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Shellbank creek in winter often looks like an abstract collage of reflections. This painting is based on a photo I saw on facebook, while looking at the colors of our winter creek.
![]() This is a wild garden in Point Lobos, just south of Carmel. My friend Rachel and I climbed the old rugged steps that led to the pine and Eucalyptus trees at the cliff top, all hallowed by coastal fog. The smells were enticing—salt air, Eucalyptus, and anise. I thought about the metaphor of climbing a path into the unknown while I was painting.
![]() My sister Janice lives in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. We’ve taken several walks along the shores of Lake Willoughby—a very deep and changeable lake. I originally painted figures on this scene, but felt they were distracting, and removed them. I then added Japanese paper to the oil painting and am happy with its textural quality. I like thinking of the people that have walked these shores—they are literally ghosted within the image.
![]() Woodville is at the southern end of Canandaigua Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in western New York. I spent my childhood in this region. I have fond memories of the small cottages that line the lake shores.
![]() Many Williamsburg residents visit College Creek on the James River via the Colonial Parkway. This is a beautiful undeveloped area, and gives you a sense of the land as it was when the settlers arrived 400 years ago. Zach enjoyed playing dragging a stick along the sand among the cypress knees and driftwood.
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![]() Visiting Colonial Williamsburg is like taking a step back in time to a simpler life. One of my favorite characters is the Ox Man. It was at the end of a hot summer day, and both the oxen and the man were walking slowly and purposefully back to the stables. I liked the long blue shadows and the warm color of the oxen with their swishing tails.
![]() We live on a tidal creek near Jamestown in Southeast Virginia. It changes every hour of every day. One crisp and sunny winter day the water and sky were an incredible blue, and suddenly large snowflakes began to fall. It was a magical moment.
![]() Richard and I took a long hike through the Anza Borrego desert as we drove west from Maryland to California. This was my very first experiment with oil paints. I added a lot of oil—treating it like water color. I left it sketchy and rough—and moved on to other experiments.
![]() When we lived in California we often drove from San Francisco to Monterey, stopping at our favorite spots along the way. One time we drove along the small inland roads and happened upon this spot just as the sun was beginning to set into the ocean. I remember the intense golden colors of sunlight, and the cool blue tones of the shaded side.
![]() This is one of the first water color paintings I did when I resumed creating painting. I find the Southwest incredibly inspiring with its big skies, towering rock formations, and earth tones.
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![]() I used multiple glazes to create this image of a sunset in Arizona. The photo cannot portray how the colors blend into one another creating a prismatic effect. As you look at this painting, you’ll gradually notice stars ---just like they begin to appear in the sky at night.
![]() I took a number of photographs while kayaking on Salt Pond on Cape Cod. I loved this image of the Coast Guard light house in the distance. I was experimenting with visual perspective and reflections in this watercolor. I think I could render it more effectively in oil.
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![]() Richard traveled to Bologna, Italy, and brought me a number of photos. I painted this image as a study of perspective. I especially liked the colorful old stone walls, and deep shadows of the portico.
![]() I liked the reflection of this red barn in the still waters of Crystal Lake in northeast Vermont. I would like to revisit this image and try rendering it in oil—perhaps just the abstract reflection.
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