More Snowy Delight, 6x8, oil on Wallis

Merry Christmas

Mercy and truth have met together, 

Righteousness and peace have kissed.

Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Yes, the Lord will give what is good; . . .

. . . when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Psalm 85:10,11 & Galatians 4:4,5

Merry Christmas to all!

Winter Day, 9x12, oil on canvas panel

Summer Day, 8x10, oil on Wallis sanded paper

Morning Light, 9x12, oil on gessoed masonite

Looking, 8x10, oil on Wallis paper

Warmer Still, 9x12, oil on canvas panel

High Summer Afternoon, 9x12, oil on canvas panel

Three below outside, I had to paint this!

Somewhere Between Wyoming and Idaho, 8x10, oil on Wallis paper

Leaving the shadowlands, into the light.

Sunny Pines 2, 6x8, oil on Wallis sanded paper

I had to paint this scene again. I rearranged things a bit and the color is somewhat different. I like them both. Hope you do also.

Winter Has Come, 6x8, oil on Wallis paper

Winter has indeed come calling. This is a plein air done from my west facing window. Too cold for me to paint outside!

Sunny Pines, 6x8, oil on Wallis sanded paper

Isn't this warm and friendly? I'm afraid we won't see these days again for awhile. 

Morning Mountain, 4x4, oil on paper

I painted this early one morning, looking out my living room window. It's a very close up view of a much larger mountain. I was mostly playing around with color and composition.

Cottonwood, 6x8, oil on paper

Well, it's been awhile! Where have I been? Hunting, teaching my first workshop (which was a blast!), Thanksgiving, and studying mostly. 

If this looks familiar it's because I painted this same scene earlier in the year. This time I played with the color some. Hope you like it!

Morning Gold, 6x8, oil on paper, $95

Here's yesterday's painting. I did this from a photo, but earlier in the year - August - I painted this little hillside scene plein air. I still like the undertone of cad red light and small brushstrokes.

Car Kit, 3 views

Here it is. I got the box at Hobby Lobby for $3.00 at 50% off, paid $4.00 for the plexiglass at a glass store where they drilled the holes for the paint cups for me. I paid about $2.00 for the paint containers. I wanted something with covers to keep the paint protected. I attached 2 screws - one to the bottom section and one to the lid and wound wire around them to keep the lid in a workable position. All together it cost me about $10.00.

30 Minutes in the Car, 5x7, oil on paper

As the title says, I painted this in the car yesterday at lunch time, in about a half hour. I used my little "car kit" as I call it. I will post some photos of it also.

The Chase, 6x8, oil on Wallis paper, $50

Well, this is another 6x8, but it was fun to do because its a study and I was after the action. I like leaving the background so its just the color of the paper and having all the action right in the middle. Studies are very enjoyable!

Around the Bend, 6x8, oil on canvas, $95

Well, I said I was tired of 6x8's, but it was the only size I had with me yesterday, so here it is. And it wasn't too bad. I painted with my friends and that always makes for an interesting time. We've been painting together for about 6 years now and its great to see how we've all improved.

Three Horses, 10x20, oil on canvas, $400

Here's the final version. I mostly worked on the landscape surrounding the horses and left them alone, except for a bit of refining on their edges and faces of the two on the right.  I added the fence posts and wire of the fence with a palette knife and a few strokes of varying warm and cool color in the grasses.

Three Horses Block-in 2, 10x20, oil on canvas

Here's the second stage of this painting. I like the horses and the light area along the bottom. I hope I can finish it without ruining what I've accomplished so far!

Three Horses Blockin, 10x20, oil on canvas

So, here is the initial block in of a larger canvas. It was a happy discovery to realize that I was very uninspired to do another 6x8, but not uninspired to paint larger! Sometimes you just need to do something different for awhile. I am only going do larger paintings until I want to do a small one again.

Big Cottonwood, 6x8, oil on paper

Okay, I've had enough of 6x8's for awhile. Im going to do some larger sizes!

Late Winter Day, 6x8, oil on paper, $95

This is from a photo from out back.  It's a snowy day here and I wanted to paint something like that

Color2, 6x4, oil on paper

Here's another of the barn done in a different color scheme. I think this one looks more like morning than evening. I got my Stephen Quiller book out last night. I got it a long time ago in school and it never meant much to me, but I thought I'd see if I could put it to use now. Sometimes you have to have more context to understand something. Maybe I have enough context now.

