Thursday, December 15, 2011

Kelly's Coach on First



Kelly's Coach on First__10 x 8 oil on linen panel___SOLD to Kelly


A Christmas commission...I am painting some works for friends and patrons and collectors who have gifts to give....Merry CHRISTmas, y'all!

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Hunter's Fence

Hunter's Fence__6x8 oil on linen panel___$190 ...wet

Below is the plein air version of this one...my "state 1", which was a demonstration at my Fredericksburg workshop a few weeks ago....I was making some points about painting trees. Just yesterday I was sitting at the Hyde Park Marketplace, in Austin, showing some work and tending to some student art projects, and decided to finish this one....Without any reference, I just started putting some dark colors into the foreground. A boy watching me said, "I like that fence!"

I said "What fence?" ...He pointed to some strokes that he said look like a fence, so I went with it!

Then I told him I would name the painting after him! ...I hope he is looking at the blog today!

Hi Hunter!

Hunter's Fence- state 1



Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Cowsides

Cowsides___6x8 oil on linen___$250
This is another one from my November workshop in Fredericksburg...Hey KF, let me know what you think!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Cowside

Cowside___8x10 oil on linen panel___for K.F....I THINK!
I began this one as a one-color value sketch...demonstrating how our brush is a "shape-maker" and not a "line-maker" as a pencil is...I intended to fill the canvas with various views of the cattle in the pasture, but somehow ended up creating a composition with the elements there....ah well....I got carried away...



Monday, November 28, 2011

Moonlift

Moonlift___8x6 oil study on linen panel___$190
Yesterday's painting is literally the "other side" of this one. I painted it facing west as the sun went down, and called it "Sunslide" for a special reason. Immediately after painting it, I turned to the east to paint the full moon rising. But because of the cloud cover, we never really saw the moon, but could see the "lift" of moonlight from behind the clouds. So that explains the title of this one....Both were "lessons" or demos painted during my last workshop in Texas. We had been hoping for some interesting skies and were mostly given CLEAR BLUE skies...until this one evening.

Sunslide

Sunslide___6x8 oil study on linen panel___$190
Here I resume works from my recent workshop in Fredericksburg...hello to the workshop gang! For the next few days I will post the rest of the finished studies. I title this one "Sunslide", because the sun did not set that day, it just "slid" out of sight"......Happy Holidays to all!!!

If I miss a few days of posting art, you can almost be sure something is not well...
I have lost a dear, dear Brother-in-Law....more of a brother to me, since he has been in our family from the time I was a little girl... Doyle Bridgefarmer married my sister, Mary in 1970, and was the father of SIX of my nieces and nephews....He was sick since summer, and cancer claimed him just before Thanksgiving....so, it has been a sweet month of much time spent at their house, and with all the family.
My family is rather fun-loving and very up-beat, so having this time to say long goodbyes has been good for many reasons, but now we have the long process of missing him...

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Line of Light

Line of Light__6x8 oil on linen panel___$ 250 unless you were in the Fredericksburg workshop
K.R. remembers chatting with me while we waited for the sunset to BLAZE its spectrum during our last session of my Fredericksburg workshop. While telling her how the color "works" and what to look for, I did a color sketch. I had to make up the clouds to scatter the color, since we had only a few high, wispy clouds. The sky in the painting above was my "demo" for her, and illustrated my point...later on I added the coastal landscape...just for fun ...

