forget me not

Norwegian Poppy

Two new ones

Here are a couple of new canvasses, a Siberian Iris and a Norwegian Poppy. More new work soon!

New Book!

I'm delighted to announce that Marick Press will be publishing my new book, Melt, in October 2011. And, in fulfillment of a lifelong dream, my painting "Amaryllis" will be on the cover.

Fall(ing)

After a break to get a moose butchered and into the freezer, I'm back in the studio and making excellent progress on a Norwegian poppy and a very large wild iris, and look forward to posting images of these soon. I've also got a columbine, another wild rose, a monkshood and a wild geranium in process. It's been a beautiful fall here in the Interior with lots of golden birch leaves still left to enjoy.

Falling

We're definitely well into fall here in Two Rivers. The birch leaves are turning golden while I watch out the window. No hard frost yet, but it's definitely time to photograph the last blossoms and put the garden to bed for the year. New canvasses are in the works, though, and I plan to keep things blooming in paint throughout the winter.

New Amaryllis

Fall

While the temperatures stay in the 70s, the nights are flirting with freezing in the lowlands. The geese and cranes seem to think fall has arrived and are staging up to head south in droves.

Late Summer. . .

It's good to be back in the studio working on new canvasses. I've collected many flower images over the summer and am looking forward to painting them. Currently have four new canvasses underway and I'm pleased with how they're coming along. Stay tuned. New images soon!

Past Mid-August. . .

And the leaves have begun to turn here in Two Rivers. Hard to believe it was 91 a few days ago when one wakes up to 39. But the garden is bursting forth with poppies and nasturtiums in full bloom, and delphinium too. Still waiting on the sunflowers, and they'd better hurry. . . .

Home Again

Just back in the studio after a few weeks of Alaskan fishing adventures, filling the freezer for winter with salmon, halibut and lingcod. The weather is hot by Fairbanks standards for this time of year -- 80+ for the last few days. The garden is in full production mode with lots of food to harvest and the flowers in full swing.

Black Orchid

Two new ones

Here's a couple of low-res images of two paintings nearing completion -- an amaryllis and a black orchid

Flowers Everywhere!

I've been collecting new images of Alaskan wildflowers for future paintings, hiking around the Anchorage area: forget-me-nots, monkshood, wild geranium, lupine, frigid arnica, and many others. It's been great being outside in the endless light of summer with my eye tuned to the small and bright.

In Anchorage

I'm working in Anchorage in the UAA low-residency program, and am missing the garden back home in Two Rivers. But I've brought all the canvasses to Anchorage with me and have been showing them around. Our time here is intense, and it's a joy to be working with eager and dedicated writers.

Jessamine

Painted Daisy

Thunderstorm

Taking a break from chickweeding while the afternoon thundershower rolls through. Just what the garden needs. The broccoli will start to come in this week, as will the kale, the peas are blooming, the tomatoes and peppers setting on. Happy 4th of July. Everything's blooming here.

Home Again

Just home from a visit to Valdez with my dad and daughter. Coastal Alaska is incredibly rich with wonders for the eye -- mountains, glaciers, rivers, ocean -- and all the myriad creatures who live there. We had a tremendous time, and collected lots of Alaskan wildflower images for upcoming paintings.

A Little Rain

We've been eating fresh food from the garden in the past couple of weeks, spinach, lettuces, radishes, green onions, and the rest of the crops are coming on quickly in the endless sunshine. Nothing is ever better than the food you grow and pick yourselves, from garden to plate in a few minutes. And tonight we had a much needed rain shower to help things along.

Endless Sun

Just past Solstice here in Two Rivers, and while the sun does set for a couple hours, it's never dark. So there's lots of time for biking and hiking, for fishing and camping, for gardening -- and painting!

Cirque

I'm delighted to have two poems in the new summer solstice issue of Cirque. Check it out here: http://www.cirquejournal.com/

Solstice!

Today we had 21 hours and 49 minutes of sun above the horizon here in Two Rivers, Alaska, and 24 hours of light. Summer is short, but the garden's making the most of all the light, growing like mad.

Back home

I've been painting nearly every day for the last several months, but just took a three-day break to give a poetry reading in Seattle. Now I'm happy to be back home and back to the canvasses. I missed them while I was gone! I've got an amaryllis, a black orchid and a poppy underway, and I collected some new images while I was roaming around madly blooming Seattle for future paintings.

Poetry, too.

And now for a little poetry break with some of Melt. Just follow the link below the iris.

http://www.thesmokingpoet.net/id20.html

Jessamine

And a new one by me. . .

Lightning

Here's Mirabel's newest canvas. She calls it Lightning.

Ah, Rain!

The garden's all planted here in Two Rivers, and now that we've had a little rain, things are looking good. Especially the chickweed. Let the weeding and thinning begin! Despite the busy season, both Mirabel and I have also been working on new canvases. Mirabel has been working in an abstract mode, and here's one by her, titled "Firedragon."

More planting. . .

Mirabel and I finished putting in flowers yesterday -- poppies and petunias, violas and pansies -- transplants and direct seeding and are already enjoying the color. Today, we finish the potatoes -- Alaska Blue, Yukon Gold, French Fingerlings and German Reds and Butterballs. And then the garden will be all in. Let the thinning and weeding begin!

Flower planting

Yesterday my daughter Mirabel and I picked up some flowers at our local greenhouse to fill in the corners of the garden -- petunias, snapdragons, violas -- and also some broccoli and cauliflower to replace the ones the escaped Australorp ate. Best of all, we discovered the Frigid Arnica -- a bright yellow Alaskan wildflower blossoming all along Chena Hotsprings Road. Looking forward to painting this one!

Attack of the Flying Australorp

The garden suffered a setback yesterday when an escaped chicken ravaged the broccoli, cauliflower and some of the cabbages too. Ah, retransplanting. . .

Planting

Happy to announce the garden's all in. Oh. Wait. The potatoes. The garden is almost all in! And now we'll move on to thinning and weeding. Everything grows fast here. Smokey skies here in the Interior today, and both the forest and the garden could use some rain.

Wild Roses

The wild roses have burst forth in all the heat and are peaking just about now, some of the first real color we get here in the Interior, and the pollinators are busy getting to them all.

Whew.

My thermometer reads 83 right now, and that's in the shade. Glad the garden's almost in.

Planting nasturtiums

The weather continues hot for this time of year. We may well hit 90 this weekend. Gardening on!

Hot

The wild roses are blooming and it's been 80 plus with thunderstorms here in the Interior for the last few days. Great gardening weather!

Sun showers

 

The gardening here in Two Rivers has been momentarily interrupted by a thunderstorm which will hopefully bring some much needed rain.

Garden time.

The wild roses are budding, and it's time to dig, compost and plant like crazy here in Two Rivers.

Featured Artist

I was happy to have "Coreopsis" selected as the featured image on the Fotomoto.com site today. Check it out for high-quality and inexpensive prints and cards of my paintings. And you can send E-cards for free!

Coreopsis

Amaryllis

New paintings, prints for sale. . .

Here are some new paintings, all acrylic, 18"X24". Click beneath the images for prints of various sizes and they'll appear right at your door. Enjoy!

Sunflower

Star Jasmine

Star Jasmine ii

Wild Rose

Rose

Coreopsis

Amaryllis