Plein Air Paintings

Rome’s Beautiful Parks: Villa Pamphili

One of the many great aspects of Rome are its parks, the city is full of green places where you can go to relax and temporarily forget the hustle and bustle of the city and of course paint. The largest park in Rome is Villa Pamphili

Oh So Rome

What do you think of when you think of Rome, The Colosseum, The  Roman Forum, La Dolce Vita and The Trevi Fountain? For me it is more something just like or similar to this scene at Porta Maggiore where old and new meet. The Green Tram, Porta

Changing Light: Morning in Umbria

Rainy Summer Morning, Umbria Oil on Linen Panel 11 x 14" $800 | Available Purchase Now This view! I had a day off teaching in Umbria last month and so the first thing I did was grab my gear and head down the valley to paint. As luck would have it,

Scenic Italian Views

What is the line between capturing something beautiful and it becoming sentimental? Is there one? Thanks to all the Anglo-Saxons who came before us spending their holidays and even entire lives in exotic Italy, there can be the tendency to romanticize life and capture only the most

Hay Bales in Umbria or Infinite Greens

Just the words "hay bale" surely strike up images of Monet and some of his haystacks, which are far more interesting with their house like shape then today's uniformly cylindrical things. Nonetheless these hay bales are always exciting to see, dotting the otherwise green fields back

Learning to Teach, Learning to Paint

What's on my mind lately is the art and discipline of learning to paint. How we learn to paint I imagine is similar to how we learn anything. It takes time and patience and dedication. Most importantly though it takes compassion with yourself as you

Floridascapes

Ready, set, paint! American plein air paint outs, or painting competitions, are becoming more and more popular in the U.S., so I did not miss out on my chance to participate in one before returning to Italy this spring. Though painting on demand and under tight time

Rodin’s Gates of Hell at Stanford

While visiting the Bay Area, someone suggested I get to Stanford, and in particular the Rodin sculpture garden, as a potential place to paint or just to visit for its own sake. Little did I know what a truly marvelous collection and garden I would

Big Views, Big Emotions, Big Sur

Big Sur, California. This place has mystique and legends surrounding it for a good reason. Half the time it is shrouded in fog coming off the Pacific Ocean, only slightly revealing its craggy rugged coastline with a hint of the sun's rays shining through the