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Orange in the Dark

Orange in the Dark__6x8 oil on linen panel___$250 unless you were in the workshop :)
OK, I have a lot to say about this one! I painted it while we waited for the moon to rise in the workshop last week in Fredericksburg. K.R. was "shadowing me" and had lots of questions about the sunset colors and how fast they happen...I stalled and him-hawed while waiting for some good color, but it was just too bright looking into the sun...so I created a "South Carolina" landscape and made up a sky with the color I needed so I could tell her a thing or two....Well, in an INSTANT, 15 minutes or more after the sun was down, this BLAZE of color sizzled on the few clouds above us...There was NO LIGHT on my palette, and I only painted the VALUES, using what I THOUGHT were my bright mixes of orangey sunshine...I knew where the darks were on the palette, and used them quickly on the foreground when the color faded in the clouds. All the while I painted, I gave a disclaimer that there was no telling what colors I was using, and that it might not look so hot in the morning!...wouldn't you know it! This is the ONLY study I brought home that I will NOT change!...I guess I paint better in the dark...maybe I will try one with my eyes closed!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

11-11-11 Moonset

11-11-11 Moonset ___6x8 oil on linen panel___$190 unframed
I miss my workshop buddies! Anyone who will get up before dawn and drag their paints out in the cold (it was 25 degrees one morning!) is a FRIEND of mine!!! And I have more than a dozen new ones after last week in Fredericksburg!...
Below is this painting above, in its plein air state! When painting fast (which I have to do when the light changes quickly), I often lay down only enough details that I can finish it later. All the info I needed in the field is there!...I was able to do a couple more such "starts" before the sun got too high...now I am home, finishing these! You will see such "finishes" in the days ahead! Let me know what you think! ESPECIALLY those of you who were with me when I started this one :)




11-11-11 Moonset_state 1__in Fredericksburg, Texas Workshop...My next workshop there is during June 2012. Email me for details! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Chilly for Breakfast

Chilly for Breakfast__ oil on linen__sold to F.S.
We had a couple of paintouts at this location during my Fredericksburg workshop this week.
These cows look like they are all safe in the corral, but the gate was open the whole time and they were free to leave and roam up to our hilltop location....which they did! Cows are very curious and could not resist inspecting our easels and art gear!
Our hands froze on this chilly morning, but it was worth it to paint in such a great location!
(A BIG version of "Chilly for Breakfast" one will be on the easel right away)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

End of the Day Lights

End of the Day Lights___11x14 oil on linen___$950 (unless you saw me paint this)
If you saw me paint this, then you are in my workshop this week in Fredericksburg, TX. This was my first demo...NOT a fast demo, because I talked a lot while demonstrating all the color you can get out of a BASIC limited palette of 3 ccolors plus white. It was painted from a photo of a place in Colorado's San Luis Valley (my FAVORITE place on earth to paint)...I will teach a workshop there in August next year...e-mail me if you'd like info!....
We are painting en plein-cold-air this week, and enjoying warm beverages afterwards. Wait till you hear the stories!...I have to wait till after we are through tomorrow to share...just in case my workshop is blogging tonight!

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Art Student - JK

JK___18 x 12 sketch on paper___for JK
My student sketches usually have some lesson that is easier for me to SHOW than to tell...This was a quickie in class not too long ago. Since then, we have ventured into clay and then oils, but I want to take the students to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, soon. The weather is cooled off and the animals will be active and fun to sketch.
Various "life matters" have prevented me from posting lately, but hopefully things will settle down soon!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Plain View

Plain View___6x8 oil on linen___one from Passing America__$350 unframed


This one has a story...it was painted for my current exhibit, "Passing America...".

...in the place with the biggest sky of my travels: western Nebraska...Because I ran out of panels that day, I painted it on a "loose" piece of linen, and then never found time to mount it, so it was not delivered it to the museum for the show! I have since mounted it, so it is available unframed...

The Digital Goddess, Kim Komando mentioned my "Last Year on the Farm" in her newsletter this week! I have received some HEARTFELT notes from all over the country from people who are missing their farms, too. Click for Kim's newsletter, and scroll down halfway for my feature (it's a video)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Missing the Farm - part 2

Last Year on the Farm, Late Spring Day- 16 of 24___available $450 framed and shipped


Yesterday I invited everyone to the opening of a small showing in Austin. I have put together about 100 small works, remnants of Last Year on the Farm, my 2008 exhibit. These are the ones still available from that exhibit of over 365 works. The painting I posted yesterday was from a group of works : "24 paintings in 24 hours"....I did this 6 times that year...once for each season of the year, plus a couple special days. Yesterday's painting was from a Late Spring Day at 6:50 pm. The one above was painted immediately after it, at 7:20 pm. Click to note the differences. I remember chasing down the hill so that I could paint the same cloud as it built into a thunderhead, wanting to keep the tree as my foreground....ah, memories...missing the farm!

