Near Las Cruces Drive-By

"Near Las Cruces Drive-By" 6 x 8

Drive by painting is my great passion on road trips...nothing funner than painting quickly (and unpredictably on the New Mexico Interstates!). The best part is the surprises, like this

L O N G train that spanned below the distant mountain.

Late Spring Day Last Year, 7pm

Late Spring Day Last Year on the Farm - 7 pm

Last Saturday I painted 24 small ones in 24 hours...again. This is my "Late Spring Day Last Year on the Farm".... I began the paintings before realizing I did not have enough panels to paint on and so had to interrupt myself to cut loose canvas from the roll, which I will mount later when the paint is dry.

This painting is from the 7 pm hour after rainstorms came and went all day. I tromped through the fields this day instead of painting from my studio deck. All the good clouds and scenes were not visible from my usual perch....Unfortunately, the wet painting has curled the unmounted canvas and my photos are aweful, so I will wait to post the rest....sigh....The past 3 times I painted 24 in 24 went pretty seamlessly...and, this time, I think I like the paintings better than any other batch of 24, but will have to wait a few weeks before showing them to you :) Stay tuned and enjoy my drive-by paintings from out West for the next few days :)

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

Drive-By Sandia____6x8_____$200

"Drive-By Sandia".................6x8 oil on linen.........$200

On our return from Arizona, my truck driving pal, Barbara (do NOT call her "Barb", y'all) did a lot of driving, so that I could do the "Drive-By's".

My unique artistic expression is "drive-by-painting...literally. I love the unpredictability of capturing the impression of a changing landscape, while bumping along the highway at 75...I get to practice what I teach in my workshops..."Lower your standards!"...only painting allows us to lower our standards (and not be ashamed!), or break rules (and not be arrested)!!!

"Stormy Dawn" 24 in 24 Hours Late Spring

"Stormy Dawn" Late Spring Day, Last Year on the Farm 6 x 8 oil

I woke Saturday morning to BIG lightning and thunder...I watched for a while, trying to memorize what I saw (ever tried to paint lightning en plein air?)...after sketching a little one like this, the sun began to brighten the sky through the thunder (see Saturday's posting), and I continued to paint 24 in the next 24 hours....I actually had a few unintended interruptions, so this ended up covering 2 days of painting....all of which totalled about 18 hours. At the very end, I used my little sketch as reference to paint this small painting...

I will post quite a few of these in the next week, so please come see!

And please leave comments below.

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

Tucumcari Suburbs, a "Drive-By"___V....Vaughan

"Tucumcari Suburbs"...drive-by oil on linen panel...6 x 8...$150

I should call this a "ride-by"....I like to paint in the car but NOT while driving. Barbara C. was my designated driver on my trip to AZ recently. Outside of Tucumcari, we saw the clouds building for the first time in weeks. Arizona is SO DRY right now, experiencing a bad draught. But, Tucumcari, NM had the promise of rain that day! I like this little one enough to make it into a larger piece,which I will take to my Firedworks Gallery in Colorado soon.

Will post the 24 in 24 starting tomorrow!

Stormy Sunrise...1 of Late Spring 24

"Last Year on the Farm - Late Spring 24 Hours, 6:30 am" 5 x 7

This is as much of the sun as we've seen today!

The stormy morning, and all the boys gone to a golf tournament prompted me to decide to paint 24 in 24 hours today!...Already hit some snags with delays (and having NO Raymar Panels on hand!!!), but am rolling along with some pieces of cut linen (like my friend Pat H. does!)...I will just have to glue the paintings to panels when I'm done!!!

Prescott Trails

"Prescott Trails" 12 x 12 oil on linen panel $550

At my workshop a couple weeks ago we began with me doing a demo from the porch of the Phippen Museum...The airplane trails were crisscrossing through tat clear blue Arizona sky.

Hay Time Resumes

"Last Year on the Farm 06-12-2007"

So MUCH rain = SO much Hay!

Nancy and Bobby have spent the past 4 - 5 days cutting, gathering, baling and putting up hay....

Already they are hauling it away...

We found a house we like. If all goes well we will close in a month and be citizens of Round Rock...a GREAT place!