Sunset Over Mountains, 12x9, oil on panel, $220

This painting was done with a palette knife. At the time I was painting it, I didn't think it was working. But later, after I hadn't looked at it for a bit, I realized it worked very well. Sometimes its fun to paint in an unfamiliar way. You might be surprised at the results!

Fly Fishing Sketch, 8x6

I sketched this one afternoon on our hunting trip. We were camped right by the river and there were lots of fishermen there. It used to be a blue ribbon trout fishing spot, but most of the big ones are no longer there. It was good to sketch instead of paint. I need to do more of it.

A color sketch done with my tiny pochade box and a few photos of some of the ground we covered on our hunting trip. See the peak in the distance of the photo below? We hiked past there in our search for elk. We did see some about a half a mile away and heard some bulls bugle. Its wonderful to hear that! One of the mornings just as we started out we spooked a bull that was in the trees in the draw we were walking next to. He bounded up out of there to the hillside and then took off. They are magnificent! 

Evening Glow, 6x8, oil on paper

This little painting was an experiment in color. I used a photo taken in bright sunshine and decided to put in somewhat opposite colors everywhere just to see what would happen. I like it. I don't really understand the logistics of it, but I think I'll do some more experimenting of this kind. I know that people who understand color theory much better than I do, can use it to get exactly the mood they want. Hopefully, I'll learn to do that too. It does look quite evening-ish.

Reworked

Here's my reworked version. Mostly I placed the bushes a little differently, so they don't lead off the edge so much. 

On the Easel, 9x12, oil on canvas

This is one of the scenes I did this summer during the plein air event. Only this time its from the photo. I have changed it some since I took this the other day. I'll post it when it's done. I really should plan better!

By the River at EK Park, 6x8, oil on Wallis paper

This was a great little painting until I kept messing with it and lost the quality it had at first. Shouldn't do that! 

Autumn Blaze, 6x8, oil on paper, $95

This might be the first and last of the color around here. Its gotten pretty cold and windy. We still have some trees with green leaves, but they may not turn. They might just fall off after turning brown. I hope not. Hunting season is in full swing here, with lots of preparations going on for it. We'll see what we get this year . . . hopefully not snowed out!  But if we do, I can get some painting done.

Autumn Hillside, 6x8, oil on Wallis paper

This is a little hill at the park I walk at. I always walk by this and think I should paint it. I don't think I quite did it justice - I may try again.

Rabbit Brush 2, 6x8, oil on Wallis, $95

Fall is definitely here. This is some more rabbit brush in back of my house. Its my favorite time of the year! And we even got some snow this morning.

Reflections, 6x8, oil on paper, $95

This is also from Lodi. It was "docked" here on the bank of this little pond that was part of an old homestead museum. It was such a restful scene I had to paint it.

The Sunny Side, 6x8, oil on paper, $95

Well, this is the other end of the barn. To the right of this was the last scene of the road through the vineyard. 

Vineyard Road, 6x8, oil on paper, $75

Another Lodi scene.  

Lodi 1, 6x8, oil on paper, $75

I've been doing some paintings from my trip to California earlier in the summer. This was a great barn. They seem to have lots of them like this, unlike the style we have here. 

One final shot

Another shot of the gallery

Paisley Porch Gallery

This is a shot of our little gallery located in an old hotel. We try to change out the work every few months and just got it done. Its a great little place and if you're ever in Glenrock, Wyoming you should stop in.

Quick Sketch 2, 6x8, oil on Wallis

I continue to be fascinated with horses and this one in particular. Kind of out of whack though on the body. I should do another and get it right!

Clouds Over Chugwater, 18x24, Oil on canvas, NFS

This is the finished painting. It will go into a window instead of a frame so I had to make sure it fit - which it will if I take it off the stretcher bars and staple it to the window frame instead. My favorite part of this painting is the warm orange in the foreground.

Camping View, 6x8, oil on Wallis, $95

The name says it all. We went camping last weekend and this is a view from just outside the camper. It was lovely!!

Evening, 9x12, Oil on Wallis, $295

These two horses were so peaceful, just waiting for their riders on a beautiful summer evening. Some of this is improvised; it was fun to make it up, using my imagination.