Just Below the Hilltop (watercolor 14 x 18) sold
Another view of Sprague Trail. The woods there are so light, since the ice storm of 2021 thinned the forest.
Posts tagged ·
forest
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April 28, 2021 4:27 pm
4:15 pm
Forest Archway (watercolor 14 x 18) available
Another painting of the woods below our house.
April 15, 2021 10:58 am
The Standing and the Fallen (16 x 23 watercolor) available
This Spring Salem, Oregon had back to back ice storms leading to many downed trees and branches. While I mourn many of the trees lost, nature’s thinning does have it’s compensations. One of those is that woods around our house, are an entirely new place, while still remaining beautiful. This lit up hillside was dark, tangled, and mossy just months ago. Now it is bright and open.
February 10, 2021 12:41 pm
Beginning to Melt (15 x 22) available
One more painting of Croisan Creek Trail. This time after bit of snow.
November 23, 2020 5:22 pm
The Mossy Grove (watercolor 14 x 19) available
This is my favorite part of Skyline trail, where all of the trees are bearded with moss.
November 17, 2020 3:01 pm
Into the Woods (watercolor 13 x 20) available
Another painting of the woods below Sprague Highschool, and another one of our favorite walks.
October 10, 2020 2:23 pm
Wood's Edge (watercolor 16 x 21) available
We often hike in the woods below Sprague High School. This is the upper entrance to the trail. Lit from behind, the shadows are an invitation to walk in the woods.
August 7, 2020 1:25 pm
Back-Lit Bramble (watercolor 16 x 23) available
We aren’t going much of anywhere this summer due to Covid-19. Lucky for us, nearby Croisen Scenic Trail provides endless scenic fodder. This particular scene, is in the less trafficked part of the trail below Sprague High School.
April 24, 2020 10:18 am
Dappled Spring Trail (watercolor 16 x 23) Sold
Dappled Spring Trail II (watercolor 13 x 21) available
Two sunny spring views, of the trial below our house in Salem, Oregon. Croisan Creek Trail, is an endless source of inspiration. During the current shelter in place orders, it is even more valuable as an escape.
August 19, 2019 6:12 pm
Shadows Over the Hilltop (watercolor 10 x 15) available
Shadows on the hillside above Croisan Creek, Salem, Oregon.
5:48 pm
July 30, 2019 5:17 pm
Cresting the Hill (watercolor 16 x 23) available
Another forest painting from Croisan Scenic Trail.
July 8, 2019 4:58 pm
Old Woman (watercolor 16 x 21) SOLD
An upwards look at the woods backing our yard. Either you will see the old woman or you won’t. If you do see her, you won’t be able to stop seeing her.
This painting has sold, but you can still purchase a fine art reproduction here.
4:56 pm
Lacey Edge (watercolor 12 x 17) available
Watercolor painting of the lacy patterns made by light on the forest edge.
June 8, 2019 4:47 pm
Early Spring (watercolor on yupo 11 x 14) available
A little bit like alcohol ink, but more controllable. This painting is watercolor on Yupo, which is a little like painting on glass.
May 8, 2019 8:22 pm
Looking Up Towards Home II (watercolor 13 x 19) Sold
Walking home from a morning walk in the woods we looked up the hill towards our house into magical morning light. I’ve done my best to capture that light in this pair of paintings.
Looking Up Towards Home I (watercolor 13 x 19) Sold
These paintings have sold, but you can still purchase prints here.
8:18 pm
Spring Snow on Croisan Train (watercolor 14 x 19) available
We walked Croisan Scenic Trail all this winter, rain, snow, or shine. It is beautiful in the snow.
August 6, 2018 8:31 pm
Aqua Falls (watercolor 16 x 23) SOLD
No these falls aren’t actually named the Aqua Falls. I don’t know their name. I think of them as the aqua falls, because the water is the most beautiful aqua color there. There being the first falls on the Opal Creek Trail, east of Salem, Oregon. If you hike the trail you’ll find them just as you reach the abandoned mill machinery. You have to scramble a little off trail down some rocks to reach this view of them. The good news is you’ll probably have them to yourself.
This painting has sold, but you may still purchase a fine art print.
November 30, 2016 12:40 pm
Fog Over Croisan Valley (17 x 23 watercolor) Sold
This painting is a little closer to home than most of my recent work. I see this view every morning on the way home from my walk down Croisan Scenic Trail. The trial occupies a long thin, Salem park with our neighborhood a hundred feet above it and Croisan Creek a few hundred feet below it. The path is beautiful in all seasons and rarely feels nearly as close to town as it is. It’s particularly evocative in the fog.
This painting has sold, but you can still purchase a fine art print.
August 9, 2010 1:13 pm
Wyoming Glow (watercolor 15 x 18 inches) Available
Back to Wyoming in the morning. I used the same reference photo for this painting as I did for my last pastel. I didn’t mess the seasons this time but it looks like spring rather than summer to me. That’s because it’s been such a wet year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Wyoming so green. The early morning sun on the grass was simply spectacular.
The problem for me was not to lose the forest in the trees. It’s much too easy to get mesmerized by detail and try to paint every tree. Yet the painting must still suggest individual trees and I wanted the emphasis to remain on the sunlit grass. My solution this time was to eliminate detail by using a big brush. The entire painting is done with a number 14 round brush (about three eights of an inch at the shank but coming to a fairly tight point).* Usually I work in numbers 12, 10, 8 and finish with 6 (the smaller the number the smaller the brush).
I did not use mask either. Painting carefully around the lights rather than reserving them with mask forced me to keep them big.
I also used a fairly limited palette: winsor purple, phthalo blue, cobalt blue, quinacridone gold, and burnt sienna. This not only helped unify the painting, but helped me concentrate on big shapes.
But I have my husband to thank for the key to this painting. He came upstairs and looked at it in progress.
“Too fuzzy.”
“But where would I put the detail?”
“I don’t know.”
Stephen is not good at seeing what to do to a painting, but he’s very good at seeing problems. It pays to listen to him. I thought about it. One classic maneuver is to put a lot of detail into the foreground. I used that approach with my pastel. But my painting was already too abstract to allow much real detail in the foreground. In the end I did two things. I added texture to the foreground and sharpened up the trees just where they intruded on the distant grass at the center of interest. Together the changes created instant depth.
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*Actually, I used one other brush, but only for my signature. For that I used a number 2 rigger. Riggers are very long thin brushes designed to make long thin continuous lines without having to repeatedly re-dip then in paint. The name comes from their usefulness in painting sail rigging.