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

Early Bunnies

"LAst Year on the Farm 06-06-2007"

We think it was the fire ants that took away all the rabbits that used to be in our fields. When I first moved here nearly 30 years ago there were MANY MANY jackrabbits. Just recently, we have had a growing family of cottontails living near our barn. They scoot out of the way when we come home at night, darting through the headlights to safety.

Last week I changed my routine and decided to paint from the back of the house, perched on the playscape (to avoid the fire ants). As I painted this early morning our Great Dane, Romeo became busy under the slide and I heard the faint but familiar scream of a bunny. I knew it was in Romeo's mouth, so I persuaded him to "give me the toy"...and he dropped the baby bunny in my hand, just as I stepped on another one....apparently he had dug up a whole nest, and while I picked up the one I stepped on, Romeo made a quick "hors d'oeuvres" out of another one...no time to get mad at him, so I rushed the little refugees into the house and took them to Wildlife Rescue, in Austin. They told me what to do to care for them, but warned me that thye probably wouldn't live...the mom bunny never came back into the yard...I hope Romeo did not hurt her... Look how precious these two are, though they did not live long...

Chicken Clinic

"Chicken Clinic" a workshop demo and lesson

If you ever take a workshop from me, we are very likely to do a "Chicken Clinic". My Chicken Clinic is designed to bring bravery to faint-hearted oil painters (usually students who feel a little rusty or unsure of their oil painting skills :) I guarantee the outcome : You will leave with a chicken you will be proud of! Usually someone in the class will turn out a chicken that I like better than mine!! here are my next workshops...e-mail me to sign up soon!

- June 30, Rockport Center for the Arts. Sunrise Saturday, all day en plein air (one day)

-July 13 -15, Round Rock, TX at the Williamson County Art Center. (3 days)

-Sept. 24 - 28 Shreveport, LA (5 days)

Donkey Drive-By

"Donkey Drive-By 2" 8x6 oil on linen $200

On road trips I like to keep my pouchade box in my lap and pass the time with "drive-by" paintings. They are usually landscapes out the window, and I have a whole "gallery" of them from the recent trip to Arizona, which I will be posting this week, along with "HAYTIME" works from the farm!!. This one is the second donkey I painted from a recent photo, and is similar to the one I did on the drive out to AZ (which I sold at Phippen).

I sent "Drive-By 1" to my e-mail group today. Please let me know if you want to see it. And be sure to sign up to receive daily mails so that you can keep up with the daily paintings without having to sign in! This little one is available to the first one who wants it!

Phippen Poppy

"Phippen Poppy"

14 x 11

Sold at Quick Draw

2 weekends ago at the Phippen Show I participated in the "Quick Draw". Artists have 45 minutes to complete a painting and 15 minutes to frame it. I like to paint a poppy painting at demos because I am familiar with them and do not have to refer to a photo...this one started out as 5, but as I got into it, I thought three would be better....I enjoy the challenge of not quite knowing what I will end up with....

Granite Mountain

"Granite Mountain" 6 x 8 oil on linen $200

After the Phippen Museum Western Art Show, I stayed in Prescott to teach an oil painting, plein air workshop. The planner, my host was Marla Smith, who did an amazing job of rounding up painters and locations in the area. Marla and her husband, Lorrie, are lifetime ranchers in AZ. She knows every square inch of the Prescott (and I suspect all of northern AZ!) area! Even though they are experiencing the worst draught in the USA right now, Marla managed to take us to some locations that were beautiful....

On the way home one day after ALL DAY of painting, Marla detoured us over to some property she and Lorrie own, with this view of their beloved Granite Mountain...it was late, warm sunlight hitting the sage and peaks, and we jumped from the truck and took "color notes" of God's beauty! I hope to paint this landmark some more...perhaps from Marla's studio (unbelieveable view!!!!)...next time!

Sunbather

"Red Rock Sunbather" 8 x 6 $200
HAPPY SUMMER...almost.
I have been posting paintings from my "Winter Day Last Year on the Farm", so it's time to get back to current works. For the next few days we'll take a break from the farm and I will post paintings from my travels in AZ and the West. Watch for my "drive-by" paintings :)
This is one of my favorites from my recent trip teaching and showing art in Arizona. The workshop finished in Sedona at Red Rock Crossing and when we arrived, this sunbather was there, so I hurried to do a quickie demo, thinking I might have 10 - 15 minutes to gather info, if I were lucky. She actually sat like this for about 3o minutes, before moving around...a real luxury for a plein air painter!

