View while wading up Aravaipa Creek in the Galiuro Mountains, Arizona.  This is a 24 x 36-inch acrylic on canvas board.  A larger version is in the gallery.

Cottonwood trees shining brightly in the sun along Aravaipa Canyon in the Galiuro Mountains of Arizona.  This is a 9 x 12-inch acrylic study on watercolor paper.  This is truly a spectacular canyon for a hike.  See the gallery for a larger version.

Romero Creek provides a good reason to visit Catalina Park near Tucson, Arizona.  This is a view at the first creek crossing on the Romero Canyon trail.  Though not a roaring torrent like many streams in Washington, Romero Creek provides a welcome relief to hikers in the desert.  A larger view may be seen in the gallery.  This is a 24-inch x 36-inch acrylic on mdf board.

I found this view from the northern edge of Grand Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, to be especially striking.  Mt. Rainier is truly "in your face" at this location with its immense size emphasized by the large open area of Grand Park. A larger view may be seen in the gallery.  This is acrylic on  24-inch by 48-inch mdf board.

This is a scene along the Mokelumne River in the central Sierra Nevada Mts of California.  This grouping of weathered logs immediately caught my attention.  This is a 29 x 21-inch acrylic on watercolor paper. A larger version is available in the gallery.

This scene is looking across Lake Colchuck towards Aasgard Pass, the gateway to the Enchantments.  Aasgard Pass is a particularly steep (2,200 feet in one mile) and rocky hike to take into the Enchantments area near Leavenworth, WA. The intense blue of the lake is caused by fine glacial rock flour in the water.  This painting is a 24 x 36-inch acrylic on watercolor paper. A larger version is available in the Gallery.

It's springtrime in Sabino Canyon.  The Poplars and cottonwoods are all leafed out and there is still a good flow of water in the creek.  These pools are a great place to take off your shoes and relax in the sun.  This is a 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper. A larger version may be seen in the Gallery.

This weekend I joined with the Tucson Plein Air Painters for a paintout at Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona.  It was a gorgeous day with a large turnout of painters.  I opted to try my hand at painting a small waterfall and pools along Madera Creek.  This is the result, a 9 x 12-inch oil painting on masonite.  Though I still find painting with oils in plein air a bit foreign compared to acrylic and watercolor, I'm beginning to have more success and generally enjoy the experience. Good things about this approach is that it is possible to capture the essence of a scene in about 1-1/2 to 2 hours and all the necessary equipment/supplies easily fit into a back pack.  This makes the approach ideal for doing on-location paintings at remote sites. A larger version may be seen in the Gallery.

Here is another view in Sycamore Canyon in the early morning. 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper.  A larger view may be seen in the gallery.

This scene is at our lunch stop on a recent hike to the Romero Pools at Catalina State Park near Tucson, Arizona.  The main area of pools was crowded with kids on spring break so we instead hiked farther up the canyon to this set of small water falls.  21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper.  A larger version may be seen in the gallery.

Here is another painting of Elephant Head.  This time right after a snow storm just as the sun is coming out in the late afternoon.  It doesn't have as much drama as I had hoped so its likely I'll make some changes later.  This is a 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper. A larger version may be seen in the gallery.

Elephant Head is a well-known small peak just across the valley from Green Valley, Arizona.  I have long been interested in this as a subject for painting.  First I tried a plein air painting in oils on a 9 x 12-inch masonite.   The first photo is my prochade box with the painting in progress; the second is the finished item.  I'm still trying to get the hang of using oils. 

Here is another view of Pusch Ridge, this time late in the day.  The nearly white Catalina granite gneiss that makes up Pusch Ridge glows a brilliant yellow orange in the fading sunlight.  This is a 22 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper.  A larger version may be seen in the Gallery.

Hukou Falls is a large waterfall located in Jinxia Grand Canyon on the middle reaches of the Yellow River between Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces, China.  The Yellow River is named because of the yellow brown color of the water from the high silt content. The wide river is constricted into a narrow deep gorge making this very dramatic waterfall with a drop of about 50 to 60 feet. This extends from the head of the canyon and also pours laterally from the canyon sides into the gorge making a series of U-shaped falls.  Though the water is not clear, sun shining on the exceeding fast moving river  produces intense yellow-brown and reddish brown colors. This scene is based upon review of many photos and videos taken by various people visiting the site.  The location of the scene appears at the start of this YouTube video .

The painting is acrylic on MDF board and measures 49-inches x 25-inches.  A larger image is located in the Gallery.

