From His Canopy

From His Canopy___6x8 oil study on panel__for Fire House Show, Colorado

Another one from our drive through Taos on the way to Santa Fe. I painted this in the car, just as we left Taos, headed south...each day we have been in southern Colorado, we have had a little bit of rain, at least!...we are really hoping that since water runs downhill, some of this will end up in Texas soon!!

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!

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

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!

#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!

#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

Monzon San Xavier

Monzon San Xavier__36 x 36 Oil on linen__available at Cowgirl Up! Wickenburg, AZ, Mar. 25- May


A couple weeks ago I posted my small study for this big painting. Click to see the study.

The title means "San Xavier Monsoon", referring to the big rains over Mission San Xavier. I have seen the monsoons which water the dry Arizona landscape in late summer, and I can imagine what a blessing they are to the people of the desert.....This is my biggest painting for the show, and I wish you could see it in person! The frame is a heavy, distressed, black with an antique-looking gold liner. I have a real hard time photographing the big canvases! Below is a detail...

Monzon San Xavier__detail

Snow Melt to Fog

Snow Melt to Fog___6x8 oil on linen for Passing America: The Great Plains___exhibit opens Oct. 11, NE

A long span of highway was shrouded in thick fog on my recent trek through the Plains. It was a sure sign that the seasons are changing from winter to summer! I am an Impressionist, so sunlight is like "candy"!....Without it, I pouted for a few miles, but then the irresistible muted tones of the day called out to me and I just had to paint them! Passing by the fields and farms, the snow was melting and nearly gone in Kansas. We were told that this was a very snowy winter, and colder than usual!...

As I think back on the quick trip, I cannot recall seeing ANY LIFE on the farms we passed! Except for livestock, the people seemed to be indoors. It was a Sunday...maybe they were at church? It was damp and cool....that never stops a farmer...Perhaps it's that time of winter when there is really nothing to do, but REST...

A Study for...

San Xavier Monsoon - study____8x6 oil on linen___available when I am done with it __$190

I like to work out my paint problems on a small scale, before diving into a large canvas. This painting has been "brewing" for a few years as I have traveled through Arizona...

I am working from my own reference: photos of the Mission San Xavier, pictures of monsoon clouds in Colorado, and sunset pictures from Arizona...it is a work in progress!

Took a quick trip to Kansas this weekend...do any of my blog friends know anyone in Salina, or Wichita, KANSAS...just curious!

:)

Under the Thunder_rain, clouds, reflections, road

Under the Thunder___6x8 oil study for "Passing America..." exhibit in 2011

To see yesterday's post, you will notice the building thunderheads. Even though it was early in the morning, the storms were hanging around, and for a while, I thought it would be a day full of rainy paintings. We drove toward the building clouds and this "drive-by" study was painted as we drove into the rain ahead!

All this happened in Nebraska's Butler County a few weeks ago...these days I am preparing to be a mother-in-law, as my older son gets married in a couple weeks...the younger one is inthe thick of his senior year as the Round Rock High School Dragon quarterback...Friday they will play down near San Antonio, and the team they play was on ESPN all weekend...they must be good...but so are the Dragons!....it will be fun!

Early Sunrise Thunderheads__sunrise, rain, storm clouds

Early Sunrise Thunderheads___6x8 oil study for "Passing America..." exhibit in 2011

Another one from my recent plains trip in Nebraska's Butler County...Check recent blog posts for some other works...it was a brilliant morning to paint!

One thing I do when painting fast is that I use walnut oil as a medium to spread the paint quickly and also to clean my brushes on the road. If you look closely you can see some places where the oil dripped and carried the pigment with it. If I had seen this while painting it, I would have smoothed it out...I am GLAD I did not see it! The drips, to me, MAKE the painting!...artists sometimes call these things "happy accidents".

What Rain Looks Like__sketch, rain, houses

What Rain Looks Like__sketch #21 in my Colorado sketchbook to be auctioned REAL soon

See the hail sketch I posted yesterday. As that bad weather moved on, it left us a classic western summer sky. Weather geeks like me can tell when it is raining "over there" just by looking at the clouds. They become rather "smeared" at the bottom, and the features blend together...it is hard to explain, but when you see it, you know it....sometimes it is EASY to see the line of rain if the light is behind it, silhouetting, the sheets of rain against a light sky...like this sketch above .

We get skies like this each during hurricane season on the gulf coast...I will be there in Rockport, TX this fall teaching a couple of workshops...we WILL sketch and paint! For info: vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Approaching the Storm

Approaching the Storm__Coleman, TX_See the trip blog: Passing America...

Have you ever been to the Joslyn Museum in Omaha, NE? Well I have, as of this morning. I will tell about it when I post works from my current trip through Nebraska, but for now, here is another one from last week's trip thru the Texas Plains Trail. Click the link above to read about the route. 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 other one...I will have to photograph it when I get back. Postings will be sparse for a few days while we head to Denver, Colorado across the plains. WHAT an amazing place!

Bienvenido Rain_study_6x8 oil

"Bienvenido Rain"_study_6x8 oil on linen____$150 after I'm done with it, next week!
I am preparing a couple of paintings for a show coming up here in Austin. The theme of this show is "Bienvenidos", which means WELCOME in spanish. Here is a study...a painting from the other night when some rain came REAL close to us at sunset. I was on my way to the little drugstore for some Advil and Icy Hot for Mr. Football Player and this BRILLIANT sky loomed over the nearby ranch....The poor, sore football player had to wait a few extra moments, because lucky mama had her camera....I used the pics as reference and painted this welcome sight as soon as I got home....I will post the final painting next week...
*NOTE to artists...photos are fine, really, but use them RIGHT AWAY, before the impression of the REAL light fades from memory. As I occasionally judge art shows, I can TEL when someone only works from photos...it is a very obvious distinction..use your God-given appreciation for REAL LIFE LIGHT in your paintings. If you struggle with this, do more little studies outside....I DO!

Storms Like Today

"04-16-2006 Last Year on the Farm"_______6x8 oil_______V....Vaughan

I'm travelling today to Fallbrook, CA. You might enjoy a break from my daily art for a few days! If I Can find a way to post new paintings I will, but I am not sure about what's available!

"Last Year on the Farm" paintings will be offered for sale in a few months, when our last year is up. Watch here for a link to the story. If you see one you like, PLEASE CONTACT V....Vaughan to have first shot at it. A list is underway....my kids get first pick! ;)