Ranch View

A view from the Ranch where several of the sketches were painted. This one is looking South West towards Mt. Shasta hidden in clouds. This valley is most interesting because it is filled with many cinder cones.

Deturmined Trees

These two trees are like many that were located in this Oregon coast campground. There have often been floods in the area. This last winter this area was covered with 8' to 10" of water during a flood. You can see how the soil has been washed away many times exposing the root structure. However these tree continue to hang on.

Deer Camp Tenent, CA

Deer Camp is a series of camping sites near Tenent, CA where a group of friends have been hunting since the 1950's. The main event of this outing is pot luck dinner that usually take place near the end of the season. Often there are over 50 friends that gather for this event.

Indian Scotty Campground

This sketch is from the camp ground that is just 1 hour from our home. It is on the Scott River. This is on the edge of a large wilderness area in Northern California. The last time we were there we heard a Mountain Lion just outside our trailer. It was doing that deep groweling sound that cats do when there are communication to another cat that "this is my area". It was quite exciting!

Shared space

This Oak tree and Pine tree must have started out with their seeds very close together. When this drawing was done it looked like the two bases of the trees were growing out of the same spot. If you look close at the drawing you will see how the trees twisted around and within each other as they grew. It reminded me of some married couples who seem so different yet get along so well.

Ranch Stump

Another painting sketch. This limited pallet uses G,R,and P.

Wintering tree

From water color sketch book. This tree is a real surviver. It sat just off our porch at the ranch. During hard years the California Ground Squirrels would strip much of the growing bark off of the tree. It was able to survive these attacks.

Ranch Wild Flowers

Image form water color sketch book. Lupine with grass

Ranch Wild Flower

This example was done on the place we called our ranch. I researched one spring and found 138 different wild flowers. Many were no bigger than the head of a pin. It was a fairly dry area.

Lakeside Grasses

This image is from my water color sketch book. This is a new approach to the sketching. And I'm pleased with the results. The thing I especially like is the expressiveness of the background. Plants can't move around, however they expand into the space around themselves. To me they are eternally reaching and searching.

Power Corrupts

I created this drawing some years ago. I never dated it at the time. I also had several ideas for a title at the time, but nothing seemed to stick. Over the years I have turned to it many times and tried different titles, however never settling on something. Just the other day I looked at it again. Power Corrupts stuck. So I have borrowed form Shakespeare. His statement goes something like this, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Somethings never change.
Don