Paving Over Paradise

The latest in corrupt idiocy from the Trump administration is a plan to sell off millions of acres of public land to assorted connected and crooked interests - a land grab for rich cronies and large corporations. Reasons given for this swindle include "affordable housing" in the middle of nowhere and, of course, mineral and fossil fuel extraction to make a quick a buck while continuing to warp the climate. Nothing will get better until there's nothing left, it seems. The exact location depicted here doesn't matter, but if you feel the view would look better without the barbed wire fencing and smoke-spewing refinery, well that's the point. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Moonlit Cherry Blossoms

As final tribute this year to the cherry blossoms that have long since faded, here we see a gnarled old cherry tree in the light of the full moon. Its limbs and flowers are backlit by the pale light, long shadows are cast, and pink petals glow like sparks in the blur of night. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Gnarled Cherry Trees

Spring has arrived in the Mid Atlantic, and flowering trees light up the woodland edges and highways in pastel colors. Here, we see a small grove of old, gnarled cherry trees by a lake. Their trunks and limbs are twisted and scarred from age, but they continue to bloom each year with explosions of pinks and whites. In this fleeting moment, let us enjoy spring!

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Denali Reflections

It's been a typical winter here in Maryland, with snow, ice, and a bad cold spell in January. As we wait for spring, let us visit a place where winter lasts about half the year. Denali, in Alaska, is the tallest mountain in North America, and its peak is often shrouded in clouds. Here we see it looming above one of many local lakes and rivers carved by glaciers, its proud crown illuminated by the setting sun. Warm light hints of better days to come.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Regaining the Light

The holiday season is finishing up and it's now 2025. The winter solstice was a little over a week ago, and slowly but surely the days are growing longer. Here we see the sun rise across a snowy northern forest of conifers. Light gleams through the trees, hinting at the still distant spring. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" 

Exoplanet - Red Dwarf Transit

Things have been going rather poorly on Earth lately (in America in particular), so this painting takes us someplace far away. We stand on a slushy, terrestrial planet at the outer reaches of its star's habitable zone. The sun here is a blazing red dwarf that looms above us, casting a ruddy, warm glow across snowy hills and a cold lake. Other worlds dance through their orbits in the sky, with one planet transiting the star as we watch. Total eclipses cannot happen here, but transits of other planets are a regular occurrence. To put it in perspective, a star system around a red dwarf is about the same size as the moon system around Jupiter, so with little optical aid, one could see details on the other worlds. Red dwarf stars live a very long time, so perhaps life will evolve someday on this cold planet.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Old Autumn Sycamores

As fall spreads over the land, a chill breeze starts to turn the leaves to fiery colors and the grass to dried earth tones. Here, we see a pair of old sycamores at the edge of a scrubby forest. These ancient guardians have been here far longer than the young trees around them, and they face yet another coming winter stoically. Low light plays across their gnarled, pale trunks, and their leaves glow with copper colors before blowing away in the cold wind.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"