Suisun Evening 5" x 7" acrylic $265

Evening descends on California's Suisun Marsh as the last rays of sunlight escape through the overcast. This area has special meaning to me as a grew up hunting and exporing the marsh, which is one of the largest brackish water marshes in the United States. As a kid, I used to explore every nook and cranny in search of anything I could find be it different birds (and there are alot) or small mammals. This area and it's wildlife has been the subject of numerous paintings through the years and will be for years to come as it is where my passion for wildlife and wild places started.
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Downy Woodpeckers 5" x 5" acrylic

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A pair of downy woodpeckers scales the side of a tree. Originally, this painting only had one woodpecker in it (the one on the side), but it seemed too rigid. After thinking about how to add more interest, I decided to add the second bird which is strategically placed to move the viewers eye around the painting. The bird is looking toward the one on the left and the angle of its body posture lends to the directional movement. The other elements like the tree branch and the hint of thinner branches in the back assist with the flow of the eye as well.

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Carolina Wren 5"x5" acrylic $245

This carolina wren was foraging in the brush around a wetland in Maryland and when it worked its way up this tree to this natural cavity, I thought I had found a nesting site. The morning light lit up the buff-colored breast and I knew I had to paint it, especially since it is the first carolina wren that I have seen in person.

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Autumn Wetland 5" x 7" acrylic $265

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Falls colors are changing and the last remnants of the morning fog are giving way to blue skies. This painting was done intentionally in a looser style as an experiment to see how realistic I could make something while painting quickly and loosely.
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Evening Marsh 5" x 7" acrylic

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Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge basks in dusks final grasp... I have been inspired lately by landscape paintings and am excited to do a few of my own including a few in oils. This particular part of the refuge is off the main auto route and out quite a way. I had the place to myself and got a bit too far because part of the road I was on was flooded over. Apparently, the Chesapeake Bay has a bit of a surge during windy high tides. I tried driving through the floods a bit, but I felt my little rental car was a bit to low to the ground to handle anything deeper than a foot so I turned around.
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Tranquil Evening 5" x 7" acrylic

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A solitary duck glides through the calm evening water. Marshes at this time of day (as well as at dawn) are a special place and hold special memories for me. The abundunt life, the smells and the sounds all lend to a unique sense of tranquility. I observed a similar scene to this while visiting the East Coast last week and touring Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.
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Chickadee and Sumac 8" x 10" acrylic

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This painting depicting a chickadee foraging on sumac berries is currently exhbiting at the Waterfowl Festival in Easton, MD. The colors of the original painting have been lost a bit in this photograph as the background features warmer tones of greens and ocres to compliment the red berries.

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Meadow's Edge 5" x 7" acrylic

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I saw this bull elk in Yellowstone National Park. The elk have become harder to spot outside of Mammoth Hot Springs but this lone bull was found on the edge of Gibbon Meadow.
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On the Hunt 5" x 7" acrylic

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This healthy coyote was faniscinating to watch as he hunted his way through the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park. Every now and then he would pounce at an unsuspecting meal in the tall grass. Pronghorn didn't seem to mind his presence although they did keep a watchful eye.

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Winter Woodies 9" x 12" acrylic

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This painting will be available November 12th at Collector's Covey in Dallas, TX for their annual miniature painting exhibition. When I first saw this spot while exploring this shallow lake on Sauvie Island, I thought "Wow! this would look fantastic with a group of wood ducks." - and the painting idea was born. As it so happens there were nesting boxes in some of the surrounding trees, so I knew that they used the area at times, especially in the spring. Ultimately, the intricate, reflective patterns created by the fallen trees and the marsh grasses are what inspired this scene and twelve wood ducks filled the area as I imagined.
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