In the life of a Painter

Canyon Journey  36x18" oil/c 

I've been painting in many shades of green, with magenta redbud, soft orange for new oak leaves, bright orange poppies flowing down hillsides and yellow and blue -- all to share this burst of color in the Sierra Foothills in a super spring.  After so little rain my expectations were small for spring flower bloom, but was I wrong!  Perhaps the fact that the grasses did not grow too tall early on had something to do with it.  Some late rain to keep it all moist.  Or, some seeds require a dry period.  Or ???  Moderate temperatures have kept the bloom going and moving around the foothills.  Up the hills very high this year.  I walk around outdoors about six feet off the ground with such joy!

Perfect time for the "Double Vision" show at A Sense of Place Gallery in Fresno, CA.  Photographers and painters coordinated trips to different locales to produce work on the same subjects.  Mine, as you can see from pieces added to my website today, www.pennyotwell.com, were mostly about spring.  I am showing alongside two excellent photographers: Dave Hoffman and Franka Gabler.  The show starts May 1st and will be up for the entire month.  

Some of the new pieces are headed for The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley, so stop by.  

My work continues to lean abstract and I am excited to get on with the new Yosemite Valley pieces next.  You know I always say that my next painting is absolutely going to be the best one yet!  Enjoy the spring !