I thought this was an appropriate name for this jumble of logs in Coquihalla Canyon gorge near Hope, British Columbia, Canada. This is a view from the Othello Tunnels that were cut through solid granite to allow a railroad to navigate the 300 foot deep canyon. The Kettle Valley Railway was built here between 1912 and 1918 to serve the bonanza Cariboo mining district farther north in BC.  Nowadays it is a hiking trail. Yes, the water is this clear, beautiful and wild. The painting is a 22 x 28-inch acrylic on canvas.  A larger view is available in the Gallery.

This is a scene on Denny Creek near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington.  This area is a popular spot where kids congregate on hot summer days to play in the shallow pools and algae covered slides on the smooth granite outcrops. This is a 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper.  A larger version is located in the Gallery.

This is another scene on Icicle Creek near Leavenworth, Washington. This is a spectacular wild river that is supplied mostly from melting glaciers in the Stuart Range.  The contained glacial rock flour provides a pale blue color to the otherwise clear, cold water.  It was near this scene where I slipped on an algae covered rock while taking reference photos in the middle of the stream.  In I went camera and all.  I managed to keep the camera dry by catching one leg of the tripod as I headed for my chilly dip,  then swam ashore with one arm while holding the camera tripod by one leg above the churning water. This is probably the closest I'll ever get to a mid-winter polar bear club swim. The painting is a 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper depicting the rapids just before sunset. A larger version is located in the Gallery.

Snoqualmie Falls near Snoqualmie, Washington is a popular tourist sight for those visiting the Seattle area.  It's a large falls dropping about 268 feet.  The luxurious Salish Lodge lies at the lip of the falls on the left.  This is a 24 x 36-inch acrylic on masonite painted largely using a painting knife with limited brushwork. A larger version is available in the gallery.

This is a scene along the trail to Twin Falls on the Snoqualmie River near North Bend, Washington.  I was drawn to the play of light filtering through the trees onto the rocks. This painting is a 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper. A larger version is available in the gallery.

I'm planning a hike later this summer into the Enchantments area of Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Washington State.  This scene of Prusik Peak at sunrise in the fall is something I probably won't see as I'll be doing the long climb up Aasgard Pass through the morning on my way to this area.  Plans are to do the grueling 18 mile hike in one day so we don't need to obtain an overnight permit (difficult to do with the lottery system now used by the Forest Service).  At least the painting will inspire me to get in good enough shape to complete the hike.  The painting is a 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper.  A larger version is located in the Gallery.

Last weekend I met with several other artists from the Tucson Plein Air Painters Society at the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Nature Preserve.  This a beautiful piece of real estate along Sonoita Creek owned by Nature Conservancy.  It is a real haven for bird watchers.   I was able to block in a nice scene while "off trail" on a sandbar along the creek before being runoff for not "staying on the trail".  The original plan was to paint plein air but I had to go to plan B and limit my on-site work to blocking in and taking photos for later use.  It would be really tough to stay on a trail as there are many walkers.  Here is the result as a 10 x 14-inch acrylic on mat board. A larger version of this is available in the Gallery.

Last week we hiked at Cochise Stronghold.  It was a gorgeous day with many sites that could serve as a model for a good painting.  This one I was especially taken by as it illustrates why Cochise, the Apache Chief, was able to elude the US Army so long by hiding among the large granite boulders in this area.  The painting is acrylic on watercolor paper and measures 21 x 29 inches.  See the Gallery for a larger version.

This painting is another result of my trip to Catalina Mountain Park with the Tucson Plein Air Painters Society.  In the afternoon I took off for a hike up Montrose Canyon and spotted this great view of Pusch Ridge.  With the recent rains it just so happens there was water in the wash to make the view even better.  This is a 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper painted in the studio.  See the Gallery for a larger version.

I attended a plein aire paintout with the Tucson Plein Air Painters Society.  I've not been a big fan of plein air painting because the lighting changes so fast.  This time I tried a smaller painting, 10 x 14 inches and it worked OK. This painting was done in about 2 hours using acrylics on mat board.  The rapid drying time requires that I paint very fast and use a misting bottle a lot but otherwise it was an enjoyable experience.  I met several other good folks who are old hands at plein air painting with oils.  Although it's difficult to show much detail while working so fast it's facinating to be able to quickly capture the essence of a scene in such a short time.  I plan to do a lot more of this.  See the Gallery for a larger version.

