Oil on linen panel     9″ x 12″

Another painting done in a favorite stand of aspens outside of Cody, Wyoming. This sunny autumn afternoon, the sky was pale blue, shepherding sleepy puffs of cumulus clouds, fighting for my attention even as I tried to focus on the trunks of the trees. So a study in tree geometry opened up to become graced with a glimpse of the heavens.

Oil on linen panel

Quiet woodland moments, sheltered from an occasional drizzle by the canopy above. Sunlight dancing in and out as the clouds momentarily part, bringing the pallete to life. Surrounded by towering pines and firs, pillars of evergreen no matter the weather, no matter the season.  A few trees in leaf, none so tall as their always-green neighbors. Summer has lingered, the days have just started to go crisp and cool. And there, as a bit of sunshine breaks through, it catches the one tree that breaks away and runs ahead, shouting in a golden voice that autumn has begun.

Oil on canvas panel     8” X 8”

My wife and I live near a large city lake in Minneapolis that is surrounded by bike and walking paths filled with people whenever the winter snows are gone. In the spring and summer, when the trees are full to bursting and the lakeside canopy is lush and green, the paths often are overlaid with cool shadows as the sunlight tries to nudge its way in. This delightful afternoon, the sun was particularly warm and so the shadows seemed especially inviting.

Oil on panel     8″ x 10″

The end of a frustrating afternoon. My wet panel boxes were almost empty––few paintings had sprung from my brush that day––and I was feeling disappointed. What I had tried and how I had tried to paint had simply failed to bring forth much satisfaction.  And on top of that, the light was now fading very quickly. Not much time left to paint anyway, I scowled. But then something inside of me took that as a challenge and I turned quickly into the coming darkness and painted very wet and very fast and captured the look of the curtain as it fell over the forest.

Oil on panel     6″ x 6″

This was painted on a cool autumn afternoon as storm clouds threatened. The skies were growing darker in the West but the sunlight held on, popping out now and again from between the clouds and spraying dappled light on the woods floor below. I saw this quiet spot between the tree trunks and watched the silently stubborn sunlight refuse to yield to the brewing storm and caught it on my panel. I found that moment reassuring and find it that way again when I revisit this painting; no pretense, no great display of protest, only a resolute bit of illumination when the rest of the world was content to give way to shadow.

Oil on panel     8″ x 6″

Glancing up one afternoon in a stand of aspens, I saw the delightful light of that end-of-summer afternoon and the way the crystal blue skies framed the leaves just kissed with a hint of the gold to come. I became entranced with the cerulean spaces between the leaves, the way the sky pushed through the foliage and fought for my attention. The leaves would not be so bright were it not for the sky nor the sky as blessed were it not for the leaves below, just hinting at the autumn glory to come.

Oil on panel     4”  X  6-1/4”

There is a forest outside of Cody, Wyoming with a stand of aspens to which I return time and time again. It is a common source for many of my paintings. I love the angle of the tree trunks and the random yet precise order of the elements there. I had originally planned to trim off the top and bottom sections outside of the pencil lines still visible under the paint and frame it with traditionally clean edges but became enamored with the found edges of my brush strokes. The more I looked at it, the more I liked it, and so I left them as painted. I have been told more than once that I made a mistake in framing it this way.

Oil on linen panel     12” X 6-3/4”

I have been a designer for years and so I see the geometry in nature, the form in random things and enjoy simplifying a complex subject into its basic elements. This is one of the first paintings I have made in a stand of aspens that has become one of my favorite subjects to paint. No visible foliage on the trees, just a suggestion of the forest behind and the raw strength of the aspen trunks and the complementary beauty of the afternoon sunlight.

Oil on panel

When I first began painting trees, I quickly became enamored of the geometry in the forest. This is a study in lines and angles, massaged by light and accented with color. I love the way tree trunks all often lean at the same angle, a simple story of shapes and values that simultaneously describe a quiet forest space. The style is quick and spare, the forms within the shapes are simple and clean and the bright sunlight on the wild grass breathes life into it all.

Oil on panel     8” X 6”