See "Late Spring" and all 24 that I did that day...actually there are 25! I remember getting on a roll and losing count that day!

If you click, please scroll down beneath all the months (Jan, Feb, Mar...) to a section below called 24 in 24... I think MOST people have missed these groupings of 24 works, because not many have sold, compared to the others. So my exhibit in Austin has many of these, and some are my favorite paintings!...

THIS THURSDAY, October 27, from 5 - 8 pm at Riverbend Church
(click for directions)...I will have a few books to sign and lots of good art to see.


The art will be on display in the Inspirations Gallery at the church through November 17. Please go see, and bring a friend!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Missing the Farm

A Late Spring painting from Last Year on the Farm__6x8 oil__6x8 framed/delivered


Lately, I have spoken often of my current exhibit, "Passing America....", which is an extension of a theme I started 5 years ago. The them is the passing of America's small farms and our agrarian way of life. Our family had to leave our farm, and I did a painting each day of our last year there. See all 365 paintings HERE...or BETTER YET, please come to an abbreviated exhibit of 100 of the works on display in Austin, TX. I call it "Missing the Farm"

The opening reception is THIS THURSDAY, October 27, from 5 - 8 pm at Riverbend Church

(click for directions)...I will have a few books to sign and lots of good art to see.

The art will be on display in the Inspirations Gallery at the church through November 17. Please go see, and bring a friend!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Sketch of CJK

Sketch of CJK, student __________NFS
Continuing with figure drawing demos for the students I teach....we will do Chicken Clinic's with oils soon!
I have had a "distracted" week, and am getting ready to go to Kansas again tomorrow....
Whwe!...I mean, WHEW!
Lost my operating system last week and learned that I am very dependant on my Outlook calendar! I need to know how to sync it with .....what?....an iphone or something???? at least my laptop.
This week I missed appointments, and art deadlines, broke my cell phone and lost phone numbers (grrrr) and ALMOST missed a family friend's wedding, (son bailed me out with the gift and details!), and have fallen way behind ....but worst of all, we learned that

my sister's husband is very sick, and we have a big battle ahead....SOON.

To those who do, PLEASE PRAY, if you will....

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Sketch of A.R.

Sketch of A.R.__my student
Well, I am back from Nebraska...for a few days now! Texas has cooled off since I left a couple weeks ago!
The sketch above is a class demo for the art students at Hyde Park Baptist School. I teach a couple of morning classes there, now. We did figure drawing in Sept, and now we are painting...more on that, later.
I left Nebraska with MANY new friends and good memories! Had fun on the backroads looking for painting locations with great artists... and looking for Combines...eating ribeye at Big Fella's in Linwood....twice!!...hitting a deer on the way back...God, please heal her....Becoming a fan of artist Dale Nicholls ....Chit chatting for hours with Anna and Amanda...and Allen about reviving small towns: I say food tours like wine tours, and in David City, NE, we can include art, architecture,....and build a couple of B&B accommodations ....
***SIGN UP for my November 9-11 workshop in Fredericksburg
, TX...full moon!
***COME MEET ME at a reception and showing of about 100 paintings from Last Year on the Farm. THURSDAY, Oct. 27, 5-7 Riverbend Church Gallery, Austin, TX ...

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Moonrise Laughter

Moonrise Laughter__6x8 oil on linen panel___SOLD wet!

