After Cezanne (detail of Still Life with Apples)

While confined with a broken leg, I began small projects, small canvas board paintings of details from Paul Cezanne works.  It was an undertaking I thought manageable given my lack of mobility.  Crutches are a pain.  It had been a while since I had painted a still life so I decided to follow the master, to try to understand his compositions and to match his paint color choices.  I fell in love, all over again, with Cezanne.  His vision and experimentation are extraordinary.  Each painting I attempted taught me a new lesson about still life painting and about light.  I am finishing up a few more 'after Cezanne' studies and will post them soon.

Edgartown View (private collection)

Hills at Will Rogers State Beach

These three pieces are under paintings of scenes I will finish in studio back on the east coast.  Rather than work in my usual blue-gray tones, I drew out these scenes in warm grays heavy on the raw umber.  It seemed to work best when representing the sand and rock cliffs facing Will Rogers Beach from across Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).  Hopefully this beginning will help me to remember the feel of the cliffs while painting them from thousands of miles away.

Canyon Roses Detail

California skies have been cloudy in the morning and so I have not been able to paint this work in the same light.  It is coming along but not complete.  My main challenge is softening while shaping the rose petals.  Acrylics do not layer and are not transparent in the way I expect when working with oils. 

Canyon Roses

White roses border the canyon beyond my sister's California home.  They are plentiful and ever blooming.  This is a work in progress.  I began with neutral colors to establish a lush foliage contrasting with delicate white petals.  More to come...