First Sketches for Columbia Basalts


These are the first sketches for a number of paintings I'm thinking about right now. This is an area near Vantage on the Columbia River that I've driven by all my life. Sometimes I've stopped and always, for the past 20 or so years, I've wanted to be in a truck so I could stop and get a pillar of basalt for my garden.

I'm in Fort Collins Colorado right now, checking out the town, visiting my daughter, sketching and planning my next 10 or so paintings. These two will be 22 x 30. I've got the linen stretched, hand primed w/ Gamblin's oil ground, polished and ready to go. With a show coming up in June, I'll be hard at work between now and then to be ready! There is much to do.

My paints and the paintings I started or worked on at Deborah Paris' workshop are all speeding to my home via the nice people at Fedex. (Plus some gorgeous frames I can't wait to use! Thank you Deborah and Steve!) They all arrive home when I do and it will be a happy homecoming all around.

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