Rise and Shine

Plein air painting of Humboldt County's rocky Trinidad coast in Northern California

Painted this one on location close to home on a November morning back in 2019. It was one of those days we don’t get very often here, perfect conditions, no wind, crystal clear… just not quite clear enough to see what was about to go down in a few short months. When I look at […]


Chromatic Water Theory XIII: Abstract Jazz

Live art for the Redwood Coast Music Festival
Painted partially live at the Basement in Arcata, then finished recently for the Redwood Coast Music Festival. It’s been a ton of fun creating artwork for the festival, and at the festival as well. This Chromatic Water Theory series was literally born in the presence of world class jazz musicians performing in the Morris Graves […]…

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A Man Among Giants… and Also His Cat

Plein air painting of Ken Jarvela painting in the redwoods at Prairie Creek National Park in Humboldt County, California
Over 20 years ago I read a story in the local press about an artist that would spend weeks on end out in the high mountain backcountry, living out of tent and cave, painting daily. Surviving snow and rock and ice and fire. On his return he’d see civilization’s blur of concrete and impatience through […]…

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Between the Music and the Beer

Live art of sand dunes on the Samoa peninsula on the Humboldt coast of northern California

This was also a live painting done just recently at a benefit for a local nonprofit called Friends of the Dunes. I’ve been painting at their annual wine-sipping event for the last 6 years or so and always have a good time. This day was no different, but it was a bright sunny day, unlike […]


A Fresh Perspective

Plein air painting overlooking Highway 101 at Freshwater lagoon on the Humboldt coast of Northern California

Long straight sandy beaches are a lifelong nemesis when it comes to composing a scene that holds my interest long enough to see a painting through. Down on the beach it’s all just sand and sky with that little strip of compressed sea level ocean. Aargh. Get me up on a hill. Give me a […]


Deep Calls to Deep

Plein air painting of mural on a church wall by Chris Del Moro and graffiti that say to Read Kerouac in Marina Di Pisa, Italy
“The only people for me are the mad ones: the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who… burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles.” ⠀-Jack Kerouac, American Poet and Novelist (1922-1969)⠀Printed and taped on my father’s fridge by […]…

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The Dining Room

A plein air oil painting of stonework overlooking Camel Rock at Houda Point on the Trinidad coast of Humboldt California
It can be anything you want. Stone stairs lead down to an empty room that couldn’t contain the view so they left the walls and roof off altogether.It can be a community kitchen where breakfast burritos are served to surfers exiting the water on a cold clear morning.It can be a music hall.It can be […]…

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Drink Up

A plein air landscape painiting from the Lost Coast Trail at Sea Lion Gulch on the Humboldt coast of California

The final panting of this trip. To keep our packs as light as we could (since I was carrying an entire studio) we carried little water with us- just enough to get to our next destination point and keeping our eyes out for water sources along the way. We brought a small filter and there’s […]


Punctuation Marks

A plein air landscape from the Lost Coast Trail overlooking Punta Gorda on the Humboldt coast of northern California

As we hiked our way down the coast yesterday, I made a lot of mental notes for today’s paintings. Yesterday was for reconnaissance and smaller, quicker paintings. Today was time to get to work on some larger vistas. This was a scene that really struck me the day before. A sweeping view, punctuated by triple […]


Anything But Silent

Plein air nocturne painting of Cooskie Creek on the Lost Coast Trail on the Humboldt Coast of Northern California

As my wife slept in the shadows by the creek beside this headland, I stood and faced the moonlight and attempted to sort out mixing colors by headlamp. Due to the timing of the tides we’d have to leave first thing in the morning so even though I’d rather have been sleeping myself, this was […]


Carry My Body

A plein air painting of a broken down hunting cabin on the Lost Coast Trail in Northern California's Humboldt County
Not quite a proper backstory, and not quite a poem, this one took a rare detour into something else… either way, hope you enjoy the tale. Food running low. The hunter prays for a kill as he reaches into the dusty cabinet for his last handful of oats before the sun sends the shadows scattering […]…

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Out of the Lighthouse and Into the Light

A plein air painting of the view from inside the Punta Gorda Lighthouse on the Lost Coast Trail in Humboldt, California

Just a reminder to never abandon your light.You will wind up empty, forlorn.Graffiti on your walls, occasionally funny, sometimes crude.But mostly just the illegible names of spirits brought in by the wind.And the markings of lovers whose bodies were dragged in by the tide.Your doorway darkened by the ghost of a travelling painter.Stealing your light.Haunted.