Have you seen the harvest moon? A few days ago we were all together having a little picnic before I did one last demo of the moonrise, and the workshop folks broke into singing "Shine on Harvest Moon". Here is that last demo of a wonderful Nebraska Workshop.
The title is from my own favorite song of the Plains: "Calling Out Your Name", by Rich Mullins...the lyric is this:

"The moon moved past Nebraska and spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills..."


These aren't the Dakota Hills, but there was a lot of spilled laughter as I demonstrated and the group chatted and enjoyed one another for the last time....what a group! They came from all over the place with many fun stories to tell....Precious friendships, now, and I cannot wait to meet up again....I hope y'all are painting!!!!
have you seen the Passing America paintings?

Friday, October 14, 2011

Chilly Morning at Allen's Old Place

Chilly Morning at Allen's Old Place__8x10 oil on linen__$450 with wet paint
With miles and miles of Nebraska cornfields and soybeans ready to come out of the fields, my workshop found the PERFECT HILLTOP to paint from. A hilltop place (formerly belonging to one of my hosts, Allen, but now being restored by his good friends, the Moravec's) has given us 360 degrees of landscapes to paint! You will see a number of my hilltop demos in the next few days! Whereas the sun rose QUICKLY from reds to yellows in yesterday's post, this sunrise "stalled" when low, foggy damp clouds rode in on the western breezes. Artists like when there is a LITTLE more time to grasp the glance outside.
Passing America: The Great Plains click to see 154 works from the show

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Mark at the Round Barn

Mark at the Round Barn___8x10 oil on linen panel__$450
Dale Nicholls is the great regional painter from this area, who made it big in the art world.
Now deceased, this was his family's home, and this type of barn is rare and unique...It is a treasure in Butler County, NE, and we had to have special permission to bring the workshop here for me to paint this study.
My aim was to NOT get tight and paint every board on the barn, and when I do another version, I will emphasize the scale more with some more people or equipment...see the little man by the door on the left? He is too BIG for this scale...the barn is HUGE!!!
I have a few more things to post from my workshop, but for the past few days, I have been working in some of the high schools here, speaking and demonstrating and introducing them to my Chicken Clinic...Great kids here, and a LOT of fun!
See my entire exhibit Passing America: The Great Plains
Next workshop: Fredericksburg, TX, Nov 9-11...FULL MOON FUN! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Marietta Presentation

Marietta Presentation__6x8 oil on linen panel___$350 while wet
This little church is in the distance off the northwest side of our workshop hilltop location in Nebraska. When you can see for distant MILES and miles, WHITE things catch sunlight...and the eye of an artist! My sky was crystal clear the morning I did this warm-up painting...my first from the hilltop. As our week has progressed, I have seen cloud shadows moving over this scene, and can't wait to get home and paint a larger one with my reference photos.
Passing America: The Great Plains click to see 154 works from the show

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Lit Up Cloud Tops

Lit Up Cloud Tops__6x8 oil on linen panel__$350 while wet!
There was rain predicted for each day of my workshop here in Nebraska, but somehow we managed to avoid it! These little cloud tops were in the east as the sun set at our backs on the Moravec Hilltop. I forgot the point I was making to the students when I grabbed this small canvas and put in the color of the cloud tops....maybe it was something about the complementary colors in daylight...
I am in NE for the opening of my long project, "Passing America: The Great Plains" at the University of Nebraska's Great Plains Art Museum...it has been well received, so far, and will be up through mid December! Click link to see all 154 works

Monday, October 10, 2011

Gourmet Grass Fed

Gourmet Grass-Fed___6x8 study for the Bohaty's (sounds like "BO-hotty")
We painted at the Bohaty farm today....This is a study of their British White Cattle which they raise for their Gourmet Beef business. I will be ordering some of this delicious beef, grass fed, organic and raised with tender loving care by Walter, and Nancy Bohaty!
The Bohaty family are some of the most gracious people you could ever meet, and I have feasted with them several times now...including an impromptu picnic today on their lawn with all my workshop artists!!
The study above was to demonstrate how DARK shadows are on white things, and how much color is in white cows...I didn't mean to create a compsition, so it's not great, but the lessons are there...
Here is the beef website... http://www.gourmetgrassfedbeef.com/

