Oil Painting "Winter Alley - Seward, AK"

Oil Painting on canvas 30" x 40"  

Here is one of my newest paintings that I have completed recently.  I enjoyed painting this very much because it is a subject that I love.  I drive around our little seaside town and I am in awe at the beauty of Mt. Alice and Resurrection bay in the background of all the everyday small town buildings, cars, oil tanks etc.  This painting will be in my upcoming show on May 6, 2016 at Resurrect Art Gallery. 

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11" x 14" Oil on canvas. Available

Well we had a week of clear days and sunshine and now it looks like we are having a week of rain and heavy clouds.  At least today I can see the tops of the mountains though it is raining pretty good out there.  I have salmon in the smoker and the smell is coming in the house a little bit.  I love that smell.  I'll be heading out to the cabins in Humpy Cove for the night.  I'm hoping I can get a painting started (and finished) out there if all goes well.  Most likely it will have to be from the inside looking out if it is raining there like it is here.   

I did the above painting form a photo reference I took one morning as we were pulling out of the harbor.  The light was shinning just behind the mountain and everything was still and calm and back lit.  I really liked how the back lighting made the colors soft on Mt. Alice.

Oil Painting - "Rainy Afternoon"

6" x 8" Oil on canvas.  Available here.

We are having such a strange winter in Alaska this year.  I have lived in this state since 1969 and I have never seen a winter with this warm of temperatures!  This piece is a plein air painting that I managed to paint in my car back in November.   Before I was done I had to turn on the windshield wipers as it had begun to rain.  I'm very happy with the color harmony in this painting.

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Oil Painting - "Clearing Skies"

36" x 48"  Oil on canvas.  Available here.

I don't think my last two postings went out to the in boxes like they were suppose to.  I'm not sure why that happens but when it does I can't seem to fix it.   This is one of the large paintings I was working on in my studio last month.  This scene is form the very end of downtown looking south out to the bay.  The rain had come and gone and the skies were beginning to clear up.  Sunshine was on the distant islands and blue was breaking through the clouds.  It is a challenge to paint large like this. To keep the paint thick enough and the paint strokes fresh.  

Oil Painting in Plein Air - "Street View"

8" x10"  Oil on canvas.  Available here.

Here is a small plein air painting I did about three or four weeks ago.  The fall colors were strong and the after noon sun was still pretty high.  Things are much more winter like now and the fall colors have past.   I am pretty happy with how these mountains turned out in this painting.    This week I have been busy painting in doors in my studio.  I have finished one large painting and started another.  

Oil Painting - "Front Row View"

6" x 12" Oil on canvas.  Available here.

We are having beautiful fall weather right now and I have been doing some plein air paintings whenever possible.  I have also been working on larger paintings in my studio.  This painting is a plein air piece that I did in August of this year.  The coastline of our small town is called  "Waterfront Park" and it is set up for campers to come and park here along the water's edge.  A coastal trail runs along in front of these campers for people to walk or ride bikes.  The view is phenomenal with mountains and glaciers right across the way.  Boats come and go and wildlife is frequently scene swimming by.  

Adam Street

 6" x8" Oil on panel.  SOLD

  This is a plein air painting I made less than two weeks ago here in my home town of Seward, Alaska.  

Winter Light

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15" x 30"  oil on gallery wrapped canvas.  SOLD

A crisp winter day with low winter light, ….. just the kind of scene that really catches my eye.   The two houses on the left are across form our local post office.    The views are so powerful here that taking a simple drive to retrieve the mail can be woefully humbling to me.     If I can just capture a bit of what I see and feel I would be happy.  

Dramatic View

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15" x 30" Oil on gallery wrapped canvas.  SOLD

Dramatic views are pretty much a standard around this town but I thought this particular one was surely worthy of the title.    This street is lined with houses whose occupants see this fabulous view on a daily basis.  The changes in light, clouds and colors are beyond imagination.  I have to say,  I am grateful to live where I can see such beauty.    

