Flattered that my painting, Misty Merced, is being used in advertising the upcoming Yosemite Renaissance show.
Also, some of the exhibit dates have firmed up as follows–
Yosemite Gateway Art Center – March 18 through May 29, 2022 Kings Art Center, Hanford – June 25th through July 30th, 2022 Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock – August 9th through October 1st, 2022 Yosemite Museum Gallery, Yosemite National Park – TBA – We look forward to returning to the Yosemite Museum in Oct. 2022! Circle Gallery, Madera County Arts Council – TBA
I am honored to be in the Yosemite Renaissance 37 juried art event this year. Misty Merced, 24×12, oil on canvas, one of my ‘Vertical Water’ paintings was accepted into the show.
Opening is at the Yosemite Gateway Art Center in Oakhurst on Friday, March 18th, with an opening reception from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. I am not sure if I will attend. The show will travel on to Kings Art Center in Hanford, Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock, the Yosemite Museum in Yosemite Valley in October, and Madera County Arts Council Circle Gallery in January 2023. Specific dates will be announced as they are finalized.
The large wall of dunes stretches for over 13 miles on the southeastern side of Monterey Bay. They are the highest found on the Central Coast, and provide a habitat for birds and animals rarely seen elsewhere, like a living fabric interwoven with a diversity of strands of life. This strip of land is steadily changing from wind and wave forces but provides a barrier for the inland areas.
Right in the middle, the dunes divide to Marina State Beach with an easily accessible sandy beach and steady winds that make it a popular place for kite flying and para gliding. Year ’round you’re likely to see dolphins playing in the waves, plus sail and fishing boats from Monterey and Moss Landing. Sunsets at Marina State Beach are a daily community event, bringing out locals and visitors alike.
Although we now live close to the dunes, the study for this painting was a photo I took some years back during one of my participations in the Carmel Art Festival.
A couple years ago I did a small painting of this, but wanted to do a larger one. Enjoy this new painting from the Neff Studio.
From April 2020, for a year, I 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. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Cascade Creek”, 24×18, acrylic on board
Today’s virus diversion from the “isitudiyo esiseduze netheku” is another acrylic from the way-back-machine. I painted this during my acrylic era in the early 2000’s.
Cascade Creek flows out of the Yosemite high country, then cascades over cataracts and waterfalls into the Merced River Valley and joins the Merced River. This scene is right by Hwy 140, the central entrance to the valley.
What a spectacular display of mother nature! One of the most amazing natural occurrences is coming up this February in Yosemite National Park. I have been fortunate to have seen it twice. There are thousands of pictures of the firefall on the internet, but I have never seen a painting of it. So, fresh off the easel at the Neff Studio...I painted one…
Firefall! , 16×20, oil on canvas
Fire is difficult to paint, and half the reason I painted this is to try my hand at it. Although it isn’t actual fire, it looks like fiery lava pouring over the side of a cliff. Here’s a little backstory—
During my adolescent years growing up in Pasadena, CA, we used to make trips to Yosemite National Park, camping in both the valley and the high country. I remember well, while camping in the valley we would shuffle out in the valley to the middle of a meadow to watch the Firefall. It used to be called the parks most famous spectacle where each evening during the summer months, a huge bonfire was built high above the valley at the edge of Glacier Point. At 9pm the glowing coals were pushed over the edge creating a luminous glittering waterfall of fire tumbling some 3200 feet. Here is a picture I gleaned off the internet —
In 1968 due to a variety of reasons, the Firefall was discontinued.
However, today, there is an even more wondrous and totally natural Firefall. Each year for a week or two in February the setting sun beams up the valley and illuminates Horsetail Falls, and when conditions are perfect, it glows orange and red for a brief time. It’s hit and miss because the sky must be relatively clear, and there has to be enough flowing water in the falls. I have been fortunate to see it twice while attending the Yosemite Renassaince opening art reception where my paintings have been shown in the Yosemite Museum.
Of course, I have seen many pictures of it over the years, and always thought the photos had to be enhanced or touched up. Not so. The falls glow a bright yellow/red/orange for about 10 minutes. It was like someone hung a giant glow stick over the edge of the cliff.
