Pumpkin Field Farm Workers

This is a small painting done at sunset near Olivas Adobe. The fields are filled with pumpkins and beautiful in the fall.

Beverly Hills Art Show

This is a painting of my setup at the Spring 2013 Beverly Hills Art Show. It was a fabulous event and I enjoyed painting while I was there. Here is an 8x10 study with my sign hanging out front.

1982 VW Camper

Here's a sketch of my westfalia vw van. 8x10"

Restoration Underway

Here's another car undergoing restoration. Since I painted this, the grill has been removed to be chromed. 8x10"

Bamboo Brush

When it rains, I work inside my studio under the skylight with my indoor brushes.

Ventura Produce Stand

Even though it is my favorite produce stand, I cannot seem to get a good painting from it. Finally, I gave up sticking to what was there and painted it as if I were standing on top of my van and moved the grove of Eucalyptus trees forward two miles. It's working now! 8x10" oil

Circus Vargas Tent Raising

This is one of my favorite subjects to paint. Maybe because of my love for the movie Dumbo and the opening sequence when the tents are being raised by the elephants and men during a storm. I always look forward to watching and painting this tent, even tough I hate the challenge of the yellow design on the material that ruins the shape and form of the overall tent. This painting is in oil and about 11x14". Roustabouts and machinery included in the shadows.

Hillford Moving

Wow! I let this blog down by not posting for a long time. Oh, I've been painting allot, but for some reason I have turned to fine tuning older starts. Some of the blogs have been updated with the newer versions of the same paintings.
This is a painting session I did with a good friend from Disney, Brian McKim. It's an oil and about 9"x 12". In 2009 we moved from La Canada Flintridge to Ventura and used Hillford Moving company. My studio is a stones throw away from this very spot.

Dock Study

8x10 o/c

WAV Bldg View

8 x 10 o/c This is a painting of the back of the Working Artists Ventura building from Santa Clara Street. It was painted on a overcast day.

Studio K view

8x10 o/c Here's the view looking out from my studio on Arundell Circle in Ventura. The vw van is the best painting investment I have made because it enables me to travel and paint on location. The kiln is in front of the small door, while the large door is up showing the van.

I made a few adjustment in late  2019 and added a signature.

Ave Truck

8x10 o/c

Rail View

This is a view looking west of a railroad track bridge over the 101 freeway. Notice the Crown Plaza Hotel in the background and bougenvilla on the fences. 8 x 10 oil/canvas

Antique Stove Shop

This is a wonderful stove shop in Ventura that has an old stove out front. I made a simple 8 x 10 oil painting of the front entrance. I would love to paint inside sometime.

Stern's Warf

Just 30 minutes north of Ventura, California is a little town of Santa Barbara where this close up of Stern's warf was painted.

8 x10 o/c

S B Harbor

This is a quick little painting of some buildings next to the Santa Barbara Harbor.

8 x 8 o/c

Orchid Study

This is a very small oil sketch done quickly from the front yard. Signed bottom left.

8 x 8 o/c

Old Stamp Store

Front Street in Ventura has a few old homes and businesses. This is one I was told used to be an old stamp store. The gardens are well tended and it is close to the beach.

8 x 10 o/c

Ave Corner

Ventura Avenue is on the west side of town. The street is old and it runs toward Ojai, California. This quick study looks toward the hills.

9 x 11 o/c

I made  some adjustments to the painting in 2019 to the sky and signed the painting.

Kalarama St.

8x10 o/c

Hoosier's Carwash

This is a very quick sketch of the car wash behind the WAV in Ventura. I don't like the building and I see now it shows in the execution of the painting. 

8x10 o/c

Tool Yard

This is near the harbor an is an attempt to paint a tool yard under a old tree. The equiptment is fighting with the tree for focus. I don't care for this painting, but sometimes we need to try subjects that present a challenge.

8x10 o/c

Crowne, Ventura

This is a very simple painting. I painted it in a strong wind and put down the brushwork quickly. I noticed a fire near here and found out later it was started in the river by some homeless people.

8x8 o/c

Ventura Bungalows

This is another 15 minute painting with leftover paints from a work I did a few minutes earlier.

