Lake Bled

Another missed painting.  Lake Bled, Croatia, is a worthy stopover if you are in the area.  Although this painting does not feature the famous island in the middle of the lake, I chose this gentleman rowing home from the market.  The setting and the atmosphere of the overcast weather was a good challenge to interpret with paint.

A couple of missed entries

Earlier this year I painted a couple of commissioned pieces that I failed to publish on my blog.  The first was a wonderful fall photo from Idaho.  A river that I cannot remember the name of...that's embarrassing.  Anyhow this was a fabulous opportunity to render water and fall colors, and it was a large painting, approximately 30x40.

Then a couple of months ago I painted Peggy's Cove, which is located in Nova Scotia.  My sister and brother in law vacationed there and gave me this great photo of Peggy's Cove to memorialize for them.  A really fun painting to create...the colors, the mood, the setting were real special.

Limon Mercado

When we were in Ecuador last year, we took a trip to the amazon region.  One of the towns on the edge of the rainforest is Limon.  Limon has one very nice Mercado, where I snapped a photo of a merchant in her space.  I loved the variety and density of the produce.  This painting was a test for my patience and skills to interpret all the textures.  This was a fun painting to produce and to remember the experience.

Street Food

Street food is often some of the tastiest and least expensive food anywhere in the world.  And it is no different in Ecuador.  While spending time at the coast, in the small town of Olon, we enjoyed the skewers from this ladies cart.  The best $1.50 anywhere.

Lisa's Dogs

This was a tricky commission to accomplish.  This final painting was a mash-up of 5 reference photos.  Lisa C. who I work with and asked me to paint her dogs took a bunch of photos in her backyard.  The poses of the dogs come from a single reference, but their open mouth smiles come from another.  Also the blonde dog's head comes from an indoor photo, which I needed to make appear to fit and look like the outdoor lighting.  Then finally the rear yard flowers and grass were another reference.  Here you go...

Next up is a painting from Elke's and my vacation last summer where we visited Lake Bled, Slovenia.

The Shepherd's Watch

The pastor of the church where I work and worship, asked me to do a painting to go along with his Christmas Eve sermon.  So after a couple of conceptual discussions I came up with the idea of having a nighttime scene of a shepherd looking toward Bethlehem.  With the star in the sky illuminating the town and lighting a pathway from the shepherd to the manger location.  So, if you are wondering what comes first, the sermon or the painting?  Answer...the painting.  Our pastor tweeked his sermon to talk about Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  Here's the painting.  Also, if you want to hear a wonderful message about the Good Shepherd , check out Menlo.church and click on Messages.

Lisa's Sister

I love this painting from the standpoint of the setting.  A friend of mine at work commissioned me to paint this.  Somewhere in the Pacific northwest her sister took this selfie.  I love the peaceful setting, and the fact that she appears to have the place to herself.  The sky and clouds are about as complex and dramatic as any sky painting I have attempted.  I am pleased with the results, and Lisa my co-worker is excited to give this painting to her sister for her birthday.  I really appreciate doing this sort of painting that has significance for the owner.  This is the 5th painting in a row that has been a commission, and it's been some of the most fun I have had over the past 7 months creating them.  Next up is a very special project for Christmas...stay tuned!  Thanks.