AND...here is a WONDERFULLY NICE article in the Lincoln Star Journal newspaper, written by their art critic, Kent Wolgamott...it is well written, and the image is clickable! http://journalstar.com/entertainment/arts-and-culture/visual/article_a0655375-4498-5346-a901-a6ca136ae0dc.html Please tell me what you think! And drop him a note if you like it!

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Hilltop Sunrise

Hilltop Sunrise___8x10 oil in linen panel___$550 unframed
Yes, there are hilltops in Nebraska! I am teaching a workshop here in Butler County where there is a region called the "Bohemian Alps", because the hills are ....um...."noteable"! They rise and give GREAT vista's of the farmland. It is harvest time right now. Corn, soybeans and corn.
The painting above was my sunrise demo...the weather has been great!!! Tomorrow,...Sunrise and MOONRISE from this hilltop...stay tuned
*** if you are in the Lincoln, NE area from now to December, go see my solo show at the Great Plains Art Museum... Passing America: The Great Plains

I have one more workshop this year! COME paint with me in Texas!
Nov. is a PERFECT time to paint in fabulous Fredericksburg... http://www.fbgartschool.com/2011_classes.htm scroll down this page to V....Vaughan

Click to see SPECIAL piece of artwork to benefit a Texas fire victim. A fun way to help if you can!

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Daily Nebraskan Story

Workshop Demo__after "Where Morning Gathers"___12x16__$950 unless you are in the workshop

So! Last night was the opening of "Passing America: The Great Plains"...lots of people came, on a busy night in Lincoln, NE. Bill Cosby performed across the street, and the Husker Homecoming festivities were in full force. As I type this, the Huskers are on TV, momentum on their side as they are catching up to BEAT Ohio State! (football fan, here).

I am staying in NE an extra week, to teach a series of workshops.

Today, I taught a full group of mostly professional artists. I demonstrated my technique of painting fast, by simplifying the scene into 5-7 shapes of color, and pre-mixing the colors. Below is my palette, with colors pre-mixed, in ORDER as they will be placed on the canvas. ...The demo is a derivative of my LARGEST painting at the Great Plains Art Museum..

Tomorrow we will meet at sunrise and paint till sunset! Get ready, y'all!!!

Please read the nice article below...

Danielle Rue is a young writer for the Daily Nebraskan, (University paper) and she did a VERY good job of interviewing me! Thank you, Danielle! The story is great, and makes me want to meet me! hahaha


Wednesday, October 05, 2011

#72 - In the Sandhills

In the Sandhills of NE__6x8 oil on linen___ for Passing America...__$490 framed
I painted this on one of my journeys doing drive-by paintings for my Passing America...exhibit which opens FRIDAY NIGHT in Lincoln. I remember painting it during a span of time when I was churning out the works...painting and putting them away...When I got home, I did not appreciate this one! Didn't really like it, till JUST NOW!
I write this from a hotel in Ogallala, NE, at the edge of these same sandhills! I am here to shoot pictures and do a few studies of a ranch that I get to paint in the upcoming months. It is not REALLY on the way to Lincoln, where I need to be tomorrow, but it was close enough that I HAD to come, to see it in THIS season.
Having just returned from the sandhills, I see the beauty here, and this little painting above is not terrible! You might have to be from Nebraska to know what I mean )
COME SEE THE EXHIBIT if you can, or see them on my website. I now have ALL 154 paintings for this exhibit on my web site. Go take a look! You can see the size, price and availability of each painting.

there is still time to sign up for one of these two workshops below!
http://bonecreek.org/pdf/Vaughan%20workshop.pdf ...FULL

http://www.fbgartschool.com/2011_classes.htm scroll down this page to V....Vaughan

Click to see SPECIAL piece of artwork to benefit a Texas fire victim. A fun way to help if you can!

