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Maytime Verbena - An Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Maytime Verbena

 This is from one of my favorite places in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, and, judging from how many people passed me by while I painted this, I'd say this is a favorite place for a lot of visitors to the garden. This is by the wonderful fountain that sits at the bottom of the cascade leading down to the rose garden. There is so much color in this area right now. Everywhere I looked there was another colorful, vibrant flower blooming.  As a bonus, I was able to paint in a nice patch of shade which is always welcome when the day is full of bright, warm sun. 

Maytime Verbena © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Wood Duck - A New Original 10 x 8 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Wood Duck

We had a few days of rain in our forecast, so before the weather turned, I went down to the lake not far from our house to take some reference photos just in case I was stuck in the studio. Normally, this lake is full of ducks, geese and all type of water fowl, but on this trip there was just a hand full of mallards playing in the water. None the less, I began to take a few photographs of them because I was in the mood to paint some ducks anyway. While I was taking my pictures, someone arrived at the lake with a big bag of bread and began to feed the ducks. Well, it didn't take long for all the ducks and birds around the lake to start making their way towards the free lunch. Slowly, but surely, more and more ducks started to appear and that's when I spotted this one wood duck swimming with a small group of mallards. I couldn't believe my luck! I love the distinct markings on this bird and knew I'd want to paint him if I could get a good reference image of him. That proved to be the tricky part. It seems this little duck is camera-shy. It took almost 30 minutes of waiting for him to swim close enough by me so I could get a good image of him, but it was worth the wait. He settled right in front of me for almost 5 minutes! I must have snapped about 50 pictures of him during that time. What a treat!

Wood Duck © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 10x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Researching Roses - A New Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Researching Roses

 Yesterday, before the arrival of today's storms, I took advantage of the light and painted at the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth. It's an amazing resource and I go there often because there's plenty of room and it's a free public space with so many eye-catching scenes. Although the gardens are quite large and varied, I usually go to the same general area when painting there. This time, however, I decided to try the other end of the gardens where they have a large research building and gardens. I'm not really sure what they are researching with the garden, but the whole thing was in full bloom. I found this rose bush with hundreds of buds bursting open. I loved the contrast between the shady background and the sun drenched flowers. 

Researching Roses © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Cloud Puff - A New Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Cloud Puff

 Last year, while out on a drive, I discovered this little park. There's not really all that much there. Just a few sidewalks, a lot of open fields and trees and a very tiny pond. I remember going there once to paint, but didn't actually produce a painting. Sometimes that happens when plein air painting. I go somewhere, haul my gear in and never find anything to paint. After that, I sort of forgot about this place until I was looking at google maps for potential painting locations. For what ever reason, it showed promise again so I decided to give it another chance. This time I noticed this view of the field around the pond and the sky with just this one tiny puffy cloud. I loved the idea of painting a sky with just this tiny cloud in it and knew I had found something to paint here finally. I actually noticed a few other things that I might want to try at some point too, so it looks like I might be going back again. Lesson learned...sometimes it's good to give places a second look.

Cloud Puff © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Rocky Shore - An Original 8 x 10 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Rocky Shore

 This morning while I waited for the weather to warm up a bit outside, I decided to paint in the studio. I took a look through some of my photo reference and found this picture I took a few years ago at the lake just down the road from our house. It was during one of the worst droughts we had experienced since buying our house in North Texas. We had heard on the news about how low the lake levels had fallen, so my wife and I went down to see for ourselves. I took this image of the rocks that now made up the shoreline. This is normally a spot that is totally under the water. In fact, just behind us was a dock that was land locked at the time with a boat stranded on it. No water within 50 feet of the dock. Thank goodness that now the water levels are back to where they should be and this spot is once again hidden under the water. Hopefully, this is a view I never get to see again.

Rocky Shore © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Last Road Home - An Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Last Road Home

 I had gone out to paint wildflowers when I discovered this scene along the back roads of Weatherford (Texas). While there where plenty of wildflowers to paint, this view kept calling me back until finally I gave in and found a safe place to park my car while I painted. It was a very cloudy morning with just spots of sunshine making its was through for a few minutes at a time then disappearing. I just had to roll with it and paint the scene the way I saw it, without much direct light. Of course, about 30 minutes after I packed up my painting and started to head home, the sun came out and stayed out for rest of the day.  

