Shadowlands of December

Shadowy Paths (30 X 40")
In this big studio piece, I worked from a successful small on-site study I did years ago of the little trees and paths behind Dumbarton Oaks. Revisiting the older work, a light shone within and I thought, " I've got to build a more abstract interior journey on this composition." I really enjoyed developing this one. There are rich forms and spaces and interplays of mass and shadow and light here that my eye wants to wander in and around all day.


Shadow-laden Hillside Behind Dumbarton Oaks (16 X 20")
Another in this series from my favorite painting spot by a stone bench next to the creek running behind Dumbarton Oaks, this was painted on site December 1, 2009.

Rock Creek Park

Rock Creek Reflection, under Mass Ave Bridge (18 X 24"). Sold.























Autumn Maple, in Rock Creek (12 X 18")

Reed Relics

I studied drawing and/or painting during every semester I was at Reed College (from 1989 - 1993), though I majored in history. I've stayed in touch with my art professor at Reed, Michael Knutson, who is a very accomplished painter in Portland (see his Blackfish Gallery work!) and continues to guide young painters at Reed. He told me my work was preserved on the art department website. I revisited some of my old pieces, especially these three. I want to boast that there is more of my work showcased on the site than any other painter's, but I didn't do a very scientific comparison.


Still Life arranged by Michael Knutson




These two self-portraits hung side-by-side in the department exhibition space along with the other self-portraits of the class. The seersucker suited one vanished before the show came down. I'd like to think it was stolen because somebody liked it rather than that the thief was just too lazy to stretch her/his own canvas and liked the dimensions of this one. Both self-portraits were approximately 40" X 20". The nude is rolled up in a closet at my parents' house.

November in Georgetown

I'm painting very efficiently outside at some of my favorite spots around Georgetown these days. This is where I grew up, and I have walked wide-eyed along these streets and parks and paths throughout my life, in every mood. These places are very restorative, with their rich, earthy colors. The blues and reds and yellows are coming through really cleanly, too.

Canal Stretch (from 31st Street) (sold)


Swaying Trees at Mt. Zion Cemetery (off Q & 27th) (sold)


Hillside behind Dumbarton Oaks (sold)

Friends Creek in October

Friends Creek in Cobalt (16 X 20"), sold.

These are two paintings are of a pool where I spent a lot of time fishing and swimming as a kid. On this day in October, the colors were very vivid and the air and water were very still. Friends Creek runs into Pennsylvania from Sabillasville, MD through the rugged Cotoctin Mountain countryside. This part of the creek is in a hollow, and there isn't much sunshine in the fall. As the afternoon wore on, the air and light grew very cool very fast, inspiring me to squeeze from my tube of cobalt for the first time in years.


Friends Creek in Yellow (16 X 20"), sold.

Earlier in the day, the light was hazier, the air lazier, and warm yellows dominated my palette.

October Awakening

This nine-foot-long triptych (October Awakening) is my most ambitious piece to date. Sold.



It started plein-air on our terrace, but October 2 dawned magnificently with about half an inch of snow on the higher peaks. I snapped lots of photos from the roof of our house.



Uncle David had wandered through the woods to admire the daybreak and joined me on the upstairs balcony. The magic of the morning called for a precise rendering, and I developed the triptych using the photos. It was raw and windy outside and it was heavenly to paint inside with Beethoven sonatas by the fire.

Plein-air pieces from Keene Valley in September

September Spreadeagle, from the Macholds' deck (24 X 30)


Giant and Roaring Brook Falls, from the Rutherfurds' porch. (24 X 30"). Sold.


Trinity Falls (IV) (24 X 30)


Brothers Sing September, from our terrace (24 X 30). Sold

These four pieces were all painted on site outside in September up in Keene Valley. They were quicker, bolder enterprises than the paintings I've done from photos, but sometimes the rain or darkness or some commitment comes along and I don't finish on site and it becomes a question of inventing or remembering. That happened with the sky in Brothers Sing September, where the sky was painted and repainted several times. I could have taken photos as a memory aid, but didn't.