Paintings on this scale are not just pictures, they are an experience. And there's nothing like the white walls and space of a gallery to showcase art that is mostly four feet wide and five feet high. These paintings reveal textures, colors and forms that can come to life in perfect lighting.

Made specially for the sitting area in Little Saint, Healdsburg, this diptych is three months in the making. A distillation of David Hockney’s California Golden State effervescence into minimalist color and composition. 6 x 10 feet, layers on layers of blues to replicate the big sky that you can just fall in to. Misty marine layer hues of whites, indigo and violet. Neon yellows and greens underpainted which make the contrasting colors shift and shimmer.

The hand rendered typography are quotes from the great artist who fell in love with California in the 1960s. The distinct “in” versus “on” my mind references his immersion into the light, color and culture that’s unique to California and spills out on so many of his artworks from paintings to polaroids. “I LOVE CALIFORNIA, everything is so artificial” is Hockney’s northern English wit and wry sarcasm that encapsulates the sheer perfection on display from immaculate lawns to manicured people.

My intention in this piece was twofold; to bring the outdoors, inside while celebrating the sunshine that goes into the fresh, local produce that’s brimming with color and vitality in Little Saint’s finely crafted dishes.

THURSDAY, BROOKLYN, 08-24, 3.32pm. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. The deep maroons of the corner of a Brooklyn Brown Stone encapsulates the distinctive architecture of this distinctive New York district. Painted in multiple layers of maroon, reds, amethyst and indigo, the painting is as warm as the late evening summer light when this image was captured.

Friday, 10-12, 1.20pm, Carmel Beach. 60x48. Oil and beach sand on canvas.

Loose brushwork, heavy drips of paint and a handful of sand from Carmel Beach integrated with the oil capture's the raw beauty of the ocean meeting the heat of the land.

SOLD

FRIDAY, LONGBOAT KEY, 06-09, 8.10PM. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. This beautiful but brooding sky is the calm before an electric storm hits the west coast of Florida in early summer. The paint contrasts calm turquoise and light blue tones with the magentas and neons of the storm making its way across the ocean into land.

SOLD

Sunday, 09-01, 9.39am, San Francisco Bay. 60x48 oil on canvas.

As the sun rises over the bay, so too do various vapours which create a mesmerising beautiful haze above the water, beneath the sky. Mixed with indigo and violet, this painting shimmers under downlighters.

At 6x5 feet, "Blackberry Hill" was commissioned to connect a family who moved to Arizona to their former home in Los Gatos, California. My provenance letter to my clients best explain the emotion that lies within the narrative:

"As is not unusual in anything commission based, the work took a detour towards the end of the project. Although I’ve followed my photographic reference quite closely, I felt the greyish hues at the bottom of the color panel didn’t quite reflect the warmth I feel for you as a family. To this extent, the grey deviated towards a violet muddied with indigo. The result being a little more emotive and I believe appealing, too.

Speaking of emotion, Sunday is one of the best days of the week. It conjures thoughts of lazy mornings and chilled afternoons, which is one of the reasons why the color palette sits so well with this word. “Blackberry” is sweet purple and therefor the visual narrative is pulled together with words and colors sitting together harmoniously. In addition to this, the mauve tones in the bottom half of the “Pantone” manifest thoughts of sunset - which is true of 5.50pm in late March.

Conceptually, the sun was setting on your Los Gatos life (for now anyway) as you embark on a new life in the desert - as though Sunday becomes Monday and looking forward to fresh starts.

This six by five foot painting is the first time I’ve worked at this scale. It demands a large wall with plenty of white space around it. The position you’ve set aside for this art is perfect, just above your dinner table - a place where family and friends create new memories. As you know from my video updates, the oils were applied in many colors over many layers. This will make the painting become alive in different lighting conditions throughout the day. No two times of the day will look the same - which is exactly the ephemeral nature of the sky.

My vision for this piece is that it will bring the outside, inside - like having a large open window that lets in color, but doesn’t let in that hot desert heat.

I look forward to sundowners in the not too distant future and seeing this work again in person.

It’s bitter letting this one go. But sweet knowing whose home it’s going to.

SOLD

MONDAY LEXINGTON RESERVOIR, 01-23, 6.07pm. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. Eerie January light rises in the cold mists from Lexington Reservoir. Amethysts and purples blend into the Prussian blues and indigos of the cold night air.

MONDAY, AMANGIRI, 06-26, 7.41pm. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. A single streak of neon orange brushed across pinky beige is reminiscent of the sun setting across the Utah mountains. Painted on maroon, an expanse of teal-blue sky and sage-green foliage offsets the warm rock that envelops the Amangiri.

WEDNESDAY, YOSEMITE, 10-25 11.56am. 60 x 80 inches. Oil on canvas.

I distilled this painting to just three shapes to depict the majesty of Yosemite. The reference was taken from Tunnel View as you stare in awe down the barrel of the glacier-carved valley towards Half Dome. The three colors; indigo, cobalt blue - over buff and a white-indigo sky create the layered effect of light as it provides depth of field. Ellsworth Kelly was my greatest source of inspiration as an artist alongside the great Ansel Adams whose monochrome photographs were like love letters to this inspiring setting.

I LOVE CALIFORNIA, EVERYTHING IS SO ARTIFICIAL. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. David Hockney has a wonderful sense of humour as well as turn of phrase. This painting contrasts the too good to be true cobalt blue of the sky, the immaculate lawns, golden mountains and infinity pools of L.A. The neon pink strip represents the artifice of people, and what they do to their bodies to achieve perfection, as it collides with the stillness of the cobalt teal pool.

