New Work: All in the Glow, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

All in the Glow, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

In the studio

$9250 framed

To purchase

This oil is a larger, more expansive reimagining of the earlier painting Soft Evening Colors,keeping the same basic composition while shifting the mood and intensity. In this version,the sun drops lower and burns brighter and that small change sends a warm radiance acrossthe entire landscape.

Every area of the surface was reconsidered and strengthened, with more presence, nuance, and more saturated color. The result is a luminous field of light, a glowing object in the room.

Once finished, I was surprised to see this painting take over, outshining some of the other vividworks in the studio. It seemed eager to get out into the world.

New Work: Soft Evening Colors, oil on panel, 16 x 16 inches

$2150 framed
Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art,
Santa Fe, NM


About this oil:

This was a throughly enjoyable painting to make. It had a mind of its own and I didn’t know what was going to happen from one moment to the next.
 
It began with that grouping of blue trees in the back and two trees standing in the front. To complete the composition, strips of field and sky.
 
Then I was immediately stuck... it just wasn't coming together so  I retired it to back in the studio for um…. 2 years.
 
Back to the now, it was the end of my painting session yesterdaywhen I saw that neglected oil setting in a corner like a lonely pet. I picked it up and decided to do something unusual just to get  something going.
 
Two trees became four and to purposely keep things off-balance and interesting, I decided to paint in their shapes using soft blues and purples. The rest of the oil wasn’t developed at this point and those pale trees created a puzzle that was not going to be solved that day so I let it go again.
 
The following day, that little painting was calling out, insisting actually, for solutions. It is like having a conversation and immediately, ideas began to flow, but only one at a time.
 
First, it was the greens lightly laid in at the top on the blue line of trees. Then, to brighten and complicate the grasses in the foreground.
 
Oh, now light is coming in, so in response, greens and reds were added to the four trees. Then, to put in that glowing yellow-orange just above the dark tree line. In turn, that required brightening and adjusting the sky using three colors to create a glowing background. With that, the painting finally came together.
 
It all began with a small risk, creating bluish trees, an unintuitive choice that instigated a delightful and colorful conversation.




 

Grateful Notices: Edge of the Meadow, Oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches, framed

Exhibited: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut    Private collection

My thanks to the collector of this oil.

I love the way meadows look, the soft flow of the grasses with their glowing colors and that was my attraction to this scene. Compositionally, this is a clean and elegant landscape made from three horizontal bands.
 
Now to make it interesting, to create a work of art.
 
There is an abundance of complexity in each band that produces a rhythm and a flow. The colors are more than they seem - numerous variations of blues and yellows invite the eye to move across the canvas and explore the nuances.
 
It is my challenge to find something attractive in nature and then to attempt to better it on canvas. I am not always successful, but today a good painting was finished, signed and offered to you…a fulfilling day.                               

Grateful notices: Cadmium Running Through, oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches

Cadmium Running Through

Oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches

Exhibited:  Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM   Private collection

This painting, like many of my works, went through several transformations. I started it about a year ago with a similar composition but an entirely different color palette. Eventually, I hit a creative roadblock and set it aside to focus on other projects that felt more manageable at the time.

Fast forward to a recent paint-along session I was hosting with another artist. I pulled this piece out as an example to make a teaching point. The goal? To shake things up and push the painting forward. With leftover colors from a previous session, I dove in without overthinking—just grabbed my brush and started reworking the trees in the center.

It was impulsive, even theatrical, and we had a good laugh about it. But that bold move completely shifted the direction of the painting.

Suddenly, it all clicked. The new approach simplified the composition, emphasizing three glowing bands of color while stripping away unnecessary details. It was one of those moments where taking a risk paid off in unexpected ways.

As my mentor Wolf Kahn used to say, “Sometimes you have to do violence to the picture,” and this time, that bit of creative chaos led me somewhere exciting.