Donald Neff Weblog

On my recent trip to Tahoe, I went soaring for the first time…something I have been wanting to do since I was a kid. Soaring is flying in a glider or motorless airplane. You achieve lift from air that is moving upwards, usually called a thermal. Although this blog is mainly about art, I thought some of the readers might enjoy see a few pictures of my adventure. Below are a few shots of the trip, which was courtesy of Soar Truckee.

Here is ‘yours truly’ ready to take off–

A tow plane pulls the glider up to a reasonable altitude and then lets go. From here the pilot finds thermals which take you up even higher. At one point we were over 11000 feet high, with some thermals lifting the glider at over 1000 feet per minute! You can see the tow plane in the below photo with Lake Tahoe in the background–

Here is a shot of the northwest part of Lake Tahoe with Tahoe City below–

Another shot of the northeast section of the lake with Incline Village in the distance–

A shot of Northstar ski area–

It was great fun, and I hope to go again, possibly when there is a little less haze from all the California fires!

I just returned from a short visit to Lake Tahoe. My primary mission was to deliver 27 paintings to the James Harold Gallery for my one-person show which starts this holiday weekend. Between that, and the 20 or so paintings they currently have on hand, it should be a pretty good show. The works are mainly of Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, both studio and plein air. Below is a shot of one of the premier paintings (and also the largest) in the show:

“The Red Boat” (Cave Rock) * 48×36

The painting was so well received, several patrons expressed interest in it before it was even hung!

Of course, I did paint, but the conditions were not completely ideal as a lot of smoke was blowing in from the California wildfires. At times you could not see the other side of the lake! I’ll include just a few shots from my 3 day visit–

My easel and a partially complete painting–

From a painting session, Wednesday morning, it started as a beautiful day before the smoke started to roll in–

Here is a quick shot of the last painting on my easel, very near completion–

Our last port of call on the cruise was Skagway, gateway to the Klondike. We were here once before and it was cloudy and rainy at the time. Same scene this time. After walking around the town, I returned to the ship, and once again, painted from the ship. I used a little artists license and added a splash of sunlight behind the town.

This is the last post from the cruise. Afterwards, we went on to Anchorage, then a couple days at Denali National Park. We toured via bus into the park and I brought my paint set, however there really was not enough time to stay with the group and paint, so I will save that for some studio paintings.

Out of four paintings, I have at least several ‘keepers’ from the cruise, and will touch them up and post photos of them at a later date. Once again, these small canvases are the best souvenier anyone can bring back from a trip!!

We have been to Juneau several times before, and it has always been cloudy and raining. Today it was most clear and very sunny! I once again decided to just paint from the ship. Below are a few shots of my painting efforts for the day.

The first was from our cabin balcony again—

And a quick snapshot of the painting. Not a good shot, but I think I can touch this one up in the studio—

And, I think my best yet, a scene of Juneau. I don’t have an accompanying actual photo, but here is a quick snapshot of the painting–

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are off to Vancouver for a cruise to Alaska aboard the Sapphire Princess, and I am writing this after returning home.

After flying to Vancouver, and sailing up the coast, we arrived in Ketchikan today. It was rainy and drizzling, and the ‘cabin was still asleep’, so I decided to do a quick painting from our cabin balcony. I brought some acrylics, which I don’t use much now days, so it may take a few paintings to get back in the groove. Below are a few shots from the session.

Below is a shot right outside our cabin balcony while in port–

I thought the scene looked interesting, so decided to paint it from right there. Below is a shot of my travel kit and part of the cabin balcony–

Below is a quick snapshot of the painting, about 45 minutes worth of effort–

We have been here before, and I would have liked to have taken my paints into town, and paint Creek Street which is full of wonderful old buildings, but with the constant drizzle wasn’t sure if I could find a place to actually get out of the rain and a steady stream of tourists. I guess that will have to wait for some later studio paintings.

I am off to Vancouver, BC tomorrow for an Alaskan Cruise on the Sapphire Princess. This will be our third cruise to Alaska but I have never taken a paint set, so am taking some acrylics and 8×10 unstretched canvas. This is also the first time we haven’t booked any shore excursions, so hope to have plenty of free time to do at least one painting in each port. The forecast looks like rain in every port, so will have to see how that goes. We are going up to Denali afterward, so there will be some good opportunities to paint there also.

Below is a picture of our ship, the Sapphire Princess.

We will be visiting Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, College Fjord, Whittier AK, Anchorage, and Denali.

I took a paint set on our Mediterranean cruise several summers ago, and the four paintings I did are my favorite ’souvenirs’ of all time. Below are a couple paintings I did then on Santorini and Rhodes.

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I won’t be able to post any blogs on the trip, so will post when I get back with any paintings worth viewing.

I just returned from a quick trip to San Francisco, about a 90 minute drive from the house. I delivered a commissioned painting to Hal and Mary Cranston. They are Yosemite lovers (Hal is on the board of the Yosemite Fund), like my work, and wanted an autumn scene of Yosemite Valley. Below is a photo of the painting, a 30×40 oil on canvas.

Here are the Cranstons holding it in front of the wall it will hang on.

They seemed very pleased with the result, and I hope they enjoy it for many years to come!

We just set the date for a solo show at James Harold Galleries this summer. I expect to have over 20 new paintings, including a series on Yosemite I have been working on the last 6 months. Both studio and plein air paintings will be on display.

More details to follow, but the show will run July 3 -October 5, 2008, with an Artists Reception, Saturday,August 2, 1-4 pm , (James Harold Galleries,760 N. Lake Blvd (at the Boatworks), Tahoe City, CA.)

Below is both a studio and plein air painting which will be in the show–

I just returned from spending the better part of the week at Morro Bay, California. My sister had rented a house there, and most of her family was there. The house was right on the beach…nothing between us and the water except a little iceplant and sand dunes.  We have had many family reunions and outings there, but usually camped at the state park.

I had taken my paints expecting to maybe do a few works for an upcoming show at Lake Tahoe this summer. They want mainly Sierra scenes, so wasn’t sure how many real plein air paintings I was going to do.

The house had a nice little outdoor alcove which was perfect to set up. Good light, and protection from the howling wind. I ended up doing a Lake Tahoe scene, and a Yosemite scene. Below are a couple photos of the alcove and my setup.

Below is a snapshot of the Yosemite painting of Tenaya Lake, still a work in progress.

I couldn’t resist doing one painting of Morro Rock, which was just down the beach. I set up right on the back porch, overlooking the ocean. The wind was so strong though, I only managed to do about a 15 minute color study of the rock itself, but I think was right on in capturing the atmosphere of the coastline.

Today is the Carmel Art Festival’s exhibit and sale. I had two paintings in the exhibit, shown in my last entry. There were lots of great paintings in the show. I am lucky to say I was in very good company!

The crowds were quite thin, though. My guess is less than half the number of people showed up relative to the past few years. At one time they had canceled this years show due to the economy, but then decided to go ahead with it. Sales also seemed slow, which I don’t think surprised anybody. Unlike past years when my works were bid up quite high, this year I sold only one of the two.

Below are a few shots of the show. First is ‘yours truly’ by my two paintings–

A couple shots of the exhibit–

After the festival ended for the day, Sandy-by-the-Sea held a reception and show for me and Stephen Sanfilippo. Here are a couple shots–