This week I am experimenting with water-soluble oil paints, which are "real" oil paints but can be cleaned up with soap and water as opposed to solvents.

I put a set in my travel easel which I keep in the car for spur of the moment landscape stops. The colors are not quite as vibrant as my usual paints, but I think they proved successful for this small (6"x8") morning painting at Pacheco Pond.

It will be interesting to see how it goes in different light and weather conditions, and to see what kind of colors I can mix up with this new recipe.

I am off to the Sierra Mountains of California, near Lake Tahoe for a weeklong painting trip with 3 painting friends. The snow on the ground was nearly melted when I was there last month, so I have been expecting a week filled with budding trees, blue skies and closed ski resorts. But now the weather report says "CHANCE OF SNOW!"  In preparation for this trip, I've inventoried all my paint colors, given my brushes a good clean, and stocked up on wet panel carriers. I've learned lots of interesting tips for cold weather painting, including standing on a dark blue yoga mat in the snow. The reason? To keep feet dry and to cut down on the snow's reflection under the easel. That's a great idea, and one more item to add to the packing list.

In November and December, galleries know that people are looking for gifts, and they put out calls for small, affordable paintings.

"Baseball" is headed to the "tiny show" at Studio Gallery in San Francisco. Here are a few more small paintings that will head to shows if not sold before the November 1st submission deadline. If you are interested, get in touch quickly for a good deal! I will discount the price by the equivalent of show entry fee - so we both will save.

I grew up in New York City. On weekend visits to my grandparents home in the country, I had casual encounters with a large vegetable garden, some chickens and rabbits. Occasionally, I dug worms and caught a fish from the lake. Not a sheep, goat, horse, cow or barn in sight. But now, farms are one of my favorite things to paint. Go figure!

My Northern California home offers great access to the agricultural land in West Marin, Sonoma and Napa. The colors of the fields, hills, mountains, vineyards and vistas change faster than the colors of the neon lights on Broadway.

Here are a few recent farm paintings. "Grazing" was painted this spring in Sonoma, and today the little lambs are being sent to a new home in Massachusetts where they'll live happily ever after. 

Hanging an art show takes time and patience. The opening night of a show over in a flash. Then the show hangs, until it's time to take it down. Pieces that have sold are delivered to new collectors, and the rest is packed up and taken back to the studio. 

My June landscape show opening (at Alain Pinel in Mill Valley, California) had over 100 visitors for art, conversation, and a glass of wine. It was a great opportunity to show my latest work to old and new friends, collectors and interested guests. 

If you weren't able to see the show in person, here's a look at some of the new, and still-available paintings, all beautifully framed.  Click on the image for a larger view, size and price:

Tomorrow it will be time to load boxes, padding and tools into the back of the Prius and unhang it all. Some pieces are headed to new homes, others are headed to photography for prints and notecards. But tonight, I will put away wet paints and clean out the studio to make room for what's coming back. And I pick a winner - not a painting, but a person.  

At every show, I ask people to sign a guest book and one person is randomly selected to win a print. This time, the print was "Mill Valley Depot," and winner is Lydia Maroevich. Congratulations!

My second week at Chalk Hill Residency starts with a whipping wind, but I am not going to let that get me down. On Monday morning, I set up outside, close to the house, to stay out of the elements. I paint the shed attached to the farmhouse. (The color is a nice switch from all the green.) I sketch from inside the farmhouse and from inside the car at various locations on the property. 

When it’s too windy to be outside any longer, I head inside and make color charts to help me keep my greens straight.

In the evenings, I paint small still life paintings of the very interesting and colorful objects around the house. 

The “field study” is emerging – my pencil thumbnail drawings have made way for small color sketches. The first painting was done at 10 a.m. on Monday. By Wednesday, the weather has improved, and over the course of the week, if I happen to be near the field, I begin each painting on the hour, working quickly to capture the light and shadows. 

On Saturday, the field looked entirely different because red clover was opening all over! If my suspicions are correct, my muse could be glowing magenta in a few days – won’t that be fun to paint! 

We had visitors this week. On Thursday a group of watercolor artists from a Sonoma mental health program came to paint, and we talked about how to use color to paint a landscape, with cool colors in the background and warm colors in the foreground to create depth. It was great to be able to share art with this delightful group which comes to visit once during each artist's stay. 

On Friday, Klea and Nikki, the creators of the San Francisco-based art blog, “In the Make,” came for a studio and site visit. We had dinner at Alice's house, shared a bottle of local wine and they spent the night in the residency house before heading out on the road for a series of more studio visits from here to Vancouver, British Columbia. 

