‘Red-tailed Hawk’ 20” x 10” acrylic on wood panel
I like to imagine these majestic hawks surveying the golden hills.
Snowy Plover Painting
Snowy Plovers 8” x 8” acrylic on wood panel
This little painting was done from sketches and Dave’s photograph.
Heerman's Gulls & Black Turnstones
Winter birding in Monterey, California. This was a sketch done the first day on location.
Hummingbird and Fuchsia
Hummingbirds and Fuchsia 16” x 16” watercolor on wood panel
Anna’s Hummingbirds are common in our yard and they love our fuchsia plants. This motif has appeared in several of my paintings.
California Thrasher Painting
‘California Thrasher’ 8” x 8” acrylic on panel
The California Thrasher was so beautiful amongst the fall leaves and berries I was inspired to try a painting. This small piece was done directly off of Dave’s photo.
Spotted Towhee
‘Spotted Towhee’ is one of a new group of paintings I just delivered to Studio Seven Arts Gallery in Pleasanton, California.
Spotted Towhee 8” x 8” acrylic on wood panel
Evening Grosbeaks at Yuba Pass
This was inspired by our trip to the Sierras last June.
Evening Grosbeaks at Yuba Pass 30” x 15” acrylic on wood panel
Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch are common in our yard and have been the subject of many of my paintings. They almost always appear in flocks and it is fun to design a composition around a group of birds together.
Lesser Goldfinch 14” x 14” acrylic on canvas
Yellow Warbler and a Bee
I was inspired by the yellow warbers Dave and I saw a few days ago and also by the photos he took. My show titled ‘Birds and a Bee’ opens this week at Viewpoints Gallery, Los Altos, CA, and I have been experimenting adding bees to my bird paintings.
Yellow Warbler and Fennel 12” x 6” acrylic on wood panel
Yellow Warbler
In the California county in which we live, Santa Clara County, there are well known migration paths used by passerine birds. These paths are usually creeks and small rivers that provide food and water to birds as they fly from as far as Alaska heading south to their boreal winter grounds ranging from Mexico to South America. The Yellow Warbler is one such species and every fall they appear reminding us that another northern hemisphere breeding season is ending.
Hooded Orioles
Hooded Orioles have been nesting near our yard and visiting our feeders all summer. They needed to be painted.
‘Hooded Orioles’ 14” x 14” acrylic on canvas
Black Phoebe in Poetry
My painting of a Black Phoebe was included in a book of poetry with the accompanying poem by
Patricia J. Machmiller-
the solitude
of the soon-to-be groom
lingering day
‘Black Phoebe’ 16” x 16” watercolor on canvas
Black Phoebe
The Black Phoebe is a common flycatcher on the West Coast. It is easily found in and around the San Francisco-San Jose area all year. Most of the time when we are doing local birding we will see one or two them. They tend to use low spots from which to do their fly catching, rocks, fence posts and the like, flying off a perch, grabbing an insect and then usually returning to the same perch. It’s my observation that they like green grassy areas, perhaps because of the type of insects that lawns draw. Since the drought in California and home owners have converted to xerophytic gardens I am seeing less of this species where in the past they were common.
Dipper Painting
This was my first painting of an American Dipper which was inspired by a visit to Yosemite National Park five years ago. I’ve painted a few since then; I’m inspired every time we come across one in the Sierras.
American Dipper 6” x 6” watercolor on wood panel
Pygmy Nuthatches
It was such fun to come across a group of Pygmy Nuthatches on our trip to the Sierras last June. These tiny birds make me smile and needed to be part of a painting.
Pygmy Nuthatches 10” x 20” acrylic on wood panel
House Finches
This is a paintings I’m just finishing up. House finches are common in our area and they are fun to work with in paintings. In this piece I played with them among eucalyptus leaves which also have reddish accents.
‘House Finches and Chickadee’ 22” x 28” acrylic
Great Horned Owl
We can count on finding these on our yearly winter trip to the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, but this last winter we came across two together and the scene suggested this painting.
16” x 16” acrylic on canvas
Bewick's Wren II
This is another painting inspired by a Bewick’s Wren.
‘Bewick’s Wren’ 16 x 16 watercolor on wood panel
Bewick's Wren
Bewick’s Wren’s reside in our year round and I wonder how they feel when the orioles show up in the spring.
‘Spring Visitor to a Wren’s World’ 24” x 18” watercolor
Green-tailed Towhee Sketch
This is the third year in a row we have found Green-tailed Towhees among the flowering manzanita shrubs in the Sierras. I love the various greens and the way the orange cap of the towhee mirrors the orange in the manzanita branches.
Towhee and manzanita sketch 2019