Last Road Home © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Cooper Street Flowers - An Original 10 x 8 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Cooper Street Flowers

 A few years ago, our city started a city beautification program. As part of that program, they spread wild flowers seeds along some of the roadways that didn't already have flowers blooming along them, such as this little strip of land just off Cooper Street. Since these wild flowers all re-seed themselves every year, the crop of them keeps getting better and better, especially if we have rain during winter and early spring. This is my first time painting this particular patch of wild flowers, but it will not be my last now that where it is. I'll add this spot to my list of places to check when the wild flowers start to bloom next spring.

Cooper Street Flowers © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 10x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Rockwall Revisited - An Original 10 x 8 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Rockwall Revisited

 This is the painting I did as a demo last night for the Rockwall Art League. I had a great time explaining my process and answering questions, and I hope those watching did too. Somehow in all the conversation, I missed a few things that I wanted to fix in the water and reflections of the rocks before the demo was over. Once I had the painting back in my studio and I was able to look at for a little while, I decided to put it back up on the easel and make a few tweaks to it.  If this looks familiar to you, you are not imagining things. I based this off of a plein air painting I did a few weeks ago. 

Rockwall Revisited © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 10x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

In Bloom - An Original 8 x 8 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

In Bloom

 My wife and I went to Oklahoma a few years ago for a quiet little vacation. With plans to do nothing more than hike and enjoy the wilderness, we set out to see the sights. We hiked along river beds flowing with water, trails leading up the mountain sides and around lakes and some trails that just seemed to meander through fields and forests. Somewhere along one of these hikes we ran across this hill-side scattered with rocks and covered in wild flowers. I snapped a reference photo of it with the intentions of doing a studio painting once back home. Since then I have done a few smaller studies of this scene, including this one: 

In Bloom © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Spring In Texas - An Original 10 x 8 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Spring In Texas

 The wildflowers are blooming everywhere, even with the crazy weather and dry conditions. It's such a pleasure to watch the  ordinary hillside explode with the colors of spring. First the yellows peek up, then the pinks, and now, those glorious Texas bluebonnets. Probably thanks the Lady Bird Johnson, I found these on a hillside next to the highway. Luckily, I knew of a location to see and paint these from that didn't involve standing anywhere close to the busy freeway, though I've been tempted many times to just pull over on the shoulder of the interstate and paint with reckless abandon.

Spring In Texas © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 10x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Creek Side - An Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Creek Side

  I love painting at the falls in West Worth. It's so quiet and peaceful. There's the occasional passer-by and people walking their dogs, but for the most part it was just me and this slow-moving stream. Oh, and the giant snake I saw on the rocks behind me while I was getting ready to paint, but that's another story. Seriously, he was this big! Anyway, for this painting I chose this view because I really wanted to capture the reflections in the water, with it's many subtle variations of green and blues. A challenge for sure, but a rewarding one to try to capture. 

Creek Side © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Washing Rocks - An Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Washing Rocks

 Today my day started off by discovering a leak in our water heater. Luckily, it turned out to just be a small pin hole leak in the hot water pipe. It must have just started leaking shortly before I found it because while there was some water, it could have been much, much worse. After getting over the initial shock and realizing with relief that I didn't need to buy a new water heater today, I headed out to the hardware store to buy a few parts so I could make the needed repairs. I guess something about rushing water leaked into my subconscious because without realizing it, I picked this scene to paint during the afternoon. We have been fortunate to have had some rain during the last 2 weeks and it shows in this river. Just a few weeks ago when I went to check on this spot, it was almost completely dry, down to just a small trickle. Today it was jus the opposite, with water rushing over the rocks and working its way down the river.

Washing Rocks© 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Cut and Dried - An Original 8 x 10 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Cut and Dried

 Yesterday in the studio was one of those days I'd rather forget. I spent the day working on a still life painting and at the end of the day I took a good hard look at it and did what needed to be done...I wipe it off and cleaned off the canvas as best I could. I know days like that are good for me, even if I don't like them. It means I'm learning and growing, but that still doesn't take the sting out of it. Today I picked the canvas back up, but changed the subject. I always have fun paiting scenes like this, and it was just what the doctor ordered.