Motel California

Plein air painting overlooking the north end of Pismo Beach on the San Luis Obispo county coast of Central California
I know you guys think my job is super easy. Just cruise around and paint pictures between coffee and beers and donuts and tacos. Go for a surf if the waves look fun. Hike around in beautiful remote places on the edges of the world. Hmmm… My job is pretty easy, come to think of […]…

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Hallowed Ground

Plein air painting of Hollister Peak inspired by William Wendt in San Luis Obisbo County in Central California
William Wendt was a master of California Impressionism, a distinct school of impressionist art forged in the California landscape back in the early 1900’s. One of Wendt’s most iconic paintings is called Where Nature’s God Hath Wrought and features a boldly centralized view of this very peak. Look it up if you need to, it’s […]…

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Grounded

Plein air painting of a shiprwreck near Cayucos on the San Luis Obispo County coast of central California
I painted this boat a few years ago, grounded hopelessly on the rocks in a small cove on the Central Coast. I had just learned that it had previously belonged to a friend’s family for years. It was even named after her brother, the “Craig G” until it was sold and the new owner renamed […]…

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Meet Me in St. Louis

Plein air painting of kayaks on the beach at Port San Luis on the central California coast
A little further than the road will take you, this little cove is accessed mainly by kayak or paddleboard which means getting out here to paint while armed with just a van and a backpack is a tricky matter of… logistics! Oh, how I love logistics. And also my friends, like my good art pal, […]…

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A Pier Then Disappear

Plein air painting of an old dairy farm building at Cayucos on the central California coast of San  Luis Obispo County
Ok, let’s circle back to the Italian dairy farms that took root here in 1860’s… I painted this small dairy farm building one afternoon from beside an old ranch house where a not-so-Italian* friend of Wade’s was living. Another not-so-Italian* fellow had long ago purchased this land and set up operations here all the way […]…

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Red and Gold

Landscape plein air painting of California poppies growing near Point Buchon on the San Luis Obispo County coast of California
Corralina, it’s the Italian word for coral, and though no coral is found in this cold water, there is a red seaweed with a hard calcareous surface named corralina that does grow in these rugged tidepools. There’s also gold poppies that bloom in the spring here. I’m a sucker for poppies. I had a strict […]…

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La Meccanica in un Momento de Pace

Plein air painting of the Borradori Garage near Cayucos on the central coast of California in San Luis Obispo county
High tariffs in the newfound Kingdom of Italy in 1865 led to a large number of dairy farming Swiss-Italians to come to the US and eventually settle around this town. This coincided with the massive droughts that had just collapsed the large cattle ranches that dominated the California coastal landscape until that point.  After the drought, […]…

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Everything She Needs

My wife rocking out on guitar by a campfire on a cattle ranch
Several years ago I was invited by the Save The Waves Coalition to be a part of their Redgate Ranch Music Festival, to create event artwork and paint live at the event itself while enjoying live music from some great bands on the event’s single stage.⠀⠀My first night there, after the music finally ended, and […]…

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The Devil at My Heels

Landscape plein air painting near Point Buchon and Diablo Canyon on the San Luis Obispo county coast of California
The devil that was at my heels this day, wasn’t really a devil at all. But he worked for one, or at least a nuclear power plant that has taken the devil for its name. I’d hiked 3 or 4 miles out on this windy day to see the furthest reach of this coast that […]…

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Sir Francis Drake Was a Pirate

Plein air painting of Pirate's cove and Cave Landing near Avila Beach on the San Luis Obispo county coast of central California
It’s true, he was a full on sea-sailing, ship-boarding, plunder-stealing, off-with-yer-head-if-you cross him pirate. The Spanish navy hated the guy and he had a personal beef with them as well. He even sailed clear past all of Spanish-settled California and claimed all of northern California for England in 1579. It didn’t stick, but it was […]…

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Ebb and Flow

Plein air painting of Ebb Tide Park near Shell Beach on the central California coast of San Luis Obispo County
There is nothing like painting in the cool shade on a warm summer day, with a good art pal like Wade Koniakowsky humming around painting here, painting there, disappearing for awhile and returning with snacks and cold beers. It reminded me of those days of my youth, before we could drive, and we’d take turns […]…

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The Back Road

Plein air artwork of a ranch road leading up to Hollister peak near San Luis Obispo on the central California coast
 As it happens, on this morning all of my plans were thwarted by that mother of all disruptions… No, not the pandemic, this was 2019- way before all of that. No, this diabolical mocker of all my good designs for spending a day under the sun will be with us long after this covid stuff […]…

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A Dissonant End

Plein air artwork from the end of the Harmony Headlands trail on the San Luis Obispo county coast of Central California
 I’ve got no ear for harmonies, seriously. I might not be tone-deaf, but I am certainly tone-dumb. But I have heard that in the language of jazz, the end of a song is often concluded with what is called a dissonant chord. I couldn’t really pick a dissonant chord out of a crowd, but I […]…

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