My friend Sibyl Johnson and I spent the morning here, on the beach at the foot of Ocean Avenue in Carmel. It was one of those days with an almost timeless quality.

Oil

Pacific Grove has a Coastal pathway that runs along the coast from the harbor in Monterey, to the beach at Asilomar. There is not an inch along this path that doesn’t offer a spectacular view, and an immense variety of coastal wildlife.

From time to time, I offer myself up as part of that ‘coastal wild-life’, as I often set up my easel along this well traveled route, to capture scenes like this.

Due to the flagging economy, the Park Management has been forced to close many of the historic buildings in Monterey. The gardens however, which fall under a different management category, are open to the public. This painting is an amalgamation of an ‘on scene’ image, and an old black & white photograph from around 1906.

I joined up with some painters from the Los Gatos Art Association one day. They had chosen this site which was only a mile or so from my house. This group of trees were in the Los Alamitos Creek, about seventy five yards from McKean Road, in the Almaden Valley.

I was painting with MBPAPA at Moss Landing. When I got there, I wanted to do this painting, but opted for a view of the boats in the harbor. . .it was OK. . .but I scrubbed it off, and did this painting of the power plant. . . This was the correct image for me, on that day.

My eye was captured by this structure as I was driving up to paint at the “Pietra Santa Winery” in the hills south of Hollister. It went to the top of my mental list of “things I have to paint”.

I went back a few weeks later, and had a great time painting, and playing “Fetch” with the ‘farmyard dogs’.

I had about an hour or so one morning, before the MBPAPA Board meeting, and managed to get this view of Elkhorn Slough, looking in a northwesterly direction.

I have always loved this classic view of Half Dome from the Sentinel  drive bridge, reflected in the Merced River. It began to snow again, as I was capturing this image, and, having no chains, I had to retreat from the valley or be stranded. . .should have stayed. . .

Typical of most Gold Rush era mining camps, Big Oak Flat closes tightly around route 120 as it winds it’s way up to the Yosemite Valley. As you enter Big Oak Flat, The left shoulder of the Highway is crowded by some typical ‘mining camp’ buildings, made of stone, with tall iron shutters in the doorways. This one, with a second floor, and outbuildings of corrugated metal, is the meeting place for the local chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

As I was driving up through the canyon into Monitor Pass, I was entranced by the ’splash of color’ amongst the darker trees and rocks across the creek from the road.

This is a rainy day view of Pacific Grove as seen from the front of Robert Lewis’ Le Beau Soleil gallery where I was showing my work. I was fascinated by the urban scene, with the sun trying to break through the clouds, and the dramatic rocks of Lover’s Point” ’stealing’ their way into view.

A view of the main street of Castroville in the rain. I was on my way to Moss Landing, driving through Castroville, “The Artichoke Capitol of the World”.

I had about an hour and a half before the MBPAPA board meeting. so I pulled over by the tide pools at Asilomar, and did this painting looking over towards Spanish Bay.

This scene is reminiscent of my childhood living in San Luis Obispo. I was visiting my cousin and her husband at their house on Chorro Street during the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Event.

I lived in San Luis Obispo as a child, and again as a student at Cal Poly.

This cottage is across the street from the Chateau in Medan, near the former home of Emile Zola.

This painting of the cove behind Fisherman’s Wharf was done as part of the “Art of the Adobes” event held at the Custom House Plaza, and on the main pier.

I met up with some friends from MBPAPA at Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove. We had the typical Summer atmospherics of morning coastal fog. This view is from the rocks looking toward the Hopkins Research Facility at China Point.

Another painting done on a “beautiful sunny day” in Carmel with my friend Sibyl Johnson.

My friend Sibyl Johnson said it was a beautiful morning in Carmel, so I joined her to paint at Monastery Beach. It was a beautiful sunny day in Carmel, but there was an unrelenting pocket of fog a mile south at Monastery Beach. The sun kept teasing us with momentary glimpses, but would quickly dart back into the Fog Bank. So. . .we got some foggy day paintings instead. That’s the way plein air painting crumbles. . . cookie wise. . . .it’s all good.

While I was staying at my brother’s house in Glenbrook, they dropped me off in Genoa while they went for a bike ride.

I spent two more days painting in this old mining town, the oldest settlement in the Utah Territory.

