June 2021

Yosemite Morning

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Since April 2020 I have posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts.

“Yosemite Morning”, 12×24, oil on canvas, plein air

September 13,2020  · Today a picture popped up on my Facebook memories page of the most liked photo of 2017. I’ll post it again in my ongoing daily painting as a virus diversion. This is a plein air piece I did during a trip to Yosemite in 2012. I think I still have the painting, but since most my works are still in boxes waiting for their new studio, can’t check for sure. You can read more about that trip and other paintings here–
http://www.donaldneff.com/blog/yosemite-high-country/

From the “Studio Zigorra”, 
“Yosemite Morning”, 12×24, oil on canvas, plein air

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Yosemite Rivulet

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Since April 2020 I have posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts.

“Yosemite Rivulet”, 22×28, acrylic on board

August30,2020 

Continuing posting paintings of redwoods from the “Studio Jela”… This is a really old piece I did probably in the early 90’s from my ‘acrylic era’. This scene could be about anywhere in California where redwoods grow, but was actually close to the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley. Just after a rainstorm, small gullies fill with muddy water for a brief time and once running for awhile turn into clear refreshing streams.

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Primary Swell

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A new painting from the Neff Studio.

“Primary Swell, Marina”, 22×28, oil on canvas

We can normally hear the surf faintly in the distance two miles inland at our home inn Marina, CA, especially at night. But this was different. It sounded like distant crackling thunder as if a huge squall was hovering over Monterey Bay. The sound seemed to reverberate through the neighborhood.

Last January, Monterey Bay was experiencing unusually high surf and tides due to confluence of the moon, storms, etc. Some call it a primary swell. I went out early morning and did a little droning and video, eventually producing a short video, shown below.

This new painting is a drones eye view of the Monterey Bay coastline in Marina, CA. I extracted a still shot from the video I took that morning as my study for this piece. I was taken with this view as it shows the back of the wave and not your normal seascape. The sun is just starting to peek over the dunes and cliffs of Marina Dunes Beach illuminating the crest of the waves.

In case you missed it, here is the original video I produced back in January .

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Hollister

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Since April 2020 I have posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts.

“Hollister”, 30×40, oil on canvas

July 29,2020  Sweeping vistas, sweeping empty roads, scattered ranches, vineyards, farms, cows, rivers, coyotes, biking legends: Highway 25 south of Hollister, CA is one of our ‘go-to’ motorcycle rides. We ride it several times a year, and it is always a blast.

Most think of California as full of cities, traffic, homeless, hippies, fruits and nuts, but it doesn’t take much to get out into the ‘middle of nowhere’ where you can ride as free and as fast as you want. Such is Highway 25.

Today’s virus diversion painting from the ‘Studio Gaolbird”, is a piece from studies taken along the way over the years. I normally avoid painting old barns as I think they are a little cliche, but they are also good sellers, so here we go.

BTW, you can see a video of some of these rides here —

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Early Thaw

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Since April 2020 I have posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts.

“Early Thaw”, 30×40, oil on canvas

July 12,2020 

Ok. Seems like quite a few want to keep my daily virus diversion going, so I’ll keep posting paintings, perhaps not every day, though. 

Today’s painting from the “Studio Vault” is a larger painting in Yosemite Valley. Spring is one of the better times to go to the valley. As the snow pack melts, the waterfalls are at their peak. More falls are apparent as the summer dry creeks can turn into torrents as the sun melts the winter snow. As the Merced River rolls slowly by, Yosemite Falls is in the background during spring thaw

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Marina Dunes Pathway

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“Marina Dunes Pathway”, 16×20, oil on panel

Huge sand dunes line the southeastern side of Monterey Bay, some, I am guessing, over 60 feet high.   Created by the constant ocean and winds, the dunes form a barrier between the bay and inland areas such as the towns of Marina and Seaside, plus the fertile Salinas Valley.  The dunes are a patchwork of sand, ice-plant, grasses, and other vegetation.  Wildlife is also found here with shorebirds, raccoons, coyotes, squirrels, and a unique legless lizard.

At one time, when this was part of Fort Ord, the dunes were populated with rifle ranges, munition depots, and other military installations.  There was even an immense officers club and recreational facility overlooking the bay, which eventually fell into disrepair as the coast eroded beneath.

We frequently take walks along the coastal dunes of Monterey Bay near our new home in Marina.  This painting is a pathway to Marina Dunes Beach and Preserve.  What drew me to this scene is the late afternoon sun filtering through the trees and lighting up the colorful ice-plant.  The ocean was not visible from this viewpoint but I wanted to orient the viewer to where you are. So, I did use a little artists license, and removed some of the dunes so you could see the bay and surf.  I did this piece several months ago, but was not entirely satisfied, so dabbled on it a bit off and on.   I might dabble a bit more, but call it finished…for now.

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Glacial River

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Since April 2020 I have posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts.

“Glacial River”,28×22, acrylic on canvas

July 9,2020  I have been posting a lot of my older acrylic paintings as my daily diversions from the virus/riots. When I switched back to oils several decades ago, I also loosened my style somewhat.

Today from the “Studio Trammel” is another old favorite. It is somewhat a composite of two scenes in Glacier National Park. I liked the look of the cataracts, but the background was uninteresting so enhanced the mountain.

BTW, some of these paintings are still available if interested (including this one), just private message me.

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