This painting is called Whispering Olive. It was inspired by a mighty olive tree I saw in the desert one summer afternoon on a drive through central Utah. I love the creamy white and yellow grasses of summers there, with the chalky blue green of the olive trees and their dark twisting trunks and branches. The combination takes my breath away and I’ve been wanting to paint about them for years. This little watercolor is the first of a series of paintings I’m calling ‘Beyond Jordon‘. In between Draper and Riverton there is a gulley where Utah’s Jordon River flows, and on one side of the road where it hasn’t been developed there are a few miles square of the tall white grass and hundreds of olive trees. It is so beautiful and amazing. I will be so sad when it’s gone. I hope the reason it’s still there and not developed yet is because others see its beauty and want it more than money. The wild desert olive often makes me think of what I imagine to be in the deserts surrounding an ancient Jerusalem, perhaps. So Beyond Jordon has double meaning in my imagination. I stopped and walked around in there and took lots of pictures to paint from over the winter sometime. I used to ride my bike, my brother Spencer and I, down that road to my Grandma’s house over two decades ago. Sigh. It had almost no traffic then. This summer I did about 10 oil paintings on this theme, but I only got pictures of a few. I unprofessionally forgot to get photos of them before I took them to show David Ericson, along with some other mountain and desert inspired interpretive/abstracted pieces. Happily, he liked them and some are currently in the upstairs part of his gallery. I just wish I had remembered to take pictures. I took pictures of those he didn’t take, which I posted recently. He said he didn’t have room for all of them but would take them after the others sold. But I have plans for many more Utah desert inspired paintings, which I will not forget to get photos of.

I took some photos of some old photos to give to my friend David who is remodeling my website. I like both, not just one or the other. I'm serious and thoughtful but I'm still a happy person, generally speaking.