"Pray for Rain", 16" x 16"

One thing I love about the wide open spaces of West Texas is the ever-present expansive view of the sky. For this painting, I was able to capture the sight of a cloudburst in the distance contrasted with rays from the sun shining through the clouds to create patterns of light in the foreground. Water is a precious resource in this part of the world, and one often hears the admonition to "pray for rain". The light emanating from above in the upper left portion of the painting suggests that on this day that prayer has been answered.

"Layers of the Palo Duro" 16" x 16"

One day I was hiking the CCC Trail at Palo Duro Canyon when I came upon this beautiful view. I was struck by the fact that I could see layers of the canyon receding far into the distance. I could also see layers of rock exposed on the nearest face of the canyon wall that were built up over a vast amount of time. Again, I was looking at layers of the canyon - these layers receding far into distant ages. What stories they could tell! I had to paint it!

"Window on the Canyon" 10" x 20"

Another painting from Palo Duro Canyon . . . At the base of towering canyon walls lies evidence of an ongoing process of erosion that is steadily enlarging the size of what is already the second largest canyon in the United States. These rocks landed in the formation of a tiny "room". I can imagine that this small space which draws visiting children to play today also drew generations of Native American children to play and enjoy the view from this "window".

Canyon Afterglow, 10" x 20"

A move to the Texas panhandle several years ago brought with it a change of scenery and gave me the desire to record the beauty of the new landscape around me - the canyons, the wide open spaces and vast skies. Palo Duro Canyon, near Amarillo and Canyon, TX, has become one of my favorite places to paint in the great outdoors of Northwest Texas. I find that early morning and late afternoon in the canyon provide some of the most dramatic and beautiful lighting effects to be found anywhere. In the late afternoon, light rays from the descending sun hit the colorful layers of rock that comprise the Eastern canyon walls and cause them to glow in bright oranges and yellows. And at the close of the day, soft shadows cast by the Western canyon rim slowly but steadily draw the curtain on that evening's spectacular light show.

"Lost Maples", 36 x 48

One day, after a flooding rain, I visited Inks Lakes State Park in Burnet County, Texas. As I walked around the edge of the lake, I came upon the sight of branches of a maple tree being suddenly and unexpectedly engulfed in flood waters. I was fascinated by the pattern of swirling waters carrying away leaves dropping from the tree. I could see some of the leaves dropping beaneath the surface in the reflections of the tree on the swirling waters. The event brought to mind the name of another state park in Texas, Lost Maples.

"One Leaf", 36 x 48

Inspiration sometimes comes in strange ways . . . I caught the concentric circles emanating from one dropped leaf in a photo taken at Lake Tanglewood, between Amarillo, Texas and Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The circles radiated over the reflections of blue sky and colorful, tangled vines growing beside the lake. Streaks of sunlight came through the leaves and settled on the surface of the water. As I painted this piece, I came to recognize an inspirational metaphor in the concentric circles and the rays of light from the direction of the one dropped leaf. The metaphor was originally unintended and unconscious in nature, but once I saw it, I ran with the idea. I've read that the unconscious knows more than the conscious mind, and I'm coming to believe it.

"Water, Leaves and Light", 34 x 44

Here's another painting created from rearranged elements from a series of photos taken at cow creek. I was entranced peering through the teal water to the bottom of the pond, while at the same time observing the patterned reflections of evergreens on the surface of the water. I became engaged in watching the way the water acts like prisms. The sunlight travels through the moving surface of the water, causing undulating patterns of light that break into rainbows on the rocky bottom of the pond.