I was all set to post my departure from landscape painting and then realized these two new works are to be a surprise for someone very special. Suffice it to say that this is a real challenge. Later this summer I will post my steps. I hope to finish today.

Last Monday our plein air group went painting at Gray Butte, north and east of Bend. It was a gorgeous morning and the wildflowers were outstanding. You can see my "grubby" painting outfit. This was my first time painting without Rachel.I chose to paint very loosely when on location and did a little touch up work in the studio. I'm pleased with the two paintings. The top painting is 11x14 and the bottom one is 9x12.

It's been two weeks since my last blog - two very busy weeks! First of all just over a week after we returned home from Colorado we had to euthanize our dog, Rachel. She had kidney failure, put up a good fight, but it finally caught up with her. We were so thankful that she didn't really fail until a couple of days after we picked her up from the kennel. She was my painting partner and I really miss her.

We had a great time in Colorado visiting family - even did some plein air painting in Steamboat Springs. The photo on the right is our 14 year old grandson and me painting while the rest of the family hiked. This was his second oil painting. His very first ever was painted the day before at Fish Creek.