The last year I saw it in 2019, many have said was one of the best. Due to the heavy snow in Yosemite Valley, we had to work for it a bit more by having to walk over a mile to the best vantage point…but well worth it. The recent snows added another dimension, and when the wind blew the icy crystals off the shoulder of El Capitan, the entire cliff lit up as if fire in the bowels of the earth emerged. This is the event I based the painting on. As usual, I might touch the painting up a bit.
From April 2020, for a year, I 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. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Shinkoji Nakaniwa”, 18×24 , oil on canvas. Sixth in the Japan studio series.
From the “stiwdio ger y bae”, this Buddhist Temple Courtyard overlooks the Japanese town of Maniwa and is just a few minutes walk from where my son used to live. Those who have traveled Japan know Buddhist Temples are found everywhere, and many are situated near Japan’s most beautiful locations.
On the left is the temple gate, and in the middle is the temple bell. On the right are some outbuildings and a pagoda like sculpture. A number of red banners (I think they are called Nobori) were hung around the courtyard, but I don’t know their significance.
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I never met Roy. But from now on, will certainly remember him.
One of the greatest satisfactions an artist can have is when a painting has extra special meaning to the collector. Besides just being a nice scenic painting to hang on a wall, if the place has some special significance to the purchaser, it also means something to the artist.
Last February I painted a scene of Ft Ord Dunes State Beach. We frequently walk among the dunes near our new home in Marina, CA, and we always pass by the scene. The late afternoon sun on Monterey Bay and the beach are just stunning. The painting sold almost immediately online. You can read about it here.
During my Open Studio event last October, Allen Crane, a lifelong resident of Marina, stopped by and told me he really wanted that painting, but it sold so fast he missed his chance to purchase it. I told him I could do a commission piece similar to the painting, although I wouldn’t paint the exact same thing. We settled on making it more of a sunset scene.
He then told me the story of why he wanted the painting…well, I’ll let him tell you in is own words:
Roy and Allen Crane first moved to Marina in the fall of 1964 after their father, Donald, retired from the US Army. Roy absolutely loved walking, very briskly, on the beach – Ft Ord Dunes State Beach was his favorite starting point for his daily walks. He always had a sighting to share – of whales, or porpoises, of the squid boats or flocks of pelicans following the curve of the waves. Nobody else seemed to see as much activity on the waves as Roy did, then again, not everyone walked for miles, daily, on the beach either. Roy passed away in his sleep at his childhood home in Marina, on Sept.22, 2020. A few days later, Allen held a memorial for his brother on this beach (he calls it Roy’s Beach) attended by friends and neighbors from all over Northern California.
Allen Crane
During the painting of this commission, and many times before and after, we walk by the very same scene, and we see the porpoises, squid boats, and pelicans just like Roy and Allen had for so many decades. It’s still there, and to be enjoyed for everyone many more decades to come.
From April 2020, for a year, I 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. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Late”, 18×24, oil on canvas, Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley Studio Versions
In 2014, after spending a year going out once a week in my quest to paint “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley”, I was just a little melancholy. So, I determined to paint some larger studio versions of my favorite pieces done on location the past year. Hence, a new series was born.
On this 340th day of posting a brief diversion from the virus news is another nocturne. I have been posting a few nocturnes of Silicon Valley, AKA Santa Clara Valley, painted from the hills above my home in San Jose. This might look familiar, as it is a studio piece of the plein air work I posted a few days ago.
From April 2020, for a year, I 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. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Mt Pleasant”, 8×16, oil on panel, plein air, finished in the studio
I used to live right near the edge of San Jose, close to the east side foothills. Occasionally I would go up in the hills and paint, especially during winter months when the skies were more interesting.
From the “nije studiokarantene”, this piece was sixth in a plein air series of winter cloud studies from the hills above my home about about 5 years ago. The view is from Mt. Pleasant Rd looking west over San Jose and Silicon Valley. The round hill in the middle is Groesbeck Hill Park where I used to walk our Golden Retriever, and our son used to play when he was a kid. In the distant left is downtown San Jose. A few stadium lights were on, probably the PAL Sports Centre, which I indicated.
It is practically impossible to paint a sunset entirely en plein air (on location). The moment you want to capture lasts for only a few minutes. In this instance, I started the painting about an hour before the moment I was expecting, putting in as much as possible based on prior observations from the same location. When the sun hit the right spot, I furiously put down color and value notes, and minutes later the sun was down. I then finished some of the detail in the studio.
