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"

Moonrise over Snowy Pines

Winter has been relatively normal this year along the east coast of the US. We've had a few snowfalls, with another on its way, and some cold temperatures, too. Here, we see the moon rise above a cold northern forest, casting its warm glow on the snow as a few stars peak through the clouds - light without heat. Soon, spring will come and melt away the snow as life returns to the forest. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Hill Country Winter Sunrise

After several years without measurable snowfall, winter returned to Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region this week, with frigid temperatures and two snowstorms that each dropped several inches of snow. Here, we see the snowy weather from the rolling, forested hills of western Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania as the sun rises on a quiet, freezing day. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Fall Sycamore Thicket

As autumn color winds down, we go for a walk in the woods while there's still sun remaining. A mix of sycamores, both old and young, tower overhead, their leaves turning to crumpled bronze as they fall from the trees. Low light bathes the mottled bark; winter is when sycamores are at their finest. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Frigid Woodland Sunset

It's been a warm winter here in Maryland without a trace of snow in most of the state, but the season isn't over yet. Here, we see the low winter sun set in a tangled forest of old trees and vines, all coated with snowy silence. Spring will come eventually, but until then enjoy the winter.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Foggy Autumn Dawn

Dawn stretches across an old forest in autumn, piercing the fog and lighting the mist beyond. In the cool air, we see the fiery leaves illuminated by the rising sun.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" 

Welcome Mountain Snow

A straightforward scene celebrating the return of much-needed winter snow to the western mountains of the US. In the low light of winter, the wind swirls the snow between the pines before another blizzard descends upon the rocky peaks. 

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

November Gloom

November is a gloomy time of year in the Mid-Atlantic region - daylight savings time ends, making the days feel shorter, and fall color peaks early in the month and quickly fades to browns and greys. Cold weather blows in, erasing the gentle temperatures of autumn, and clouds block out what little sunlight that remains. This painting was inspired by a walk around a local lake with friends this weekend. We see the last sparks of autumn color as the sun swings low behind the trees and clouds on a cold and dreary day.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Autumn Ignition

An oddity of autumn is that the fiery colors - the ignition of reds, golds, and oranges in the leaves - is caused not by light and heat, but by the opposite. As the sun swings lower and the weather cools to proper fall temperatures, we look ahead a month to when the autumn leaves will be at their peak here on the east coast of the US. Look up into the towering trees and enjoy blazing colors against a clearing blue sky.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Hazy Forest Flowers

On a hazy day in late spring, flowers line the forest floor beneath towering, old trees. Wisteria, dandelions, and other blossoms scatter color among the sea of green in this fanciful view of a sprawling woodland on a very sunny day.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Swampy Spring Sunshine

 

A look ahead a month or so into early spring, when the trees are leafing out, the dandelions are blooming, and the redbuds light up the woods with purple-pink flowers. Rain is plentiful, combined with snowmelt in the colder climates, resulting in a mix of soggy earth and sunny skies. It's beautiful to look at, but a mess to hike through if you leave the paved trails!

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

2020 in Hindsight

2020 has not been a good year: catastrophic, climate-change driven wildfires from the western US to Australia, a deadly pandemic, and disturbing assaults on democracy. This painting is as much symbolic as it is artistic - a fitting scene for a terrible year, and an attempt to find some beauty in the wreckage left behind. A burnt forest, a discarded face mask, and clearing skies with a hope for a better future.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Old Redbuds New Spring

After a warm and snowless winter, the flowers are all blooming early in Maryland. At the edge of a forest, we can see several old redbuds amid the yellow forsythia blooming to greet a new spring.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (SOLD)

Crossroads of Winter

Winter is a season of contrasts and changes, marked by the passage of time. One year passes to another, the weather wanders between harmless and brutal, and fiery skies oppose the frozen earth. Here, in a wooded park after a modest snowfall, we stand at the crossroads of winter, contemplating the various paths in all directions and marveling at the eerie contrast around us.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (SOLD)

Sunlit Sequoia Duo

High in the Sierra Nevadas, the sunlight gleams through ancient sequoias that stretch skywards, seemingly forever. This was a challenging painting for several reasons. The unusual perspective with the trees sweeping up overhead, the typical difficulties in painting a forest interior scene without it feeling confining and cluttered, and finally the tricky nature of depicting sequoias themselves. Their bark has an unusual mix of red in it without being overtly red, and their crowns, furrows, and burn scars are very distinctive to the species. While this was not an easy painting, I think the end result was worth the effort.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (framed)

Christmas Sequoias

High in the Sierra Nevada mountains, snow falls across a landscape of ancient giant sequoias, bringing needed water to this fragile ecosystem. In the valleys below, humanity prepares to celebrate Christmas and other holidays near the winter solstice; here, in the mountains, the years tick by far slower amid towering trees that stand strong for millennia.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (SOLD)

Sequoia Trio

In early June, I went on a fun, guided tour through gAdventures and the National Geographic (their "Natural Highlights of California" tour), and one of the amazing places our little group visited was Sequoia National Park. These huge, ancient trees are magnificent and awe-inspiring - it has been said that no one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree (or giant sequoia) because the feeling they produce is not transferable, and that is accurate. You have to see their staggering size and understand their age by visiting them in person. Still, I have tried to capture their incredible size in a painting, doing the best I can. I took special care to accurately render this well-known trio, from the fire scars to the subtle change in bark texture and color higher up on the trees. Nonetheless, it is only a painting - I recommend one see the trees in person to truly experience them.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (framed, SOLD)

Winter Sunrise Shadows

In the light of a frigid winter dawn, the sun blazes through a snow-coated forest, glimmering on the frost and streaking through the branches above. Long shadows are cast from the low light, falling across the shrubs and grasses half buried in the snow.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Monumental Forest

In some distant realm, ancient trees stretch skyward on a cool spring day, casting long shadows across a meandering brook. Sunlight glimmers through the leaves and heavy limbs, illuminating the water and petals of small flowering trees and shrubs. Part of my MTG: basic lands series.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17" (SOLD)

Hilltop redbuds

Atop a hill in Patapsco State Park, in the shade of old beeches, oaks, and tulip trees, redbuds spring to life. Their purple flowers add a flash of color to the earth-toned forest as late winter light streaks through the trees.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"