I just returned 2 wonderful weeks in Southern Africa, mainly in Botswana. I had just finished a great workshop with Kenn Backhaus in Mississippi and was excited to get back to painting. My take away from Kenn was to paint more and to treat my studio time with a more plein air attitude. I am approaching my paintings with a very direct and purposeful attitude and in each painting I am trying to achieve a more expressive and personal result. I am also giving myself 1 hour to finish these studies, not that speed is the goal but I am trying to leave my ego out of the equation and just learn to love the oil medium. 
9×12 oil on panel “Morning in Tau Pan, Botswana”
My goal was to capture the feeling of the early morning light profiling the beautiful desert trees.
8 x 10 oil on panel “Okavanga Delta, morning glare, Pom Pom”
In this piece I am just contrasting a dark landscape against the glare of the sunlight on the water.
Really beautiful, Steve. atmospheric, as they say.