Pastel of Ballerina

This is from a series of pastels that I produced some years ago at the Riverside Ballet Company, Riverside, California. I used Canson paper, which is designed for pastel work. Nupastels were used for the under drawing, followed by Sennelier and Schimke pastels for the finished painting. These last two brands of pastel are outstanding in their quality and usability. I keep the blending of the pastels on the paper down to a minimum, so as not to lose the gestural part of the drawing, which expresses the energy and vitality of the scene. This picture was purchased by a private collector in Laguna Beach California.

Fly me to heaven!

This was a design model for a memorial bench commission that I received. The finished alabaster bench will be 7ft long.

Learning Tree

A design I produced for the 4 H learning program at a local Montessori school , using the learning tree motif. They kept a large number of chickens at the school, so I placed one right at the top of my design.

Discovery

This is one of several artworks that were on display earlier this year at the University of Redlands Faculty Show in the Peppers Gallery.

Point of Departure

This is one of several surreal sculptures that I produced fifteen years ago. I have recently returned to this theme of stairs and doorways.

Misty Morning

Pin hole photography was always a bit of hit and miss before the advent of digital, unless you had a polaroid back. Nikon D70, with a 18-70mm Nikkor lens, plus my trusty, rusty, tripod.

Orange Blossom Special

A Black and white version of a new orange crate label that I produced for the San Bernardino County Museum, depicting one of their exhibits. The train was built in 1918, and hauled oranges for many years. The design will be used on T shirts. Medium: Prismacolor

Carnival

Charcoal reductive drawing, inspired by listening to music. This was an example piece for my Painting to Music workshop I was giving at a local museum.

Italian View

I wanted to capture a feeling of a travel postcard from the 50s, with the colorized look. The camera used was an early Olympus OM1, with a 21 mm lens. Photoshop was used for the post production.

Sussex Scene.

This watercolor painting in my sketchbook was done from imagination, and with some influence from Samuel Palmer.

Oakland Harbor.

After the lens hood, the tripod is maybe the most important piece of photo equipment to be be used with the camera. I had left my tripod at home, so I placed my camera on the balcony to get this shot. Nikon D200, with 18-70mm Nikkor lens.

Sky West

I have been a sky watcher since I was six. Who needs Imax theater when you have a much bigger show that can be seen from your backdoor. And it's free! Taken with a Nikon D200, plus 18-70mm Nikkor lens.

Reflections in Pool.

These are the reflections of the flowers close by our swimming pool. Monet, the French  impressionist painter, was fascinated by the water lilies and refections in his pond at Giverny, and produced many paintings of the subject. I produced my image with a Nikon D2x, and a 18-70mm Nikkor lens, plus some post production with Photoshop.  

Pop-Up Cards

These are two pop-up card examples I made for a up and coming workshop that I will be giving in a local museum. I devised a method many years ago that required no gluing and no waiting for paint to dry, which works well for the impatient type. I thought my design was original, until I saw, some years later, a book by a Canadian artist, using the same technique. First, fold your paper in half, and then half again, and then open it completely and place down on the drawing table. For this method to work, your design should be symmetrical. Draw the right half of your design in the lower right hand section, making sure you have hinges on the outer section of the design . Fold the paper in half and cut the design through the single folded section, making sure to leave the hinges. Look carefully at the attached photo to see the method. This is a great way of making a Valentine card.       

A problem while making a long exposure in very low light on my digital camera, turned into a very interesting accident. It think it has a very 1950s look.  

Ochid.

One my favorite ways of lighting a subject is backlighting. Having a dark background with little or no detail helps to make the subject stand out.   

Spirit Ascending

This image of the ladder to the clouds was inspired by a piece of music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Skylark Ascending. The camera was a Nikon D70 with a Nikkor 12-24mm lens.    

Weathered Plywood.

Another close up of a surface. This time a weathered piece of  plywood, which I found discarded near to my home.  Usually, the older the object , the more interesting the surface.    

Peeling Paint.

Surfaces make a very interesting subject for photography, and are usually best captured close up with strong side lighting. Placing the light on the side will reveal the texture and form. Nikon D200 with 18-70mm lens.

Ladder and Shadows.

The ladder has always been a strong symbol for me, and I have often used it in my artwork. I made this ladder originally for part of a sculpture installation, but it has also become a prop in my photography. Nikon D70 with Nikkor 18-70mm lens.  

Minotaur.

This is a painting I started yesterday, but was not quite finished to post. When is a painting ever finished? I started in a very abstract way with rhythmic strokes, as if painting to music, and it took on a life of its own. Watercolor paints and pencils.

Open Window.

I was very tempted to place another image within the darkened window, but there a sense of mystery in the blackness, so I will leave it. Less is sometimes more. D200 with 18-70mm lens.

Winter Field.

This image grew from a slide taken from a moving bus in Austria. We were traveling up to the mounting slopes to do some skiing in Oberau, Wildschonau. Canon FTQL with 50mm lens, Kodachrome 64asa film. Post production involved many layers with Photoshop.

May Orchid.

Not sure what variety of orchid this is, but I photographed it in the studio using the "painting with light" technique. I placed my camera on a sturdy tripod, and used a very long exposure to recored myself lighting the orchid. This meant moving the LED flashlight rapidly around flower. Some post production was done in Photoshop. Nikon D2x with Nikkor 80-200mm lens, 16 second exposure.

The Vale of the White Horse

On the hillside mostly hidden from view lays the prehistoric Uffington White Horse. A 3000 year old, 374 feet (110m) long artwork, which is really best seen from the air. Nikon D200 with Tokina SD 12-24mm DX lens.

Hampshire Hills

Hampshire is a southern county in England, and once the home of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. It has also been the inspiration for Keats, Thomas Hardy, Anthony Trollope and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This view of the Hampshire Hills is from a series of images captured on my last trip to England. Nikon D200 with Tokina SD 12-24 F4 DX lens.

Open Book

I normally light my still life subjects with tungsten or strobes, carefully arranging them until I get the desired effect, but I just happen to see the light striking the bedroom floor, so I quickly grabbed the old book and placed it in the patch of sunlight. Nikon D200 with 18-70mm lens.

Vicarage Garden

English gardens are very appealing to me, especially when they have topiary.

Cotswolds Vista.

I can spend as much a time painting with pixels as I would with painting watercolor, or with any other medium. This was a photograph taken on a Nikon D200, with a 18-70mm lens. The location was close to Stratford-on-Avon, England. Post production was with Photoshop, which involved at least eight stages and several effects. I prefer not to use the same formula every time I process the photos, but I do tend to use the Photoshop auto levels as part of the beginning clean up.