Howdy folks! Here’s a new background for November:

This photo is from Sacramento’s stretch of the American River. I added some bits of foliage from the trees in my neighborhood. Hope you like! Click one of the following links to download: 2880×1800, 2560×1600, 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1440×900, 1280×800.

I’ve been painting in Sacramento lately—specifically near the American River just West of Lake Natomas. I made these four paintings in a row over the last four weeks. Click on the images in the post to view them full-sized.

“Curragh Downs”
Oil on paper, 7.5 x 11 inches
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Mom brought home an owl last week. He was in a plastic bag, covered in salt, two days dead and starting to smell a little. His right eye had been pecked out and some maggots had already found their way into the socket. He was beautiful still, large and long and peaceful, with wings that unfolded to impossible dimensions and two horns made from specially perky little feathers.

We laid him in a box and endeavored to cut off his wings. We put on blue plastic gloves and tried first with short-nosed garden shears, or “loppers”. I held the wing outstretched and found where the wing bone met the shoulder joint and Mom moved the loppers into position and pulled the handles together. The bone gave way but the wing held on securely with a wide layer of skin and feather. I tried to keep the owl’s body relatively still as I felt for the skin and stretched it for Mom to move in again with the loppers, but they wouldn’t cut it and we stopped.

I stroked his feathers and we decided that the Buck knife was the best option, although Mom was a bit apprehensive as it’s used in the kitchen (to cut open chickens for barbecuing, among other things). I knelt by the owl and waited for Mom to get back with the knife and brushed salt off his face and looked at his big already-stiff yellow feet and thought how he seemed at once so big and so small.

The Buck knife cut through the skin easily and we made short work of the other one and I tried to keep moving quickly and assuredly although as we moved to his left wing I thought about him being wingless and dead in a box and it made me very sad.

October, octubre, octobah. Fall is here, and it’s the best time of year in Sacramento, CA. I’ve been painting, watching lots of football, and eating bacon and eggs most every day. Love me some autumn! Here’s a new background for your desktop:

I had to go back to October 2011 for this image, taken in Bodega Bay. In response to the question “What do you do?”, a wise man once said: “What does a bird do?”.

I’ve been looking up at birdies allot these days, and it’s immensely fun. There are so many of them flying around getting their exercise or just sitting there getting their chill time in, and I’m always glad to notice. These birds chirped the calendar in Spanish.

Click one of the following links to download: 2880×1800, 2560×1600, 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1440×900, 1280×800

Wishing all of you a blessed month!

Alameda Base, oil on paper, 7.5 x 11 inches, 2013

As I paint, my ego wants to make the paper in front of me into something. my mind wants to assemble an awesome picture, and if I respond to this I’ll make a cheesy move—I’ll hit on a sentimental object, I’ll put in the pretty blue sky.

I must keep working, I must focus on that mundane, insignificant patch of concrete right in the middle of the picture. Quiet the mind. Don’t consider the product. Don’t appreciate it while I’m making it, just appreciate the completeness of what I’m existing in and try to bring everything forward.

Color is my only indulgence.

September is here! I’m in Wellington, New Zealand. This photo is from Breaker Bay Road, along the South edge of the North island.

Download by clicking one of the following links: 2880×1800, 2560×1600, 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1440×900, 1280×800.

It took me awhile to get over my $12 airport burrito.  I figured that a 10pm flight wouldn’t possibly serve dinner, so after clearing security I chose a Mexican restaurant that seemed busy and looked good.  I was ready to pay top dollar for a good meal because I was travelling and I had just sold a painting and was ready to treat myself, to sit down alone somewhere comfortable and eat a good full meal and then get on the plane happy and full and relaxed.  I chose the steak supreme burrito because I’d already eaten chicken that day and in spite of the fact that I didn’t really feel hungry enough to warrant a full burrito.  I almost got the veggie burrito but it was only 90 cents cheaper.  I didn’t want a quesadilla and the tacos seemed too bare-bones and I thought it’d be good to have some ruffage in with the food.

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Happy August friends!  I can’t believe we’re already here.  I feel like summer has barely begun.  I haven’t even gotten a good sunburn!  Ah well.  Anyway, here’s a new background for your computer’s desktop:

I snapped this photo from an Amtrak train near Martinez, CA.  I couldn’t believe somebody had scrawled “August” on this old sign, and that beavers had woven all the dates of the month into the fence with white yarn just beyond.  Sometimes things just work out.

Download the wallpaper by clicking one of the following links: 2880×1800, 2560×1600, 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1440×900, 1280×800.

This morning I received a very exciting email from a Mr. Don Fisher, who inquired about one of my paintings:

I replied immediately:

A few hours later, I received a response from Don:

I was a bit taken aback by the elaborate circumstances of Don’s purchase, but thrilled that he wanted to buy both pieces.  As luck would have it, completing the transaction wouldn’t be so difficult after all!

If you’re going to be in Mexico sometime in the next two weeks, let me know.  Perhaps you can join Don Fisher and I for a beer!

Good morning and happy July! I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for a month than I have for July 2013. SUMMER is here, and I’m ready to soak it up.

Here’s a new background to get the month started right:

This is the view of my apartment from my apartment. Sunflowers from the farmer’s market and some good stock from TJ’s in the front. The sunflowers are on a cooler in the kitchen. It’s like a painting, except with Photoshop brushes. I used a photo of the scene for color reference only, so this is more like a real painting than what I’ve done on the computer before.

Download by clicking one of the following links (does anybody use anything but the first one?):

2880 x 1800, 2560 x 1600, 1920 x 1200, 1680 x 1050, 1440 x 900, 1280 x 800.

Hope y’all have a great July.