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!

Amy's Lake

Amy's Lake___8x10___sold

This lake has a name, but I forget what it is. Since my friend, Amy lives here, I call it Amy's Lake.

It is near David City, Nebraska, where I painted last week... the location where I painted the coots on that cold windy day! M.B. took this painting home with him...THANKS, M.B.!

41- Snowy Robin

Snowy Robin__tiny oil on canvas 3.5 x 3.5__$150 includes a little easel

#41 in my Birdseed Project

 

This is a tiny warm-up painting I did in the snow over the weekend in Nebraska. There were Robins EVERYWHERE there, ALL fluffed up in the cold. My friend, Allen said that he saw one that looked confused as if to say "where is SPRING?"

That might be a better title for this little canvas...winter seems to be hanging on tight in the Great Plains!

Please consider this painting, or a little donation to the Birdseed Project!

Your purchase will provide seed for bird feeders at a nursing home, and light to a lonely place.

NOW, you can even send a few tax deductible dollars, without having to buy art!

Contact Friends of the Forgotten and mention BIRDSEED!

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!! 

#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/

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.

Great Plains Great Day

Great Plains Great Day__6x8 oil on linen panel__for Passing America: The Great Plains
The little sketch above was the last one I painted during my winter jaunt by Amtrak from Minnesota to Montana. The plains were covered with deep snow at that time, and this sketch was in Great Falls Montana....just before I flew home.
I am posting this from a hotel room in Salina, KS, having delivered all the paintings for my solo exhibit to the Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The show opens Oct 7 (come meet me at the reception!). It will run through Dec 11. That gives you THREE months to go see it, and I hope you will...Art of the West magazine did a short feature on it (see the Sept. issue, pg 18 )...and I will be posting the complete collection, all my field notes and many photos on my other blog this month. Stay tuned, and I will tell you when to go look there.

Kansas Ridge

Kansas Ridge__6x8 oil on linen panel__for Passing America: The Great Plains__$490 framed/shipped
Another winter painting from my upcoming solo show.
Passing America: The Great Plains consists of about 100 paintings in oil, created mostly while ON THE MOVE through the plains. Small farms are passing away, and my works tell the story of these passing American impressions.
The exhibit opens with an artist reception (that's me!) at the Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln on October 7. You can see the works there from Oct. 7 through December 11. Please tell your friends! Especially the "Corn Husker" types...October 7 is the beginning of Homecoming weekend for the U of N! Please let me know if you are coming, so I can look for you!

Plain Cold

Plain Cold___6x8 oil on linen panel for Passing America: The Great Plains
It will be a few months before the plains look like this again....Of course I painted this on a winter drive headed west across the Great Plains. I LOVE ANY drive in this direction, because there is a DEFINITE BOUNDARY of the plain, as it STOPS at the front range of the Rocky Mountains. Often the line is severe an you can see the mountains coming from MANY miles away, like this scene in southern Colorado....My Central Texas is looking forward to another week of record breaking heat: 107 and 108 are predicted for the next few days...can you imagine?...just a few years ago, when I painted my Last Year on the Farm, I waited all summer to paint the farm on a day over 1oo degrees, but we went the whole year never getting to 100! I was disappointed!

McPherson in Kansas

McPherson in Kansas____6x8 oil on linen panel___for Passing America: The Great Plains
I had planned to post this one today, anyway, and a nice coincidence happened!...A collector FROM MCPHERSON, Kansas contacted me to purchase a couple of my recent Kansas paintings. It is not every day that I hear from someone in McPherson, but now I have a new friend there! Not only that, but the college in McPherson is a rival of Kansas Wesleyan University, where my son is playing football!...We are headed up there Saturday for the first scrimmage of the year, and since I heard it is supposed to be 101 (HOT degrees) during the game, I thought I would post a painting that I did when the weather was cooler there!
I am pretty sure that my Texas boy brought the heat with him to Kansas...I sure hope they don't hold this against him!
OK, OK, I know a few of you artists were looking for something about Kevin McPherson, the great artist...I do not mind if that is what made you read this far...he is a hero of mine, too!!!

Snowpaths

Snowpaths___8x10 oil on linen panel___for Passing America: The Great Plains, exhibit opens in October
The record-breaking heat in Texas has me remembering the good cold days many months ago!. This little drive-by was in the Texas High Plains on a bright, clear winter day.
My "location" work on this one was a quick oil sketch as we drove by. I finished it farther down the road, and only recently made a "painting" out of it...all from memory, letting the first IMPRESSION on canvas speak to me to complete it....
Guess what, y'all....I will be teaching a LOT real soon!...get ready!

