Early evening shadows while driving through Montana Foothills, valleys and grasslands, where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains. 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.

Framed size 27H x 33W”.

The Grandfather Tree, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Estimated to be 1800 years old, this Redwood is 265 ‘ tall with a 24 ft. diameter, located along the Avenue of the Giants, Hwy 101 CA. Framed size 27H x 33W”.

Healthy Squirrel caught mid-chomp! Seen in January, Coppell, TX – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W”.

Flood Zone, Rood Bridge Park, Hillsboro OR, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W” It’s always a careful decision to place my signature in a place that doesn’t impose on the artwork. Here it’s on the tree trunk near the bottom, hardly visible in this photo.

Prairie Storm, July in Cochrane, Alberta, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W”.

Cape Meares Cliff, Oregon Coast, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper, framed size 27H x 33W”.

 
Paint Arson, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas (2009), wrapped sides painted, frame unnecessary. Set on shelf or hang on wall. This and Cumulonimbus: Montana Sunset (2020) are in J. Mane Gallery’s ‘Elements of Nature’ online juried exhibition, showing through January 2022.

I don’t always have clear intentions behind my work, other than to make it interesting of course, because I wonder if too much explanation muddies a fresh impression of it. However, the writing connected to “Paint Arson” is worth the read. Fire is a destructive force, and positive associations with it are not immediate. For example, the pinecones of Sequoia, the largest trees on Earth, only open under the extreme conditions presented by fire. Read on…

Petrified Forest, Crystal Forest Trail, AZ – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper. Framed size 27H x 33W”, white wood frame, crackle finish.

In addition to Kananaskis Valley (mentioned earlier in Grey Cube Gallery Forests and Meadows), this piece won a merit award in Contemporary Art Room’s exhibition, “Trees and Fields”, showing online through December, 2021.

A Page Full of Pansies, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white mat, white wood frame, crackle finish.

English Ivy drooped in oak tree branches, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W”.

Pretty? Pretty invasive! Probably escaped from a nearby garden, English Ivy is beautiful draped in the branches of this Oak tree, but the plant, left unchecked as a ground cover, will choke out any growth of native or desirable flowers or plants. An aggressive perennial, it attaches easily with roots that exude an adhesive substance, destroying rooves and siding, climbing on branches that break under its weight. Once established, it will kill trees by blocking sunlight and thereby, photosynthesis. Because of the labor and enormous expense it takes to eradicate it from public lands and parks, people are encouraged to not plant this in your garden, even though it’s still for sale in nurseries.