Old douglas fir trees in areas where there is little exposure to wind can grow old without the lower branches falling off. These branches are huge and take on their own character.

Balsam flowers are a dominant part of spring where I live and I have been working with these showy flowers for quite some time. This painting features the flowers looking like a gesture, a shape without much form.

The oak trees in the Columbia River gorge turn orange in the fall. They grow at the junction of a basalt wall and talus slope and give the appearance of being perched there.

The lava beds on the west side of Mt Adams are unusual enough, but the vine maple, turning red in the fall gives it another feeling. This is about the form vine maple makes.