My Schedule-----------------
August___Painting the Plains...I will be ALL OVER The place, finishing my project which opens on Oct. 7...
October 7___Passing America: The Great Plains. Lincoln, NE...Reception and Gallery Talk in the evening
Oct. 8-13___Nebraska Workshops...painting farms en plein air
Oct. 18-Nov. 17___Remembering the Farm, Solo show at Inspiration Gallery at Riverbend Church, Austin
October 27___Remembering the Farm Reception and Gallery Talk 5-8 pm. Riverbend, Austin
Nov. 9-11___Fall Workshop at Fredericksburg Artists' School
June 11-13, 2012___Spring Workshop at Fredericksburg Artists School
Summer 2012 Workshop...early August, 2012! TBA!

Texas Elevators

Texas Elevators__6x8 oil on linen panel_ for Passing America: The Great Plains

Saturday I posted a "drive-by" painting from my April plains trip...this one is from my late-February Plains Trip. it is a different view of the same location, not far from my home. I just realized this and am fascinated by the differences. The paintings were completed a month apart, so the change of seasons is noticeable. All the "art words" can be used to describe the differences: The COLOR, VALUE, CONTRAST, TEXTURE, EDGES, INTENSITY, Warm colors, Cool colors, COMPLEMENTS...ALL of these are DIFFERENT in each painting, giving each one it's personality, and specific "voice"...this is why a student artist should never have a formula! Rather, the artist needs to OBSERVE and simply match their paint with what they see! If you can match the color of something, and its relationship to the things around it, your painting will give the IMPRESSION of what you are seeing: its mood, season, temperature and all!
Happy Easter, everyone...I hope your weekend was blessed!

Oklahoma Springtime

Oklahoma Springtime-study___8x10 oil on linen panel__for Passing America: the Great Plains I am on the road in the plains again this week...This study was a quickie at sunset in northern Oklahoma, yesterday. I am focused on the change of seasons, this trip. Central Texas is FULLY bloomed (except the pecan trees, but I expect them to "pop" at ANY moment)...as I write this, I am in Kearney, NE, and we have spent the day watching springtime recede back into the colors of winter...EXCEPT, even here there are great pastures of winter grasses all decked out in green. Watching the weather channel, I see snow on the way, though. I am looking forward to the trip home, which will be a moving snapshot of the season shanging from winter to spring....all the 10 "drive-by" paintings I have done so far are just my "studies" for the trip home!...RIGHT NOW, I am leaving the hotel with my driver-buddy, Barbara, to go out to the Rowe Sanctuary and see the cranes on the Platte River.

Hay for Something

Hay for Something_6x8 oil on linen panel__a "drive-by" painting for the exhibit Passing America..., Oct, 2011

Talk about a WHIRWIND trip through the Great Plains! It was decided at the LAST SECOND that we would drive to Kansas on Sunday morning! One purpose was to pay a visit to a college in Kansas that my son is considering for his college football career, and I needed to see it, so we went! Of course I will jump at the chance to do some work on my project Passing America : The Great Plains, so I brought the paints and did some "drive-by" studies along the way!

This little vignette was nestled in the corner of a large, dreary pasture in southern Kansas. The hay was damp, sagging, and probably baled a year ago or more. (As I look at the painting, I think I painted the bales a little bit too much "intact"...It made me wonder what it was baled for? Perhaps a small herd of livestock that had to be sold? The chilly, late winter weather made this scene especially melancholy to me.

Single

"Single"___12x6 oil on linen panel___sorry for the bad photo (my glare and blur technique)!
This is the only photo I have in my camera tonght...something I promised to send via e-mail to a collector I just met at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, SC. I hope they look at my blog, because for the moment I forget who they are! I am sure I have it written down in my show stuff, which is packed and on the way home...but I am "stranded" in Charleston with my daughter.
If you are a skier, you understand the title of this little painting. While standing in line at the ski lifts, the lift attendant will holler out "SINGLE" to let skiers know there is ONE available seat headed up the mountain. Most skiers travel in pairs and ride together, but the ones that ski alone get paired up on the lift to make the lines move faster....unless the lines are short, then the single skier gets to ride in solitude...like my little guy in the painting!
I'm Embarrassed to say that I accidently botched our return flight plans. It is a strange feeling to show up at the airport and have them tell you that your flight is for Monday, MARCH 21. Oh sheesh...This is a NEW botch for me (I thought I had done ALL of them by now)!! So, we checked into a hotel by the airport, rode the bus to town, and tromped around Charleston all day!....so much for my show profits!!! Delta Airlines will NOT get anymore of my busness, by the way, thanks to a snarky lady in Cincinnati named...
...d a n g ....I forget...sheesh...

