I did a small study for this painting awhile ago. The Ohio series is done for now and I'm back to painting cityscapes for an upcoming show in the Frodel gallery at Westsound Academy that will be in December.
We spent a few days with my aunt Carol in Lansing Ohio....This was a view from her back stoop of the alley behind the house. My Grandma and Grandpa lived a few houses down the same street.
I have one more Ohio painting to post and then I'm done with this series......pretty sure.......Cows are just too much fun to paint! These are Holsteins.....ready for milking!...hanging out in the green pastures of southwest Ohio. The challenge was adding interest in the foreground grass by varying color, texture and brush stroke.
Prelim sketch
Orville is the little town where Annie's folks live in southeast Ohio. I saw this locomotive parked on the tracks in a side train yard as we were walking to town to find the library .....and a good coffee shop....=].....I'm not sure if someone is trying to restore this train or it has been forgotten and left as a relic of the past.....It was fun trying to paint her as if she were still in service......the lonely train whistle sounding on the way to some distant destination.
From the sketchbook.....
Finally got a decent picture of this painting. Another one of the interesting barns from Ohio.
The big freeze is coming...better paint the flowers while I can..I put these in a vase by the window and painted them for warm ups....=]
I picked a few wild pears from the field outside the studio to do some little warm up paintings. It's nice to get started painting from life before diving in to the larger landscapes when your working from photos and sketches. I attempted to match the amazing green in these pears by mixing viridian with cad yellow and titanium white.
This painting was done from a very vague photograph which I intentionally used to keep the painting impressionistic..I'm not quite sure I have conveyed enough information to make a good painting yet. I will probably go back into this one at some point.
The preliminary sketch. Two Amish boys walking down the road in Holmes county Ohio.
This is a scene I remember flying down the highway through the cornfields in Ohio as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.
I have been preoccupied with a commission painting that is testing my skills and causing me to experiment with some different techniques. I won't be able to share that painting for awhile so there will be some delays in posting. Thanks for your patience.....
We took a side trip to Indiana to stay with my cousin Sandy and her husband Rich. They have forty acres of corn and soybeans.....a small farm by Indiana standards.....We passed OCEANS of corn and soybeans on our way.....and lots of barns!
We spent one day just driving around taking pictures of all the farms. The weather was perfect and the light and shadow patterns kept me clicking away.....More barns to come....=]
This is one of the Amish farms we got to visit in Ohio. They sold beautiful hand made baskets.
There are LOTS of barns in Southeastern Ohio and I took TONS of pictures of them so be ready for a lot of barnyard scenes. This one is in the little town of Berlin.(emphasis on the "Ber") in the heart of Amish country. We stopped at a little cheese factory called "Heini's and I took the reference photo for this painting from the parking lot. ..............Yes......believe it .....Heini's cheese factory.....=]
It's good to be back to my daily painting routine after traveling through Ohio meeting Annie's family and introducing her to mine. Many of the paintings I am working on now are from the pictures and sketches I made there.
The last painting I did from my images from Whidby Island. 8x10 oil on panel
It was wonderful visiting relatives and my new family in Ohio. We spent several days touring Amish country in Holmes county Ohio and I am anxious to get started on the sketches and images I took.
I forgot this little painting from the images taken on Whidby Island this summer when the poppies were in bloom.
I took a break from my island series to paint the bees on the lavender just outside the studio doors. Leigh has done a great job landscaping the studio grounds and I often see her puttering in the garden. Arts in the Woods is coming up in November, the 13th, 14th and 15th here in Poulsbo......Don't miss the Knowles studio!....and the many other fine studios and talented artists on the tour......for more info check the Cultural Arts Foundation website..
This van sits at the boatyard in Port Townsend. It is being used to keep a compressor out of the weather..........Had to paint it.....
A studio painting from one of the images on Orcas Island........Again, drawn to the light and shadow. The color and textures.......There is much beauty in the blight....
Back to the paintings I did on location in the San Juans . This one is on Shaw Island at a beautiful spot the locals call "Cedar Rock", which is now property owned by the University of Washington.
Okay, last watercolor for awhile........This was done from one of the images taken while I was plein air painting on location..........I kept waiting for a clear shot without people in it and couldn't get one........but I think the figure adds interest with the cast shadow...
More from the San Juan Island trip....This is the view from the ferry as you arrive on Shaw Island.
Another view from the dock. The stark white building and boat against the dark water and trees was intriguing to me.....especially for watercolor.
My friend and christian brother, J Matt Miller. We had a great time getting out and painting together!...Thanks for your hospitality Matt! 
Me with my traveling paint gear, heading to location.......My new job!! 