Monday, October 03, 2011

#96 - Plain Mesa

Plain Mesa__8x10 oil on linen panel__for Passing America: The Great Plains__$590 framed
See a special feature about my upcoming solo show at the University of Nebraska's Great Plains Art Museum in this month's issue of Peaks&Plains Magazine. I will give a little talk about the practice of "drive-by" impressionism, and some thoughts about the passing of America, during the opening reception in Lincoln. Come if you can on October 7, next Friday night.
The painting here was done near Santa Ana, TX, at the edge of the plains, where a few mesas break up the plain, and in this case, some skipping shadows moved over the plainscape. I love the suummer sky!
I now have ALL 154 paintings for this exhibit on my web site. Go take a look!, and come back as I am adding more details every day...but the good part is the pictures, and they are all there!

Sign up for one of these two workshops!
http://bonecreek.org/pdf/Vaughan%20workshop.pdf

http://www.fbgartschool.com/2011_classes.htm scroll down this page to V....Vaughan

Click to see SPECIAL piece of artwork to benefit a Texas fire victim. A fun way to help if you can!

Sunday, October 02, 2011

#114 - Stanley Cold

Stanley Cold__6x8 oil__#114 of 154 works for Passing America: The Great Plains
Passing America: The Great Plains opens Friday, Oct. 7 in Lincoln. If you can come, LET ME KNOW! I will teach a workshop right after the opening, on Sat. through Mon.
For this exhibit, I created over 150 works, MOSTLY on the move as "drive-by" paintings. This one was painted on a train. The Amtrak leg between St. Paul, MN and Montana. I took this trip during the deepest part of winter in order to paint snow and not endanger my usual drivers! It was one of the best trips EVER! This one was painted near Stanley, ND on a bitter cold winter day. Under all that snow was a lonely, isolated little farm....resting.

I am slowly putting all 150+ paintings up on a web page. Click this link to see my first draft. the works are all here, but there is a LOT of editing to do. Browse around and let me know if something catches your eye...
http://virginiavaughan.com/gallery/

Thursday, September 29, 2011

#80 Lightning Path


Lightning Path____8x10 oil on linen_for Passing America: The Great Plains__$590 framed

I painted this after painting #79 (yesterday's post)...we drove right into the storm and I continued to paint it...studying the CONSTANT flashes of lightning so that I could try to nail the color. It was a FIERCE storm on the plains...the kind that gets your adrenaline rushing. Zoom in on this one and you will see some NERVOUS brush work!

Sign up for one of my two upcoming workshops!
http://bonecreek.org/pdf/Vaughan%20workshop.pdf

http://www.fbgartschool.com/2011_classes.htm scroll down page to V....Vaughan

Click to see SPECIAL piece of artwork to benefit a Texas fire victim. A fun way to help if you can!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

#79- Approaching the Storm-2

Approaching the Storm__6x8 oil on linen__for Passing America: The Great Plains __$590

I posted the immediate drive-by version of this canvas right after I did it. Compare the "before and after", and also note the differences in the quality of the photos...You artists out there know how hard it is to get good color on a photo of your paintings...the real painting is somewhere between the images...
Here is what I wrote about the storm we approached...read it in preparation for tomorrow's blog post with the LIGHTNING painting I did right after this one ...
http://vvaughan.blogspot.com/2010/05/approaching-storm.html
"...here is another one from last week's trip thru the Texas Plains Trail....This was the only bad weather we had ...a huge storm before Coleman and Winters, TX. The sky was black and lightning was all around us. Do those brush strokes seem nervous? I painted this one and another one as we went through the storm. The strokes are even MORE nervous on the next painting...tomorrow!