6 Last Year on the farm - Winter Day Next 7 am

"Last Year...Winter day 2...7 am"

It will be a long time before we see a cold morning like this in Texas! Summer is settling in!...Watch for paintings from my travels! I will be back to the current farm paintings tomorrow, I think!

"Last Year on the Farm" paintings will be offered for sale in a few months, when our last year is up. Please ask me if you want a copy of 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 :)

5 Last Year on the Farm - Winter Day 9 pm

"Last Year on the Farm - Winter Day 9 pm"

HEre's some recent news!!!

I have been out in AZ teaching a workshop and attending a couple of shows….here is the news:
1. At the Phippen Museum Show in Prescott, AZ, I received an “Emerging Artist” award from Southwest Art Magazine, for my body of work.. They were really excited about my Farm Series and my “drive-by” paintings…I will get a ½ page ad in an upcoming issue. http://www.phippenartmuseum.org/events/awards.html
2. Raymar awarded my painting “9 PM” as a finalist in their competition for the month of April http://www.raymarart.com
3. Society of Master Impressionists awarded a Sorg Easel http://www.studioeasel.com/contact.html at their show in Amarillo….a merit award with a prize…
4. I was selected to paint at the San Louis Obispo Plein Air event in October http://www.sloartcenter.org/events.htm
5. Local Workshop. Williamson County Art Center. July 13th, 14th and 15th, Friday evening 5-8 p.m., Saturday Time, TBA, Sunday 2-6 p.m …This will be plein air and I will be teaching How to Capture It FAST….we will start with a “Chicken Clinic” on Friday, and do a “Seven Stroke” painting, too…GREAT PRICE $150 contact :Art Center of Williamson County 512-248-8690 acwc@earthlink.net My workshops contain a lot of laughs, so I hope you can come!!!

6. MOST IMPORTANTLY…MARK SEPTEMBER 15 on your calendars…I want EVERYONE to come say goodbye to the farm with me, as I “unveil” all the farm paintings . I am framing and hanging them now on our walls which will be emptied of everything else, soon. I will send out formal invites, but want y’all to be the first to know…We will leave the farm as soon as we find a house…looking, looking….THANK YOU to all of you who have been painting out here and coming to the frame sales…one of the things I am thinking about that will make this loss bearable is getting to be more active with PAA…I will need places to paint…right now I am such a home

"Last Year on the Farm" paintings will be offered for sale in a few months, when our last year is up. Please ask me if you want a copy of 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...

4 Last Year on the Farm...Winter Day 8 am

"Last Year on the Farm - Winter Day 8 am"

I am still in Arizona, but making my way back real soon, now. These paintings for the past week (plus) are from my series "Last Year on the Farm". I have not posted them before, because they were all done in one day. Every season of this "Last Year..." I have taken a day to paint 24 in 24 hours. Today's work is from the "Winter day Last Year on the farm"...whe I get back, I will do another "Spring day"....I enjoy the marathons, because they force me to work and SEE fast!

"Last Year on the Farm" paintings will be offered for sale in a few months, when our last year is up. Please ask me if you want a copy of 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 :)

3 Last Year on the Farm - Winter 7am

"Last Year on the farm - Winter Day 7 am"

It wasn't snowy, but the frost was HEAVY...nice to see and remember it this time of year...It's starting to heat up in Texas!

"Last Year on the Farm" paintings will be offered for sale in a few months, when our last year is up. Please ask me if you want a copy of 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 pic

2 Last Year Winter Day 6 am

"LAst Year on the farm - Winter Day 6 am"

Oh the winter day that I painted 24 paintings in 24 hours was a BRILLIANT morning...some of my FAVORITE farm paintings were done this day...

"Last Year on the Farm" paintings will be offered for sale in a few months, when our last year is up. Please ask me if you want a copy of 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 ;)

1 Last Year...Fall Day 7 am Day 2

"Last Year on the Farm - Fall Day 2 7 am"

As we leave the farm driving to school, we come out onto Parmer Lane right at the new toll road. OI painted this from memory that day...with the oncoming headlights and the traffic signal at the toll road ahead...

"Last Year on the Farm" paintings will be offered for sale in a few months, when our last year is up. Please ask me if you want a copy of 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 ;)