Santa Barbara Courthouse Double-Take

When I saw it I did a double take.

On the web I had found a painting of the Santa Barbara Courthouse that looked very much like one I had done. But it wasn't mine.

The similarities are remarkable. The compositions of each painting are almost identical -images have not been cropped. (The image on the right is mine, the one on the left was painted by Santa Barbara artist Dorothy Nalls.)

As it turns out, Dorothy, my artist counterpart, and I have never met face to face. However our canvases show that we've crossed paths more than once in our searches for subjects to paint.

Dorothy Nalls is a plein air painter, specializing in Santa Barbara landscapes and seascapes.

Visit her on-line portfolio at http://www.dorothynalls.com/

Brookwood Snow

It snowed in Asheville. Again.

Near our house there's a large parcel of land which used to be the Brookwood Golf Course. It was purchased by developers and graded in preparation for building condos or something probably less attractive than the golf course. But apparently they ran out of money, because the project has been at a stand-still for a year or so.

Snow has a wonderful effect of covering everything and restoring the "natural" appearance of the landscape. The marks made on the earth by construction equipment and earth movers are hidden by the white blanket.

Brookwood Snow - South Asheville / Arden

Acrylic on Canvas

16 x 20 inches

(Location near the intersection of Mills Gap and Weston Road.)

I am looking forward to Spring and warmer weather.

I've recently joined the Western North Carolina Plein Air Painters group. - An informal club of Asheville area landscape painters who get together from time to time to paint on location. I'm especially looking forward to painting with Richard Oversmith and Stuart Roper.

(click for larger image)

This image shows the development of the painting. I started with a warm undertone - something close to the color of raw linen. Then I "pushed" the color palette toward the blue tones. The final image on the right shows a more balanced warm / cool spectrum of colors.