Ke'e Beach, Kauai

Boy, I wish I had just done this Plein Air but, alas, it's from a photo that I took there several years ago.

 

 
8x10 oil on board

If I remember right, It rained like crazy about 10 minutes after I took this photo.

Along the Sunrise Highway

Took a drive up to the local mountains. Wow, everything is still green and the wildflowers! There was way too much to paint in one day so after I tried this scene I took lots of photos for later.

This view was right off the road that runs up to Laguna Mountain.

 
6x12  oil on board

I had an odd sized panel so I tried this as a wide format. Fun, actually. I want to try some more....

Vernal Pond | Daley Ranch

I keep forgetting just how much rain we had in Southern California this past winter. No, not a lot my other people's standards but for us... a lot.

This point was driven home last Sunday when I took my gear with me for a hike through Daley Ranch, a regional park here in northern San Diego County.

As I descended the trail into a small valley I saw something I've never seen in that location in the 10 years I've been hiking this trail. A pond complete with fresh cattails and a new resident population of frogs. Since I knew that it would probably be gone in a few weeks, it was an easy decision to stop ad paint it.

 

 
8x10  oil on linen

Capistrano Spring

I took a short trip up the coast to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. The good news? Everything is in bloom. Bad news? May gray! Lots of fog and dull light. Oh well. I took a shot at it anyway.

 

 
11x14 oil on linen board

 

Here's some detail:

Casper Park #3

Here's another study from this regional park in Orange County.

We had a good deal of rain this year in Southern California and it really shows in the abundance of new greens and wildflowers!

I'm collecting several of these studies in preparation for something on a larger scale.

 

 
9x12 oil on board