PEACE POND

12X16
oil/canvas board

This pond is on the property of a good friend, her last name is Peace.  She is a city girl who moved to the country and came to love it even though she has run into critters that she preferred not to befriend.  My favorite of her encounters is the BIG snake she found draped on and hanging from a limb that stretches out over this pond.
Thankfully,  it is too cold for snakes just now.  
So.....that's my pond story.

COLORS OF WINTER

11X14
OIL/CANVAS BOARD

Among the cedars, there is sometimes a bit of color to brighten the wintry landscape. Here, in the middle of February,  we know we are close to Spring and we are impatient as we wait for signs that the trees will leaf and the flowers will bloom.  We give a nod to our neighbors to the north, knowing they may have months more of the white stuff.  We wish we could send them one of the warm days we know we are soon to have.

CEDAR SHADOWS

8x10
oil/canvas board

Across the nation, we are hoping spring will arrive early this year.  Oklahoma, along with many other states,  has had record snow falls and low temperatures. My neighbor across the road tells me he is thoroughly disgusted with the weather, "too cold to get outside and work", he says.
I understand how he feels, we are usually blessed with many warm days during the winter months.  Days when the sun shines early and the temperature climbs into the high fifties.  We find reasons to be outside, perhaps checking to see if there are leaf buds on the trees or any sign of crocus or jonquils peeking through. " Ahh well, won't be much longer," I say to him hopefully.

ROCKY FOOTHOLD

6 X 8, oil/canvas board

Tenacious roots anchor trees in quite precarious circumstances, be it on the California coast or in the rocky and wooded hills of northeastern Oklahoma.  I have often come across Oklahoma cedars growing out of a crack in a huge rock on a hillside, a rock you know will some day tumble down the steep incline.  Or have the roots of the tree grown deep enough to secure the rock in place for many more years?

Will this cypress hang on for fifty years or will the battering of the waves at high tide loosen its hold and float it away to sea?

ANOTHER CALIFORNIA VIEW ALONG THE CAMBRIA COAST.

MOONSTONE BEACH near Cambria is a fun place to linger.  When the tide is on its way out, there is more beach to enjoy as you look for opalescent stones and other interesting rocks and miscellaneous debris left behind.  It is also a great place to paint and the colors are amazing.

The small picturesque town of Cambria is a good visit for an afternoon.  There are small galleries, book stores, and places to buy delicious food.  I always visit here when on the west coast.

CALIFORNIA ON A GOOD DAY!

I am just back from California where I have been for over a week enjoying the weather and the company of friends.   We had a house in Morro Bay high on the hill overlooking the ocean and the Morro rock, a local landmark that can be seen for miles guiding you back home.

In spite of forecast rain, we had beautiful sunshine each day and we painted and explored.
One of my favorite things to do in January on the central California coast is  visit the elephant seals on their beach as they birth their young and linger on the beach for a few weeks before heading back out to the ocean.  We were not disappointed this year, for they were  there by the hundreds.....a very National Geographic scene.