Cut and Dried © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Stormy Seas - An Original 8 x 10 Seascape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Stormy Seas

 I spent the morning working on a new commission piece and got to a point where I wanted it to dry before continuing. With a few hours left in the day, I thought I'd do one more painting today, just for fun! What could be more fun than trying to paint stormy seas crashing over rocks? I love the challenge of capturing the atmosphere in this piece with the horizon almost totally blending into the sea when they meet. The waves rolling in and the rocks forcing the water to break is also stimulating to paint. The added bonus of doing this piece was I got to work on mixing grey colors, which is one of the areas I really want to work on. Mixing a good grey can be a real challenge. I don't want colorless greys, I want greys that are warm and cool and have some color to them, just not saturated. Is that too much to ask for? I think not, but it does take some work to achieve. 

Stormy Seas © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Park Path - An Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Park Path

 With our good weather still holding out, I headed out again today to do some painting outside. Today I ventured down to a little nature area not far from our home. This scene was one of the first that I considered painting for the day, but I wanted to make sure I gave all my old spots a good look too. I haven't been there since last summer and I wanted to spent some time walking around to see what's changed. After checking things out for about a half hour, I figured I'd better get painting. The weather was nice, but the forecast called for cloudy skies after noon and it was getting close to 11. Knowing I might lose my sun at any moment, I started to work as quickly as I could, but I wasn't fast enough. About an hour into painting the sun started to duck behind the clouds and before I knew it, it was gone. I had a good enough start to continue working on this so I stayed until I was finished. The sun never did come back today. Hopefully it will make an appearance tomorrow!

Park Path© 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Once Underwater - An Original 8 x 10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Once Underwater

 One of the last times I went out painting, I noticed this scene not far from where I set up for the day.  I had intended to go back and paint it, but then our weather turned cold and cloudy and just like that, it felt like we were back in winter. Luckily, this is Texas and winter weather this late in the year doesn't stand a chance in sticking around. Today we got back on track with spring weather, so I packed up my gear and headed back to the lake. It was a very windy day and the water never settled down, making it a real challenge to paint. Still, it was nice to get our of the studio for a little while and soak up some sunshine! It looks like this weather is here to stay this time, so I'm looking forward to getting out more.

I'm going to have to re-photograph this one in a day or two. This image has a lot of glare on it. 

Once Underwater © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on gessoed wood panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

On The Rocks - An Original 8 x 8 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

On The Rocks

  It never ceases to amaze me how much I learn when I paint water and rocks. There's something about the abstract patterns in the way the water washes over the rocks that forces me to stretch myself. I think this is because this is one of the few subjects where I don't think about what it is I'm painting and just paint the shapes that I see. Now I try that with everything I paint, but for what ever reason, with water it's easier for me to do this.  I guess that's why this is one of my favorite subjects to paint. 

On The Rocks © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Struttin' - An Original 8 x 8 Wildlife Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Struttin'

 We had lots of sun today, but not much warmth, so I decided to grab my camera and head down to one of the local lakes around the house. I knew that even with the cold weather, we'd still have plenty of ducks and water fowl hanging around. When I got to the lake, just about all the ducks where sitting on the shore line sleeping or trying to stay warm. These ducks are all very used to getting bread and oats from most of the visitors coming to this lake, so as soon as I crouched down to take a few pictures this duck came walking over to get his bread. When he figured out that I didn't have any, he turned and walked away. This must have tipped off the other ducks because even though it was cold in the water, most of them started heading in. I guess they thought the camera couldn't get them in the water. I noticed as soon as I left, they all started to head back on to land.

Struttin' © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Spring Dance - An Original 8 x 8 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Spring Dance

 Well, we are just a few days into spring, and, while it seemed like we had left winter behind, apparently we had not. Like many parts of the country, winter weather made its way back into our lives this week. While we generally have it pretty good here in Texas weatherwise this time of year, today it turned cold and gray outside all day, with the next few days forecast of be more of the same. Determined to make the best of it, I took a look through my photo reference for some images of wild flowers to paint today. One way or another, I was going to get a bit of spring color into my day. I know it's just a matter of time before I can paint scenes like this outdoors again. I can hardly wait!

