1 Ballad: Chicken Chair

Detail: "Chicken Chair", from "The Rest"__48 x 36 oil for 

Ballad of the Farm: Then, Now. Tomorrow

The image above is a SMALL PART of my painting for a special museum event.
I call this part of the painting "Chicken Chair",
Over the next few days and weeks I will unveil the whole work, and tell of my inspiration.
My instructions from the curator were to "break out of my box", and explore the theme.
If you know my work, do you see anything "out of the box", here?

SO...I have been invited to "sing" part of a ballad!!

"Ballad of the Farm: Then. Now. Tomorrow." is a unique exhibit of artworks 

Presented by Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, with funding from NEA (National Endowment for the Arts),  MAAA, (Mid-America Arts Alliance), and others. 

The opening reception is Saturday, May 23, 2015. See the BROCHURE

Eleven artists have interpreted historic photos from family farms of long ago.

I think I am the only artist from Texas! 

I was given this opportunity last October, along with

 HUNDREDS of amazing historic photos to inspire me. 

My blog will take you along on my latest journey on the land!

Lets go!!

****

UPCOMING FOR V....

Phippen Museum Western Art Show___Prescott, AZ___May 23-25

Ballad of the Farm: Then. Now. Tomorrow__OPENING__David City, NE__May 23

This event is a VERY SPECIAL exhibit, that I have put my heart into since October, 2014. I will have a month of TARGETED blog posts about this topic, and "unveil" my special painting very soon. Visit Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art for more, and PLEASE follow my journey...soon!

A Beautiful Place

A Beautiful Place___6x12 oil on canvas panel___Commission

This is a companion piece to yesterday's post. This is the farm where yesterday's couple celebrated their wedding!

Of course I jumped on the opportunity to paint another farm....I will always be on the lookout for another farm, and hope to have one of my own some day!

***

Spent the weekend on the Texas Coast with artist Robin Cheers.

The south Texas skies have been amazing...if you like heat and solid humidity, this is the place to be right now! we dodged rain but got a lot of painting done. Tomorrow I will start to post some studies...till then, go look at Robin's!

 

Rows of White

Rows of White__12 x 12 oil on linen__available

A few weeks ago I painted this in the cold morning paintout at the Bohaty Farm in Nebraska. This was after the "warm-up" painting that I posted...

British White Cattle are very pretty, and gentle. They gathered around as we set up to paint them...seeming to enjoy the extra company!

Below is a picture of me painting this one! Look hard and you can see what I saw!

 

Remembered

Remembered___8x10 oil study

If you look at the tree trunks on the left you can see some of the actual grasses that stuck to the paint when I painted this on location in Nebraska last week. The day started very cold at the Bohaty Farm. They just updated their web site with some of the photos I took! Go see the Sandhill cranes that stopped by their beautiful farm that day!
 By late afternoon when I painted this, most of the snow had melted and the breeze died down and I could actually feel a little warmth from the sun...This is a long abandoned farm owned by my friend, Allen. Since it is surrounded by busy farms, everyone in these parts REMEMBERS its purpose, and the families that once lived and worked here! I bet everyone has a farm in teir memory!

Twilight Transit

Twilight Transit__16x20__available at Act I Gallery, Taos, NM

Boy do I have a lot of art to share!  ...and other stuff of life! 

Where to begin??

For now, I will share some art, and hope you enjoy!

A few weeks ago I did this painting as a demo for some great artists of the

Hill Country PACT.  

Below is the start of the demo...above is the finish. If you were there, tell  me what you think!

Since it a twilight scene, I am sending it to Act I Gallery inTaos, for the winter exhibit called "Twilight". 

Since this photo, I have added the "morning star", Venus, as it looked a few months ago during the rare Venus Transit. So that explains the title!

Tomorrow's post begins a little series I have begun. It is special to my heart, and will benefit some lovely elderly people I know! Please check in tomorrow!

Merry CHRISTmas, Joey!! 

Invisible Clearly Seen

Invisible Clearly Seen___30x24 oil on linen___Contact V.... for info 

I am a member of a group of artists who exhibit 4 times a year at a church in Austin, TX. This group is VERY DIVERSE, with artworks that explore many different media and methods, including sculpture, metalwork, glass and mosaics. Each exhibit has a theme, and the artists create works based on the theme. We write an interpretation of our work in accordance with the theme. Here is my interpretation of my new painting above:

"God's created handiwork reveals His very character. When we seek to understand Him, He often uses His natural world to "explain" and answer some complex questions. Sunrise happens every morning, and it is often a visual rhapsody displaying His glory! We see LIGHT swallowing darkness, reminding us that God IS LIGHT. Light reflects off of other created things: the moon, fog, clouds: These only reflect and do not generate light or color or warmth."

Come to the reception Friday, if you are nearby!

