Spring Fed

Spring Fed___24 x 30 oil on linen

This is the one I worked on at the Chocolate Sketch class on Saturday. A typical Texas Hill country bluebonnet painting!

Many of our streams are "spring fed" as are the cattle!

I have some little things left to do, but you might not notice them so I decided to post it tonight...bigger paintings take a little time to "see". I like to hold them for many weeks and place them on walls around my house (or at coffee/chocolate shops!) to see things in different lighting conditions.I have planned this painting for a long while, after doing something outside that was very similar...

Ann's Bluebonnet Study

Ann's Bluebonnets - Study___3 x 9 oil on linen panel___$190

A few weeks ago I posted the finished painting of this study above. I usually work out my "oil changes" on tiny canvases before taking on a big canvas. The studies are very loose and impressionistic. Just for fun, Click the blog image to see the details of this tiny study, and compare it with the larger work!

Bluebonnet Season is winding down here in central Texas.

As they fade and get covered by the taller grasses, new flowers are springing up! There are huge fields of yellow flowers near my mom's nursing home, with a whole palette of color splashed along the edges of the roadsides. I guess our late rains and cool weather have made this a really pretty wildflower year so far!

Ann's Bluebonnets

Ann's Bluebonnets__12 x 36  oil on linen__sold

 

 

I delivered this one to an old friend Friday night. Ann lives in Panama but was in town visiting family, so we had this date planned for months for her to pick up this painting...and the REAL bluebonnets are everywhere!...

The proportion made it difficult to photograph...

For the past few months I have been a spotty blogger. I hope you have enjoyed the break!

Frankly, these have been tough months, in many ways. The main thing is loss...the loss of my mom's health, mainly. I am really enjoying a lot of time with her these days, because I know I will not have her much longer....And also the loss of a few dear friends...different situations, but feeling their loss in deep ways.

If you live long enough these times happen, I know. So many of you have shared personal stories with me as we correspond.

So as Spring is here with NEW LIFE all around, PLEASE KNOW that I thank God for you...really!

Up a Creek

Up the Creek___6x8 oil study on linen___$250
Yesterday's post was looking down the creek before the fog lifted. This one is
"up the creek" just after the fog lifted.The fog cloud burned off quickly,
leaving blue skies for the rest of the day.
Blue skies are sort of boring, so I am glad I put these in FIRST.One thing I stress
when I teach is that a painter needs to FIRST paint the thing that will change the quickest.
It might be the color of a sunrise, or livestock moving by or fog, like this day. I teach painters
how to anticipate these changes....It delves into science at times, as I am
fascinated about "why"....I have some great workshops in great locations coming up!
Please sign up and come paint with me!!

_____________V....Vaughan Spring Schedule______________

April 9-13, Southeastern Plein Air Festival, Gadsden, AL

Memorial Dy Weekend-May, Phippen Museum Western Art Show, Prescott, AZ

Summer Workshops in Texas, Colorado and more!

...see my schedule for more dates and events

Blue as Fog

Blue as Fog___6x8 oil on linen__$190

Saturday we greeted the sunrise along a Hill Country creek near Marble Falls. I had hoped for sunrise color but this fog was a nice change. I had not painted "en plein fog" in awhile and it was fun this time, because we had some long views in a tight canyon.

If you take a workshop from me, be ready for some EARLY mornings. It is my favorite time to paint, because there are ALWAYS surprises!...our surprise this time was that Kay and Carol brought a tent to set up so that they could stay out of the sun and paint all day. While they set it up, I went traipsing around our perimeter, looking for things of interest. It is always good to do a "walk through"before painting. When I was a soccer coach, I always scoped out our field, from end to end and all the way around, noting things like where the sun was, and which way it was tracking....which way the wind was blowing, and if the field had any bumps or holes or even glass or rocks on it!....as a painter, I look for dangerous things like wasp nests, fire ant mounds and snakes...and if we have cell service or can get out quickly if "bad guys" show up. It all looked great till I noticed a sign on a tree right by our cars! "POSTED, no tresspassing"...Kay's tent was already staked in, so we got our stories synchronized and stayed put....ready to ask permission if someone busted us!....just to be safe, though, I left early! So, I hope they ended up OK! hahaha

