This past winter was full of moisture both rain and snow that catapulted Arizona out of a severe draught. Living in the higher elevations of Arizona where we have to worry about forest fires this was a big relief. Traveling through the highlands were the mesas and hills had been brown and were now green … Continue reading PRAISING WINTER RAIN

When the Southwest becomes drenched with heat instead of rain, my thoughts go to the coming monsoon. I look expectantly into the sky and see in the distance the verga over the mesas, and I know it is good. It’s time for another storm and the arid land will be quenched. This lovely 9″ X … Continue reading VERGA

The mountains of the Southwest are magnificent. Towering over the high desert they call to the adventurer. We are lucky to have many mountain ranges in Arizona.  This is a remembrance of the feeling of joy I found when climbing to the heights of them. Hiking, biking or going by car when you find the … Continue reading ABOVE THE REST

Sometimes I just like to play with color and see what I come up with.  This particular September morning I was wishing for fall and the great oranges and reds.  Summer had burnt it’s self out as far as I was concerned. I was ready to see a shift in the seasons and take a … Continue reading RED HILLS

I love the ocean, or for that matter any body of water. You will see that in a lot of my paintings I have water.  This morning during my practice session I was dreaming of sailing far away to another land.  This was in my minds eye, and so I went there. This lovely 9″ … Continue reading ORANGE CLIFFS

I like to experiment with light sources when painting.  This piece is an excellent example of playing with light on snow.  It was an exceptionally hot summer day when I envisioned the coming winter and playing in a pine forest. So I painted it and cooled down in the process. This lovely 9″ X 12″ … Continue reading MARCH OF THE TREES

Here I go again painting water.  I call myself a water baby, growing up on a lake in Michigan I found I related better with water than with people. I especially liked hidden ponds that I would find while hiking. They are great places to quench the thirst of a hot day and find solace … Continue reading HIDDEN POND

    I just love the dreamy effect of this painting.  You can almost feel the waves  of heat drifting up into the sky, as the clouds start forming into monsoon storms. This is one of my early morning quick studies that are done on vellum paper, when I enter the studio first thing in … Continue reading SUMMER ON THE MESA

Thumb Butte is the Iconic Landmark in Prescott. I am fortunate enough to have a beautiful view of it right outside my window.  It is one reason I bought my home 15 years ago, and it never disappoints me as the seasons go by, the weather changes, and the sun shifts over the butte. It has … Continue reading Thumb Butte

This is the view from my bedroom window, a beautiful wild manzanita growing from the rocky crevasse of my hillside yard.  It starts my day off being reassured that the wilderness that I love surrounds me and it brings me present with nature. This is the second painting of the 2020 year done as an … Continue reading MANZANITA

How I love when a storm rolls through the desert’s mesa land, especially during the monsoon season.  I wait expectantly for the rains to quench the arid earth. This was completed one morning during my early morning practice session.  This is where I experiment with color and movement.  Always wanting to leave a message of … Continue reading STORM CLOUDS BREWING

The Storms on the Mesa drench the arid soil with life giving water and soon the wildflowers begin to dance and the grass turns green. This is the most beautiful time of year when the Desert Southwest begins to bloom. This painting was created during my early morning practice session. This is when I experiment … Continue reading STORMS A COMING

After a wonderful El Nino winter our spring was fabulous.  The deserts of the Southwest have never been prettier. So it is no surprise that I was influenced by their beauty when I was traveling around Arizona. This painting was created during my early morning practice session where I play with color and motion. The … Continue reading SPRING ON THE MESA

This is an exercise in blue.  Ultramarine Blue to be exact. I love this shade of blue, you can produce so many hues from it. This painting is one of my early morning studies where I used Golden fluid acrylics to create a dynamic almost Monet like painting on vellum paper. I was thinking about … Continue reading LONE TREE

Looking back at my childhood home, I remember the beautiful cherry tree we had. Every spring it bloomed profusely and when the cherrys began to grow my dad would cover it with yards of cheese cloth so that the birds would not steal our harvest.  Midsummer I would help my dad pick the cherrys and … Continue reading CHERRY TREES