PARIS PAINTINGS

"CATHEDRAL VIEW" (Notre-Dame) oil on canvas, 34 x 44 inches

These are my three newest paintings of Paris. Sorry if I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy finishing the lot of them (and more). Tomorrow I'll bring them up to Pasadena, they'll be part of the "Travel Show" at the Tirage Gallery in March.

After my trip to Europe in September, I was inspired to paint these. They were just something I absolutely had to do. The first one (above) is, "CATHEDRAL VIEW" (Notre-Dame). It is oil on canvas, 34 x 44 inches. The pic of the painting turned out a bit dark. Anyway, I felt that I needed to paint this one big, my only regret is that I didn't paint it even bigger. I wanted to capture the feeling of massive grandeur and awe that I felt while standing on top of the cathedral bell tower, looking down over the ancient city. When I was up there, I felt that all of my work toward my skills and abilities culminated into that one moment, where hopefully I could put that view onto canvas. This will be one of those paintings that I'll especially hate to sell.

"BRIDGE ON THE SEINE" oil on canvas, 28 x 38 inches This next one (above image) is "BRIDGE ON THE SEINE" oil on canvas, 28 x 38 inches. Holly and I walked along the Seine River one morning on our way to the Musee d'Orsay. You can see the museum structure off in the distance in the painting. I loved the form of this 19th century bridge in the foreground and it's reflection in the water.

"LOUVRE" oil on canvas, 16 x 24 inches
And the last one pictured (above) is called "LOUVRE" oil on canvas, 16 x 24 inches. The view is actually looking down from the Musee d'Orsay. It was the only one of ten days in Paris that actually had a little rain. The stormy clouds looked so powerful over the structure of the Louvre.

It was difficult to narrow down what to paint from Paris. I can see why Hemmingway called it "A Movable Feast". Everywhere I looked was a seemingly potential painting. In contrast, it seems alot harder coming home to so-cal and searching for subject matter. I can see how the Impressionists could spend decades painting in the city of Paris and never run out of inspiring views.

Cuyamaca Reserve

This is a 10x12 inch plein-air painting I did called "Cuyamaca Reserve". The area is up in the mountains, just east of San Diego. The last time I had been to this place before I painted it was for 6th grade camp as a kid. As I was working out there on location with my friend Bill Wray, the sun went down behind those trees and my fingers froze. I had to finish the piece in the studio later. I think I poured way too much time into it for such a small painting, but I like how it turned out. The broken color and the impressionist's palette were challenging for me.