Welcome to my gallery In this gallery you will find examples of my art. I paint scenes of Northern California. Northern California is my home and my family history goes back in in this area to 1848. One of my ancestors started a vineyard in Healdsburg in the 1860s; my grandmother taught school near Fort Ross in 1899. Fort Ross is just north of two of the new paintings shown below.

THE ART OF STEPHEN LUCE

 NEW PAINTINGS

These are my newest paintings. Some are recently completed and some I am still working on but are far enough along to share with you.

My newest work is in a lighter and more open style but still rooted in the realist traditions. I have been affected by my recent studies of early California painters such as Rix and Yelland. The early California painters were masters of their craft but mostly known in the west.

They lived and painted in the Monterey area and sometimes gathered in the Bohemian Grove - an area within the region I am painting.

I am now tending to paint very regional work - back to my roots. I am concentrating on an area I know well - Northern California. The scenes are the everyday scenes we all see as we visit Northern California. The painting above is a good example. It is simply an afternoon in Inverness looking across Tamales Bay. But I find this "everyday scene" very intense and very beautiful for its simplicity.

VINEYARDS AND LANDSCAPES

These are samples of vineyard and other

Northern California landscapes of my heritage. Most of my family have lived in areas from which these scenes are painted. One member of my family started a vineyard in Healdsburg in 1860. The paintings are about the beauty and serenity of the great rivers and forests of Northern California and generally done in the "luminist" style of Thomas Hill, Albert Bierstadt, and William Keith.

ROSES, IRIS, AND OTHER BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS

These paintings are of roses but I have plans to include iris and orchids as I explore the botanical world. I am discovering a new world of abstract forms in nature. We all know the typical still life botanical but I am finding, as I paint a rose in in detail and lose context by only painting the rose, that the painting takes on a new meaning. As one views these paintings, the first impression can be abstraction, a lack of form and context. On a closer examination of the painting, one realizes that the painting is a very intimate view of a rose - a bees eye view. I will be painting more flowers as I explore the amazing beauty of roses and other exotic flowers of the world.

I have discontinued  my wine art and have moved on to new vistas but I do enjoy sharing these paintings with the wine lovers of the world. I have also included early drawings and sketches of various subjects from my earlier years in art - some as far back as the 70s.