Plain View

Plain View___6x8 oil on linen___one from Passing America__$350 unframed

This one has a story...it was painted for my current exhibit, "Passing America...".

...in the place with the biggest sky of my travels: western Nebraska...Because I ran out of panels that day, I painted it on a "loose" piece of linen, and then never found time to mount it, so it was not delivered it to the museum for the show! I have since mounted it, so it is available unframed...

The Digital Goddess, Kim Komando mentioned my "Last Year on the Farm" in her newsletter this week! I have received some HEARTFELT notes from all over the country from people who are missing their farms, too. Click for Kim's newsletter, and scroll down halfway for my feature (it's a video)

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!

Missing the Farm

A Late Spring painting from Last Year on the Farm__6x8 oil__6x8 framed/delivered

Lately, I have spoken often of my current exhibit, "Passing America....", which is an extension of a theme I started 5 years ago. The them is the passing of America's small farms and our agrarian way of life. Our family had to leave our farm, and I did a painting each day of our last year there. See all 365 paintings HERE...or BETTER YET, please come to an abbreviated exhibit of 100 of the works on display in Austin, TX. I call it "Missing the Farm"

The opening reception is 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!

Sketch of CJK

Sketch of CJK, student __________NFS
Continuing with figure drawing demos for the students I teach....we will do Chicken Clinic's with oils soon!
I have had a "distracted" week, and am getting ready to go to Kansas again tomorrow....
Whwe!...I mean, WHEW!
Lost my operating system last week and learned that I am very dependant on my Outlook calendar! I need to know how to sync it with .....what?....an iphone or something???? at least my laptop.
This week I missed appointments, and art deadlines, broke my cell phone and lost phone numbers (grrrr) and ALMOST missed a family friend's wedding, (son bailed me out with the gift and details!), and have fallen way behind ....but worst of all, we learned that

my sister's husband is very sick, and we have a big battle ahead....SOON.

To those who do, PLEASE PRAY, if you will....

Sketch of A.R.

Sketch of A.R.__my student
Well, I am back from Nebraska...for a few days now! Texas has cooled off since I left a couple weeks ago!
The sketch above is a class demo for the art students at Hyde Park Baptist School. I teach a couple of morning classes there, now. We did figure drawing in Sept, and now we are painting...more on that, later.
I left Nebraska with MANY new friends and good memories! Had fun on the backroads looking for painting locations with great artists... and looking for Combines...eating ribeye at Big Fella's in Linwood....twice!!...hitting a deer on the way back...God, please heal her....Becoming a fan of artist Dale Nicholls ....Chit chatting for hours with Anna and Amanda...and Allen about reviving small towns: I say food tours like wine tours, and in David City, NE, we can include art, architecture,....and build a couple of B&B accommodations ....
***SIGN UP for my November 9-11 workshop in Fredericksburg, TX...full moon!
***COME MEET ME at a reception and showing of about 100 paintings from Last Year on the Farm. THURSDAY, Oct. 27, 5-7 Riverbend Church Gallery, Austin, TX ...

Moonrise Laughter

Moonrise Laughter__6x8 oil on linen panel___SOLD wet!

Have you seen the harvest moon? A few days ago we were all together having a little picnic before I did one last demo of the moonrise, and the workshop folks broke into singing "Shine on Harvest Moon". Here is that last demo of a wonderful Nebraska Workshop.
The title is from my own favorite song of the Plains: "Calling Out Your Name", by Rich Mullins...the lyric is this:

"The moon moved past Nebraska and spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills..."


These aren't the Dakota Hills, but there was a lot of spilled laughter as I demonstrated and the group chatted and enjoyed one another for the last time....what a group! They came from all over the place with many fun stories to tell....Precious friendships, now, and I cannot wait to meet up again....I hope y'all are painting!!!!
have you seen the Passing America paintings?

Chilly Morning at Allen's Old Place

Chilly Morning at Allen's Old Place__8x10 oil on linen__$450 with wet paint
With miles and miles of Nebraska cornfields and soybeans ready to come out of the fields, my workshop found the PERFECT HILLTOP to paint from. A hilltop place (formerly belonging to one of my hosts, Allen, but now being restored by his good friends, the Moravec's) has given us 360 degrees of landscapes to paint! You will see a number of my hilltop demos in the next few days! Whereas the sun rose QUICKLY from reds to yellows in yesterday's post, this sunrise "stalled" when low, foggy damp clouds rode in on the western breezes. Artists like when there is a LITTLE more time to grasp the glance outside.
Passing America: The Great Plains click to see 154 works from the show

