New small works

I had a beautiful November day last week for plein air on the Lake Michigan shore. Hard to believe it was a sunny 65 degrees, I enjoyed every minute. Also a couple of small, studio pieces.

Dunes and shadows, oil, 10" x 8"

Beside the wetlands, oil on paper, 6" x 10"

Morning over Sleeping Bear Bay, oil, 8" x 10"

ArtPrize—Grand Rapids

After a couple years off, I again have a piece in ArtPrize, the giant art event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. One of my largest paintings, 40" x 78", Footprints in the dune, is a depiction of a morning at Warren Dunes.

Grand Rapids is a great town to visit especially during ArtPrize. My painting is hanging in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Downtown for a couple more weeks.

The busiest summer

I commute to Michigan a lot, especially in the summer, because I love it and love to paint there. This year those trips have been even more frequent because we are building a cottage near Glen Arbor. Monitoring its progress just gave me another excuse to be up there painting. That, and participating in four plein air events, teaching two workshops, as well as keeping a steady stream of work heading to galleries.

Here are some of the fruits of my summer labors.

Day Sailor, painted at the Fishtown Preservation Society plein air event. Oil, 12" x 10"

Summer Dusk, Glen Haven, oil 10" x 8"















Afternoon Dunes, oil, 9" x 12" Received 2nd place at the Glen Arbor Art Association’s August paint-out

Two of my demo paintings for a workshop:

Thorsen Farm Grainary, oil, 10" x 10" and Sunset Beach Morning, 

oil, 11" x 10"

Leland Air

Last Saturday was my first plein air event of the season. Leland Air in Leland, Michigan. A bit of a gray start, but it turned into a beautiful day.

I did two paintings for the show. The first was south of the harbor at Van's Beach. The second at north beach.

I was honored to have Whale back and Pyramid Point chosen “Best in Show.”

Whale back and Pyramid Point, oil, 11" x 14"


Black Dog, oil, 12" x 9

Summer Workshops

This summer I am giving two workshops on plein air painting.

The first is Plein Air Basics, a one-day workshop hosted by the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort, Michigan, on July 23. More info here: Oliver Art Center 

The second, Plein air: An introduction to painting on location, is for three-days with the Glen Arbor Art Association, in Glen Arbor, Michigan, August 8, 9, & 10. More here: Glen Arbor Art Association

Please consider joining me. Great locations, prime, summer-time in Michigan.

Back from Maui

It was 18 months since I was last on Maui, Hawaii. It didn’t seem like it. I love being there and painting. A good time of year, near perfect weather, just a bit of wind. Most of the spring-breakers had left, but sadly, so had the whales.

Friday night is Friday Art Night in Lahaina, so I spent the evening at The Village Gallery, where I am represented. Visited with Lynn Shue the owner, and a couple other of the artists. Betty Freeland and Carleton Kinkade.

Spectacular views, as usual. Here are a few from my week.

Morning shadows at Kamaole I, oil, 8" x 10"

Coconut on the Beach, oil,
16" x 12"

Afternoon Mauka, oil, 8" x 10"

North toward Molokai, oil, 12" x 12"

Mackinac Island

Getting some new small ones ready for the summer season at Mackinac’s Little Gallery.

Arriving, oil, 9" x 12"

Into Mackinac, oil, 8" x 16"

Under the bridge, oil, 9" x 12"

South and North

Sometimes there’s not enough time to finish a plein air painting. Or the weather changes, or the breakfast bell is calling. After finishing one small one, I started this painting of a cottage, but it didn’t get finished. That was two years ago. With winter studio time, I finally got around to it.

The cottage was to the south of the dune I was standing on. The second painting is a new studio work looking north from about the same spot.

Cottage at the shore, oil, 9" x 12"

Favorite view, oil, 16 x 12"

Dot to Dot

Water Street Gallery’s newest exhibit is Dot to Dot, a show with patterns as its theme. I have two paintings in the show which opened this past weekend in Douglas, Michigan, Harbor Buoys and Patterns in the Woods.

Harbor Buoys, oil, 16" x 16"

Catching up

Sometimes when I return from a plein air trip I have several unfinished paintings. When I get back to the home/studio routine there’s other things to do so I don’t always jump right in to finish what I started.

This one was started last October in California at Goleta Beach on the north side of Santa Barbara. Tecolotita and Atascadero creeks come together creating the Goleta Slough. When there is regular rain, these flow to the ocean. But with the drought they have been having, the beach sands are enough to block that from happening.

The Goleta Slough, oil, 12" x 16"

In the woods

Winter studio time. This is a recently completed study for a possible large painting.

Patterns in the woods, oil, 12" x 12"