Morning on Rock Creek

When you take the Tom's Place turn-off from Highway 395 and then drive about 10 miles along Rock Creek Road into the mountains, you will end up at this point. There are beautiful views of the Sierra, meadows, creeks and distant peaks. I didn't have to go 50 yards from the parking lot to this beautiful spot overlooking Rock Creek with the towering mountains in the distance. This was painted from about 8am to 11. The creek was in deep, deep shade. I loved how cool it looked in the shade, with a clear view through the trees to the mountain beyond.

Morning on the San Joaquin

I'm  back from the two week trip that started the last week of September in the Mammoth Lakes area. After that I spent a few days in Placerville, then Watsonville, finally ending up in Santa Barbara. It was a wonderful trip: I saw amazing scenery in Mammoth, painting with fellow artists and getting to know them better, visited with old friends and relatives along the way, and found out that even though traveling brings a wonderful fresh perspective to one's life, there really is no place like home. I've been working on finishing up 3 of the paintings I did on the Mammoth portion of my trip and will be showing them at the Mission Viejo Country Club this coming Wednesday November 2 for their Winter Artisan Show. This painting was one I did early in the morning on the middle fork of the San Joaquin River as it flows through  Devils Postpile National Park.