Long Prairie River, 12 x 20, oil on panel.
Painted on location near Alexandria, Minnesota

Nine Mile Creek Afternoon, 12 x 16 oil on panel

Ice and Rock at Tettegouche, 24 x 30 oil on canvas. SOLD

Dusk on the Shore, 12 x 16 oil on panel. SOLD

Spooky Valley, Dubuque, Iowa, 12 x 20, oil on panel. Painted on location.

Spooky Valley
12 x 12, oil on panel. Painted on location near La Motte, Iowa.

Morning Glare Over Spooky Valley
12 x 20, oil on panel. Painted on location near La Motte, Iowa.

Minnehaha Falls 2020, 10 x 8 oil on linen on panel
The falls are like an old friend I visit every winter. To get a good view, I usually jump over the fencing, like dozens other folks every nice winter day (not that that makes it okay!!). This time, a Park Policeperson came down and kicked everyone out. I was so in the throes of creative passion I didn’t hear him yelling. Clearly, he didn’t like having to walk the 20 feet over to where I was standing. He wanted to haul my plein air derrière up to his cruiser. Instead, he took down all my info and said next time they’d fine me.

Minnehaha Creek in March, 12 x 16, oil on panel
The creek runs from Grays Bay out in Minnetonka west of the city east to the famous falls, eventually feeding into the Mississippi. SOLD

Sunset, Bde Maka Ska, 7 x 11 oil on panel
This was a quick sketch done in a flurry at the end of a session painting something else, a not uncommon thing for a plein air painter. You think you’re finished working for the day. You’re tired, cold, and ready for a beer. You start packing up, then turn around and see a beautiful sunset, so you just stop thinking and paint. It’s about as close to honest, unfiltered passion as you get in this line of work.

The North Shore of Superior at Caribou River
8 x 10 oil on panel. SOLD

Superior Shore, Little Pine
20 x 16 oil on panel. SOLD

Boat Hibernation, 18 x 24 oil on panel
On our city lakes, the park folks “store” the docks and boats for winter by shifting away from the shore. I’ve always found these scenes evocative…of something. I’m not sure what. If any poets out there can put words to them I’m all ears.

Rooty Tree, Mississippi River, 8 x 10, oil on panel

The Creek Below Minnehaha Falls, 16 x 12 oil on panel

Winter Creek, 8 x 10, oil on panel
SOLD

Bend in Nine Mile Creek, 12 x 16 oil on panel

Midtown Greenway, Winter
18 x 24, oil on panel
A favorite place in Minneapolis for bikers, walkers, joggers, and doggies out on parade.

Winter Oak, Lake Harriet (SOLD)
18 x 24 oil on panel

Studio painting from a small 8 x 10 panel created on location. Many impressively large branches cantilever from these old oaks, extending out across the walking path near Lake Harriet’s north beach. I had to sit low, in the snow, in order to see the bandshell in the space between the branch and the lifeguard chair. #koldkeester

Snowy Vista, Loon Lake
12 x 16 oil on panel

This is a view of Loon Lake from the Gunflint Trail in northern Minnesota. This light, falling snow shrouded the lake and the distance. The northeastern part of the state offers more elevation changes than the rest of the state. It’s nice to see space even through this thick, misty atmosphere.

Walking Across the Lake
7 x 11 oil on panel

Creek Light and Shadows, 12 x 16, oil on panel

Sunset Glow, 12 x 16 oil on panel

Minnehaha Creek Below the Falls
11 x 7 oil on panel

The shape of the path, it’s retaining wall, and the creek is a lot of fun.

Minnehaha Falls 2019
10 x 8 oil on panel

I paint the falls most every year. It’s a fun subject to study on sunny or cloudy days. The ice forms differently each winter and always has a peculiar aqua color. I’ve been told that’s from the ice molecules under stress.

Lake of the Isles Tracks, 8 x 10 oil on panel
My western painting pals joke about how boring the color is in the midwest. Ha!

Frozen Marsh
12 x 16 oil on panel

The Lights on Snow, Color Study
12 x 16 oil on panel
This view from a neighbor’s front steps amazed me. The sidewalks and driveways had all been shoveled open after a big snowfall. The banks of thrown snow created wild, sculpted shapes and patterns. The variety of lights—from the houses, cars, and streetlamps—cast different kinds of colors: cool white, amber, reddish-pink. Without the context of the surrounding houses, road, etc, this looks a bit abstract, but that’s what I like about it.