I did this painting as a demonstration for the Saratoga Contemporary Artists group. It was done from a plein air painting I had done along the slopes of Jack’s Peak on a rainy day.

The demonstration was titled,  “How to keep the Spontaneity of a plein air painting alive in the studio enlargement”.

This is an enlargement of a plein air painting I had done on a rainy day along the slopes of Jack’s Peak, in Monterey.

This was the second painting I did one morning while painting with some friends at Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove. The other painting, “Springtime, Pacific Grove” depicted the Magenta blossoms of the Ice plant along Ocean View Drive.

I painted this from a color sketch I did one morning on my way to the gallery in Pacific Grove. The trees were just beginning to break through the morning fog hanging on the slopes above the 17 Mile Drive.

This old grain loader is along the Southern Pacific Tracks between Gilroy and San Juan Bautista.

The boat yard at the Coast Guard Pier in Monterey.

Toro Park is on Highway 68 between Salinas and Monterey.

This great old barn is on the road from San Juan to Watsonville. The day after I painted it one of the Pepper Trees was chopped down.

I’ve learned that , with old barns, if you want to do a painting of one, you better do it now, because it might not be there tomorrow.

This painting is on Masonite, with Mat board glued on in relief

This is the alley behind the Livery Stables in San Juan, as seen from the park across the street with rose bushes espalierd on the picket fence

The entrance to the Mission at San Juan Bautista

This view is from the old Spanish  El Camino Real, which runs along the San Andreas Fault Escarpment next to the Mission.

This painting was in the Galeria Tonantzin show leading up to the “MBPAPA Paints San Juan Bautista” plein air event in 2011.

This country dirt road is the way to my Sister’s house in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains

This unusual rock is in my Sister’s back yard in Auberry, California

SOLD

These ancient Pepper Trees were beginning to disapear from the streets of San Juan, so I thought I had better capture this one sooner than later.

This is a studio enlargement from a 9×12 plein air painting. It was done for the “small to LARGE” show at the Pacific Grove Art Center

This is an studio enlargement done from a 9×12 Plein air painting I had done in January

SOLD

This is the coast in Pacific Grove between Lover’s Point, and Esplinade Park, with the ice-plant in bloom.

I was going to clean my pallette, but didn’t want to waste the paint, so I did this quick study of some flowers, in a vase I keep in my studio for still life paintings

This is the view, looking north towards Carmel Highlands from a point near the Bixby Creek Bridge north of Big Sur

This is the companion piece to “Through the Trees at Jack’s Peak”. I painted the simultaneously, mounted side-by-side on a piece of Masonite, during a light rain.

I did this, and a companion piece, on a rainy day on the upper slopes of Jack’ Peak in Monterey. I seemed to be pretty well protected from the rain, until I got in the car for the trip home. I was so wet that the window de-froster couldn’t keep the windshield clear.

This is the view of a pathway through the trees along Highway 68 near Toro Park in Salinas

A cold, snowy morning in the harbor at Cherbourg

A view of the blossoms of an old fruit tree in February, on a country lane in San Juan Bautista.

I painted 4 or 5 views of this tree in a three day time span.

An old fruit tree on a little country road in San Juan Bautista.

SOLD

A plein air painting of an old fruit tree I found on a little country road in San Juan Bautista.

This painting of the cove behind Fishermans Wharf, was done on a paint-out with MBPAPA

This painting was done on a Saturday during the Capitola Art & Wine Festival.

SOLD

This painting was the second version of the same scene, painted on a Saturday paint-out with MBPAPA (Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association).

A study of the dynamics of the waves breaking on the rocks along the coast at Pacific Grove.

These are the cliffs at Rocky Point, south of Carmel Highlands.

This colorful Eucalyptus tree is on the grounds of the St. Francis Retreat in San Juan Bautista.

This is the view from the legion of Honor Museum in Lincoln Park

SOLD

I love this view of the mission structure and Pepper trees, with the fields in the background. When I was a young boy, we used to watch the Rodeo that was held on the flat land just past the escarpment.

SOLD

This House is nestled in the shade of some old pepper trees on a quiet lane behind Colton Hall.

SOLD

This is a Winter scene of trees in the park next to Notre Dame Cathedrial, along the Seine in Paris.