When I have the opportunity to talk to collectors at art show openings, they inevitably ask similar questions about my paintings: Where was this scene? Did you paint it en plein air? How long did it take? Why did you choose this particular perspective? I've decided to use this blog as a chance to let you see a little behind the scenes and find out what goes into the creating of some of my paintings. I'll periodically post images and tell you the "backstory" about them - what motivated me to paint this scene, what happened as I was painting plein air or in the studio, and the particular challenges that I faced in bringing the painting to completion. I hope this gives you a better understanding of my artwork- please feel free to post questions...it's your chance to talk to me without having to go to an opening!

I spent a lot of time this month painting barns in Lodi in preparation for the upcoming show "Rough Sawn" which opens at the Knowlton Gallery in June. At first I wasn't too excited about the subject matter: barn paintings can be so trite and I've always avoided painting them. But as I explored the Lodi area and painted a few of these old relics, I developed a real appreciation for the subject .....and a realization that I had better get my drawing skills honed to a fine point if I was going to paint these complicated compositions with accuracy and confidence. It's easy to just like to paint what you're good at: it's a heck of a lot harder to take on a subject that you know you're more than likely to fail at in order to grow as an artist. I've scraped off quite a few paintings, but after several weeks of pursuing this subject matter, I feel like I'm making progress. My challenge has been to find a unique angle to paint, a different take on the typical barn/mountain/tree painting. "A Cool Spot" comes from the Biglieri ranch in Clements, CA. I stopped to paint the big red barn, but found the design I was looking for when I walked through the packing shed and saw the barn through the open door. Keeping the foreground elements close in value while still giving enough detail to make sense was a challenge, but I had so much fun playing with the tempreature shifts on the cool highlights in the shadows vs. the hot sun highlights in the distance.