8x10 o/c

Ave Taco

With the hillside as a dark background, one of the many Mexican food places on Ventura Avenue.

8x10 o/c

Ave Salon

Looking east on the Avenue on an overcast day.

8x10 o/c

I worked on the painting again in 2019.

Ave Library

It's hard to make an old brick building fit into a landscape. I worked hard to frame it and keep it looking like it wasn't going to fall over. 

8x10 o/c

Ave. Carwash, San Buenaventura

Tin roofed car-wash on Ventura Ave in west Ventura. 8x10" This is in front of Green Art People on the Avenue in Ventura. 8x10"

Dry-dock View

Sunday at the drydocks in Ventura. 12" x 16" oil

Santa Paula Hillside

This is a 12x16 painting at the airport in Santa Paula. One of my favorite places to paint. I keep waiting to trade for a ride to Santa Cruz island and back!

Garden Street Gate

The Ventura Fairgrounds is next to the railroad track and a block from the beach.

Ventura Drydock Study

Sundays are usually the best time to paint the drydocks because you can move around the area freely without getting in the way of the workers.

Aloha

Quick sketch of a garage in Pierpont. 8x10

Santa Paula Airport

This is a sketch looking east from the end of the runway. 8x10" oil

Tented For Termites

It was tented on the dry-dock at the harbor. This is an 8x10" sketch. I kept the background flat and grey to help the impact of the fishing boat.

A Frame Surf Shop

This is a late afternoon painting of the A Frame surf shop in Carpenteria. I wonder, is that still in the Ventura County. Oh well, it was like painting the circus because of all the colors and shapes 12x16" oil

Then And Now

This is the second painting in the Santa Paula Art Museum show entitled Then And Now.
This image is a little washed out, but gives you a feel for the location. 12" x 16" Oil 1600

Leo Carrillo State Park

This is a 24 x 30" painting done from a plein air sketch. Looking toward the ocean from my campsite. Summer.

Then And Now

This is a 12 x 16 oil looking east in Santa Paula. I forced the perspective by adjusting the mountains and trees. I am happy with the outcome. Now I intend to paint a 24 x30" from this sketch.

Kinetic Race Vehicle

Every October Ventura holds a fundraiser by hosting a Kenetic Race. Here is one of the contraptions sitting on the lawn at the harbor. 8x 10" oil

Dacy Fazio Carriage House

Dacy Fazio House 557 E. Thompson Boulevard

Orville A. Wadleigh, an early Ventura County rancher and City Trustee in 1918-1919,

had this house built for his daughter Dacy Fazio in 1910. Dacy was married to Ben

Fazio, owner and operator of the Fazio-Newby grocery store on Main Street. The

house is a typical Craftsman Bungalow, but the property includes a carriage

house/barn, which is significant as the only remaining example of a carriage house in

the old downtown. The style and construction of the structure indicate that it may be

older than the house itself. This is an 8" x 10" oil painting. I have altered the painting since this phase and will post it soon.

Dudley House Museum

Built in 1892 by B.W. Dudley, the Dudley House depicts a Ventura County farmhouse and the lives of the Dudley family from 1892 to 1930. One of the few authentically restored Victorian houses in Ventura County open to the public. This is a 9" x 12" oil painting on canvas board.

Drydocks In October

Sundays are perfect to paint at the docks at the harbor. Most of the workers are gone so, I am able to set up with some better angles on the boats. Here is a 12 x 16 oil on a sunny afternoon.

Santa Clara Valley Bank

This was painted on a cloudy day and the sun kept going in and out from the clouds. It is an 8x10" oil on canvas board. I painted it from under the clock tower entrance.

First Sunday, Santa Paula Airport

First Sundays at the Santa Paula airport is an opportunity to view all the hangers which are open to the public. It's a good time to stroll and see up close small planes taking off and landing. This is a 8x10" sketch on a overcast day.

Old Kitchen Shop

This is the front entrance to an antique stove shop in Ventura. This old stove has a potted plant sitting where the gas burners should be. There is old red stove/oven in the window. It was an overcast day when I painted this 8x10" oil.

Ventura Barber Shop

This is an old Barber Shop on Thompson in Ventura. It is painted with red stripes that have faded. There are two sets of stairs leading to the front deck.