 I know a lot of people say that red is one of the hardest color to photograph, but for me it's yellow. These flowers really seem to have lost some of the subtle color changes that they have when I photographed them. I've noticed this on a few other painting that have a lot of yellow in them too. If anyone has any tips for getting better results I'm all ears. Thanks!

Spring Dance © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Rail Road Bridge - An Original 8 x 6 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Rail Road Bridge

 This is the second time I've painted at this location.Tthe first time, I was standing just in front of this bridge painting the river bank on the left side of the painting. This time, I wanted to include the bridge. I love the color on the rusty sides of the bridge and how the structure seems to cut through its surroundings. Getting to a place where I could paint this proved to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be. I had to hike in from the other side of the river, which doesn't have very easy access. The closest place I could find to park my car was about a mile or so from where I wanted to paint, so I had to hike with all of my gear on my back along the river bank until I reached the bridge. Since this area is mostly undisturbed there's a ton of wildlife along the water. Next time I go, I've got to remember to bring my camera!

Rail Road Bridge © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available through my eBay auction. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Corner Lot - An Original 8 x 8 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Corner Lot

 While I try to think of where I'm going to go and paint for the day, I often think back to places I've painted before. Sometimes, if I haven't been to a particular location for a while, I might try to remember what was there and if it seems like something I might be in the mood to paint. This was the case with today's painting. I hadn't been here in almost a year now, and, in my mind, it looked very different. When I got there, the first thing I noticed is there was now a gas well right in the middle of the view I painted the last time. Hmm...right off the bat things aren't going so well. Determined to make the best of the situation, I walked around the landscape for a while checking out different views, but nothing really seemed to inspire me very much. Just as I was about to give up and head out, I noticed this view. I loved the way the space was divided up by the colors in the field and the tall utility poles along the road. Finally I found my view and got to painting!

Corner Lot© 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Weekend Plans - An Original 6 x 8 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Weekend Plans

 While our daughters spent the weekend with Grandma, my wife and I found ourselves with some free time. Having a vague recollection of what free time is, we made plans to go to a near by state park, Cedar Hills State Park, and enjoy a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I mentioned that I'd like to do a little painting and my wife agreed, bringing along a book to read while she enjoyed some sunshine. The parks main attraction is its lake, Joe Pool Lake. We spent some time driving around the lake and doing a little exploring before we came upon the spot in the painting. Normally this location would be well under water, but since the lake still hasn't fully recovered from our drought, views like this are still available to explore and paint. I loved the way the sun was striking the tall grasses surrounding the water and casting long shadows across the sanding shore line.

Weekend Plans © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Thin Clouds - An Original 8 x 8 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Thin Clouds

 While looking for a potential painting spot today, I was reminded of something that Richard Schmid said in one of his videos. I can't remember the exact quote, but it went something like this "Use each painting experience as a way to learn new things and not repeat what we have done before." The point being to push ourselves during each painting. With that in mind, I chose a scene with a sky that I would normally try to avoid and made it the largest shape in my painting. I find skies with thin wispy clouds one of the hardest to paint, but today I forced myself to try it. I don't know why I was so timid about doing them before, now I can't wait for the next opportunity to try one and build on what I've learned today.

Thin Clouds © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Spring Whites - An Original 8 x 8 Floral Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Spring Whites

 For the last few weeks, I've tried to get over to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens to check on the new spring blooms. Today when I went, there were a few more flowers blooming than last week, but still no where close to the big show coming up any day (week) now. Still, it's a great time to be there as new life is popping up everywhere, like these tiny white daffodils. I only found this one little patch of them out in the middle of a field. On another note...Lesson learned today: don't forget your umbrella when painting in full sun! Since I did forget mine, I had to paint with my back to the flowers to keep my canvas and palette out of the direct sun. I find the direct sun too bright to paint in, so while turning my back to my subject solved this issue, it did make for an interesting time painting. I had to turn and look at what I was going to paint and then turn around and paint it. It actually became a pretty neat exercise in painting from memory.