SOLD

CALIFORNIA IS ALWAYS IN MY MIND. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. Imagine the California coast cut like a slice of delicious cake, from the cobalt blue sky, through marine layer sea fog to effervescent yellow costal flowers. This is how I like to think David Hockney held Cali in his mind’s eye when he said “California is always in my mind”.

SATURDAY, DEL MAR, 04-01, 6.19pm. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. Atmospheric golden sunset hues sit behind purples, amethyst and indigo in this Southern California coastal haven. The perfect place to let time slip by over sundowners.

WEDNESDAY, JOSHUA TREE, 11-23, 4.48pm. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. Trippy early evening light in The Joshua Tree National Park gives this painting a luna landscape vibe of neon magenta and warm dusky gray. Paintings like these are an experience that evolve in varying light conditions, such as when indirect ambient dappled light fill a room, and transform the painting into something altogether more beautiful.

TUESDAY, AMANGIR, 06-27, 10.47pm. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. Layers of indigo over black and Prussian blue represent the inky black depths of the clear, unpolluted, Utah night. The burgundy on gray strip is the top of the warm, soft rock blending into the night sky.

WEDNESDAY, AMANGIRI, 06-28, 1.50pm. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. Painted over maroon, the grid format of red, pale blue, cement and indigo represent the Amangiri’s architectural marriage to the Utah environment.

FRIDAY, BATTERSEA, 12-29, 1.12pm. 60 x 80 inches. Oil on canvas.

The choice of orange seems a strange colour to depict a London icon built from London brick. Laying in ruins for decades after the chimneys belched their final breath, London’s most famous power station once was the beating heart of the nation’s capital. Recently and lovingly restored, the famous power station is now a beating cultural heart of the city which in low bright sunlight, makes the gorgeous bricks glow an effervescent orange, while the shadows turn a deep marron-red. This tiny section of the monolithic building was taken in winter sun on the southern side of the building. The composition mirrors the sister painting of Brooklyn, another place that warms my soul. I love how Friday follows Thursday, and the B of Brooklyn & Battersea sit so well together. You can leave Battersea early one afternoon and be in Brooklyn late the same afternoon, too. Although a little worse for wear with jet lag and nursing a headache from the flight…

FRIDAY PRE-MISTO, 05-19, 7.14am. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. Misto is my Starbucks of choice. And like the weather, my head was full of early morning fog. This painting is shades of graying indigo layered over amethyst and blue.

WEDNESDAY, LAKE TAHOE, 02-23, 11.47am. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. A single brushstroke ladened with a heavy wash of white represents a snowstorm headed towards the slopes of Lake Tahoe. Set against the deep grays and indigos on the horizon, a dump of fresh power is about to hit.

Each painting documents an ephemeral moment in time from which a section of sky is abstracted. The paintings are layered with myriad oil paints and tones including cobalt blue, amethyst, turquoise, teal, indigo, purples and violets & mixed with titanium white, then set in a Pantone swatch typographic narrative composition. What seems simple is in reality rather complex. You can sit and absorb the colour field paintwork for hours as your mind meanders. Like looking up at the heavens and losing yourself in thought. Thanks to the richness and quality of the pigments in the paint, these works look different depending on the direction in which they are viewed, or the type of ambient or spot light being cast on them.

SUNDAY SOLD

MONDAY, PIGEON POINT, 04-10, 11.41am. 60 x 48 inches. Oil on canvas. On the coastal road of Highway 1, the marine layer meets the coast as the heat of the land is bathed in cooling mist. This painting represents the layers of water vapours in tones of amethyst, indigo and gray.

THURSDAY, LOS GATOS BLVD, 02-09, 09.34. 48 x 36 inches. Oil on canvas. Spring in Los Gatos creates a day time firework display of fruit tree blossoms. Each, individual blossom has been placed painstakingly in magenta, pink, burgundy, and white creating depth in colour and texture on a cobalt teal background.

THURSDAY BLOSSOM HILL ROAD, 02-09, 08.59am. 30 x 30 inches. Oil on canvas. An explosion of white, pale yellow, bright green with hints of neon green blossoms capture the freshness of spring on Los Gatos apple trees.

That Absolutely Bloody Final drink after a get together. Usually a spirit, something warming to truly tuck you in at bedtime. Nearing midnight, the sky is inky-deep with indigo, manganese violet, alizarin claret with a streak of pale light in thin, low cloud. Warming, soothing tones. Not unlike that Old Fashioned that accompanies the night sky on this 48 x 36 museum profile canvas.

“SATURDAY, ELTON JOHN” depicts the deep indigo sky above the Levi Stadium on the night we saw Elton John’s farewell concert. Steam rising from the stage meets cobalt blue and amethyst light in this multi faceted 48 x 36 oil painting on museum profile canvas. I love the fact that the title of the painting is the title of one of this iconic artist’s songs. This work evokes such energy and emotion for me as a fan of his music, and his contribution to popular culture way beyond just music.

“Friday & Saturday”. Commissioned Diptych. Each 60 x 48 inches, oil on canvas. These paintings have a story to tell. Friday represents Southern California, Saturday Northern California. For Steve, Manhattan Beach is where he grew up - with those coastal mists and warm spring afternoons. Sand Hill Road is close to where Steve met Kimberly at Stanford, with beautiful Bay Area sunrises. Each painting is packed with layers and depths of colour which illuminate in different lights. I loved painting these pieces, and telling a layered and rich story in oil.

SOLD