4:00

Here is the last plein air painting I made from Rincon Parkway, near Ventura, CA. 

As the sun set, the line between sea and sky blurred and color became the most important element. Staring into the sunset put my pupils down to pinpricks, then looking at my pastels and paper with those same eyes made everything impossibly dark. 

Yesterday I got to see Robert Burridge's show, "Soulmates" at the Buenaventura Gallery in Ventura. Click here for a photo of some of the pieces. It was like drooling over the dessert table at a buffet to see his vibrantly painted figure pieces in a row on the wall. And a tender juxtaposition to see the quiet nudes in their black and white simplicity. 

"The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see." Gilbert K. Chesterton

2:00

20 x 16, pastel on Rives BFK.

1:00 pm

20 x 16, pastel on BFK

Pleasure and wonder at what it means to stay in the same spot for many days, observing and painting the scene before me.

The fog enshrouds Santa Cruz Island and makes an exciting transition from sea to sky.

While at home, the temperatures are below 50 and the skies are gray and filled with rain, here in California it is mild and sunny. Every day starts with a walk on the beach ... barefooted. 

Life is good!

11:00 am

20 x 16. Pastel on Rives BFK.

9:00 am plein air at the edge of the ocean

My sketchbook is littered with drawings of this view of sand, sea, sky and the mysterious Santa Cruz Island. As the sun arcs across this scene, all of the elements shift importance.

I am in Southern California near Ventura, camped right on the beach. The surf marks a beat to my thoughts, actions, steps, and even my heart responds to the rhythm.

Finally, after hours of observation, I am ready to paint.

It's 9:00 am and this is how the pieces fit together.


20" x 16", pastel on Rives BFK.

Bill Evans, "California, Here I Come."

Yosemite water

Falls, 20 x 16, acrylic and pastel on paper

Whenever I am in our of our National Parks, I feel grateful for the people who had vision and wisdom to preserve these places of natural beauty.

December is maybe not the best time to see all of Yosemite National Park, but no matter the time of year it is soul-filling. Even with snow on the valley floor and temperatures in the 20s.

"Everyone needs beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in,

where nature may heal and cheer and give strength

to the body and soul alike."  John Muir

Half Dome, photo by Katherine van Schoonhoven, 2013

More about Yosemite National Park here.

from Notan to painting: acrylic

Here is an acrylic painting inspired by a Notan sketch, this time from my summer trip to the Columbia River Gorge.  Waterfalls are beautiful and powerful and are hard to resist as painting subjects.

20 x 16. Acrylic on paper.

interpretations

From the same Notan sketch, I painted these two paintings. Notan gives me a mental boost to figure out an interesting value pattern in black and white. Once I have a design I like, I interpret it with color.

The original sketch came from a visit I made to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge near Olympia, Washington.

After sorting out a sketch I liked, I laid in watercolor underpaintings on Wallis sanded paper, both 12 x 12. Then I forgot about them.Now, about a year later, I finished painting them with pastels. Two interpretations of the same design.

Straight No Chaser "12 Days" is a fun interpretation of familiar Christmas songs!

O Christmas tree

11.5 x 7, watercolor, pastel

Christmas time is here. Tune in and you will hear that some radio stations play nothing but Christmas music. Cars on the roads have trees strapped to their tops. The Salvation Army Santas ring their bells at every store, hoping to fill the kettles with donations.

Our  three acres in Southwest Washington used to be a Christmas tree farm. More than 30 years ago, people could cut their own tree here, after a sleigh ride back into the woods.

We've cut down many of the trees over the years we have lived here, but the feeling remains of an evergreen wonderland. I could sing "O Christmas Tree" all year round.

Crooner Tony Bennett sings "O Christmas Tree." I love the piano accompaniment in this version and I hope you will enjoy it as well.

cold art

With Arctic temperatures pushing the red needle of our thermometer down to the teens and twenties, it's little wonder that my thoughts turn to snowmen. Here are a few designs from my sketchbook. 

I think of my sketchbook as a container for ideas. Some of my ideas have a future outside the sketchbook.

This woodcut design image will be 4" x 4" and will easily fit into a ready made square frame.

I am using a new set of carving knives and having trouble getting them sharp enough to not tear through the fine plywood layers of this Shina block.

Progress is slow, but the heater is on in the studio and I am comfortable.

More snow in the forecast. But, in the meantime, it's blue sky and very cold.

I enjoy The Piano Guys very much, but I don't think I will let them come over and do this to MY piano. "Angels We Have Heard on High."