Snow Spread Before Shelby

Snow Spread Before Shelby___6x8 oil on linen___for Passing America...exhibit
The snow was deep and covered every inch of the plains...deep! From Minnesota to Montana!! We saw a lot of animals struggle through the drifts: coyotes, deer, foxes...and bald eagles flying above!....And domestic cattle and horses huddled together, too, but they all seemed used to it! I REALLY LIKED to see a herd of deer gathered around some hay bales nibbling their lunch...
This was the last painting I did "en train air", on my Amtrak trip through the Great Plains. I have a number of other "starts" from the train, and a few I did while spending a couple days in Great Falls. But for now, I have to earn a living and paint for the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, SC. I have some nice ones prepared for the show...I will begin to post those tomorrow, and you can see them FIRST! (and buy them first, too, if you want!)
***GOOD NEWS! My cancelled workshop in Rockport, TX has been rescheduled for THIS MONDAY, Feb 7. Monday is an odd day, but why not come! The details are below.
____________________________________________________________________________________
V…. Vaughan
1-Day Plein Air Workshop: Sketching and Pushing Color from Dawn til Dusk
Monday, February 7, 7:00 a.m. to noon,and 4:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Bonus (optional) Sunrise Sketching Tuesday, February 8 at Charlotte Plummers. Be there at 7:00 to set up. DONE by 8:30
$100 for members, $125 for non-members
$50 deposit reserves seat, balance due by workshop;
Please call to enroll. Supply list available.
I will share my methods of seeing and sketching FAST. We will work with pencils and sketchbooks, but will also sketch with brush on canvas or panel. The day starts at sunrise and we will work all morning, then take a break after lunch and come back for another session, ending with the moon at sunset! You will create many small sketches and color studies…lessons to take with you into the studio! BRING your plein air gear, a sketchbook and plenty of small panels (6x8, 8x10). Monday 7 am – 12 pm …Meet at Cove Harbor at 7, sunrise demo and boatyard plein air sketching. Topic: pushing color…Break for lunch and talk about art, marketing, etc. Meet for a crescent moonset 5 -7 pm or a little later if the moon and sky are interesting … we can paint the crescent moon and sunset till about 6:30 pm Those who want to can meet at Charlotte Plummers for a BONUS session on Saturday morning at 7 to paint the sunrise there

Pawnee Morning Star Ritual

Cold Crescent__11x14 oil on linen___available at Act I Gallery, Taos, NM next week.

A few days ago I posted a study I did on my Amtrak trip of The Morning star. An artist buddy quickly wrote to me about The Morning Star ceremony of the Pawnee Indians -a ritual sacrifice of a young girl in the spring. It's a shame that such a beautiful phenomena is associated with such a terrible ritual. I prefer the Bible reference to "The Bright and Morning Star" as a special name/description for Jesus.
Michael Ome Untiedt , a great artist and friend told me all about it and sent me some info. He also mentioned that there is a place in Ireland where there is evidence that their ancient peoples followed the movement of Venus, (actually a planet and NOT a star). They followed its very course in the solar system, and studies indicate that they had to keep track of this for some 400 years, handing down their observations to the next generation without the benefit of WRITING...So fascinating that I caught myself "wikipedia-ing" for part of my morning and had to hustle myself back to the Plains....

I decided today to make a larger version of the Amtrak study, and altered it a bit...can you tell how???

My workshop in Rockport this weekend has been postponed. They are expecting BAD WINTER WEATHER there for the next day or two. We are pushing it forward to next week, so NOW YOU CAN plan to come! It might be Monday, Feb 7...maybe Friday Feb 11. I will know the new date on Thursday.

PLEASE e-mail me if you are interested...maybe you can caravan with those of us going down from the Austin area. vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Sunrise West of Rugby

Sunrise West of Rugby, ND___6x8 oil on linen___for Passing America...Exhibit opens Oct. 7

Rugby, North Dakota was a landmark for a few of us on the train (Amtrak Empire Builder). When anyone wondered where we were that morning, we all said things like "30 minutes from Rugby" or we passed Rugby a while ago"....it was an easy name to remember. Later in the day, when we were FAR from Rugby, we STILL referenced it, because it was fun to say! ...As I mentioned yesterday, the sunrise seemed to last a while this far north, so I enjoyed painting several small works back to back to back!.