Spring Whites © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Red - An Original 8 x 8 Wildlife Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Red

 For the last few months, I've watched a pair of cardinals that come to eat from the bird feeder just outside my studio window. I'm not sure if they see me looking at them through the window or if the cat scares them off, but either way, they never stay for very long.  I've thought about painting one of them for a while now and today seemed like the perfect day for it. I had hoped they would stop by while I was working so I could look at them for reference, but I guess they had other plans. Come to think of it, I haven't seen them in a few days now...hmmm...I wonder if it's time to refill the bird feeder?

Red© 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size:8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Lazy River - An Original 10 x 8 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Lazy River

 Last week while painting, a friend of mine he mentioned a new spot he's been wanting to check out and suggested we both go have a look. After finishing up our paintings for the day, we headed over. His spot turned out to be one of the many little rivers that run along the roads leading to Benbrook Lake. After parking on the side of the street, we hiked down a little trail that lead to the river and then along the river rocks lining the river banks. After about a hundred yards we came to this wonderful bend in the river. Bingo! We found a new place to paint. We made plans to return and today was that day. What a perfect day it turned out to be! Clear skies, warm weather and hardly any wind. What more could a plein air painter ask?

Lazy River © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 10x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Spring's Hope - An Original 10 x 8 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Spring's Hope

 One of my favorite aspects of plein air painting is hunting out new locations. I love the discovery of a new place to paint! Sometimes, I just turn off my GPS and drive aimlessly searching. When something piques my interest, I stop and paint it and rely on the GPS to get me home from off-the-beaten path. Other times, the search is about the access point. I have run across several places that look so interesting from the road, but I'm unsure of how to actually get to them and paint.  Today's painting is one of those types of places. I must have passed this field hundreds of times, but could never see a clear way to get to it. Finally, this morning I spent some time exploring the two main streets that I've seen this place from. After a bit of investigating, I realized the only way to get in was to park on the side of the road and follow a little dirt trail that led me under the rail road tracks and into this field. I thought maybe I was on private property, but didn't see any signs anywhere. As far as the hunting aspect of plein air painting goes, I think I bagged another spot!

Spring's Hope © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 10x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Spring Has Sprung - An Original 8x10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Spring Has Sprung

 It's official...spring is on its way here in Texas...or maybe it's already here. It's hard to tell when it's 92 degrees outside. If it's not here, then I know it will be soon because the Bradford Pears have started to bloom. For me, this always marks the start of the spring. First the tress, then the wildflowers and finally the garden! Everywhere I look I'm seeing more and more trees full of little while flowers. In a few more weeks, they will drop the flowers and put on leaves. For day's it will look like it's snowing with all the pedals blowing in the wind. Since these trees don't produce a fruit this is their big show for the year. 

Spring Has Sprung © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available. $135

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Winter Grazing - An Original 8x8 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Winter Grazing

 For the last few days, I've been recovering from a cold my 3-year-old thought she should share with me and her 18 month old sister and mother. It seems I got the worst case of it and spent most of the day yesterday laid up in bed. Luckily, it seems, that was the worst of it because today I was able to get back into the studio and do a little painting. I wanted to go out and paint, but our weather was still a little on the cool side and I thought I best not push it so soon. Instead I stayed in the studio and painted these cows grazing in a typical later winter or early spring pasture here in Texas, and though there are no leaves on the tress yet, there is still plenty of green grass to chew on. 

Winter Grazing © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

West Falls - An Original 8x10 Lanscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

West Falls

 One of my favorite subjects to paint is water, particularly white water rapids and falls. It's something I find myself returning to time and again. The thing is, it's hard to find white water rivers in North Texas. I'm constantly on the search when I'm out and about. Making mental notes of places to explore in more depth and still, the list of places to try is very, very small. Luckily a little over a year ago, I discovered one of the best kept secrets in the DFW area, a water fall! A natural stair stepped waterfall that's full accessible to anyone who wishes to see it (and paint it!). It's located in a little park in West Worth that once belong to the Air Force. The town purchased the land sometime back and turned it into a wonderful little nature area with paved walkways. I've wanted to go and paint there this week, but for one reason or another haven't been able to make it, so today I did this studio painting based on a plein air piece I did there last fall. This is the lowest part of the waterfall, which has a last big step and the tiny drop after it. 

