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Paintings

The Salon galleryWhat I saw, what I paintedHow I paintCommissions

Prints

Forty-four to live withTake it homePaper, frames and sizes

The road

Four winters in the vanScroll southFeel the placeThe journal

Films

Painting outside with MarkOne morning at the ArchAn afternoon at Camino Cabo EsteIn my words
Arch at Cabo
The light right nowWhat I painted at about this hour

Trips

Four winters
in the van.

From the fall of 2016 to the spring of 2020, I spent the cold months on the road with a van full of birch panels and a black dog named Charlie. Each winter went somewhere new.

Drive the map
From the air: the van parked on the shoulder of a country road, Mark at his easel beside it

Near Lake Casitas, Ojai

30 January 2019, from the drone

325

paintings pinned where I painted them

39,000km

between the pins over four winters, as the crow flies

4

winters, fall to spring

1

black dog named Charlie

Drive it

Every painting,
where I painted it.

In the order I painted them. Summers are at home in the Okanagan, the small grey dots. Press a painting to open it.

Winter 2018–19 Arch at Cabo22 February 2019 In the archiveOpen it →

You’re in

Winter 2018–19

22 February 2019

Winter 2016–17

92 paintings · 18 October 2016 to 27 April 2017

See the 92 paintings →

Winter 2017–18

138 paintings · 28 September 2017 to 9 April 2018

See the 138 paintings →

Winter 2018–19

61 paintings · 23 September 2018 to 17 April 2019

See the 61 paintings →

Winter 2019–20

34 paintings · 17 January 2020 to 7 March 2020

See the 34 paintings →

The story

One winter
at a time.

Every winter had its own road and its own light. Here are all four, in order, each with the one painting I’d keep from it.

  1. 01

    Winter 2016–17 · 92 paintings

    Down the coast, and a dog from Playa Hawaii

    The first winter was an experiment: down the coast in the rain, Baja by Christmas, and the first painting anyone bought right off the easel.

    Read the chapter

    Maricopa Point, Grand Canyon
    Maricopa Point, Grand Canyon

  2. 02

    Winter 2017–18 · 138 paintings

    Across Canada to Algonquin, then the Keys

    Charlie and I drove east to paint the maples in Algonquin, then south to the Florida Keys and west into the red rock of Utah.

    Read the chapter

    Dead Trees, Florida Keys
    Dead Trees, Florida Keys

  3. 03

    Winter 2018–19 · 61 paintings

    Kauai, the coast road, and the episodes

    Five weeks on Kauai, then the drone and the episodes: Big Sur, Point Lobos, Ojai, and down the Baja peninsula to Cabo.

    Read the chapterDrive it south

    Arch at Cabo
    Arch at Cabo

  4. 04

    Winter 2019–20 · 34 paintings

    One more lap, and the long way home

    California again, then Mazatlán, where I painted the tidal rocks twice. Then the world shut down, and we drove home.

    Read the chapter

    Tidal Rocks at Cerritos
    Tidal Rocks at Cerritos

The van

Home for
four winters.

A Toyota Hiace full of birch panels, and a black dog named Charlie. Some of these photos are Jayna’s.

The van parked by driftwood on the Oregon coast under heavy cloudBay City, OregonNovember 2016
The van among boulders and cardón cactus in the Baja desertThe Baja desertDecember 2016
The van on the sand with its awning out, a chair in the shadeChristmas, La Ribera, BajaDecember 2016
The back of the van open at night, lit purple insideNight, La RiberaDecember 2016
The van on a sandy track through the dunesBajaJanuary 2017
The van below the mountains and wind turbines near Palm SpringsPalm Springs, CaliforniaFebruary 2017
Mark painting from inside the van, the sea through the side doorPainting from the van, Big Coppitt KeyJanuary 2018
The van under a palm tree at Big Coppitt KeyBig Coppitt Key, FloridaJanuary 2018
The van on the beach at El Pescadero, doors openEl Pescadero, BajaFebruary 2019
Mark at his easel on the rocks beside the van at Pacific GrovePacific Grove, CaliforniaJanuary 2020

Galleries on the way

Looking at
the masters.

Museums I stopped at on the way, and paintings I photographed there.

A painting of a sea arch in an ornate gold frameLegion of Honor, San FranciscoFebruary 2017
A painting of a green clifftop above the sea in a gold frameLegion of Honor, San FranciscoDecember 2016
A painting of sailboats moored in a harbour, in a carved frameLegion of Honor, San FranciscoDecember 2016
A painting of a snowy field and fence in a gold frameLegion of Honor, San FranciscoFebruary 2017
A grey harbour painting with small boats, in a gold frameLegion of Honor, San FranciscoFebruary 2017
A dark painting of a great oak tree in a gold frameLegion of Honor, San FranciscoFebruary 2017
A painting of a house among trees by Van Gogh, in a gold frameLegion of Honor, San FranciscoDecember 2016
A painting of a Venetian palace on the water in a gold frameSeattle Art MuseumApril 2017
Mark standing beside a huge figure painting in a museumDetroit Institute of ArtsDecember 2017

Go further

Ride along.

Three more ways into the road: drive one winter south, hear each place, or read it in my words.

Winter 2019Scroll southThe whole trip by latitude: you scroll, the van drives.Go Hear itTune inA radio dial where the frequency is latitude, with the real sound of each spot.Go Read itThe journalFour winters on the road, in my words.Go
Once a month

Letters from
the road.

New paintings, where I’m painting next, and the first look at new prints. One email a month, nothing else.