#199 Red Maple #199 Toddler T-Shirt

Walking my dog in the fall I passed by a red maple tree on the sidewalk. I noticed how interesting the leaves looked on that day, going from red to ochre before they fall off. The process happens in a short time frame for a week or two in the entire year, so it is a fleeting image. This is on Blue Oaks Blvd and in the background is Kaseberg Creek which is an oak/grassland area. Eventually new housing may be in the background scenery. This painting was done in transparent watercolor on a quarter sheet.

My search to find my biological family was the genesis of my journey into the world of art. When I finally found my birth family, at the age of 40, I was plunged into a new and very different family. On one occasion while talking with the father I had never known, I discovered that my great uncle was the renowned watercolorist Dong Kingman. Fatefully discovering a cheap watercolor paint set, and intrigued by my relationship with Kingman, I wondered if I had inherited any of his talent. This lingering question spurred me into trying to paint. My first challenge was deciding what subjects I would paint. As a fan of Van Gogh, and knowing that he painted images from his day to day life: houses, fields, people working, I decided to do the...