Sunset Fishing at Silver Lake
8x10 oil on board

Silver Lake is a favorite spot for picturesque scenes. By chance I was out recently and saw an amazing sunset reflection through the arches of one of the bridges. A small girl oblivious to the beauty around her was fishing off the bridge. The glow in the arch was almost surreal. The girl was perfectly positioned for a great painting and a perfect photo.

I painted this in two sessions -- the first at SEMVA Art Gallery as part of a demonstration of oil painting. The second in the studio to paint in the girl. A detail of the girl is below, right.

Available for purchase: $150 unframed.

Central Park Fountain
8x10 Oil on Board / Plein Air

Central Park is the oldest park in Rochester. The city has grown up around it, with the Mayo Clinic campus on the South. While it still gets visitors, it is a couple of blocks off the main thoroughfare and not as frequented.

The fountain was out of service for many years, and just repaired this year. A little jury-rigging brought it back to life. It was really splashing in the sunlight.

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Old Library - Mayo Student Center
9x12 oil on board / plein air

This historic building is used now as the Mayo Clinic Mitchell Student Center. Students attending medical school have access to computers and anatomy models for study. Before the building was acquired by Mayo in 1972, it was Rochester's Public Library. Built in 1937, the Public Library was designed by Rochester Architect,
Harold Crawford.

This was a treat to paint. Traveling through town last week, looking for something to paint, the building caught my eye because of the fun light on the side of the building. As I painted, I realized the tree was a flowering crab, and it would soon bloom. So I finished only the structure of the trees, and set the painting on the shelf.

All through the week, I pestered a buddy who works at the clinic for updates on the bloom status of the tree. He reported Thursday that the tree was starting to bloom. I was devastated earlier today when the cloud cover came in. But, by 4pm we had some sun and I had the light I needed to finish. The blooms were delightful.

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Chester Wetlands
8x10 oil on board / plein air

Just East of Rochester, near Chester, are some lovely, unnamed wetlands. It was a windy spring morning and the clouds rushed past going south-west -- very uncommon. The patchwork clouds left alternating light and shade. A stand of pines left the nearby water surprisingly still. Orioles kept me company while I painted.

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Silver Lake Bridges in the Fall
12x16 oil on board

I've always loved these decorative bridges on the walking paths at Silver Lake in Rochester, Minnesota. They are so graceful and give a fairy-tale look to this famous city park. One ofter finds people near the bridges on the little islands, fishing for sunfish. Late in the fall, only a few trees hung to their leaves. This one started plein air on an unusually nice fall day, but the weather turned and it was finished in the studio.

Available for purchase: $225 unframed

Plummer House Tower
9x12 oil on board / plein air

The Plummer House was constructed in 1917 by Henry Plummer, who helped establish the Mayo Clinic along with William and Charles Mayo. Plummer was an inventor as well as a doctor, inventing the medical records system that is still in use at the clinic, today. He outfitted his home with the latest technology of the day. The home sits atop a prominent bluff at what once was the south edge of town. At the end of the large grassy garden to on the east of the home he built this Tower. It can be seen for a mile in almost any direction. It had a direct view to the downtown Mayo Clinic area.

The fall colors and the morning light cause the tower to stand out in the crisp Autumn air. Colors used: Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Permanent Red, Titanium White, and just a touch of Alizarin Crimson, and Naples Yellow.

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Bountiful Temple
16x20 oil on board

The Bountiful LDS Temple has similar strong lines to the Timponagos Temple. This painting was commissioned as an anniversary gift. I had almost as much fun taking photos and planning the painting as doing the painting itself. The temple can look somewhat gray under a hazy sky and has a tendency to blend in with the sky. I wanted something that showed the way the Bethel white granite appears brilliant white in the sunlight. A mid-morning scene provided the perfect brightness against a crisp blue mountain sky.

Technical: This is one of the bigger pieces I've done. I started with an underpainting to define both the warm colors and get my perspective lines right. The yellow sky of the underpainting played off the white of the canvas foundation and the deep reds in the shadows. I blocked in the sky first, then blocked in the shadows on the building and trees. I made the sky just a little darker to bring out the white.












It was fun to put many of the small details, such as the statue of Moroni that tops each LDS temple, and the flowers in the beds near the sidewalks. I intentionally left off some of the detail, however because it overpowered the strong shadows.
(This painting is not for sale.)

Grand Marais Harbor

9x12 oil on board

I've always loved the shoreline on the North Shore, and especially the harbor at Grand Marais. The combination of the volcanic rock sloping into Lake Superior, the unsual angles of the man-made jetty, and the puddles of water that reflect like mirrors make for an incredibly beautiful setting. My very first oil painting after the still life in the first oil painting class I took was of a different view at Grand Marais harbor. The choices for painting are endless.

This painting was started plein air, but completed from a photo reference. I was travelling with my wife as a chaperone of 23 young women (including my daughter) from church. I painted while they sunned on the rock and splashed in the cold waters at Lake Superior. Some of them jumped off pier by the lighthouse, at which the lighthouse operator rang the bell. The painting was completed at our group camp site a few miles south.

The painting shows my current technique of underpainting in red and orange.

Available for purchase: $125 unframed