"Departure" Seattle Ferry ,oil painting

Anyone who has been to the Kitsap peninsula is familiar with this scene. The gulls follow the ferry out like banners crying "Bonn Voyage"

12x12 oil on canvas $250.00

"The Tree Fort" landscape, oil painting

I'm not sure what attracted me to this scene to begin with.....the play of light on the pail that was hanging on the side of the tree fort or all the blackberries growing up and taking over residence......it's sort of nostalgic because I have one of these in my back yard that I built with my son who is now 22 years old and going to college at the Seattle Institute of Art.........It's days of laughter and pine cone wars are over ,the blackberries soon to enter the hatch door.........

This one is right off Miller Rd on Bainbridge Island........Don't forget my show of recent work is still going on at the Tree House cafe.....(I should have this one in that show!) in Lynwood center by the old movie theatre..till May 11th........ 9x12 oil on canvas $200.00 sold

"Light and Shadow" landscape, oil painting

Looking at this painting I realized it could be a metaphorical image about the importance of remaining in the light and following the narrow road that leads to life........It's easy to get distracted and lost in the shadows but if you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, He will be "...a light unto your path...."

12x16 oil on stretched canvas SOLD

"Jim's Boatshed" plein air ,landscape, oil painting

We got a little taste of summer on Saturday. It actually got into the mid seventy's! A great day to get out for some PA. I didn't go far. This is Jim's shed where he is building a six meter sailboat to take to the worlds in 09.....Jim is Leighs husband and has his boat building business next to the studio.
Here's the preliminary sketch to fix the light and shadow position before starting to paint The big challenge in plein air painting is the changing light and conditions, so you need all the help you can get.

14x18 oil on stretched canvas $385.00

"The Reflection of a Pair" still life ,oil painting

I put my favorite coffee pot and a pear from lunch in the shadow box and was immediately drawn to the reflection cast in the shiny metal......I think this is my most realistic pear so far.

Me and Leigh, my painting buddy have decided to have a "Pear Off" I'll post both entries and let you decide the winner.Sold

"Boat Haven across the Marsh" Port Townsend, landscape ,oil painting

A favorite haunt of mine, the boat haven in Port Townsend. There is a wealth of interesting scenes here and several good restaurants tucked into the warehouses and buildings that make up PT's eclectic boating community.

9x12 oil on canvas SOLD

"Port Townsend Bluff" landscape, oil painting

This was one of those....use up the leftover paint on the pallet paintings.....from an image I took in Port Townsend on my way to the ocean

8x10 oil on panel $150.00

Point no Point Lighthouse

There will be a show of my recent paintings at the "Tree House Restaurant" on Bainbridge Island. That is in the Lynwood Center by the old movie theatre. It will run from Tue, April 8th till Sun May 11th...The Tree House is a great place to have lunch and check out my new paintings!


The Point no Point Lighthouse is a favorite place to go painting and beach combing. This is a view from the back side across the wetland marsh 8x10 oil on panel $150.00 SOLD

"Happy Cow" landscape. oil painting

This is the pastoral scene I drive by every day on my way to the studio. The cows in this field must be milk cows or pets because they have been here for quite awhile and seem very content in their "Cow Paradise"

12x16 oil on canvas SOLD

"Camelias with Teapot" still life , oil painting

I finally got around to constructing a shadow box for still life set ups. I made it to break down easily for transporting to the studio. I found an old drywall mud hock in my workshop, took the handle off and then drilled a hole in the base to fit the threaded bolt in my camera tripod. That made a nice lightweight table top on which I can rest my shadow box. The cool thing about using the tripod is that I can adjust the height of the still life to suit my easel set up....

This still life is made up of cut camelias that are already blooming in the yard and one of Leighs many teapots.

12x12 oil on canvas sold
You can kinda see the shadow box set up in my little corner of the studio where I work.

"The Last Snow" landscape, oil painting

This is the last little painting I did before surgery and I haven't done anything for over a week so I am very anxious to get back to the studio and start working again! Doc says to take it easy so it will be a slow process.

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers I received! I am grateful that all went well and I am on the mend ready to push paint again!

8x10 oil on panel ..sold

"Saint James Cathedral" urban oil painting, Seattle

St. James Cathedral at night brings back some wonderful memories of a beautiful night and a lovely face. sold


Sketches of St. James C.
The work in progress

"Homestead" landscape, oil painting

This house is in Port Orchard. I used a warm pallet and added lights in the windows to give it an inviting mood. You, the viewer get to write the story behind the painting.....