Your chance to paint with me at one of these workshops!
http://bonecreek.org/pdf/Vaughan%20workshop.pdf
http://www.fbgartschool.com/2011_classes.htm scroll down this page to V....Vaughan

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

#91 - Thunderhead Glow

Thunderhead Glow___6x8 oil on linen _for Passing America: The Great Plains_$490 framed and shipped
This one was my last drive-by of the day last spring when my friend Barbara C. drove me on the entire circuit of the Texas Plains Trail...I have some interesting posts to put up about that trip...they were LONELY roads in wide open farming places, but so few people in the towns, including Crosbyton, TX, where I painted this one. I hate to say it, but we got a creepy feeling at the hotel there, and moved on down to Lubbock for the night. It was not the town itself ...towns can't be creepy, people are, and there was a strange character checking into the hotel ahead of us, so we "moseyed"...even though we were REALLY tired and it was almost dark...PLEASE stay tuned for some news about my upcoming show. I have a lot of things to "unveil" and many of you have been following along all these years...I REALLY enjoy your input...THANK YOU!

See a special feature about my upcoming solo show at the University of Nebraska's Great Plains Art Museum in this month's issue of Peaks&Plains Magazine.

Sign up for one of these two workshops!
http://bonecreek.org/pdf/Vaughan%20workshop.pdf

http://www.fbgartschool.com/2011_classes.htm scroll down this page to V....Vaughan

Click to see SPECIAL piece of artwork to benefit a Texas fire victim. A fun way to help if you can!

Friday, September 23, 2011

#90 - Windy Hilltop

Cow Hilltop__8x10 oil on linen panel__for Passing America: The Great Plains__$590 framed

Some of you have noticed the #89 before the painting title (or #90, for this post!). I have numbered each painting that is in the upcoming exhibit as a way to track and catalog the pieces. VERY SOON, I will have all the works TOGETHER in a special place on my web site, and you will be able to view thumbnails and a LARGE image, and to see which works are available. I will give my blog/email/Google group/and facebook friends the first look at the exhibit "all together". There is still a lot of writing to do, but each painting has a story of travel and observation of the lost farms across the Plains. I hope you will stay along for the finish of my journey.
Below is some info about upcoming workshops, and help for a Texas fire victim ...

See a special feature about my upcoming solo show at the University of Nebraska's Great Plains Art Museum in this month's issue of Peaks&Plains Magazine.

Sign up for one of these two workshops!
http://bonecreek.org/pdf/Vaughan%20workshop.pdf

http://www.fbgartschool.com/2011_classes.htm scroll down this page to V....Vaughan

Click to see SPECIAL piece of artwork to benefit a Texas fire victim. A fun way to help if you can!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

#89 - Canyon's Canyon

Canyon's Canyon__8x10 oil on linen panel_for Passing America: The Great Plains__$590 framed
This is a "drive-by" painting for my upcoming solo show in Nebraska. This one was painted along the road east of Canyon, TX and along the rim of the great Palo Duro Canyon...

Below is a link to a great magazine feature about my plains project...

And below that are other important links I hope you will look at!

See a special feature about my upcoming solo show at the University of Nebraska's Great Plains Art Museum in this month's issue of Peaks&Plains Magazine.

Sign up for one of these two workshops!
http://bonecreek.org/pdf/Vaughan%20workshop.pdf

http://www.fbgartschool.com/2011_classes.htm scroll down this page to V....Vaughan


Click to see SPECIAL piece of artwork to benefit a Texas fire victim. A fun way to help if you can!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

#88- Panhandle Span

Panhandle Span___8x10 Oil on linen panel __for Passing America: The Great Plains_$590 framed
Location: Texas Panhandle, along the Texas Plains Trail on the span of plains, under the span of sky.

See a special feature about my upcoming solo show at the University of Nebraska's Great Plains Art Museum in this month's issue of Peaks&Plains Magazine.








