Bill's Roses, 16x12, Oil on Linen

You may recognize this house. It is my neighbor Bill's. This is the fourth time I've painted it. I love the way the late afternoon sun lights up the west wall and the roses leaving pretty much everything else in shadow. This is by far the simplest I've painted the subject. It has taken me a long time to learn what to leave out.

Late Afternoon Calm, Oil on Linen, 12x16

revised 7/19/11

My commitment to the Project Art for Nature (PAN) was to choose a location that I will return to once a month for the next year. For me the obvious choice of location was Lake Pepin, which is actually just a widening of the River south of the Mississippi and St. Croix River confluence. Despite the fact that this is a working river that sees huge barges on a daily basis, there is still a lot of natural beauty to capture. PAN has a show at the Phipps Center for the Arts in September. I'm hoping that by then I will have captured a bit of this beauty to pass on to others who come out to see the show.

Sunnies Are Just Fine, Oil on Linen, 18x24

revised 7/29/11, 9/23/11

Today is the first day of summer. Spring was noteworthy for flooding, snow, rain and a lot of grey days. The day I painted the 12x16 field painting this studio painting was based on was one of the few exceptions. The field painting was painted 2 weeks ago on the only day we went swimming so far this year. I guess this painting is my attempt to capture and hold a piece of summer we have seen far too little of this year. Rats, it just started raining again.