Water Ways Series: Watery Roads

This is my third painting of the sandstone cliffs and formations at Timber Cove, on the Sonoma Coast. The forms created by the wind are fascinating and a delight to explore. I return there often.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

When I lived on the Mendocino coast I walked on the beach daily. The coast there is wild, the waves are powerful and the currents are strong. The rock formations are unique there, something about their shape and what they are made of create a distinct water display. As the waves crash over the rocks the water streams down the rocks, following time-worn crevices. I was mesmerized by these continuously changing waterfalls, the more I watched them the more I wanted to do a painting featuring them. I titled this painting "Everywhere, All At Once" because the water is going in every direction, there are five types of water movement in this painting. I loved the challenge of capturing the explosive power and chaos of the ocean breaking on the northern California coast.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

This painting was created from my imagination, based on a collage of memories of the waterfalls of Hawaii and Fiji. In my childhood the wilderness was my playground. It taught me many lessons; How to swim across a swirling river below a waterfall, without being carried away; how to clamber on wet rocks, how to appreciate the myriad forms of life in the world around me, how to sit and listen to the song of the water as it flowed by me. I give thanks to these special places.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

Pudding Creek meets the Pacific at Fort Bragg in Mendocino County. There is an old wooden train trestle that crosses over it and provides bird’s-eye views of the beach below. When the tide is low water stands very still on the beach and reflects the sky above the ocean like a mirror.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

This is one of our favorite spots on the Sonoma Coast. The drama of light on these large sandstone rocks is quite intriguing. The rocks have been carved, worn, eroded and polished through time and the pressure of weather. Against the backdrop of the blue Pacific the yellow rock is punctuated with deep shadows. This was my second Timber Cove painting, and I bet you that there are more to come.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

This is one of our favorite spots on the Sonoma Coast. The drama of light on these large sandstone rocks is quite intriguing. The rocks have been carved, worn, eroded and polished through time and the pressure of weather. Against the backdrop of the blue Pacific the yellow rock is punctuated with deep shadows. This was my second Timber Cove painting, and I bet you that there are more to come.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

This painting depicts a small slip of beach between large rocks as a wave rolls in. I was captivated watching the force and pattern of the water as it rushed in to the beach through this narrow space. I wanted to capture the subtlety of the whitewater, as well as the riot of activity as the wave splashed onto the rocks. I painted this on white silk. In order to preserve the white spaces for the water I had to paint in reverse. I started with painting only what was not the wave, carefully painting the edges of the water, the shadows, but not the whitewater itself. It was an interesting and challenging process. I titled this painting "Rise and Fall", acknowledging the Pacific waves that mirror the rhythm of all of life.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

This painting was inspired by walking the Napali coast trail on the north shore of Kauai. It had rained recently and the trail was muddy as it wound its way through the jungle. Walking beneath trees with large green leaves, in the shade and humidity, the pungent smell of vegetation enveloped me. Then, a bright clearing as I came around a bend. The sun was out briefly, casting its light long across the ocean. The water was lit up closest to the coastline, adding extra drama to the points of land. It was one of those quintessential Hawaiian days, the weather was changing every few minutes. Each time the sun came out from behind the clouds it changed the entire look and feel of the coastline. This is what I wanted to convey in this painting.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

Did you ever spend time wandering in the woods or the mountains with no destination or purpose in mind? I loved doing this as a child, it was something I did often, and I called it “wandering time”. Sometimes, I would find a special spot, and I would linger there to take in the small details and feel of it. Other times I would walk slowly and quietly, not stopping, but at a pace where I was engaged with my surroundings. Not thinking, just being alive in the wilderness. This was delightful to me. This painting is an imagined place, inspired by that wandering activity. I wanted to put the viewer at a bugs-eye view, as if you were quite small and very close to the flowers and water.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

Observing the movement and patterns of water is a favorite pastime of mine. There are so many paintings of the ocean and breaking waves, many of them featuring the classic barrel wave. I am into depicting familiar scenes in ways that are different or unexpected. I wanted to paint the kind of wave explosion that creates a fine mist, where the wave is no longer one solid shape, but has become countless particles of water. I wanted the viewer to almost feel the moisture coming off of this wave, and feel the pull of the water around their ankles as the water is drawn back out.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

Knee Deep in Spring is conjured from my imagination, but once it was finished it reminded me of a place on Kauai that I loved when I was growing up, and I still do. It is a place called "Strong Knees", a small waterfall in the Wailua River behind Da Love-Ananda Mahal.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

This is a small hamlet of houses tucked between the outlet of Salmon Creek and the Pacific Ocean. Driving north on Highway 1 there is a bridge that looks directly across the creek to this cluster of homes. I was struck by this spot, it evoked something in me. When I lived in Bodega Bay I would often stop by the bridge and spend time looking at this fishing village lost in time kind of place. This painting is on silk, and is one of my most detailed reflection studies. I spent days making tiny strokes to create the reflection of the houses and the sky on the water. It became almost abstract as I worked on it. The best review I had of this painting was when it was hanging at an art show in Marin County. I was standing near the painting when a group of school children walked up to it. They didn’t know I was the artist and talked excitedly about the piece. They started imagining things about the houses, stories, and wonderings. I stood there and thought Yes, this is it! This is genuine. The painting is setting off their imagination.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

I greatly admire and am influenced by Japanese woodblock artists. This scene was from my "minds-eye view", in homage to those masters of the woodblock prints. Katsushika Hokusai, Hiroshi Yoshida, Ohara Koson, and Kawase Hasui, to name a few. In the spirit of those influences the rocks and water are highly stylized and the colors of the sky are the classic hues of the sunset over the ocean. The tree growing out of the rock looks impossible, but these things really do happen, and I always marvel at their ability to thrive when I see trees like this.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.

This painting was created from my imagination. I wanted to put together some of my favorite stylizations of nature in one painting. In this way it became quite a magical scene. Just a few days after I hung the painting a young girl and her aunt came in to the gallery. The girl was so taken by the painting , she really wanted it! After some thought, her aunt generously bought it for her. I was delighted to see the girl’s delight in the painting, and to know that she was going to grow up with it.

This extraordinary scene is a watercolor of a photograph that my brother-in-law, Michael Kodas took of a river in New Hampshire at sunset...no manipulation. Michael is a celebrated photographer, author, journalist, and teacher. He is a very interesting guy, and I suggest you check out his work.

Giclées are printed on Cold Press Bright White paper; 310g, water-resistant, and made from 100% cotton fiber, acid and lignin free.