_____________________V....Vaughan Spring Schedule______________________

April 9-13, Southeastern Plein Air Festival, Gadsden, AL

Memorial Dy Weekend-May, Phippen Museum Western Art Show, Prescott, AZ

...see my schedule for more dates and events

Yucca Bonnets

Yucca Bonnets 1___8x6 oil study on linen___Sold
It is bluebonnet time in Texas, and it is a banner year! They have peaked sooner than "usual"...whatever that means. They are thick, tall and all over the nearby Hill Country of Austin, TX. I spent the day out with my bluebonnet pals, Pat, Kaye, Margie, Carol and other friends...Carol took this one home, so I will have to paint again tomorrow....ah well....
Tomorrow is the BIG vrsion of the small study I posted a few days ago from Arizona. The big one below was 16 x 20 and was completed in an hour at the Cowgirl Up! Quick Draw. Compare it to the study and tell me which one you like better!

Wickenburg This Morning---Cowgirl Up! Quick Draw---16x20 sold

HP Bluebonnet demo

Bluebonnet demo__6x8 oil on linen__$190 wet! Thursday evening I presented a short workshop in Austin. I began the lesson with a demo, using a photo I took last year. I had pre-mixed my palette ahead of time, but I prefer the "direct" approach, mixing paint as I go along. I remember watching a demo before I was a full-time painter, and wondering "how does he know how to mix those colors?" (I learned that it takes a lot of brush mileage before you can do it instinctively)...So, for this class of less experienced artists, I had the colors prepared for the first demo, and they could focus on seeing the painting process...later in the evening they got to wrangle paint for themselves as we did one of my "Chicken Clinic" paintings together....In REAL LIFE, there are NO bluebonnets this year! What a contrast to LAST YEAR~! Thank you to ALL the workshop attendees! What a successful event thrown by Hyde Park Baptist School at their Quarries Campus. Jillynn Shaver had it perfectly planned and the only bad part was that it was too short! We all had fun painting (and EATING, and visiting, and looking at the other art there!)...I HOPE that I passed along a few bits of info to a full class of 12 or 13 painters! EVERYONE had a great outcome ...probably because we ran short on time and many had to "wing it" to finish. They finished their backgrounds "solo", and some ended up with a background color that I liked more than my own, so I changed mine when I got home! (see my "finish" below)

HP Chicken Clinic___10x8 oil on linen panel__demo $250...click image to see detail

Blue Path

Blue Path___6x8___$250 includes Christmas shipping!!
It's Christmas time in Texas and everywhere! This week, I painted a little batch of paintings which are similar to my most POPULAR works in 2010....our great Texas Bluebonnet!
These will be shown JUST THIS ONCE, and then I will take them to one of my Galleries, where they will be framed and cost more! Ha! I hope you enjoy a little springtime at Christmas!...stay tuned!

Willow City Loop

Willow City Loop____30x40 oil on linen____Available at Whistle Pik Galleries, Texas
in early April, I did the plein air study for this large painting. I knew right away that I ought to do a big one...here it is! Click the image on the BLOG to see it larger. I will deliver this one (in my new, special, unique, REALLY COOL FRAME!!!) to Whistle Pik Galleries in Fredericksburg, TX next week.... I have just a few more of my spring bluebonnet studies to post, so I will scatter them with the new things I am working on....TOMORROW I will post a "drive-by" painting which I have not done yet! I am starting my third trip across a portion of the plains, to work some more on "Passing America the Great Plains" This will be a solo exhibit at the Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska....I have three plains trips this month. This weekend I will cover the Texas High Plains...to read more about my plains project click here.

Over the Hill Blues

Over the Hill Blues___6x8 oil study on linen panel__a "sort of "drive-by" painting__$190 before it dries!
Actually this one IS dry, but I prepared this post a few weeks ago...I am preparing, now, for a couple of FAST trips through the Plains. If you have not become a FOLLOWER of my other blog, now is a good time to do it! You can follow me along the Texas Plains Trail. Click to see where I am going on Thursday. This is a "quickie trip" with a friend driving me around the trail, while I prepare "drive-by" works for a museum show in fall 2011. It is a big undertaking, but I have a story to tell. The story is a sort of extension of my own farm story, as I have learned that others all over America are moving off their small farms. ...After the Texas Plains Trail, I will fly to Omaha, and paint across the Plains all the way to Denver....stay tuned!...email me if you are interested in my June workshop vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Blue Prickly Pear Patch

Blue Prickly Pear Patch___6x8 oil study on linen panel___$150

I painted this just a couple weeks ago, but already this scene looks different! I was out in the hills today, and the bluebonnets are nearly gone, being replaced by other wildflowers...and the cactus is starting to bloom!

