The idle of diesel engines, dogs straining at the end of their leash looking for a bit of grass, children scurrying to the concrete buildings that signal relief after hours in the car, all going on with this view in the distance at the "Rest Stop".

Oil on Canvas, 6" X 8"

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The docents at Rancho Camulos enjoy dressing up and playing the part of the residents long since gone. Beth was kind enough to water this lovely vine, holding the pose for several artists. I wasn't going to post this effort but my daughter encouraged me to blog the painting. She said "look at it in the dark, the painting glows". And so here it is, the "Watering Can".

Oil on panel, 12" X 9"

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Oceans of vegetable greens ripple in the wind. The valley that runs from Piru to Santa Paula is a quilt of farms, hemmed in by eucalyptus and poplar trees. Orange groves stop and start varying the view. This painting is a tiny glimpse of the beauty of Piru this spring.

Oil on Linen, 9" X 12"

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The perfume of orange blossoms hung heavy throughout the grove. I sat painting in the middle, a small lizard sunning a few feet away and off in the distance I could hear the laughter of strawberry pickers lunching. Thirty plein air painters attended the Ranchos Spring Plein Air Day. The costumed docents welcomed us with hot coffee and pastries, served tortilla soup and an array of salads for lunch, offered tours and posed. The artists were pleased to be so well cared for. I saw some beautiful paintings that were born today, thanks to the loving staff of Rancho Camulos.

Oil on Linen Panel, 8" X 10"

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Deer follow this trail, high above Avalon on Catalina Island. Delicate long legs, large all hearing ears, ever on alert but truly not very shy, at least of human kind.

Oil on Linen, 11" X 14"

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Delivering a painting to Lake Hughes, visiting the Poppy Reserve and preparing for the Wistaria Festival tomorrow didn't leave much time to "paint" today. After dinner I sat at the easel and painted Filmore for two reasons, one my husband, Mike was there this morning and told me how beautiful it was and second I'll be there painting on Tuesday. I am very excited with the prospect, there could be 50 painters working at the same location, Rancho Camulos.

Oil on Canvas, 6" X 8"

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Painting 2 larger pieces, that will not be "daily" paintings, I gave myself 15 min. to paint a small color study. Here are some color notes for a larger Eaton Canyon at dusk. You can see it's very rough and yet full of information for me to work with. It looks like if I adjust the mountain range, it has potential worth exploring on a larger canvas.

Oil on panel, 5" X 7"

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This view is from the ridge overlooking the creek in front of our home, looking to the east. Clouds had come into the valley, mixing it up with blue skies and fluffy white clouds until the enough of the storm had taken over the sky to rain on the earth.

Oil on Linen, 16" X 20"

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It's amazing to me how much of the landscape you can fit on a small canvas or panel as in this case. Another tiny study, done while thinking of what it would be like to walk out from under the shade of the trees into the early sunlight.

Oil on panel, 5" X 7"

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I can hardly wait till the 2008 babies bloom!

Oil on Panel, 9" X 12"

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