West Worth © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Walk In The Woods - An Original 10x8 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Walk In The Woods

 Yesterday we were treated to a wonderful spring day with sunny clear skies and temps in the low 70's. What more could you ask for in February? With both our kids looking for some playtime and myself looking to get out and paint, a trip to the River Legacy Park was in order. This park boasts a not only a wonderful new play area for the little ones, but hundreds of acres of forest, rivers and both paved and unpaved paths to explore. My oldest daughter (3 years old) packed a picnic for us to enjoy. After finishing my peanuts, marshmallows, and a SnackPack, I left to go paint while they played at the park with their mother. After a bit of searching around, I was attracted to this scene deep in the woods as the light peaked in-between the trees and created a wonderful pattern of light and shadow.  I only had a short time to try to capture what I was seeing before the setting sun had changed too much. Once I thought I had all the information I needed, I met back up with my wife and kids and finished enjoying the day. This morning I spent a few more hours tweaking the painting. I find scenes like this very challenging. There are so many values that are about the same, it's hard to keep them all straight. I hope I succeeded.

Walk In The Woods © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 10x8 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Fresh Rain Water - An Original 8x10 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Fresh Rain Water

 We've been fortunate enough to have rain storms for the last day and a half here in North Texas. Since it always seems like we are either in a drought or on the verge of one, the rain is a welcome sight. Amazingly, after raining all morning, the sun came out around noon and the weather warmed up to a wonderful 68 degrees. Perfect weather to go out and paint! I met up with a friend of mine who took me to this amazing little park about 5 minutes from his home. The creek was high with all the recent rain water and I just couldn't resist painting it. 

Fresh Rain Water © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Early Risers - An Original 8x10 Plein Air Floral Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Early Risers

 On a whim today, I went over to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens to see if anything was blooming yet. It's early, but I heard that the Dallas Gardens are just about ready to come alive, so I thought Fort Worth can't be that far behind. There isn't a lot blossoming just yet, but I did find this little patch of very early daffodils and thought they were perfect for this late winter's day. I had to pick and choose which one's I wanted to include, which is always a fun exercise. In another week or two, there should be all kinds of things to paint. I can't wait!

Early Risers © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Tres Amigos - An Original 8x10 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Tres Amigos

 For the last several weeks, while taking my daughters to the park to play, I've noticed this group of trees on the edge of  a nature area that we pass by. I'm always on the lookout for things that I might like to paint, so I put this location on my mental list of places to revisit. I usually like to have several spots to choose from when I go out painting, depending on my mood and today it was trees. I loved the contrast these three trees had with their environment. Everything else around them was mostly on the darker side, except these three trees. Judging from the size and shape of them, it seems that they all had to sprout up around the same time, like three friends growing up together. Hence the title, Tres Amigos. Somethings just sound better in Spanish!

Tres Amigos © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x10 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Dutch Morning - An Original 11x14 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Dutch Morning

 A few months ago, I did a smaller painting similar to this one. I did the smaller one first for a couple of reasons. First, it's easier to work out the general color and composition on the smaller piece since I can make large changes with just a few brush strokes. I was also working from a photograph, so doing the smaller painting first allowed me to work out my color choices before attempting a larger painting. And finally, the smaller painting allowed me to become familiar with the subject. This was really the best reason for doing the smaller study first. All my questions were answered while doing the smaller painting so when it came time to work on the larger painting I could relax and really concentrate on the things I wanted to emphasize and explore. So, what else did I learn? I learned that photographing paintings with a yellow sky can be tricky! This is as close as I could get the photograph to the painting, but still the sky seems like it has way too much yellow in it. To me, it just doesn't seem so saturated at the horizon. 

Dutch Morning © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 11x14 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: Currently available on Daily Paint Works. Click here to go the auction.

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Tall Grass - A New Original 8x6 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Tall Grass

 We're being treated to an early spring here in Texas this year. So far this week, we've had mostly sunny days with temps getting into the 70s all week. That is perfect weather to get out and paint in and today was no exception. While I packed up my gear to head out, I ran through a possible list of locations in my head. One of them included a little lake with a feeder creek running into it not too far from our house. I've gone to this location several times to paint the tall grasses that grow where the creek and lake meet, but for one reason or another have never painted it. Right before the winter, the park district was doing some work on the lake and they had to drain almost all the water out of it. To be honest, it looked like they killed it and most of the wildlife that called this place home. Remarkably, a few short months later the lake is full of water again and the birds, ducks and white egret are all back like nothing every happened. In fact, if I didn't see the story on the news when it happened, I would have never know from my visit today!