The Prayer and Creativity Team (PACT) Presents "Visual Rhapsody" a multi media art exhibit at "Open Doors" Gallery at Hill Country Bible Church Northwest Campus in the Worship Center Balcony (Building A- 3rd Floor).

The opening reception will be Friday, September 21 from 7-9 pm

• Free admission
• Excellent, original artwork with a Christian perspective.
• Live music and delicious desserts served.

For more information refer to www.pactofaustin.com or to schedule a gallery tour please

 call 577-3339.

Duck Creek Lightning Night

Duck Creek Lightnings__24x30 oil on linen__a commission

I have a commission to paint a ranch in Nebraska. I have been there several times, most recently in June (Tina was my travel buddy)...The very first day there, we had the ranch to ourselves, so we tromped around with the help of some "wheels" they provided...This place is situated on the Platte River, and there were miles of wild places to explore. My FAVORITE impression happened as we pulled away at dusk, and I tried to capture it here. Storms were approaching from the west, with thunderheads building, and I am just sure I saw some distant lightning.  In the wetlands were DOZENS of "lightning bugs" and they seemed to be blinking replies to the lightning in the clouds....

_______________________

Here are some locations for a few of my workshops. email me if you want more info on any of these...

And here is a link to a SPECIAL ONE.

I can't wait to see the water go down the drain BACKWARDS there!

July-August ___weekly__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscuro" 

Sept. 15, 2012___Salado TX

2013___New York City, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania...

2014___February 23-March 1___New Zealand

**BE SURE to tell me if you sign up! I like to send things to my students to get them ready, keep them "seeing", and thinking, and talking about it!

Sunny Dawn

Sunny Dawn__16x20 oil on linen___available next week Act I Gallery, Taos

Here are some locations for a few of my workshops. email me if you want more info on any of these...

And here is a link to a SPECIAL ONE.

I can't wait to see the water go down the drain BACKWARDS there!

July-August ___weekly__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscuro" 

Sept. 15, 2012___Salado TX

2013___New York City, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania...

2014___February 23-March 1___New Zealand

**BE SURE to tell me if you sign up! I like to send things to my students to get them ready, keep them "seeing", and thinking, and talking about it!

Gertrudis Gathering

Gertrudis Gathering___12 x 16 oil on canvas panel___$950 to the Gadsden Art Museum

I painted with artist Amanda Carder on a nice back road full of farms near Gadsden, Alabama....this herd kept moving that morning, giving me lots of "cow views", and a couple of small studies which I have already posted. All the works are still at the Museum, on display with Amanda's work and some 13 other artists...

_______________V....Vaughan Spring Schedule________________

Works hang till May, 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

One Way Strike

One Way___24 x 30 oil on linen____available at Cowgirl Up!___$4500

I have wanted to paint this one since I did the plein air study back on our farm a few years ago. Read the story about it here.

The study was part of my Last Year on the Farm exhibit, and ended up being purchased by an art museum, The Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art...

SPEAKING OF MUSEUMS!...I participate in many exhibits and over the years my paintings have been purchased by several museums for their permanent collections. One such museum recently had a special showing of selections from their collection, and MY PAINTING was stolen off the wall! Of course the museum has an elaborate security system and cameras everywhere, but the person was able to leave with the painting, without alarms. So the investigation began, but it was not long before the thief was overwhelmed with guilt and decided to return the work...

WOW! An art heist! I told the musum director to please NOT TELL ME if the theif admits that he got my painting home and decided that it did not look too good over their couch....

_____________________V....Vaughan Spring Schedule______________________

March 23-25, Cowgirl Up! Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, AZ

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

...see my schedule for more dates and events

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)

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!

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!

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

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

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

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/a-e/texas-artist-v-vaughan-presents-exhibition-representing-the-loss-of-farms-on-the-plains-1.2645680#.ToyTzevgJDU

#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!

#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!

For order/size info, click here http://www.reallybigcanvas.com/content/flames-life

#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!

For order/size info, click here http://www.reallybigcanvas.com/content/flames-life

Looking West

Looking West___6x8 oil on linen panel for Passing America: The Great Plains

I LOVE road trips. All my life of travel has mostly been by car, and nearly ALWAYS west, through the Great Plains. I have lived ALL my years on the Plains (except that one year I was born, they tell me, but I don't believe them, since I don't remember :)
The biggest thrill along the way, is when the LONG OPEN plains, finally end at the foot of the Rockies. We always keep a "lookout" so we can be first to say "there's the mountains!"...(bad grammar, but we are Texans! We do it on purpose just to annoy people! :)
This is another painting from a winter batch that I delivered along with the rest. My solo exhibit at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln, NE is called Passing America: The Great Plains and runs from Oct. 7, through Dec. 11, 2011. Come meet me at the opening reception on Oct. 7! I will tell a few tales of my journey and purpose for this exhibit.