Mark at the Round Barn

Mark at the Round Barn___8x10 oil on linen panel__$450
Dale Nicholls is the great regional painter from this area, who made it big in the art world.
Now deceased, this was his family's home, and this type of barn is rare and unique...It is a treasure in Butler County, NE, and we had to have special permission to bring the workshop here for me to paint this study.
My aim was to NOT get tight and paint every board on the barn, and when I do another version, I will emphasize the scale more with some more people or equipment...see the little man by the door on the left? He is too BIG for this scale...the barn is HUGE!!!
I have a few more things to post from my workshop, but for the past few days, I have been working in some of the high schools here, speaking and demonstrating and introducing them to my Chicken Clinic...Great kids here, and a LOT of fun!
See my entire exhibit Passing America: The Great Plains
Next workshop: Fredericksburg, TX, Nov 9-11...FULL MOON FUN! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

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

Gourmet Grass Fed

Gourmet Grass-Fed___6x8 study for the Bohaty's (sounds like "BO-hotty")
We painted at the Bohaty farm today....This is a study of their British White Cattle which they raise for their Gourmet Beef business. I will be ordering some of this delicious beef, grass fed, organic and raised with tender loving care by Walter, and Nancy Bohaty!
The Bohaty family are some of the most gracious people you could ever meet, and I have feasted with them several times now...including an impromptu picnic today on their lawn with all my workshop artists!!
The study above was to demonstrate how DARK shadows are on white things, and how much color is in white cows...I didn't mean to create a compsition, so it's not great, but the lessons are there...
Here is the beef website... http://www.gourmetgrassfedbeef.com/

AND...here is a WONDERFULLY NICE article in the Lincoln Star Journal newspaper, written by their art critic, Kent Wolgamott...it is well written, and the image is clickable! http://journalstar.com/entertainment/arts-and-culture/visual/article_a0655375-4498-5346-a901-a6ca136ae0dc.html Please tell me what you think! And drop him a note if you like it!

Hilltop Sunrise

Hilltop Sunrise___8x10 oil in linen panel___$550 unframed
Yes, there are hilltops in Nebraska! I am teaching a workshop here in Butler County where there is a region called the "Bohemian Alps", because the hills are ....um...."noteable"! They rise and give GREAT vista's of the farmland. It is harvest time right now. Corn, soybeans and corn.
The painting above was my sunrise demo...the weather has been great!!! Tomorrow,...Sunrise and MOONRISE from this hilltop...stay tuned
*** if you are in the Lincoln, NE area from now to December, go see my solo show at the Great Plains Art Museum... Passing America: The Great Plains

I have one more workshop this year! COME paint with me in Texas!
Nov. is a PERFECT time to paint in fabulous Fredericksburg... 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!

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

#72 - In the Sandhills

In the Sandhills of NE__6x8 oil on linen___ for Passing America...__$490 framed
I painted this on one of my journeys doing drive-by paintings for my Passing America...exhibit which opens FRIDAY NIGHT in Lincoln. I remember painting it during a span of time when I was churning out the works...painting and putting them away...When I got home, I did not appreciate this one! Didn't really like it, till JUST NOW!
I write this from a hotel in Ogallala, NE, at the edge of these same sandhills! I am here to shoot pictures and do a few studies of a ranch that I get to paint in the upcoming months. It is not REALLY on the way to Lincoln, where I need to be tomorrow, but it was close enough that I HAD to come, to see it in THIS season.
Having just returned from the sandhills, I see the beauty here, and this little painting above is not terrible! You might have to be from Nebraska to know what I mean )
COME SEE THE EXHIBIT if you can, or see them on my website. I now have ALL 154 paintings for this exhibit on my web site. Go take a look! You can see the size, price and availability of each painting.

there is still time to sign up for one of these two workshops below!
http://bonecreek.org/pdf/Vaughan%20workshop.pdf ...FULL

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!

#96 - Plain Mesa

Plain Mesa__8x10 oil on linen panel__for Passing America: The Great Plains__$590 framed
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. I will give a little talk about the practice of "drive-by" impressionism, and some thoughts about the passing of America, during the opening reception in Lincoln. Come if you can on October 7, next Friday night.
The painting here was done near Santa Ana, TX, at the edge of the plains, where a few mesas break up the plain, and in this case, some skipping shadows moved over the plainscape. I love the suummer sky!
I now have ALL 154 paintings for this exhibit on my web site. Go take a look!, and come back as I am adding more details every day...but the good part is the pictures, and they are all there!

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!

#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/