Old Dock - Seward Harbor

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8" x 10"  Oil on panel. SOLD

         This is a plein air painting I painted this October.   A painting is classified as "plein air" when it was painted entirely on site and not in a studio.  This is a very exhilarating way to paint.  The artist has many things to contend with besides just trying to put the right color paint in the right place.  We have weather to contend with, changing light (as the sun moves), people passing by,  coordination of all we need on site and just trying to get it done in a timely way.  

          I painted this form behind the Holiday Inn Express hotel which overlooks our harbor.  There is a lower dock area, sheltered form the wind, and I was able to stand there for this view.  

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Fishing at Orca Island

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8" x 10" Oil on panel.    Hello my friends!  I have been silent for a long time now.  I never thought I would go this long without posting.   I'm finding time to paint again and I'm ready to share.   This painting of a guest fishing off the shore of Orca Island holds a pleasant memory of the lovely warm summer we had this year.  We experienced warm sunny days and crystal clear water sparkling in the sunlight.  It was a summer to remember.   

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Reflections

9" x 12" Oil on Panel, SOLD.    The reflection of the mountain in the water was what really caught my eye when I chose this subject to paint.   Of course I love the little rock with the trees growing on it but the reflections were what drew me in.    This was an unusually hot day and I came away with a sunburn by the time I was done.

Distant Islands

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8"x 10" Oil on panel.   SOLD.      After I check guests into our cabins I am free for the rest of the afternoon to work on various other things that need to get done.... or I paint!  I have completed a few paintings that I plan to share.  This one is of a small portion of the view out to Fox Island.  The small island in front of Fox Island is Hat Island.  It has been clear and breezy and so beautiful.  

Afternoon Light

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8" x 10" Oil on panel, available.   This painting was done about 3 weeks ago.  It is the most recent painting I have been able to complete.  Just very busy getting the new gallery ready and getting the cabins ready to open.  Guests have been enjoying the gallery on the island.  I'm looking forward to painting out doors starting this week.  Below is a photo of the island gallery.  

Ready When You Are

9" x 12" Oil on panel.     The reflection of white in the water is from the snow on the mountains  that surround us.   I did not paint this on location as it has been just too windy this week.   I took the photo and then painted it in my home studio.  We are working every day at our property in the cove building a new studio/gallery for me!  I am very excited about it!   This boat belongs to one of our builders.  He is also quite the fisherman.

Available

Offshore Rock

8"x10"  oil on panel.  $275.   Another painting in plain air.  What a lovely day we had.  I was chilled to the bone and had to take a hot shower when I finally got home but I loved painting on site.  It was a around 38 degrees but the wind made it colder.

Church View

8" x 10" Oil on canvas.  SOLD     I was inspired to paint this scene because of the light on this church steeple framed by the mountain.  This is The Church of the Nazarene here in Seward.  It is right on 4th Avenue in a central part of town and I drive by it a lot.

April Light

14"x 18" Oil on board.   $425.    This is the view I see when I step out of the post office after getting my mail each day.  It is of a typical winter day, cold and clear with a bright sun casting afternoon shadows.

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March Light

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8" x 10" Oil on canvas, Sold.     Our daylight is getting longer and the low evening sunlight is a welcome change.  I really do enjoy painting this kind of lighting on the snow.  

 

Lowell Canyon - View From the Water

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12"x 18" Oil on board, $425.00.    I'm on a trip right now visiting my Mom and sister in Santa Fe, New Mexico so I missed posting at the end of last week.         

Saturday I spent the morning going through wonderful galleries on Canyon Road looking at fantastic paintings.   I loved it so much.    Today's painting also has the word "canyon" in it by coincidence.  This is a painting I did in the spring of last year and it is of Lowell Canyon which is the canyon in my home town of Seward.   I often go hiking myself up this canyon because I can leave from my house and walk there and hike as far as time allows.   Campers park along the water front all summer long. 

Below is a photo I took today while on a hike with my sister in the hills above Santa Fe.  Fresh snow fell this morning and then the clouds began to part and by late afternoon it was clear with a orange sunset at night fall.