Three Sleds (SOLD)
8 x 10 oil on panel

Bassett Creek at Wirth Park (SOLD)
12 x 16 oil on panel
Painted on location at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis. My vantage point is just off the golf course’s brutal uphill 10th hole. Brutal for me, that is.

Ice Melting, Lake Harriet (SOLD)
8 x 10, oil on panel

Minnehaha Falls
24 x 18 oil on canvas
A perennial subject of mine. This one was done for a former Minnesotan living in Texas. SOLD

Spring Thaw, Lake Harriet (SOLD)
7 x 11, oil panel

Steps in the Snow (SOLD)
16 x 12 oil on panel

Winter on Lake Harriet
8 x 10 oil on panel

This direct late afternoon sun on the trees is an appealing light effect for me. Not many shadows, just pure light. But mostly, the shape of the wall caught my eye.

Island View Along the North Shore, 16 x 12 oil on panel

Seeing the Island Through the Trees, 12 x 20 oil on panel

Late Afternoon on the Shore, 8 x 10, oil on panel

Midday Glare, 6 x 8, oil on panel

Sunset Shadows, 7 x 11 oil on panel

Shadow Shapes, North Shore, 12 x 20 oil on panel

Fall Colors Up North, 7 x 11, oil on panel

Snowperson 29
16 x 12 oil on panel. This character likes a little dusting every now and then.

Snowperson 1, 7 x 5 oil on panel
He/she is either saying, "Sun's pretty bright this morning" or "Where are my sunglasses...?"

Snowperson 2, 5 x 7 oil on panel
I hate when my mouth starts to fall off in the morning.

Snowperson 33, 20 x 16 oil on panel

Snowperson 30, 24 x 36 oil on linen

Bird Sanctuary, 12 x 16 oil on panel
Painted on location in the bird sanctuary at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.

Frozen Pond, 12 x 20 oil on panel

Frosty Morning on 41st Street, 8 x 10 oil on panel
I managed to get just enough paint on the board to make the point, then I threw all my gear in my pack and jumped in my car before I froze my patootie off.

The Thicket, Lake Harriet Garden, Winter, 16 x 20 oil on panel
Painted in March of 2017, this structure was part public art, part curious shelter for exploring. It's since been removed but I hope it found a fun home.

Lake Harriet Sunset, 6 x 8 oil on panel
I try to keep small panels in my bag to knock out small field studies such as this. Historically, plein air painters called these "pochades" (pron. poe-shods) or "pocket" paintings. They're notes–a shorthand of loaded brushstrokes to describe fleeting of light effects.

Dock Up the Slope, 18 x 24 oil on canvas
My father-in-law uses a winch to haul his dock up onto the hill every autumn — an annual cabin ritual. I loved the shadow shape the dock created in the morning sun and the twigs poking up through the snow.

Wrapped Bush, 19 x 28 oil on linen
That burlap robe's gotta be kinda itchy.

Rose Lake, 16 x 20 oil on panel
Painted during a Grand Marais Art Colony winter plein air event. A dozen or so artists gathered at Camp Menogyn on Bearskin Lake for a week of outdoor painting and camaraderie. On this gray day a few of us hiked to this overlook. What a shape the snowcovered lake made!

Ike, the Sled Dog, 16 x 20 oil on canvas
I continue to be enthralled by complementary colors found in nature. Here we have orange and blue. And Ike's pretty cool too.

Impression, Rush Hour on Hennepin Avenue, 7 x 11 oil on panel
The color at dusk of all the lights shining on the street and reflecting on the falling snow was very appealing. Not much form here, just light and movement.

Fish House, Lake Harriet, 12 x 20 oil on panel
A solitary fisherdude spent the entire time I was painting sitting in this tiny tent. I didn't see him pull anything out of the hole. (SOLD)

Setting Sun, Gunflint Lake, 12 x 16 oil on panel
Painted on location in northern Minnesota with my host and comrade Neil Sherman. The previous evening we were glued to a book on plein air painting god Isaac Levitan, the Russian landscape painter from the late 1800s.

Conifers on the Shore, 20 x 12 oil on panel
A misty day on Bearskin Lake painted during a Grand Marais Art Colony winter plein air event.

Hibernating Canoes, 12 x 20 oil on panel
I lit the wooden canoe at the bottom to contrast with the cool light outside the shed. Gotta love the translucent light coming through that blue tarp. Yet another chapter in my ongoing infatuation with blue and orange.

February on Bearskin Lake, 16 x 20 oil on canvasboard
I started this as a studio demo during a winter workshop and finished it later when I wasn't droning on and on about who knows what.