8x10 oil on panel $150.00 Sold

"Crow Flight"

First I got food poisoning then I got the flu which developed into bronchitis which gave me a violent cough which gave me a Hernia which explains why I have a lot of time to paint right now while I wait for my surgery on Wednesday.......Sheeesh

I have a whole stack of crow pictures that I take at lunch time while I'm sitting in the truck . All you need is a handful of french fries or potato chips. It was fun working on this little composition in between paintings

8x10 oil on ampersand panel $125.00

"Out to Pasture"

This car is sitting in a pasture just down the road from where I live on Bond road in Poulsbo. It would make a nice project car that you could buy and park in your yard and then think about how you are going to fix it up for the next twenty years. I like the idea of painting a picture of it and hanging it on the wall. 12x12 oil on canvas $225.00 SOLD

Working my way through the coast sketches. I haven't tried to many dramatic sky paintings. They are a real challenge for me. This one looks better in person. I got a lot of glare from the wet paint. 11x14 oil on canvas $225.00

"The Old Plywood Mill", Port Angeles. urban landscape, oil painting

Its been a long haul getting through the last couple weeks. First I had food poisoning then I succumbed to the plague that has been going around. I finally felt well enough to try and paint without throwing up from the smell of turpentine! sheeesh.......

This painting is from one of the sketches I made at the old plywood mill in Port Angeles. I used my pallet knife a lot on this one trying to work in interesting and varied textures with all the white forms. 16x20 oil on stretched canvas $375.00 Sold

"Bike Stand" oil, figurative painting

Caught this elderly gentleman as he was parking his bike to cross the street to the barber shop in Poulsbo. I don't know why he didn't just ride his bike to the other side of the street. Go figure.

I'm having a hard time getting started on my Port Angeles material so I am posting this one till I get going again. Guess I am having kind of a painters block right now. I'll get over it. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

14x18 oil on canvas $285.00

"Road Trip" sketches on the road to La Push

All week the weather "forecasters" predicted clear, sunny and warmer for the long weekend and for once they were right! I took advantage and headed out for one of my favorite beaches on the Washington coast, La Push. There are three great beaches in that area and I spent most of my time on Rialto beach. I did a lot of sketching so I could get the most work out of the time I had. These pencil drawings are all done on location. I did one oil painting which I will touch up in the studio and post later, with lots of painting to come from photos and sketches!
Port Angeles has so many great spots around the docks and shipyards that I stayed the night there and spent the whole day wandering and drawing and taking photos. I also found a great little seafood seller at the boat haven where I picked up some crab cakes to cook on the beach...yummmm.
Salt creek is another favorite camping spot only about a half hour out of P.A. going west. I took a quick side trip up there and got a few more sketches. the camp ground was closed due to lots of trees down from winter storms. Looked like they got hit pretty bad.
More sketches from the "Boat Haven" in Port Angeles.

"Overgrown" landscape, oil painting

I love old buildings and old sheds falling down and overgrown. Something about the color and textures in old painted and weathered wood. These guys are getting plowed down by the hundreds around here in the great cycle of life and commerce. Out with the old and in with the new. It's fun to find them and save them at least on canvas.

8x10, oil on panel, $150.00

"To The Lighthouse" landscape,oil painting

Got a little glare from the light in this photo, sorry about that. This is from our last visit to the Lighthouse at Fort Warden in Port Townsend. The day was blustery and cold. It felt good to get back to the woodstove at home. ..

12x16 oil on stretched canvas $275.00 Sold

"Sunglare" oil landscape painting

I could hear the dog barking but I couldn't see him when I stopped to take this shot up on the top of Sawdust Hill road. The sunglare off the pavement was so intense. I just pointed the camera out the window and snapped the picture not knowing what would come of it.

9x12 oil on stretched canvas SOLD

" Break Wall" Silverdale Waterfront Park, oil landscape painting

I drove by the Silverdale Waterfront Park last week and it happened to be a beautiful foggy morning just as the sun was burning off the haze. It's amazing how ordinary or familiar scenes are transformed by atmospheric conditions.

11x14 in. oil on stretched canvas $225.00

"The Same Moon" landscape, oil painting

In the morning setting, and the evening, rising , has been the most beautiful full moon the last few days. I share a love for this moon and the One who made it, with a dear loved one who is on the other side of the world right now but who looks up at the same moon.

8x10 in oil on ampersand panel $ 150.00 sold

"Great Tortoise Hostel" Seattle cityscape, oil painting

Man it's been a long time between posts! Sorry about that! To all you kind folks who have been inquiring as to my health and whereabouts, I am fine and still painting!... I was pleasantly distracted during the Holidays but took the time to take some photos. This painting of Seattle is 24x24 in. I have been working on it several weeks now and it is still a work in progress. Thing is,, it has sentimental value for me and I don't think I will be able to sell it!

I checked out " Richard Shmidt Paints the Landscape" from Smartflix.. Its pretty good..I'm starting to get jazzed about getting outside to paint. The weather here has been crazy this year but if R.S. can paint in a snow storm I guess I can paint in good old Seattle rainslushicesnowmuckdrizzlefloodfogsleet.