River View

While this painting is partially made up - in other words - I recomposed the picture's elements to suit my vision of what the place should look like, it is based on a beautiful scene that is part of a campground in New Hampshire.

The mountain in the background is really there. When I do decide to make changes, I like to keep the far elements as they are. It's important to me that the mountain peaks reflect reality, but often I need to add or take away from elements in the foreground. I added the grassy path at the bottom left corner. There is a path, but not as romantically staged as this one. By having a triangular piece of land at one side of the bottom of the painting, I can keep the viewer's eye in the composition by creating a diagonal.

This painting: oil on linen, 12x16, private collection.

Here is another painting I did from Acadia National Park. This scene is at the northern head of Somes Sound - or maybe up there it is east.... always get my "down east" directions mixed up.

The beauty and composition of this scene is not exaggerated. It's what you can see from the road. There are two houses there and this is their backyard view. My friend, Diane Young, and I asked for permission to paint here. Joseph McGurl has painted this scene as well. He is an enormously capable and talented landscape painter.

This painting is in a private collection: 7x10 inches, acrylic on paper - varnished and framed like an oil painting.

The Bubbles at Jordan Pond

When I'm at Acadia National Park, I often take the leisurely walk around Jordan Pond. Here is a view of "The Bubbles" at the north end of the pond. There is also a wonderful restaurant there - Jordan Pond House. It's difficult to get a parking spot!

This painting is a combination of watercolor and acrylic on 300 lb. paper. It is offered unframed, but I plan to mount it to hardboard and varnish it with UV protective varnish - so that it will not need any glass or matting.

You can see this painting on my Fine Art Website
Visit photos of Jordan Pond

Acadia National Park

This is a painting of a view of the Beehive, a small but steep rocky hill that is situated near Sand Beach at Acadia National Park. In order to see this view, one has to walk to the far end of the beach and peer back into the estuary.

It is one of my beloved scenes at Acadia, and I either draw or paint it each time I am up there in Maine.

Painting Sabino Canyon

One of my very favorite places on earth to paint is in Sabino Canyon - just north of Tucson Arizona.
There are two beautiful views of this canyon - first outside the canyon proper near the visitor's center. Secondly, inside the canyon where there are 9 stone bridges that transverse the year round Sabino Creek. The waterway is lined with deciduous trees... cottonwood, sycamore and willow; however, just a bit beyond the treetops are steep slopes supporting stands of saguaro cactus.

And yet above the cactus are impressive cliffs of stone - the most visible called "Thimble Peak" in the north of the canyon.

My first visit to this canyon was, way back, in 1973 when my family moved to Tucson. I was impressed then, and am still overwhelmed with emotion on each visit. It's no wonder that I love portraying this special place in my paintings.