Fly Rod and Mountain Laurel

Fly Rod and Mountain Laurel 8"x6" oil $65.00

I liked the way the sun was sneaking thru the mountain laurel and highlighting the reel and line. We just got done crawling thru the thick mountain laurel and when I looked over this is what I saw. The flyline looked like it was glowing the way it was backlit by the sun.

Red Bridge Pool, Tulpehocken Creek

Red Bridge Pool, Tulpehocken Creek 16x20 oil $450.00

Available at Delaware River Gallery,Yardley,Pa. E-mail www.delawarerivergallery.com

The top picture shows the plein-air sketch I did at the stream that morning. The brush is thick along that part of the stream so it was a challenge finding a spot to set up my easle and still have a view of the bridge. I liked the subtle reflection of the bridge in the calmer water and the flyfisherman who waits for the trout to rise.

Enjoy your night.

Work in Progress

I have been working on this piece off and on for about three months. Its an 18x24 canvas. Its finally coming together. I had the hardest time getting the proper lighting down , when I put in the shadow of the covered bridge then the lighting suddenly started making sense. When you work on a piece too long you don't see mistakes you should be seeing, so it helps to put it away for a while and see it again with fresh eyes. The drama of the painting is the brown trout coming up to inspect the anglers fly. This is the Tulpehocken Creek in Reading,Pa., its about an hour and a half away. Last year I had gone up there to get some material for some paintings, I did a plein-air sketch downstream from this spot looking up toward the bridge. I'll show that in the next post. This morning I was going to go to a stream I scouted last week but the weather is raining and windy,not ideal weather for painting outdoors. The weather is supposed to clear up by 3:00 this afternoon so it might be worth the hour ride. This year I set a goal to paint a number of trout streams on location, last year I failed miserably, it seemed like I was always running out of time, either the weather didn't cooperate or other commitments kept me from doing what I had planned. Well, we will see this year.

Talk to you later.

Backwater Study

Backwater Study 8x10 oil

This is the same area as the last post except now I'm painting from the bank looking down at the water. This was painted two years earlier, as you can see its full of water now. I was trying to capture the feeling of a hot humid morning. I did my best not to overwork the reflections in the water.

Enjoy your your night.

Bridge Over The Delaware River

Bridge Over the Delaware River 8x10 oil (comes framed) $325.00

This is a spot I come to early in the morning in Washington Crossing. Its a backwater area right along the Delaware River thats usually full with water but because of the droughts it only has a little strip of water going down the middle. I liked the reflection of the bridge and the sky and how it contrasted with the wet mossy creekbed. I set up my easle right next to the water and while I was painting this I kept hearing a commotion in the trees high above me. A flock of crows ended up chasing a bald eagle out of the trees and up the Delaware . I never would have known he was there if it wasn't for the crows harassing him.

Enjoy your weekend.