Bye Bye Victor

11" x 14" Oil on linen.

Our dog Victor moved to Texas and he now lives with Ryan and Kristen. Here he is saying goodbye on his last day in the Seattle area. No more dogsitting visits to the Schallers.

The Climber

18" x 24" Oil on panel.

$350 - Shipping extra.

Bursting out into bright sunshine, the climber looks up the road.

I really like the strong contrast in the reference shot from the Tour of California. I think this one makes a good complement to Checking Behind. This is a further adaptation of a Jonathan Devich photo from the last stage of the Tour of California. (Thanks, Jono.) I'm thinking these may be interesting even more abstract.

Skykomish River above Eagle Falls

10" x 8" Oil on panel.

Very early this year, I executed a painting of the Skykomish river just past Eagle Falls. It captured the red branches of bare bushes above the deep green river. This painting is of the stretch of river just a little ways up the road. There is a break in the trees along highway 2 that let me see these brilliant yellow bushes in the riverbed.

With this study, I was really looking to work on capturing the stunning color and contrast of the bushes, blue shadows, and bright gravel of the riverbed. The composition is too busy, but I think there may be a larger painting lurking here. I would like to better capture the rapids in the background and maybe leave out the still water in the foreground.

Seattle Skyline

14" x 11" Oil on mounted linen.

Afternoon sun lighting up the Seattle skyline. This is the view from the Bainbridge ferry pulling into Seattle. I loved how this glass dome stood out from all of the other buildings. This is one of those paintings that merges together nicely from across the room.

Tour of California Stage 8

8" x 10" Oil on panel

$100 - Shipping to US included.

With this painting, I have completed one of each Stage of the Tour of California. It was fun looking back at the race. Jono captured the break on the climb as they were "breaking" out into the sun. I really liked the contrast that allowed me to play up the highlights on the riders arms and legs.

It was a great day at the tour. The weather was beautiful and there was still a chance for changes in the overall. The course was twisty on the climb and descent, so it was a nice motorcycle riding day too. The crowd was also huge and active in places. I still wonder if Radio Shack played their cards right. It seems like Horner could have upset for the win if Levi had not attacked behind when Rogers was isolated.

Red Bell Pepper

5" x 7" Oil on panel.

I'm considering trying the Engine 2 Diet, so my last grocery trip included lots of colorful fruits and vegetables. When I got the peppers home, I resolved to paint one since they have such strong color. They are very bright red with a wonderfully complementary colored stem. It was also fun to paint a small painting with dramatic contrast.

I'm listing this on eBay with a low starting bid.

Andy Schleck

18" x 24" Oil on panel

$400 - plus shipping cost.

Andy Schleck was one of the animators for the big Stage 6 day at the Tour of California this year. He was still in the Luxembourg National Champion jersey in May, so he wasn't as easy to spot at the Tour de France when he was back in the normal Saxo Bank kit. In person, it is striking how thin he is; this climber is not about to carry weight in his upper body.

In this painting, I tried to capture the bright sun on the pavement by layering white over a blue underpainting. It surprisingly took several days to fill in the details on this one; my original plan was to go more abstract, but I got carried away toward realism.