Sycamore Canyon provides a delightful oasis in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona.  This scene is a lunch stop on a recent hike down the canyon from the Ruby road.  It is acrylic on watercolor paper 21 x 29 inches.  I was especially intrigued by the many irregular cavities in the cliffs composed of Atascosa rhyolite tuff as highlighted in the mid-morning sun. See the Gallery for a larger version. 

I was impressed with the way the low angle sun was shining through the clear water in these rapids on Icicle Creek near Leavenworth, Washington.  I took several photos but they failed to show the brilliance of the sun on the water.  The first painting is a quick study to see if I could improve what was displayed in the photos. 

This is a 11 x 14-inch acrylic on watercolor paper created in about 1 hour.  It fails to show the wildness of the water and does not have enough contrast.  In the full scale painting I really want to emphasize the three main places where the sunlight shows through the water, and the turbulent water. 

The sun shining through the pale blue milky glacial meltwater provided an amazing array of colors for this 21 x 29-inch acrylic on watercolor paper.  I darkened the background and removed the distraction of the trees.  A larger view of this painting is in the gallery.

A beautiful bright fall day on the Methow River near Winthrop, Washington, provided a very simple but interesting scene for this painting.  The river channel is filled with well-rounded granite cobbles and boulders which make a startling contrast with the clear bluish green water of the river.  This is a 22 x 28-inch watercolor.  A larger version is in the Gallery. 

This weekend I finally got back to painting after several months layoff.  We recently went to Green Valley, Arizona, and purchased a townhouse in which to escape the wet Seattle winters.  The back yard of the townhouse is a desert wash filled with native plants including many varieties of cactus, and lots of Gambel's quail.  The quail are particularly cute to watch as they are very family oriented.  My latest painting is from a scene in the back yard where the male quail is watching out while the family feeds upon seeds in the wash.  I titled this The Sentinel.  This is a 22 x 28-inch acrylic on canvas board. A larger version is in the Gallery.

Mt. Shuksan, in the Baker National Forest of northwest Washington is one of the most photographed mountains in the US.  Generally the photographer takes it with Picture Lake in the foreground to produce a spectacular reflection.  I chose to use a view from the Chain Lakes Trail about 2 miles to the west.  I was impressed with the interesting shapes of the large rocks in the foreground, especially the large boulder of volcanic breccia that serves as the focal point for the painting.  These boulders and the nearby ridges are composed of recent volcanic rocks from the active Mt. Baker volcano that lies a few miles behind the viewer.  Mt. Shuksan itself is much older consisting of Jurassic (150 million year old) Shuksan greenschist derived from submarine volcanics and sediments.

I took several photographs of the area on a hike a year ago that served as the basis for the painting.  Initially I made a quick watercolor 14 x 21 inches to test how the clouds would work partially obscuring Mt. Shuksan.  I was dissappointed with this (see below) in that it hid too much of the mountain and glaciers. 

The final painting, a 24 x 36-inch acrylic on watercolor paper, shows Mt. Shuksan much better.  Here is the final painting - a larger version is in the Gallery.

This painting depicts a foggy sunrise at the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall of China.  The Jinshanling section lies between Miyun county of Beijing and Luanping county of Hebei Province, 140 km from Beijing. It is a World Heritage Site and a National Priority Protected Site. It is an important architectural treasure of the Ming Dynasty (1368 –1644 AD).  The Jinsanling Wall is 6.3 miles long and is joined on each end by other sections of the wall.   It has six cols (gates), 68 dilous(towers) of varied form and two FengHuoTai (high watch towers).  The wall is the main body for the whole system. It has a stone base. The wall itself is a brick shell filled with stone and earth. Where the landform is even, the wall is about 15 to 17 feet high. The width at the bottom is about 17 feet.   This section of the Wall has had less restoration than others such as the heavily touristed Badaling section. 

The various sections of the Wall were constructed at different times starting about 220 BC in the Qin Dynasty up through the Ming Dynasty and have differing designs.  The wall was constructed to provide defense from the "barbarians" in Mongolia to the north.  Subsequent to the Ming Dynasty Mongolia became part of China so the Wall no longer was needed.  Bricks from the Wall had been scavanged by peasants to build houses, pig styes and chicken coops before the Chinese government enacted laws to protect it in the 1980s.  You can download the following interesting report that includes numerous photos and an assessment of work needed to restore certain parts of the Jinshanling section at the link below.  

Jinshanling Report2005-08.pdf (5.88 mb)

The painting is acrylic on  1/4-inch masonite and measures 24 x 36 inches.  A larger image of this appears in the Gallery section of this web site.