I am honored to be the featured artist for the month of April at Solomon Wine Company, located at 397 Main Street, Murphys, California. You can see the owners, Sherry and John Fulton in the adjacent picture, standing in front of the wall displaying my paintings. So come on in, sip some wine and enjoy the show.

The new show at Solomon Wine Company and the juried show at Ironstone Vineyards, inspired me to paint some new vineyard paintings, some of the views are of Napa Valley and some of the foothill vineyards. One of the paintings has a hazy atmosphere and the rest are bright, bold and inspired by the new growth on the vines in the spring.

One of the most beautiful shows of the spring is happening now - poppies. I went on a precarious excursion down a steep ravine and my reward was a view of bright orange blooms that climbed the rocks and turned the hillside bright orange. Watch for a new painting of poppies, coming to the site soon.

I recently added the new vineyard paintings to the Works page. I hope you will enjoy looking at them and if you would like to sign the contact page I can keep you up to date with new paintings and exciting events.

Exciting News! I have been accepted in the juried Ironstone Vineyard Art Show "Spring Obsession". You can see one of my latest paintings, Tying Ribbons, at the Vineyard show, along with four more of my paintings. The Art Show will be running through the months of March and April.

Ironstone Vineyard in Murphys California is a 'must see'destination for anyone who visits the Gold Country. Famous for it's delicious wine, dining, museum and fabulous display of flowers, they also have the largest specimen of crystalline gold in the world, weighing in at 44lbs.,valued at $6,000.00 per ounce. So come and enjoy a day at the Art Show and see this amazing gold display.

I am enjoying painting some special subjects including some figures and character studies, such as the new painting "The Girl in a Red Scarf". As I looked at the girl I noticed the contrast the light made with the shadows of the scarf and used this to create the mood of the painting. Take a look in Figures and Portraits for a larger view of this painting plus several other new additions.

More good news, I will be having a show at Solomon Wine Company all during the month of April. More about this in the next notebook entry. I hope you will take a minute to enjoy all the recently added paintings I have just finished. I invite you to sign our contact page, so I can keep you updated with the first look at new paintings, special offers and exciting events.

Working on art everyday is wonderful, I am grateful to be able to do what I love. Every painting begins with a vision and ends with a tremendous sense of satisfaction when it brings happiness to someone who appreciates it.

My studio has moved to a small town in the Sierra Mountains. I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and this is a new experience for me because of the change in seasons here. The fall colors of the trees inspired my new painting "Sunlit Yellow".

At the first of the year quite a bit of snow fell and icicles formed from the roof to the deck, the snow was deep and beautiful. The trees dipped over with laden branches and I had a chance to observe the beautiful colors you can see reflected in the fluffy drifts. The experience is different when you live in the snow so I hope this will bring a new touch of realism to future paintings of winter.

When winter was over I observed poppies along the fields, roadways and up the hillsides and California dogwood was blooming in my back yard. Look for a new painting of wild flowers coming soon.

On a recent trip to Sonoma County, I was able to paint a bit of the wonderful scenery this part of California has to offer. Sonoma County is one of my favorite places to paint. There are views from every angle and even the trees seem gracefully placed for the artist to capture. I traveled over hidden roads until I was on what seemed like the edge of the world--perched on a mountain with the ocean on all sides. What a spectacular view.

This trip was late in the season and the early morning light was cool and low, but I found the most beautiful rural scenes and barns to paint and am happy to say I have several new paintings coming from that trip. As I turned down the road to the little town of Tomales and saw the light hitting this old Eucalyptus tree and the town beyond,I just had to paint it. See more about "Eucalyptus" on the Landscape and Seascape page.

I hope you are enjoying my new web site, please, take time to view all the recent paintings I have just finished and I invite you to sign up on our contact page so I can keep you updated with the first look at new paintings, special offers and exciting events.