Baa Baa Black Sheep 16x20

This was a recent commission. Winter notwithstanding, these sheep are as happy as they are sassy. They are, after all, black sheep and we expect nothing less from them. Maybe you've been labeled the black sheep of your family. Well, as far as I can tell you're in good company.
Another big ol' moon painting will be listed for sale on eBay tomorrow. It would have gone out today but the photography has to wait till the shiny parts dry a bit.

My therapy continues and I have been mucking through marsh and mire the last few weeks practicing Catch and Release hunting as per doctor's orders. The season was a good one and I took many a photo of sunrise and steam pouring off the effervescent effluent that flows north from Tucson's epicenter. Another 30x40 masterpiece is in the making so stay tuned.

Pendragon Circle 30x40

I've really got to get better at taking pictures or get a better camera. The bright spots get way over exposed and even working a little photoshop magic can't seem to correct it. The clouds in this have a lot of great color and stuff going on that is lost on the poor photography/image.

I named this after a Sci-Fi story we've all read. Certain books make their rounds in our family and there was a series we consumed a few years back that almost consumed us. It was an otherworldly tale of dragons and sorcerers, fair maidens and knights...not too unlike my real life. This sky above is seen at the time of day called the "time between times" when travel to other dimensions is possible. Doctor Who and I have the same screwdriver and time machine so we don't really need to trifle with "special" times to travel the time/space continuum. Most of you, however, need something akin to this painting to get you started. Feel free to check it out...for sale on eBay here.

Honey Moon 20x16, Apple Valley Cows 30x24, Brush Pile

I have several buckets like this. Stiff old brushes that should be discarded mixed with odd and misshapen brushes or ones with strange shapes or made from unreliable materials. I used to use quite a number of brushes to elaborate a painting. Anymore I lean on just a small handful of go-to shapes and sizes. My main criteria for a brush is that it have a long handle. I don't care if it is made from the best mongoose hair this side of the Nile, if it has a short handle it ain't good for nothing but dilly dallying around. Langnickel are the best economic brushes I've found to date. They are super durable and great for those lazy artists that leave their brushes in their paint pots soaking in solvent all the time. I don't really know anyone that does that but if there are some mis-guided individuals that pass themselves off as fine art painters and treat the tools of their trade with such disdain, these are the brushes for them.

Santa Cruz Moon...Pipe Dreams Vineyard

My wife took a job...first ever (in 24 yrs.) I guess the starving artist thing was getting a bit old. Actually she has always wanted to work. She's a school teacher and if not for our own unruly, unschooled kids she would have happily plied her trade over the years. Instead, bound to clean up after a pile of messy ingrates she has resigned herself to a fate worse than mine. Which, truth be told, hasn't been all that bad. The new bionic leg prevents me from being called up to kick field goals during the playoffs (something about the rules preventing the use of adamantium enhanced X-men abilities) and a few other options are now off the table. So, I suppose she'll just have to support me while I put to canvas the fanciful images that dance through my mind; a veritable never-ending kaleidoscopic cornucopia of hues and shapes...like the pictures above.
The one on the top is the view I had last week. It's my favorite place to practice catch and release hunting. The one on the bottom is a larger version of a California vineyard view I've done before.

Beula land 24x30 Before the Great Flood 40x30

Though I haven't updated on my recovery nor sent out many warm Christmas and new years greetings be assured that my sentiments are with you and that my leg remembers more and more its former strength and beauty. I saw a TV special last weekend commemorating the Tucson tragedy of a year ago. They focused on the incredible doctors and staff of Tucson's University Medical Center, specifically the emergency room. Well, I was there not long ago with one leg pointing north as the rest of me pointed south, if you recall. Of course my little ordeal was not that of the shooting victims but I'm sure the mystery magic of modern medicine worked on me saved me from years of trauma and penguin walking (I still walk like one...but not for long) Eleven weeks out from surgery and the damaged nerves are growing back enabling me to be able to lift my foot and walk without a brace; something the docs feared with the double bone break and the shattered fibula. I took advantage of the holiday cheer and seasonal tidings to take a small break from the computer machine and enjoy some wintry paintings. Also, my serious couch time with elevated foot has afforded me plenty of opportunity to meditate on important things...and to see the value of suffering. Can you say that? Well, I found a lot of very encouraging scripture passages that speak to the issue of suffering and have sensed a peculiar blessing on me because of (in spite of?) it. I know, it ain't like they took both my legs off and left me for dead in the ditch. And I did still my craven and self-pitying heart with that thought many a time while in the first few weeks of slightly Morphine/Percocet/Vicodin-mitigated writhing. Things can always be a lot worse but my point is that there is a picture that's bigger than all this. You can find a whole lot of comfort and insight in Hebrews chapter 12. Are things a bit rough for you and your weary heart right now? Read this passage. Are your tired eyes in need of a soothing salve? Look at these paintings. Have your ears grown dull of hearing? Listen to Bob Dylan sing a cover of one of my songs.