Missoula Art Museum 42 Annual Art Auction

"Tom Minor Basin" is my entry to the 42 Annual Missoula Museum Art Auction. This event will be held February 01, 2014 at the museum located at 335 North Pattee Missoula, Montana
59802. For more information you can visit the museum's website.

"Tom Minor Basin" is a 30" x 40" pastel painting. This is looking South towards the boundary of Yellowstone National Park on a bright July day with thunderstorms just starting to develop.

Yellowstone Art Museum 2014 Annual Art Auction

I am delighted to have a pastel painting in the live auction and the annual Yellowstone Art Museum Art Auction "Art Auction 46", this event will be held on March 1, 2014.

"Lamar Valley Storm" is a 30" x 40" pastel painting from the Lamar Valley located in Yellowstone National Park. This is a dynamic pastel exhibiting the uniqueness of the medium through the use of many layers of color. I am always surprised how the subtle translucent color layers create a very vibrant relationship that translates the beauty of the light.

The Yellowstone Art Museum is located at 401 N 27th St, Billings, Mt 59101. You can also visit their website auction page.

Pine Shadows-Montana Summer

This is an original plein air oil painting done in August 2013. It was a hot summer morning with bright light and rich color that made for cool shadows and warm direct light. Notice that I am standing in the shadow otherwise I would be drenched with sweat!

This is an 8" x 8" oil on canvas panel that is varnished and ready to place in a frame. 

Click to buy.

Summer Thunderstorm at the Annual Nicolaysen Art Auction

I am excited to have my pastel "Summer Thunderstorm" in the 28th Annual Dinner and Ball at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming.

The event is in being held on Friday September 6 and is their largest and most important fundraiser of the year.

"Summer Thunderstorm" is a 20" x 28" pastel on paper.

Summer Shadows

The snow is almost all melted in the surrounding mountains, but, the fields are still green and the grasses are starting to ripen. I love it when you get a cool summer breeze with large white puffy clouds casting shadows as they float through the Gallatin Valley.

This pastel painting "Summer Shadows" is 30" x 40".

First Rose

I needed a short break from painting landscapes, just a change of focus. I started painting petunias, daisys, snapdragons and now a rose. This is the first rose I have ever painted, go figure! Because every summer I look forward to picking daily bouquets for Genise.

"First Rose" is a small 8" x 8" oil painting on a canvas panel from my front yard.

First summer blooms are over, now to wait for the second round.

Spriit Animal Prints

I have had many request for prints of these paintings and have finally developed an Etsy shop to make them available. Click here to purchase images from my Spirit Animal series.

The images are 8" x 10" printed on archival paper with archival inks. I have limited the prints to an edition of 100. These are reproduced from my original oil paintings.

Palasades Falls

I recently took this painting to be shown at Old Main Gallery in downtown Bozeman.  I just finished this piece two weeks ago right in the middle of one of those 90 degree days. My loft studio has good ventilation, but, even with a fan blowing on high I still was dripping sweet. When I look at this painting I find it cool and refreshing.

"Palasades Falls" is a 24" x 24" oil on canvas and is currently available at Old Main Gallery.

Teton Sunset

This is another painting looking towards the Jenny Lake area in the Teton Mountains. This was a beautiful sunset after the thunderstorms finally diminished.

"Teton Sunset" is a 20" x 28" pastel.

Tetons Near Jenny Lake

This is a pastel painting from about a mile northeast of Jenny Lake in the Teton Mountain range. The light and weather make this area a very dynamic location to paint. On this day I had to paint my studies quickly due to afternoon thunderstorms.

"Teton Summer" is a 30" x 40" pastel.

Morning March Light

As the light gradually changes in March the morning sun brings out more intense colors. The dull dormant colors of winter fields start to come alive in conjunction with the warm and cool compliments of light and shadow.

This pastel "Good Morning!" is about March light and the beautiful sunrises.

6" x 6" Montana Gran Elevator

14' x 14' mural

My first ever grain elevator painting was a 14' x 14' mural in a local deli eating area. I think it was more of a challenge painting very small.

It is always a pleasant surprise to see an old grain elevator driving in rural areas of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, it is like you are instantly transported to a different era.

Fast Montana Storms

July in Montana can have some crazy weather. This was one of those days that you had to have your easel set up right by your car and be ready to quickly throw your stuff in when the wind and rain hit.

This pastel "Fast Storm" describes it all. I had to frantically paint before this storm hit. Great light, dynamic clouds and heavy rain!

This is "Fast Storm" a 4" x 6" chalk pastel.

Montana and Dynamic Shadows

This is the upper Madison River in the Montana side of Yellowstone National Park. I love when it is partly cloudy with quickly moving shadows that create this dynamic light.

