Volunteer Sunflowers

Here in my yard I get volunteer sunflowers every year after I grew some from seed about five years ago.  It was a mixed packet of colors so I never know what the plants will look like until they bloom.  They also tend to sow themselves in the edge of the yard next to the walkway making use of that path a bit of a problem.  Still, we can't bring ourselves to pull them all out so we end up having a mix of plants oddly spread throughout the yard.  The finches don't mind.  This is a small painting of one of last year's volunteers.

●Sunflower
8 x 8 Oil on Canvas
2016

Bromeliad Bloom

● Bromeliad Bloom
8 x 8 Oil on Canvas  2016

Red Trumpet Vine

Here in NE Florida the native red trumpet vine is a natural bird feeder for the hummingbirds.  It isn't as prolific in flowers or in mass as the orange trumpet we see so often but the birds do love it.  This painting will be in the Small Works show at the Lemonade Stand Gallery in Key West from March 18 through April 18.

●Hummingbird Trumpets
8 x 8 oil on canvas
2016

Constellations

These three pieces actually started as one canvas.  As I worked on it I came to see them as three distinct paintings so the canvas was cut up and they were mounted on birch board to be finished as three separate works.  These paintings start with acrylic mediums, inks, and acrylic paints on raw canvas.  They progress with more paint and paint markers, and are finished with an acrylic varnish medium.  I am showing them here in a vertical position, however I keep moving them around so they really haven't got a set position locked in, much like the stars that loosely inspire them.

Constellation 1
24 x 14 1/2 Mixed media on
canvas on board  2016

Constellation 2
24 x 14 1/2 mixed media on
canvas on board  2016

Constellation 3
24 x 14 1/5 Mixed media on
canvas on board  2016

Dames Point Bridge

The St. John's river winds its way through Jacksonville and is crossed by seven bridges in various parts of the city.  The Dames Point is  a suspension bridge that crosses near the port at a height allowing the large shipping vessels to pass beneath.  When crossing this bridge during storms it feels as if you are in the clouds and soaring over the water.   This painting is (very) loosely based on photos I snapped out of the car window during some of those stormy crossings.

●Dames Point Blue
22 x 28 Oil on Canvas
2016

Can't stop painting the Greenway....

The greenway and Egan's creek run through a major portion of the island from the North end to mid way south here on Amelia.  It is always changing and a constant source of natural beauty.  The painting below is from a quick sketch of one of the side creeks in the northern greenway marsh that I pass by almost daily.

● Egans Creek
36 x 48 Oil on Canvas
2016

White Orchids for a Cold January Day

It is cold here in NE Florida today but thankfully not snowy.   Currently in the studio I have several rather experimental paintings on the easel quite different from this one that has just been finished.  This watercolor is from reference photos taken at a botanical garden in San Antonio.

Orchid Dance
16 x 20 Watercolor
2016

Bisti Badlands

Bisti Badlands
20 x 16 Oil on Canvas
2016

One from the Fort

I don't often paint a lot of landscapes from the island but here is a new one of clouds over the ranger house at Fort Clinch State Park.  

"Mountains" of Fernandina
20 x 16 Oil on Canvas
2015

Mixed Media

Experimenting with mixed media on raw canvas.

Bisti
36 x 18 Mixed media on
canvas  2015

Winter on the River

Winter River Near Globe AZ
16 x 12 Oil on Canvas
2015

Everglades Mangroves

 •Everglades Mangroves
24 x 36 Oil on Canvas
2015