ALSO...PLEASE see what you can do to help a Bastrop, TX fire victim...My good friend, Linda....(below)



Flames of Life



A SPECIAL REPRODUCTION to benefit a Texas fire victim___various sizes



To see the sad story, and photos click here...PLEASE pass this along to ANYONE who might help!




Tuesday, September 20, 2011

#84 - Between Earth and Hereford

Between Earth and Hereford___6x8 oil on linen panel__$490 for Passing America...
This drive-by painting was done in May, 2010. My friend Barbara drove me over the entire circuit of the Texas Plains Trail. It was a thrilling few days, because each day the clouds would build behind us, and tornado warnings would pop up in the places we had just left.


This was a morning location near Dimmitt, TX. Between a couple of small towns named, yes, EARTH, TX and Hereford, TX...I like the double meaning of the title, and will probably add some Hereford cattle in there, just to make people wonder :) A rain shower had just passed and the light was hitting the elevators and hay fields ahead of us.




ALSO...PLEASE see what you can do to help a Bastrop, TX fire victim...My good friend, Linda....(below)


Flames of Life




A SPECIAL REPRODUCTION to benefit a Texas fire victim___various sizes




To see the sad story, and photos click here...PLEASE pass this along to ANYONE who might help!



Monday, September 19, 2011

#93 - Morning Puff

Morning Puff___8x10 oil on linen__$590 framed for Passing America: The Great Plains




Along the Texas Plains Trail one morning, I did this "drive-by" painting south of Lubbock, near Slaton, TX. These humid clouds and all the moisture and "lift" became tornados later in the day. (May 17, 2010)





This canvas is one of 150 works completed for a solo show at the Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Please join me at the opening reception on Friday, October 7, 5 - 7 pm. I will give a brief talk about the works and my journey through the Plains. The Exhibit runs from Oct 7 - Dec 11, 2011...please let me know if you go, and what you think!





ALSO...PLEASE see what you can do to help a Bastrop, TX fire victim...My good friend, Linda....(below)










Flames of Life





A SPECIAL REPRODUCTION to benefit a Texas fire victim___various sizes





To see the sad story, and photos click here...PLEASE pass this along to ANYONE who might help!





Monday, September 12, 2011

Flames of Life

Flames of Life__A SPECIAL GICLEE REPRODUCTION for the benefit of a Texas fire victim___whatever size you want!



A number of my friends were affected by the recent Texas fires (ONGOING, by the way!...but not being mentioned by the news media...)



My dear friend, Linda has a business, Angel Mountain Events, that is on top of a little hill surrounded by pine trees. A beautiful place she has nurtured for years, making memories for people celebrating life's big events. She hung some of my paintings there, including a large painting of poppies...the center feature of her great room. Last week Angel Mountain burned to the ground...a TOTAL loss. (see photos below).


Linda is devastated, and as her friend, this has touched me deeply. When I am sad, I often paint, and this seems to help me process loss and move forward...even if it is just co-miserating with a friend....SO I PAINTED THE POPPIES ABOVE, and am offering PRINTS for sale, with the proceeds TOTALLY dedicated to helping with this tragedy.


The printer is Canvas Press, and Really Big Canvas, a company in Round Rock, Texas. They do BEAUTIFUL work, and have set up a way that you can order a print EASY!...They have discounted their price A LOT, just for this cause!...Together we are giving every penny of the profit to Angel Mountain...PLEASE pass along this link, to anyone looking for a great piece of art, a spot of color, or a blessing!
http://www.reallybigcanvas.com/content/flames-life
Printed on premium artist canvas or archival paper, you have many choices of size and ALL the prices are WAY BETTER than I could offer! PLEASE help, however you can!...The photos below are "before/after" shots of Angel Mountain...note that the only thing standing was that wall with the crosses...Life finds a way!...please pass this along!





Angel Mountain____before

...and after the fire in Bastrop Texas



The Angel Mountain Pavilion, and butterfly gardens___before






...and after the Bastrop fire....

...by the way, the original poppy painting is for the NEW Angel Mountain!