Oils

Rain is part of the menu on the north shore of Kauai. Still, I enjoyed painting the scene out the window while waiting for it to clear.

I painted this while visiting a popular beach on the north shore of Kauai. The day was pretty much perfect … except for the dang parking ticket.

I saw loads of wild and beautiful chickens while I was in Kauai. They were near the beach, in town in Hanalei and up in the mountains. I love the variety of markings and iridescent plumes of the roosters. There are stories that the chickens escaped domesticity with the strike of Hurricane Iniki. But I’m not sure. In any case they are kind of a Kauai mascot and I am charmed.

While I was painting these Hot Poker Aloes at Cottle Park in San Jose, I was struck by the chartreuse grass of early spring and enjoyed the entertainment of a hummingbird making the rounds.

There was no rain expected when I set up my painting gear. Then … it poured. In the end, when I finished this up at home, I worked to retain a sense of uncertainty and the moments just before the downpour.

So fun painting this view of downtown Los Gatos and chatting with locals passing by. I had no idea that the park where I was set up used to be the train station or that the building this painting focuses on used to be a hotel.

When visiting Filoli, there are a number of specific vignettes that I look forward to seeing as the seasons and plantings change. I have loved seeing this walkway lined with tulips and terra cotta pots full of hyacinths. If I had to choose though it would be the scene I’ve captured here with a multitude of foxgloves in the raking light of a sunny afternoon in early summer.