An observation. The field study, laid out on the table in front of the window facing the field captures the attention of each person who comes into the farmhouse. And every one has a definite opinion on which “o’clock” is their favorite.

If the point of an artist residency is to devote time to a practice, and to explore and experiment - it is working. I may or may not come away with great paintings, but I realize now that may not be relevant. In just two weeks I have learned that I can spend hours, days, weeks focused on making art without major distraction. I begin to understand that I have a process, and am evolving a practice that is a great learning experience.  

Oh, and I am finally figuring out "green."

In just over two weeks I will be headed off to my first Artist-in-Residence program, the Chalk Hill Residency, in Sonoma County, California.

The concept for the residency is based on the vision of the late John Carl Warnecke, an internationally renowned architect (1919-2010). In 1983 he laid out plans for an artist retreat on his family's 280-acre ranch and vineyard property near the town of Healdsburg, bordering the Russian River. 

 I am one of 11 artists chosen this year, and part of an interesting mix of painters, sculptors, writers, sound artists, musicians who have been awarded the residency since it began in 2011. During my three weeks, I will be living in a farmhouse and spending my days roaming the property painting the landscape. I will also have a studio space on site. It looks like an amazing place. I don't fully know what to expect once I get there, and for someone as organized as me, that is a leap of faith. In the meantime, I'll be making lists and packing paints and building wet canvas carriers. There may be an Open Studio day, and perhaps a show...I'll keep you posted!

 I was up in the Sierra Mountains last weekend, having a mini-vacation at Lake Tahoe. While much the U.S. is deep in winter, there had been no new snow in Northern California since the end of December, and what was left was under the shade of majestic pines.

Painting the light effects on snow is challenging fun. I found myself reaching for white paint, but always mixing it with yellow for the bright spots and tempering it with blue and red in the shade. The sky over the lake was very bright -- more yellow than blue -- and the trees created dark silhouettes. I used big brushes and worked hard not to fuss, so it has an abstract quality -- packed into just 8 x 10 inches.

Large and beautiful pine cones were to be found all over the lakeside property, but none were more exquisite than the artful interpretation of this pine cone-inspired dessert at the Lone Eagle Grille at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort.

Called a "Baked Tahoe," this confection is built with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream upon a layer of thin brownie, covered in soft marshmallow meringue peaks that receive a toasting with a culinary blowtorch. 

It's a dessert you won't want to miss -- share it with a friend!

I unpacked several new frames yesterday and I am really loving the way floater frames showcase small paintings. Each of these paintings of Muir Beach -- one towards the sea, one towards the hill -- is just 6 inches square. When a small painting is placed in a traditional frame, the molding that holds the painting in place can "trim" as much as 1/4" all around. In a floater frame, the painting is mounted from the front on the frame onto a backing where it floats (see the dark line around the edge of the canvas) and the sides of the painting are exposed.  The frames are 13 inches square and the finish is  dark brown with hints of a red underwash and a gold border.

Saying goodbye to summer isn't as hard in Northern California as it is in other locales. Right now the fog is at bay, the air is clear, the sky seems bluer and the light is spectacular. I'm counting on a gorgeous warm October so I can keep on painting outside.

"Palms" is a plein air study of a chapel building in a decommissioned military base in Marin County. Unity in Marin is very generous and allows artists to paint on their premises, which features white stucco and orange tile roofs reminiscent of California missions and Mexican haciendas.  I enjoy painting locations that evoke memories of unspecified, yet familiar places, and times of year. This painting reminds me of a beautiful summer day that can go on forever.

To celebrate the official change of season on September 22, this painting will go to the highest bidder at an auction that starts LOW and has a special twist:
It's all about the number 22. I originally posted this painting on Facebook on July 22, and I recall lots of people "liking" it. I went back to the post a few days ago and checked how many. At that moment in time it was 22. I was framing new paintings yesterday and tallied how many paintings had sold so far this year. When I saw it was 22, I knew the theme for the auction. The opening bid: $22. The incremental raise:$22. If the bidding ends at $220 or higher, the winner gets the original painting, and all other bidders can have a print for $22. The bidding ends on September 22. 

If you want to get in the game of 22, head over to my Facebook page and place a bid in the comments. If you aren't on Facebook or want to bid privately, send me an email and write "Auction Bid" in the subject line. I'll post your bid for you and keep you updated on your standing.

P.S. At 2:22 on Saturday the 22nd, you might just find me buying a lottery ticket!

P.P.S. Congratulations to the winning bidder, Jennifer Faulker from Colorado!