The lands of west Texas near McKittrick Canyon and the Guadalupe Mountains

are vast and open, the clouds

different from east Texas….you don’t have to go to Montana to see Big Sky country.

Lone Surfer

Against sunset orange clouds, a lone surfer on the North Shore of Oahu…..

“Waitin on the Wife”

An 84-year-old Texan who posed at the Dallas Zoo as his wife took the grandkids around to see the animals. We struck up a conversation and he told me about the old days when he took his cattle to market at the stockyards at Fort Worth.  These guys are a rare breed nowadays and I’m glad I got his portrait for future generations….

La-Ie Point

Blue waves hit the Hawaiin rocky shore on a fine day long ago. A plaque recounts the tale of Mo’o, a hero of ancient times who fought and defeated the local giant lizard monster.   He broke its body into five pieces and cast them into the water, where they became the five islands you can see from your perch at the end of the natural jetty

Cedar Glades

This scene is not far from the President George Bush Toll-Way in Garland.  When 4-wheelers and trucks aren’t tearing up the place after a good mud-making rain, is a peaceful place to escape the madness of the crowds, traffic, and media hype and spin. Sometimes you can find rare endemic plants that somehow have survived all of man’s encroachments.

Canyon Light

This scene is from a 1997 trip to Big Bend National Park where the steep canyon walls were a patchwork of light and shade and, most of all, a respite from the oppressive heat of the higher elevations.  The riparian area was quiet and peaceful….with an occasional Mexican riding horseback and selling souveniers from the other side of the Rio Grande…and occasional Vermillion Flycatchers darting around in their brilliant red plumage.

Here are a few more digital paintings I’ve been practicing with….

was a former brunette to which I applied photoshop and painter 11 to create a digital blond in oils…..this particular painting took hours as I experimented ( learning curve) to different oil brushes, wet versus dry.  The effect is nice in creating a “Madonna”-like face and complexion from a real life dark brunette….

April 21  At the urging of artist friends and others, I have decided to put down my camera and make a stab at art.  Plein air oil painting is just not my bag, at least for the present, so I will explore and apply my knowledge of landscapes and nature to create digital art.  I have been using Photoshop for years, and just recently started dabbling in Corel Painter 11, a very interesting tool to creat \”digital art\”.   I\’ve had the program for almost a week and learning to handle oil brushes and other media…it is, after all, a very complex artist tool.  Prior to beginning work on the art, I \”treat\” it with Photoshop, generally brightening the image and increasing saturation, while adjusting tint in some cases.  So far I have found that using both Photoshop and Painter in tandem gives one a huge array of options for image treatment and painting…..  Although I do not have a portfolio, you may purchase any photos or art you see on this blog..by emailing me.

Another great fall lured me back to the Badlands….a local name given to this Austin Chalk escarpment
near Spring Creek at Holford Road.   The stunted Shumard’s Oak live in thin soils here along with old
Eastern Red Cedar. Unlike the oaks along Spring Creek,  these high and dry oaks show off their colors long after the bottomland oaks have peaked. The area is in danger of encroachment from developers and the slowly growing jungle of concrete and asphalt that is growing along President George Bush Tollway…see it before it disappears. Recently TXU Electric constructed their power line right through the nicest section of the Badlands, showing no concerns whatsoever. Four wheelers, trucks, dirt bikers violate the area on a regular basis so visit while you still can……