A Pair of Pears

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click to bid

This still life painting is actually a part of my Palouse series. These pears are also from the WSU orchard. Lately, I've realized why I'm so drawn to the Palouse region for my painting themes. It's the shapes, contours, color, and light that I find in that region. I feel like I could learn something about painting rolling hills of the wheat fields, even through painting still lifes or animals, by paying attention to what I see, and deciding how I want to render it. Anyway, that what keeps me feel like painting. And that's the most important thing for me now.

Last Light in the Palouse

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click to bid

This is another landscape painting of the Palouse before sunset. I put three dark silhouettes on the right to suggest cattle in the field.

Sheep & Red Barn

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click to bid

This is a painting of  red barn with sheep. Lately, I've been working on the studies of landscapes and animals of the Palouse region of the Northwest for my upcoming show. My long-term goal is to create my own compositions from the studies and what I see in the scene. For this piece, I simplified the landscape, such as windows and fences, and added sheep which I saw around there. Painting such bright red elements, and still trying to make a cohesive body of work is a major challenge for me, but I enjoy it.

Winter Sheep in the Twilight

Oil on canvas panel, 6" x 6" -- Click to bid

This is another painting of a sheep in the winter.

Winter Sheep

Sheep painting from the Palouse, oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click to bid

When Peter and I were driving through the Palouse, in eastern Washington, we saw some sheep by the road. I've seen sheep many times in the warm seasons. But I didn't realize that I didn't know much about sheep in the winter coat, like this one. So fluffy, to say the least. I love how they look. The classic look of winter sheep.

Chicken Named Dove

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click here to bid

This is my new chicken painting. This is a chicken named "Dove" that our friends in Pullman have as a pet. She is a white Ameraucana, so she lays blue-green "Easter eggs." This breed is partly descended from chickens that were in what is now Chile, before the first Spanish conquerors arrived. Humans crossed the Bering Straits land bridge from Asia to the Americas at least 10,000 years ago, but chickens were domesticated in Southeast Asia about 5,000 years ago. After that, chickens were carried throughout the South Pacific by Polynesians in their dugout sailing canoes. So the only way chickens could have made their way to South America before Europeans arrived was by way of... ...Easter Island! (Of course, that's not why we call blue and green eggs Easter eggs.)

Red-tailed Hawk on Telephone Pole

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click here to bid

On Sunday, Peter and I drove to Steptoe Butte, WA, from Pullman, taking a minor and more scenic rout. Peter spotted a red-tailed hawk on a telephone pole. Red-tailed hawks are the icon of the countryside around the Northwest.

Shadow of Steptoe Butte

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" --  Click to bid

Today, Peter and I drove to Steptoe Butte for the fun of it, and of course to take more reference photos for my painting projects. I've painted en plein aire here before, but it was just too freezing to do it this time of the year. Steptoe Butte is about an hour north of Pullman. It's a lonely, pointy mountain made of hard rock, in the middle of rolling hills. It's also a flying site for hang gliding and paragliding, We drove up all the way to the top through some snow in the shades, and saw the enormous shadow of this mountain where we were standing. It was so breathtaking that I just had to paint it.

Shadow in the Wheat Field

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6" -- Click Here to Bid

Today, Peter and I drove from Pullman, WA, to Moscow, ID, for shopping. It's only seven or eight miles if we drive directly, but we took a detour through the town of Palouse on the way back, to enjoy a scenic drive through the wheat fields, and to take some reference photos for my painting projects. While Peter was driving, I saw the shadow of our truck on the wheat field, constantly changing its shape and size, moving toward and away from us. I was very fascinated by it, and decided to make a painting of it. It was a fun little date.

Grain Tower & Snow

Oil on canvas on panel, 6" x 6"

This is a grain tower I saw in Pullman, WA.