One of the things I like the best about pleinair painting is all of the unexpected things that happen while I'm standing out there. Once I had a huge bull moose in rut sneak up on me to about 10 feet away near a loud river. I quick grabbed my painting and ran away! Another time a grizzy bear wandered right through my scene. I've been drenched with rain in the San Juan mountains, have had my paints freeze in sub-zero temperatures in Montana, and wind almost blow me off a cliff at the ocean. I like to engage with spectators when I'm painting and often encourage little kids to add some brush strokes to my canvas. Their parents go nuts taking pictures! 

On a recent trip to Durango I had a bunch of Harley motorcyclists join me at the site where I painted "Still Waters on the Animas".  They were having a memorial for two fellow bikers who had passed away in motorcycle accidents. They welcomed Jasper and I into their group, fed us burgers and beers, and seemed to enjoy watching the progression of the painting. Plus their amazing tattoo art was pretty inspiring!

When I paint on site I am not trying to copy what I see, rather to create an image of what it feels like. Perhaps the atmosphere, the weather, a memory or even my own mood.  Oak Creek really doesn't look anything like my painting "Oak Creek"  but I think I was feeling really happy that day so the painting is bright and splashy. "Still got Power" was painted on a cloudy and somber afternoon in a little neighborhood in Manzano, New Mexico. I think I captured that mood.  I painted "Pinnacle in Pastels" from a cul-de-sac in The Village of Oak Creek near Sedona. It was so grand in the morning sun and I loved how extra grand it looked from my low vantage point. I emphasized that by cropping the top of the painting and using cool pastel colors for my palette.

As far as my official curriculum vitae goes, there's nothing really very special. Mostly, I just like to paint!