Tall Grass © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

E Pluribus Unum - A New Original 8x6 Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

E Pluribus Unum

 For the last two mornings, we've woken up to fog. As an avid outdoor painter, this is one of the two best things I can wake up to. The other is snow, which is about as rare as a 3 legged frog here in Texas, so when I see fog I get excited to go out and paint. Why? Because the fog offers a new way of seeing the landscape around us and it offers wonderful new challenges in mixing subtle colors and working with (usually) soft edges, which is all very different from the sun filled days we so often have. So, as soon as I could get out of the house this morning, I grabbed my gear and went searching for something to paint. I found this scene very quickly, not even a mile from my home on the edge of a wilderness area/park. I loved the way the single older tree stood out from the background and knew I had found what I'd spend my morning painting. As quickly as I could, I blocked in the painting and tried to capture the remnants of the fog since the sun was starting to make its appearance for the day and I knew there was precious little time before my foggy morning turned into a sunny afternoon.  While painting this the phase, E Pluribus Unum  popped into my head as a possible title for the painting. For those of you who don't remember your Latin or didn't collect coins as a kid (that's how I know what it means), it's "out of many, one". 

E Pluribus Unum © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 8x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Cow Buffet - A New Original 5x7 Landscape Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Cow Buffet

 At the end of fall, I was out painting for the day when I ran across this hayfield. Actually, I believe the hay was grown elsewhere and brought in for the cows that would occasionally wander past. Either way, I loved the way it looked and wanted to paint it. The problem was the only place I could find to paint it from was along the side of a very busy two lane road with a speed limit of 55 MPH. Oh well, I thought, I'll try it here and see how it goes. Well...it didn't go all that good. After working on my painting for about an hour, I finally called it quits. I just could get into the groove with cars and semis whizzing past me. I took a few photos to help me remember what the scene looked like and headed home. Back in the comfort and safety of my studio, I painted this painting.

Cow Buffet © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 5x7 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Flamingo - A New Original 7x5 Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Flamingo

 At our zoo, one of the first groups of animals you come to are the flamingos. You can smell them from the moment you enter the front gate. If you've ever been around a large flock of these birds, you know the distinct and powerful smell I'm referring to.  One the day I took the reference photo from this painting, most of the flamingos where busy building their nests in the sand for their eggs. This was the first time I've seen this and it was fascinating to watch as they built tall towers of sand to lay their eggs in. Apparently, this one got a little hot and thirsty while working and decided to go for a little swim to cool down. I took a few photos of him (or her) playing in the water before returning to the sandy shore to continue work on the nest. I had hoped we'd be able to return after the eggs had hatched, but I think we missed our chance. I'm sure they hatched some time ago.

Flamingo © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 7x5 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.

Spring's Encore - A New Original 6x6 Plein Air Oil Painting by George De Chiara

Spring's Encore

 It may seem a little odd to have a spring painting this close to winter, but the truth is that's when I started this one, right before the summer heat took over. In fact, I went back to this field a couple of weeks later, all that remained was the tall summer grass, and a lot of dried up flower petals and seed pods. My painting, on the other hand, was placed in my drying rack with the intention to make a few tweaks before sending it out into the world. Well, days turned to weeks and weeks to months before I finally got around to making those tweaks. Truth be told, it was kind of fun remembering back that warm spring day when I painted this while making my adjustments, especially since winter has seemed to arrive here in North Texas this week. 

 I had some trouble getting what I think is a good photograph of this painting. For the most part this image looks good, but it's still lacking something compared to the actual painting. While this is generally the case, this one seems to be a little further off than normal. For this reason, I'm also posting a close up of the image. I feel this gives a better idea of what the painting looks like. 

Detail of Spring's Encore

Spring's Encore © 

Painting Details:
Larger Version available here
Size: 6x6 inches on canvas panel.  
Medium: Original Oil Painting 
Frame: none
Availability: SOLD

Signed on front. Signed and dated on back.