sketch from a high meadow overlooking the hills and ocean where the Mattole River reaches the sea. It was a very warm sunny October afternoon, the fog hovered offshore, but never blew in. The low sun put the north facing wooded slopes into deep shade. This rugged landscape is very dramatic - I will be painting a large version which hopefully will give a sense of the really grand scale of this area.
9" x 12"

Three Musicians

I'm intrigued with painting musicians -as they play their instruments and listen intently to each other,  they slouch, they hunch and focus inwardly.
12 1/8" x 12 1/4"

2 Musicians

and now for something different......in trying to capture the raw energy of a jazz festival,  I left traditional watercolor behind.
For the background I used gouache and acrylic and generally tortured the paper by scraping and rubbing to evoke the sense of process I was hearing in the music.
An experimental piece that represents a visual improvisation - phew!
17 1/4" x 13 1/8"

The Garden Stage

Recently I went to the Monterrey Jazz Festival after an absence of 10 years, and found it to be the same wonderful experience. Fantastic music non stop for 3 days and happy people in a beautiful environment .
Here is a sketch of one stage:  4 musicians playing with great energy in front of striking graphics of the backdrop.
5 1/2" x 14"

At The Equinox

These are the last lovely days of summer, and a good day to paint outside, This is another study of the corner of my garden.
7" x 10"