Blacky and Friends, 18 x 24 oil on canvas
This is a variation of a painting done on location at Camp Menogyn up the Gunflint Trail, Bearskin Lake in northern Minnesota. I enjoyed working with the perspective of the richly-colored shadows on the ground plane. Blacky was circumspect about my motives.

Fence in the Alley, 16 x 12 oil on panel (SOLD)
I like to paint sharply foreshadowed elements. And the subtle differences of white things in sun and shadow.

Ice on Nine Mile Creek, 12 x 16 oil on panel
I was drawn to the shape of the thin coating of ice over the moving water.

Calhoun Boathouse, 12 x 16 oil on panel
Another example of the pervasiveness of orange and blue out there. Or am I just looking for it? When you buy a red car, all you see are red cars. When you buy a pair of cool madras plaid polyester slacks from the thrift shop you, well....

Snowy Elmo Park Wetland, 12 x 20 oil on panel
Here's a nice example of the lovely color available outdoors for a landscape painter. And you can see them so much better if you get out from behind a camera and stare at it for two-and-a-half hours (ok, maybe three-and-a-half).

Dogsled Shed, 8 x 10 oil panel

Cliffs Above Gunflint Lake, 12 x 16 oil on panel
One of the things I look for are contrasts in not only the color and shape of things, but their texture too. Here there's a such a tactile difference between the reedy softness of the thicket in the foreground, and the rocky cliffs in the background. It's some of the oldest exposed rock in the hemisphere says some geologist dude up there, but who believes him, he's a scientist.

Cold Boat House, 12 x 20 oil on canvas
The dark silhouette of the logs poking into the sunny part of the scene caught my eye and then I noticed the steps in the snow (always seductive) and the rack of the paddles and the reflection in the window then we were off to the races.

Sled Dogs at Menogyn, 16 x 20 oil on canvasboard
I could've painted these dogs all week. I love the light in this scene, the shadows raking across the yard. And each dog and its tiny house had it's own character. They kept barking at me as if I had some food. Maybe they thought I was the food.

Face Off, 12 x 16 oil on panel
The grills, bumpers and headlights of vehicles can be really expressive.

Joe Cool, 16 x 12 oil on panel
I caught this handsome character before he melted. I couldn’t decide if his blank face and mod shades reminded me more of Snoopy or the Invisible Man.

Winter Late Afternoon, 8 x 10 oil on panel
On a frozen lake, late afternoon is an absolutely gorgeous time to paint.

Snowy Spruce Boughs, 18 x 24 oil on canvas
The dollops of snow on the boughs of this spruce made for some interesting shapes and patterns.

Sunny Winter Wetland, 16 x 12 oil on panel
More winter fun with color.

Snowperson 7, 5 x 7 oil on panel
Gleefully cool in the shadows. SOLD

Ice Harvest, 16 x 12 oil on panel
Painted near Ely, Minnesota, at the Steger Wilderness Center 2016 Ice Ball. Will Steger, the renowned polar explorer and climate change activist, hosts this event on his property every year. The ice is cut using chainsaws, long old-time handsaws, and lots of people power. Draft horses then make several trips up the bank, hauling the harvest to Steger’s hillside cave-fridge, where the blocks are tucked tightly away to keep perishable foods fresh throughout the year. It’s a real deal, pioneer-style, natural refrigerator that keeps it’s chill well into the following autumn. They’re doing a lot of cool work up there. Check it out at stegerwildernesscenter.org

Country Church, 18 x 24 oil on panel
Feels very abstract to me. Not religion per sé, but the flat-on view of the vertical bell tower, the conifers, and the shape of the roof and sky. SOLD

Ski Path, Lake Harriet, 12 x 16 oil on panel
I had the privilege of painting with Stapleton Kearns a few years ago and I think his handling of tree branches blending into the sky rubbed off on me here.

Open Water on the Namekagon, 12 x 20 oil on panel
Patches of open water on the ice often creates interesting elliptical shapes. SOLD

Snowmobiling at Dusk (sold), 12 x 16 oil on panel

Winter Color (sold), 12 x 16 oil on panel
I love the color of the sun on bare trees, evergreens, and the scrub oak that just don't want to give up their leaves.
SOLD

Early Light on the Treetops, 8 x 10 on panel
This is one of those light effects one must have scoped out days before. Because waking up, getting fed and coffeed up, hiking out there, and setting up in near dark to await the first breath of light is hard. That's why people (try to) paint from photographs. SOLD

Steps Along the Lake Superior Shore (sold), 12 x 16 oil on panel
My daughter and I visited friends on the Superior North Shore after the holidays. I set up in front of this beautiful view, then the kids came stomping along and tracked right through the foreground...and made the picture.