"Upper Madison River" is a 4" x 6" pastel on 100% cotton rag paper.

Summer Solstice in Montana

This is a painting of the Tobaccorroot Mountains of Montana on the summer solstice. As the earth warms and farming is active the sunsets become more spectacular. The gentle rolling hills at the west end of the Gallatin Valley are a fun place to paint.

In March I get really excited for spring and summer I just can't bring myself to paint snow! Problem is though, summer starts around the solstice since June can be wet and cold like April.

Beaverhead Rock

This is a pastel painting of Beaverhead Rock near Dillon, Montana. Besides it's unique beauty this rock outcropping has a historic significance as well.

"Beaverhead Rock is a rock feature identified in 1805 by Sacagawea, during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as a landmark not distant from the summer retreat of her nation."

I travel to this part of southwest Montana a lot and see Beaverhead Rock in so many light and weather conditions, this happens to be early spring when the foliage is really green and the light is very bright in this rural setting.

The Shadows of Late Afternoon

Lamar Valley Light

The Big Hole River

These are two pastels of late afternoon light. Sounds kind of boring....no way!  The light is fast, freaky fast when you are trying to capture how it looks and feels in paint or pastel. 

The Big Hole River painting has no shadows due to narrow river valley to the west, so it is bright warm sun.....then sundown.

In Lamar Valley Light the shadow gradually crosses the valley and by the time it hits the east mountains the light is very warm and very cool with the transition of light to shadow a reddish hue. Very fun, very challenging, working at a feverish pace and very rewarding (well, most of the time!)

These paintings are both 4" x 6" and are painted with chalk pastel on 100% cotton rag paper, gently fixed with workable fixative.

Art on the Vine 2013 Oregon College of Art and Craft Auction

I am honored to be participating in the 18th annual Art on the Vine 2013, a benefit auction for student scholarships at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. With both my kids in college I understand the scarce sources for funding needed to attend  college or university.

"Lamar Valley Thunderstorm" is an 18" x 24" oil on canvas. This turned out to be a sweet piece, I am speaking in terms of color harmonies. I didn't intend on working in saturated hues, but at the time I was painting this piece the valley was filled with dense smoke from local and regional forest fires. I yearned for clean air and blue sky! My wish came true with this painting and at the same time I was able to express the beauty of this part of Yellowstone National Park.

Paris Gibson Square Annual Art Auction

I will be participating in the upcoming Paris Gibson Square 16th Annual Art Auction.

"Summer Light" is a 12" x 12" oil on canvas of the Missouri River white cliffs. Late July light with strong indirect compliments for warm light and cool shadows.

Missoula Museum Annual Art Auction

"Bitterroot Thunderstorm" is a 18" x 18" oil on canvas. This painting will be a part of the 41st Annual Missoula Museum art auction. The auction will be on Saturday, February 2, 2013.

This painting was created from a plein air painting I did near a bird reserve in the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana. This storm was part of very turbulent air the brought in a heat wave to the state. I had to paint quickly and change locations to dodge all the storms passing through.

Pioneer Mountains Big Hole River

Another must-go-to-every-summer location is the Pioneer Mountains and the infamous Crystal Park. Everything in this area is beautiful, the weather is dynamic and changes rapidly.

Last summer we got snowed on in mid August and it was 92 degrees the day before in Bozeman!

This is another small painting in the I-can't-wait-for-winter-to-end series titled "Pioneer Mountains" and is 2.5" x 2.5" oil on gessoed board. It is framed and ready to hang.

Tom Minor Basin

A favorite destination for the past 30 years is Tom Minor Basin just on the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park. This is the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park in Montana.

Autumn starts early here with the colors changing everyday along with early snow and colder temperatures. This day was just after a storm moved through and the day warmed up nicely!

"Yellowstone Late Afternoon" is a 4" x 5" oil on canvas. It is looking south from Tom Minor Basin into Yellowstone.

Gallatin Valley Thunderstorm

This is another painting influenced by a very gray winter and the yearning for warmth and sun is overwhelming.

"Gallatin Valley Thunderstorm" is a very small painting, one of the smallest I have ever attempted at a whopping 2.65" x 2.65"! I have concluded that these small formats are just as challenging as a 4' x 6' canvas. A quest for an economy of language to describe the feeling of the light.

This is oil on gessoed board, varnished and framed.

Summer in Winter

Summer! Montana summers are incredible especially the sunsets after the summer solstice. The atmosphere is clean, clear and warm producing the most beautiful sunsets.

When I get tired of shoveling snow or the cold temperatures are too much or the it has been gray too many days I paint a bright, warm summer painting. This is one of those still July evenings that I eagerly await for during these dark January days.

This is a small oil painting on 3.5" x 3.5" canvas panel and is titled "Spanish Peaks Sunset".