The White Barn

As part of an ongoing project I've been helping a friend try to preserve, at least temporarily, some storage buildings that are being claimed by Cache creek.


We call this one "the white barn", and the plan is to save the half furthermost from the creek.

Landmarks

I've been thinking of doing a series on various landmarks around Yolo county. This is a sketch of the Gable mansion in Woodland that I may use in the future.

Western Saddle

This is the saddle that I used as inspiration for the painting that I have in my eBay store. This was my dad's saddle that he used as a young man on the family ranch out of Capay, California. His father had it made for him by the Visalia Stock Saddle Company.

The Eucalyptus in California

The Eucalyptus tree has an interesting and controversial history in California. They have always been a part of my experience here, and I find them a beautiful and pleasant addition to the landscape. However, some consider them to be a weed!

Squirrel Tails

A while back I wrote about the local ground squirrels being immune to rattlesnake venom. Apparently they have other defensive tools at their disposal. They can raise the temperature of their tails which confuses or distracts the rattlesnake which uses temperature sensors to find its prey. Interestingly, the squirrel knows the difference between snakes and does not use this defence against gopher snakes.

Check out this Sacramento Bee article for more details.

Tule Elk

I took these photographs this past Sunday when a friend and I were traveling through Lake county, CA. These are the Tule elk which are only found in California, and are a smaller sub-species of the North American elk. These seen here are part of the Cache Creek herd.

This old bull was "bugling" when I took this picture.

Limited Edition Print: Crows on Watch

The American Crow is a fascinating bird, with a somewhat tarnished reputation. I really enjoyed doing this painting; it was an occasion of serendipity, and it's on auction at ebay right now.

Brooks, California

I took this photograph of a blacktail doe and her faun last week when I was up the Capay Valley.

We were just behind the old schoolhouse at Brooks.

The Round Barn

In the process of cataloging some of the barns in Yolo county, California I came accross this round barn near Esparto. The history of round barns is somewhat interesting; and the barn shown here is not listed in this catalog of California round barns.

Tabula Rasa

Here I am working on a new painting. Actually, it's the initial stage of a new painting; the blank piece of paper stage. Of course I'm not actually there at the moment: I'm away in preparation for beginning. I guess this should really be called the procrastination stage!

Limited Edtion Print: Redtail Hawk

In the near future I may be going to a larger format for my new release prints.

Most of my prints have an image size of 9.5" x 12.5". The Red-tailed hawk is 11.5" x 14.75" on a 13" x 16.5" watercolor paper.

This is acid free paper with archival inks.

It is still on auction at ebay at the time of this blog posting

Limited Edition Print: Dunnigan Marsh

This limited edition watercolor print of a small marshy area in the Dunnigan Hills ( Yolo county, California ) is now up for auction on ebay.

I haven't done many landscapes; I don't know why since it lends itself so well to the medium.

Saving the Barn

For a couple of days a week this is my ongoing project; reclaiming part of one of the barns that is close to falling in the creek. The larger part near the creek had to be torn down, but this section away from the creek should be safe.

With new roofing and siding this recovered area will again be good storage for some time.