Author Archives: santacruzmountainrunners

While sailing in the Caribbean I spent a few day on Aruba. This small island nation is famous for it’s white beaches and trees that are sculpted by the wind. This painting is based on a view on a north west corner of the island.

This painting was done while living in Santa Cruz in March 2023. The steep vertical wall cliffs of West Cliff/ light house area with the big wave crashing from the Pacific on the big cliffs make for dramatic views everyday!

On Christmas eve we have a tradition of going to this beach and enjoying the ocean and connecting the nature around us. This year, it was a mild 65 degree warm sunny day. Rather than beach comb, I painted this picture from a new vantage point closer to the water.

This painting is of an intentional living community in San Luis Obispo, CA. The house is a 130 year, 19 bedroom, 4 bathroom old boarding house and hotel dating back to the 1880’s. More information about this building and the intentional community inside can be found on a website at: https://www.theestablishmentslo.com/

In late July 2022, I hiked and backpacked various segments of PCT trail in northern California. This was one trip out of the Shasta area trailheads to a chain of lakes just about 1 mile off the PCT trail called East Boulder Lake. In the distance about 30 miles away was a thunderhead set ofContinue reading “East Boulder Lake, CA”

In late July 2022, I backpacked and camped at some sections of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) near Mt Hood in Oregon. This painting is based on a scene as you are getting close to the lodge. There was still some snow on the upper sections of Mt Hood.

This painting is based on a segment of the JMT/PC trail view at a wooden bridge crossing.

This summer I did a 4 day JMT/PCT backpacking trip through the John Muir Wilderness area, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Yosemite national park, and Sequoia National Forest. This painting is based on part of that route.

While hiking a section of the PCT, I camped at this wonderful lake north east of Shasta. The painting is based on a photograph of the lake in the evening with the sun setting in the west showing light only up on the westerly facing redish mountain.

This painting is also based on scenes on the Pinecrest Loop Trail near Horse and Cow Meadow and Cooper Meadows Area. This painting is quite a bit bigger than the regular 8×10 or 9×12 and the size is 12×18. The picture below is after I have added the first background sketch in a very lightContinue reading “Pinecrest Loop Trail”