Blue Yucca Hillside

"Blue Yucca Hillside"___6x8 oil study on linen panel___$190

Here is some IMPORTANT INFO...especially the YouTube link!:

- June 14 -16 or 17...workshop in Fredericksburg, TX email me for info! Hope you can come vvaughan8@yahoo.com
- HERE IT IS!!! Texas Country Reporter did a GREAT story on my Last Year on the Farm. It recently was re-run on RFD-TV, and now you can see it on YouTube...or click here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j1N1yZkpZ8 e-mail me if this link doesn't work vvaughan8@yahoo.com
- YOU ARE INVITED THIS FRIDAY, May 7, to a GALLERY RECEPTION at Whistle Pik Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX from 6-8 pm...but come early, because I have to leave early :)

Blue Cascade

Blue Cascade___8x6 oil study on linen panel___$190 includes shipping
I think the bluebonnets like rocky ground better than nice cultivated or deep dirt...That's what I have always heard, but this year they were thick EVERYWHERE. They and the prickly pear cactus seemed to be tumbling down this rocky outcrop near Llano, TX.
Tomorrow I am going back out to the hill country to paint, photograph and to pick up my farm paintings from the Gallery on Main Street in Marble Falls. It was a nice little show there, and I cannot thank Janey Rives and RB of the famous "R Bar" enough! As soon as you can, go to the RBar and tell RB that V....sent you! They really have great food!
HEY! PLEASE scroll down to see what I posted yesterday. I put the wrong date on it, so when I posted it, it went someplace else...sorry about that! If you are on my GROUP LIST that gets the post in an e-mail, you got this image yesterday...You can sign up for that at the top of the column at right... and be the FIRST to see my work when I post...

Here is some IMPORTANT INFO...especially the YouTube link!:

- June 14 -16 or 17...workshop in Fredericksburg, TX email me for info! Hope you can come vvaughan8@yahoo.com
- If you are in the central Texas area, I am teaching a SMALL group for just ONE DAY next week, on Wednesday, May 12. It might be full by the time you see this, but why not try! Email me for info vvaughan8@yahoo.com
- HERE IT IS!!! Texas Country Reporter did a GREAT story on my Last Year on the Farm. It recently was re-run on RFD-TV, and now you can see it on YouTube...or click here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j1N1yZkpZ8
- YOU ARE INVITED THIS FRIDAY, May 7, to a GALLERY RECEPTION at Whistle Pik Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX from 6-8 pm...but come early!!!

Weather on Willow City Loop

Weather on Willow City Loop___6 x 8 oil study on linen panel___Using this study to paint a GREAT BIG one

This week I will post the last of the bluebonnet studies from my treks through 8 counties in Texas last month....well, I will be going out again this week, so maybe I will post some after this week, too! Here is some GREAT INFO:
-June 14 -16 or 17...workshop in Fredericksburg, TX email me for info! Hope you can come vvaughan8@yahoo.com
-If you are in the central Texas area, I am teaching a SMALL group for just ONE DAY next week, on Wednesday, May 12. It might be full by the time you see this, but why not try! Email me for info vvaughan8@yahoo.com
-HERE IT IS!!! Texas Country Reporter did a GREAT story on my Last Year on the Farm. It recently was re-run on RFD-TV, and now you can see it on YouTube...or click here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j1N1yZkpZ8

Cactus Blues

Cactus Blues__6x8 oil study on linen panel___$190
These are our famous prickly pear cactus. Anybody growing up in these parts WILL have a personal prickly pear story!...one of the beautiful things about our spring is that after all the blues fade (which they are doing now...finally waning!) we are blessed with brilliant flowers in all OTHER colors. These prickly pear will bloom in another month or so, in BRILLIANT YELLOW!...I will get out and paint them soon!!
If you have not gone to see the farm paintings at the Gallery on Main in Marble Falls, this will be your last weekend to do so! Let me know if you go! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Faraway Blues

