The Berkeland Studio

"Five Trees" Auction

"Five Trees watch the sunset over Tuscan pond" is on auction now.  BID!!  BID!! BID!! Good luck.

Runners in Poly Canyon

 

I'm reworking the painting of the top of Poly Canyon.  I'm trying to get a little more life into it to give it some scale - cows, a deer, some runners.  Here are some snippets from around the painting.  The whole thing won't be done for a few more weeks.

The de Young Museum

Last week I visited the newly opened de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.  I watched this thing going up over the two years I was living in San Francisco.  I ran by the construction site just about everyday.  It's really a monster of a building and seems to be at least partly inspired by the Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars. 

Some favorite paintings of mine were from Wayne Thiebaud, Frederic Church, Thomas Hart Benton, Albert Bierstadt, George Caleb Bingham, etc.

Sailboat in Naxos

This is an 8"x10" oil on gessoed board of George's sailboat in front of Chora (or Naxos town) on the island of Naxos in Greece.

Cloudy Sunset over the laghetto

I've been working on some small and quick "sketch" paintings to work out some ideas for some larger stuff. 

Here is an 8"x10" oil on a gessoed board of the laghetto on the path to Bonsi, under Casa Cares, in Tuscany.  I've painted this laghetto a few times.  Here is the first one I did a few years ago, and here is another one with a funky sunset.

Coit Tower

I started this one a couple of years ago when I was living in San Francisco.  I finished it up yesterday. 

Coit Tower sits atop Telegraph Hill in San Francisco and was dedicated to those who fought the fires after the 1906 earthquake.

Tour of LA

Spent the day, yesterday, seeing Los Angeles.  From Venice Beach to Santa Monica.  Then up Sunset, through Beverly Hills and Hollywood. 

Here's a snapshot of life on Venice Beach on a cool and cloudy Sunday afternoon.

Posters

These three posters - Leah Plays Guitar, Volterra, and Il Tramonto dalla cucina - are available again in my eBay store for $15 each.

Dalarna

Dalarna is scenic region of central Sweden.  I spent a few months there this winter. 

Marion

I started this one years ago and just got around to putting the final touches on it today.

I've painted Marion a few times in the past years.  Here is a portrait of her when she was 12, and here is one of her tinkering on the guitar.

Morro Bay

A photo of the bay from the museum by the golf course.

Nice day for a drive

No real clouds this morning so it seemed like a good day to get away from the canvases, go for a drive, and take some photos the scenery around here.  We headed up Perfumo Canyon, over into See Canyon, out to Avila Beach for lunch, and then back through San Luis Obispo.  Here are some photos from the trip and the sunset when we got back to Morro Bay.

Hagia Sofia

The dome and the spires rise over the Sultanhamet quarter of Istanbul.  I visited Istanbul in 2004.  I've meant to get back to explore more of Turkey since then.  Who knows?  Maybe this will be the year.

This painting is now in my eBay store.  You can also submit a BEST OFFER.

Naxos Chapel

Finished today!  That little chapel up on the hill in Naxos.  It's in my eBay store now.  I'll use a lot of these color ideas in future Greek paintings.

The Top of The Canyon

Cal Poly Runners should recognize this I hope.  I'm working on getting back in shape to be able to attack this hill one more time.

I just put this painting in my eStore.  It's listed at $750 but I'll consider all offers (I can't help being partial to Cal Poly alum on this one) put through the BEST OFFER feature in the ad.

Cooking with Dan

Here's my attempt at documenting my cooking experiments, rants, failures, shopping adventures, and eating travel.  Feel free to follow along and check in often.  Iron Chef Dan!!

SOLD - Naxos Fields in the Sunset

Gone to an eBayer from Mount Vernon, NY.  Check out my current auctions HERE.