Early Light, Webb Lake, 6 x 8 oil on panel
[09-095]

Frozen Floating Dock (sold), 8 x 10 oil on panel
Late each fall, city park workers free these fishing piers to float so their pilings don't get crushed by the shifting ice. After finding a spot to get comfortable for the winter, they sit out there teasing the summer anglers. SOLD

Nine Mile Creek Winter, 12 x 16 oil on panel
This moving water never freezes over completely. The ripples across the rocks express all sorts of things—sky, reflections of the trees, and the underwater rocks and sand. SOLD

Bonfire on Gunflint Lake, 8 x 10 oil on panel
There was an ice fishing festival on the lake this day. After turning in their entries, people stand around the bonfire to warm up. Quite the Northwoods fashion show. SOLD

Boot Hockey, 18 x 36 oil on canvas
An iconic Minnesota scene. SOLD

Snowy Stump, 12 x 16 oil on panel
Painted after a fresh snowfall near Webb Lake, Wisconsin. SOLD

Winter Sun and Shadow, 24 x 30 oil on linen
SOLD

Bearskin Lake Sunset 2, 8 x 10 oil on panel
SOLD

Minnehaha Falls, February, 16 x 20 oil on panel
SOLD

Magnetic Rock Trail, Northern Minnesota, 18 x 24 oil on panel
My painter friend Neil Sherman took me on this hike just off the Gunflint Trail. This area was burned out by a big fire a few years ago. I was prepared to be bummed about painting there, but found it beautiful and compelling instead. The lack of tree cover lets you see the sensuality of the terrain, and allows bright sunlight to reach the ground, reflecting off the show and “opening up” the shadows. This seemingly gray landscape is rich with chroma: violety-blue shadows, pinkish leafless branches, warm olive-green confers, and rusty grasses. SOLD

Sunset at Gunflint Lake, 7 x 11 oil on panel
Dedicated to the memory of Ron Miles. SOLD

Last Light on the Lake, 11 x 7 oil on panel
The most sumptuous, gorgeous light of the day only lasts a few moments. Get it while you can... SOLD

Minneapolis Skyline from Lake of the Isles, 18 x 24 oil on panel
Even on a gray day in winter, there’s a lot of color out there. It's subtle, but it's out there. SOLD

Little Marais Point, February, 11 x 7 oil on panel
I love the glow of this backlit point of land along the Superior North Shore. SOLD

Morning Light Over the Creek, 16 x 12 oil on panel
Painted near Bay City, Wisconsin. I had the privilege of painting that day with my colleagues Richard Abraham and Joshua Cunningham. This was the first of three efforts in between a lot of coffee and a couple three or five beers. SOLD

Cattails at Cedar Lake, 12 x 16 oil on panel
SOLD

Snowperson 3, 7 x 5 oil on panel
SOLD

Snow Person 8, 7 x 5 oil on panel
SOLD

Winter Grays, Winter Greens, 8 x 10 oil on panel
Painted at Will Steger’s camp near Ely, Minnesota. SOLD

Canoe Rack, Winter, 8 x 10 oil on panel
Drawing foreshortened canoes is always a fun challenge. I loved the color of the canoes and the shadows on the snow. SOLD

Moonrise Over Bearskin Lake, 6 x 8 oil on panel. This was one of those small paintings created quickly as the sun did it's last-minute deal with the horizon. SOLD

Bright Winter Shore, 8 x 10 oil on panel
SOLD

Snowshoes on Bearskin Lake, 12 x 20 oil on panel
This is an outdoor still-life I set up with my Duluth-based painting comrade Lee Englund. I sat on the snow to get a vantage point where the snowshoes intersect the horizon. As the sun crept lower and lower, we patiently waited for the moment when the colors on the snow shift into gorgeous violets, blues, pinks, and oranges––then slapped on paint with a frenzy that made the wolves howl! (Pardon my Jack London daydream.) SOLD

Hibernating Boats, 8 x 10, oil on panel. Painted on location on Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.

Farmstead Sledding Hill, 8 x 10 oil on panel
SOLD

Late Sun Across the Pond
20 x 30, oil on canvas. SOLD

Frozen Minnehaha Falls, 50 x 72 oil on canvas

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