Faraway Blues___6x8 oil study on linen panel___$190__WET PAINT vvaughan8@yahoo.com
Back on the Secret Road with my buddy Earlayne...
When we first got off the main road, this little view appeared. There was a stretch of about 500 yards that took us 10 minutes to drive because every few feet was a new view and photo op! If I had not been there myself, I would look at these thick bluebonnets and say "...way too 'fantastic'"...but they really have been this thick and bushy!...on the other hand, travelling to the northern counties of the Hill Country, yesterday, I could see a big difference in the fullness of the bluebonnet patches. Not only that, but the dirt in Salado (north) is NOT RED, like the dirt in the sandy marble and pink granite areas near Fredericksburg...I think I will go out again tomorrow....just doin' my job!

Blue Pastures

Blue Pastures__6x8 oil study on linen panel__$170 ...click blog image to see some juicy detail
I am swerving off the "secret road" bluebonnet paintings I promised this week, because today I headed north with artist pal Robin Cheers (go see her work today!...and note her comment about TICKS...I feel like she does tonight!). We went up to Bell County to paint on the ranch of my friends, Tom and Debbie...it was a PERFECT day, weather-wise, but I got a few new scratches on my new pick-up truck, driving some narrow trails at the ranch. As I look at my study above, I can see some adjustments I need to make (cow anatomy), so if you want it, let me know, and I will send you the "better version". Robin and I discussed how, having grown up sketching HORSES, we both have to "proof" our cow drawings, lest our natural inclination to "round out the rump" takes over...By the end of our day, our "pasture mates" grazed themselves closer and closer, until we were surrounded by all the angus, horses and cattle egrets...oh, and ONE SERIOUS art critic, below...

Robin facing off with an art critic

Blue Place

Blue Place__6x8 oil on linen panel__$190 wet paint! click blog image to see the details.

One of the first places we drove by on E's secret road was this little old place, surrounded by bluebonnets! It reminded me of a story I heard about some folks who REMOVED a building like this from their property, after well over 50 years! In that long time period, the ground had been moved and tilled and disturbed, but the year after removing the house, a great batch of bluebonnets burst forth in the exact spot (and space!) of the foundation ...perfectly in the shape of the dimensions. The seed had laid dormant under the house all those years!

Tomorrow I am heading to some counties north of here with a friend, to see what bluebonnets there are doing...but I have a few more bluebonnet paintings to post from the secret road! Stay tuned!

Shady Blues

Shady Blues_8x6 oil on linen panel___$190 includes shipping

I mentioned the "secret road" that I was headed out to on Friday with my friend Earlayne Chance. We met out in Mason, TX (home of the Mason Open Tennis tournament where they mark off the streets downtown and play tennis there, and also play on some of the area ranches' tennis courts, and when the lights come on in summer, every great grasshopper in the county comes to the lights and crunch under your feet while you are tryng to play....ah, memories!)...

Anyway, I had to follow Earlayne down to the secret road, and it's still a secret! I have no idea where we were, but it is real pretty!..I have been working from my photos all weekend, and have a whole new batch of little bluebonnet studies for this week! Stay tuned!

Edgy Blues

Edgy Blues__6x8 oil study on linen panel___ $150 all wet!
Not only is this a great spring for Texas Bluebonnets, but the creeks and dry beds are constantly full of water, too. This low place along the Willow City Loop has had water in it all this time. Tomorrow I am meeting some friends to paint in a "secret place" where the flowers are supposed to be PERFECT!...I don't know where it is, but I LIKE perfect! Right now it is raining in these parts, so I hope tomorrow will clear up a little bit so I can paint!.
Two things to remember:
1.Selected paintings from my "Last Year on the Farm" are on exhibit at the Gallery on Main Street in Marble Falls, TX till the end of the month. PLEASE email me if you would like a special "tour" for your group vvaughan8@yahoo.com Gallery is open on the weekends and by appointment
2. Workshop June 14-16. The bluebonnets will be gone in Fredericksburg by then, but it ought to be a great time for their famous PEACHES! We will work in the studio, and on location, en plein air, focusing on DRAWING and learning to paint faster!
E-mail me if you want info vvaughan8@yahoo.com