Oswego Creek Study

Every painter knows the moment when the right color, value, or compositional tweak sets in motion a successful endgame. Like a jigsaw puzzle. It`s an exciting turn in the process. In the two large paintings I`m working on, this keeps happening, then I lose it.
I`ll take a break and paint something else, usually small.
Hopefully with new insights, I`ll enter the fray again. There is a real sense of a hunt; predator and prey. With adrenaline even! The high emotional stakes are, of course, what makes it fun, or at least compelling.

Estuary Morning

Both of my big paintings in process took a wrong turn! This is maddening when success is in view. As I regroup and figure out a new tact, I`ve worked on a couple of studies. This is one.

Fast Stream Down a Cold Mountain

We had a showing this morning of our home and our realtor says we will get an offer soon. Small paintings like this will probably be all I`ll be able to focus on. I sure hope this is simple. We looked at a new home yesterday built in the Craftsman style that was amazing. It had everything imaginable including a big basement [studio] with three huge windows! House lust is strange. As a painter I`ve had to keep material ambitions squelched in order to do it. To think a real studio is within reach is making me dizzy.