"Willowwood Inn" Oil, 11" x 14"

A note about this painting: This house is actually not an inn but rather a centuries old house situated on 130 acres of public farm land dotted with over 3500 native and exotic plants. A few years ago I was painting en plein air near the "inn" and beautiful live piano music (Chopin) began to fill the air. How great is that to paint in gorgeous surroundings while being serenaded by a concert pianist. The music stopped at which time an elderly gentlemen came out to see what "we" (a group of artists) were up to. Turns out he was a locally well known concert pianist and conductor. He invited us all into his living room which was sparsely furnished except for a magnificent 9 ft old ornate grand piano. The room was barely large enough to contain this incredible instrument. The old man has since passed and as far as I know the house remains silent.

"Blue Ice" oil, 10" x 10"

Here is yet another Natirar scene. For those who have read some of my previous posts, you know that many of my landscapes are Natirar inspired. After the last snow fall, I went there with couple of cameras in tow and managed to shoot a few winter scenes with painting potential. I know, I know, I should show some spine and paint winter scenes en plein air. I will, eventually, I'm just waiting for that ideal spring day with a late season snowfall. Ha! I usually don't publish my reference material alongside my paintings but some of you may find it interesting to see how an artist (with plein air experience) can use the reference material as a jumping off point and then take it to another place. You will notice that I had to make a major modification to the composition to accommodate the square canvas.