The mountains in Juneau, AK are amazing! I never tire of them. I am always amazed at how many different faces they have depending on the light and weather situation. I enjoy the challenge of painting scenes with subtle variations, and trying to portray a certain lighting effect. These mountains are part of the Chilkat Range.
This is from a photo I took at our place in Maine. I love all the trees in Maine! The changing light throughout the day just makes me have to keep my camera very close. I am always ready for a pic ( = I have been a bit afraid to try this scene for some time but have learned quite a bit from Phil Starke’s workshops and decided to go for it. I would like to do it again and do it looser, but was at least somewhat pleased with the outcome.
I love the woods. And I love painting them. I am continuing to challenge myself to paint them more often. I find them challenging but have taken some workshops by Phil Starke and they have been very helpful in many areas, but with trees in particular. I really like his teaching style and would suggest any painter check him out! He has a great way of explaining his thought process while he paints, and I find that very helpful.
This must be one of my favorite spots because I have painted it several times now. I find the dead trees very interesting and they change so much with the different light. It is a little creek that is on the way to the Mendenhall Glacier where my husband and I walk quite often. Sometimes there are bear down in there to watch too. Pretty soon the area will be flooded with tourists going to see the glacier and hoping to catch a glimpse of a bear.
This was a little piece that I did for a workshop. I really liked the soft atmosphere in this picture. I have not had much practice painting in this type of soft hazy lighting. but I really liked the effect here. It was challenging to stick with the softness and not think I needed to add any hard deep shadows. I think it was successful. It was also an opportunity to practice more bare trees, which was great!
These towers are spectacular and I am fortunate enough to be able to view them from my house. I love how the warm light bathes them in this glowing color. This was also good tree practice.
Sad story though, on the very day I painted this picture we had two young men go missing after reaching the top of the top. They posted a photo on Instagram and never made it back. The rescuers found their ropes and gear but as of yet, they have not located the men. Hopefully when the temps warm up a bit they will be able to find them.
Trees seem to be very challenging, but I am pretty sure they are my favorite subject. Therefore I must practice! This was an 8×8 study of a scene that was very muted and almost monochromatic because of the snowy atmosphere. I ended up using a palette knife on part of it to force myself to try to be loose. (8×8 Oil on board)
I love doing scenes like this that are very soft and subtle! They are usually challenging but rewarding. This is the Chilkat Mountain range here in Juneau. They are just spectacular, especially when snow-covered. This piece is a 5×7 oil on panel
I wanted to challenge myself to try to capture the extreme warmth of this scene. I really didn’t push the colors much to do this. It was really this warm. Actually there is a nice contrast between the warm yellow/orange on the left and the much cooler violets on the right. I think this contrast is what makes this appealing.
Just a few of my final minis for a while from 2017.