***a friend, Dot Courson suggested that I am not a plein air painter, but this would be "train air"...I corrected the spelling to "trein air"...

I will be teaching this technique of capturing impressions quickly in Rockport, TX next Friday-Saturday. JOIN ME! ...info below

***WORKSHOP in Rockport! ***
Here are the basics, but email me if you want more info...this is an intensive one-day study workshop to equip you to move forward...(plus optional Saturday am paintout)
Sketching and Pushing Color from Dawn til Dark
FRIDAY, Feb 4 (with an optional Saturday morning paint-out)
7am at Cove Harbour til about noon, and 4:30 – 7 pm
also, Sat 7am at Charlotte Plummers
Seeing and sketching fast…with pencils, sketchbooks, brush on panels,
$100 for members, $125 for non

Morning Star-East of Rugby

Morning Star East of Rugby, ND___6x8 oil on linen___for Passing America ...exhibit opens in October 2011

I took the Amtrak Empire Builder train from St. Paul, MN to Shelby MT last week and after a night of beautiful full moon views, we had a spectacular sunrise! I painted in a fury, doing small canvas sketches, putting down "color notes". After 2 or 3 of these I realized that the light was staying very consistent, and the sun didn't seem to move! First, the clouds helped, by keeping the sun out of my eyes. But I noticed that the sun never really came UP in the sky! My friend, Sarah described it well: "In the winter, the sun stays at "eye level" all day!" TRUE! In the south (where I live) the sun comes up at a lower angle in the winter, but it still comes up. In Montana last week, though, It stays low and runs across the sky, rather than "up". THIS WAS GREAT for me, the artist, who enjoys long, strong shadows. The reds and golden colors lasted longer, it seemed to me!
For the next two weekends, I will be in Rockport, TX, teaching some of my "quick-draw" techniques! JOIN US!...info below

***WORKSHOP in Rockport! ***
Here are the basics, but email me if you want more info...this is an intensive one-day study workshop to equip you to move forward...(plus optional Saturday am paintout)
Sketching and Pushing Color from Dawn til Dark
FRIDAY, Feb 4 (with an optional Saturday morning paint-out)
7am at Cove Harbour til albout noon, and 4:30 – 7 pm
also, Sat 7am at Charlotte Plummers
Seeing and sketching fast…with pencils, sketchbooks, brush on panels,
$100 for members, $125 for non

Moonset West of Rugby, ND

Moonset West of Rugby, ND__6x8 oil on linen panel___for Passing America: the Great Plains

This leg of my journey across the plains doing "drive-by" paintings, was chosen so that I could find some SERIOUS WINTER. ...and wanting to find snow, but not endanger my driver! I chose well! Minnesota to Montana in mid-January is a guaranty for snowy landscapes. A few weeks ago, it had been -30 in these parts, so I was blessed to have much milder weather. It was 7 in this part of North Dakota this day!

I also chose this PARTICULAR winter day because of the moon phase and the Amtrak schedule. Whether traveling east to west or west to east, the MN to MT Empire Builder route travels half the time in the dark. My mission is to paint on the move, so I need LIGHT to see. I chose a day when the moon would be full, and I would have opportunity to see reflected light off the snow....After a night spent sketching put the window from my bed in the sleeper car, with my buddy, Rhonda on the top bunk, we were gifted with a beautiful and brief moonset peaking through the clouds.

We passed many little farms at night. I viewed them all night long....sometimes the train would stop near their towns, other times we would pass on by...more about that tomorrow

***Oh, yes!!! About that moonset from the train! All night long I monitored the full moon. I sketched it's reflection on ponds (...I THINK they were ponds!), noted the deep shadows on the snow, and watched it track across the sky....THEN I LOST IT!!!...at about 6 am I noticed it was "gone", and I did not think it was due to clouds, but rather the direction we traveled! The train veered a little bit and I assumed the moon was right in front of us... Thinking I wouldn't see it again, I settled in to do other things when Rhonda came runing through the train, leaving her breakfast, to tell me she spotted it going down! THAT IS WHY I was able to paint this one!!! THANK YOU, RHONDA!!! (And hey....running down a narrow aisle of a moving train ain't easy!)