Montbretia, or Crocosmia, was a popular traveler from South Africa to the US in the 1930's. Its brilliant flaming colors are a huge attraction for hummingbirds and butterflies. The unopened buds look like candy. I suppose, in a way, they are. I'll keep trying to capture the exact color of the rich reds of the variety I have in my gardens.

Acrylic on canvas, 8"x8"x1.5" gallery wrap painted sides. Ready for hanging. Protected with removable MSA Varnish. I use only archival quality and lightfast paints with quality prepared canvas for durability and longevity of each painting.

Part of a series: A Day In The Garden 2. If you look closely, you can see the purple heart-shaped flower part in the center of her every flowerhead. The royal purple, even here. After all, someone has to guide the bees.

Acrylic on canvas, 8"x8"x1.5" gallery wrap painted sides. Ready for hanging. Protected with removable MSA Varnish. I use only archival quality and lightfast paints with quality prepared canvas for durability and longevity of each painting.

Have you ever looked close-up at rosemary in bloom? The honeybees go crazy harvesting my giant bushes. It's a noisy but friendly place, several times a year.

Acrylic on canvas, 8"x8"x1.5" gallery wrap painted sides. Ready for hanging. Protected with removable MSA Varnish. I use only archival quality and lightfast paints with quality prepared canvas for durability and longevity of each painting.

Basil is an old and dear friend in my garden. Whether I make pesto or not, I grow lots every year. I love the shape and luscious texture of her leaves, and how her shadows make puppet shapes on the ground.

This painting aims at one of the quiet little moments I love in the garden. The hidden spaces underneath the leaves of plants which are the stage for drama. Imagine yourself to be as small or smaller than Thumbelina, and look to see what's going on in there.

We may not think of the clovers as the spectacular stars of the garden. But in reality? They're complex and beautiful nitrogen-fixing bee-nurturing occupants and they work hard for us. Besides being great for the soil, they have medicinal and nutritional properties. The crimson clover blossoms wear their color in a wonderful complexity of spirals.

Oil on canvas, 8"x8"x2.25" with painted sides. Ready for hanging.  Protected with removable MSA Varnish. I use only archival quality and lightfast paints with quality prepared canvas for durability and longevity of each painting.

These beautiful heirloom flowers flood the garden with color and scent for weeks during the summer. I think they have many stories to tell over generations and continents traveled. Listen.

Although this original painting has been purchased by a collector, prints are available in my print store in a variety of sizes.

In the chaos of early spring, these little encroachers grace me with fragrance and color, and the promise of things to come.

Acrylic on canvas, 8"x8"x1.5" gallery wrap painted sides. Ready for hanging. Protected with removable MSA Varnish. I use only archival quality and lightfast paints with quality prepared canvas for durability and longevity of each painting.

Gouache on 6" x 8" handmade paper, presented on acid-free foam board 16" x 20" 

These small paintings are a series literally from my own garden, where I get to see the most amazing things in any gardening day.

Oregon coast beach grasses at twilight cut through to a strip of sundown colors beneath the cloud layer.   Small plein air painting. We peer through the ubiquitous beachgrasses from a cozy sunlit spot in the dunes. I loved the feeling of sunlight and shade, looking out to the huge expanse sea and sky beyond.

Gouache on handmade paper, 4x6 inches, presented shrink-wrapped on a larger acid-free backing.

This work is from a photo I took on a September evening on the South Rim. The sun was starting to sink so fast, I knew I was going to lose this extraordinary light in a tiny minute. I had my painting backpack all loaded to walk back out to my car, so getting my good camera out would be a fail. I grabbed my old phone and did the best I could. I'm glad I tried.

The sun goes down with a bang in the Grand Canyon. Everything below starts to disappear from view from the top. Only certain chunks of rock forms flicker from within the deep shadows. If you look at the Canyon in the right way, you can always find the path of the Colorado even if you can't at all see the water. Even if you can't see the bottom of the canyon.

In the moment, I felt this strange sense of the ghosts of the rocks lifting up out of the dark. Gravity released, and these islands of light pushing up. It was wonderfully disorienting. I hope you can feel it, a little.

"Canyon Shadows", oil painting on canvas, 11"x14"  

This is the day I saw a condor. A condor! A ballet in the sky. 

The skies of the Grand Canyon are an entity unto themselves. They're fiercely alive with currents, rivers of clouds that move in a continual weave. Even on the most cloudless of days.

Oil over acrylic on canvas, 11"x14"x2.25" gallery wrap painted sides. Ready for hanging. Protected with removable MSA Varnish. I use only archival quality and lightfast paints with quality prepared canvas for durability and longevity of each painting.

Gouache on 10" x 12" handmade paper with beautiful deckled edges, presented 16" x 20" on acid-free foam board.

The Pacific Northwest oceans are not tame waters. Sometimes they sizzle with barely restrained power.

Plein air. View from the Grand Canyon South Rim, early dawn with very cold light. Light shifts with the rising mist of morning condensation.

Plein air painting from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, late morning in September. 

Pastel on stretched canvas, 64" x 46". I make my own pastel sticks so I can get the purest, most intense colors and the best workability.

Large pastels from a series, Night In The City. These works explore the untold stories we witness as we walk among buildings at night. Even as we're surrounded by anonymous faces, these stories echo through the streets.

Plein air painting can be rough and fast with gouache. Sometimes I find it best to leave the energy of the initial painting alone so I don't overwork it and lose that wonderful vitality.