Yucca Bonnets

Yucca Bonnets 1___8x6 oil study on linen___Sold
It is bluebonnet time in Texas, and it is a banner year! They have peaked sooner than "usual"...whatever that means. They are thick, tall and all over the nearby Hill Country of Austin, TX. I spent the day out with my bluebonnet pals, Pat, Kaye, Margie, Carol and other friends...Carol took this one home, so I will have to paint again tomorrow....ah well....
Tomorrow is the BIG vrsion of the small study I posted a few days ago from Arizona. The big one below was 16 x 20 and was completed in an hour at the Cowgirl Up! Quick Draw. Compare it to the study and tell me which one you like better!

Wickenburg This Morning---Cowgirl Up! Quick Draw---16x20 sold

Cowgirl Quick Draw

Cowgirl Quick Draw Study____a gift for my "host", Monica Lambert!___6x8 oil on linen panel
For some reason I cannot load the picture of my actual quick-draw...so take a good look at this one and I will load the BIG one tomorrrow.
A "Quick Draw" is an event where artists have ONE HOUR to complete a painting, then the works are auctioned for the benefit of the Museum. I rose early this morning to see a beautiful sunrise shining on Vulture Peak in Wickenburg, so I did this study, and used it as reference for a larger, 16 x 20 version. The Cowgirl Up! event has been another wonderful time in the art world! Wonderful women painters and sculptors are here, and you ought to see the BEAUTY!...both on the walls and in the great western clothing these women wear...
My Quick-Draw painting sold to some NEW FRIENDS who bought Shady Wait last night...
Headed home soon!

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

Russell Sky Study

Russell Sky Study__7x5 oil on cotton panel___$100
Yesterday's post showed my "quick finish" painting for the Russell Art in Action, a benefit auction for the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, MT.
Please see that story and the TV interview! I give the "chamber of commerce" quote of the day!!
...One interesting thing about such an event, is that artists plan very diligently so that their work will hopefully come out good, ESPECIALLY as we work in front of hundreds of sophisticated art patrons! I showd how I arrived with a plan and a start on my canvas, but changed my mind once I got there....this study above was 'Plan "C"'!...I sketched it out on a small panel the night before, but didn't use it for the big canvas. It is a true little study, at a nice little price!
More to come, so please see my schedule!! I will be in Wickenburg, AZ this week!

Russell Sunrise

Russell Sunrise___24 x30___SOLD at auction
I shipped my big frame and canvas out here for today's quick finish art event at the C.M. Rusell Museum auction. We were allowed to start the canvas, ahead of times and had 3 hours to finish it here. When I saw my "start" this morning (a western canyon scene...see below), I did not "feel" it! SO! I started over from scratch! The photo below shows my first strokes of blue mountains while the canyon tree remained hovering in the sky. I kept it this way as long as I could, while people watched me work on it. I enjoyed the polite comments, as people wondered what I was REALLY painting. The finish above came out OK!...
At last night's auction, the newspaper photographer caught me studying a Greg Kelsey sculpture, so Great Falls woke up to me on the front page...yikes!...see below...

Little Belt Sunrise

Little Belt Sunrise___8x10 knife study___$200

I am in Montana...and I brought an allergy-thing with me, so I tried to sleep in this morning, but when I saw the beginning of THIS at sunrise, I had to grab the paintbrushes.

I only have a little walnut oil and NO solvent (airlines don't like solvents), so I did this little color study with a knife (less to clean up)...it is PART OF the view from A and B.B's home, where I am staying...

The first part of the C.M. Russell auction was tonight...I sold my silent auction grouping.

Tomorrow is the "quick-finish", and I am going to paint a BIG one...with two hours to finish, I am hoping I don't paint myself into a corner! stay tuned!!!

Shady Wait

Shady Wait___16 x 48 oil on wood panel (see frame below on blog___$4500

This one was painted especially for the upcoming Cowgirl Up! art show in Arizona

I did the studies for this painting right there in the corral at Colorado's Rainbow Trout Ranch last summer...This one has an unusual proportion, which really is hard to photograph....looks better in person. I shipped it and 4 other works to Arizona last week for Cowgirl Up! Talk about a FUN event! If you are anywhere near Wickenburg, AZ From March 23 to May, please go see the show. The events weekend is March 23-24, and the show runs through May.....BUT!

Today I arrived in Montana for the great C.M. Russell Auction, another huge western art event. This is my first year at the Russell, and I will be at the museum for the auction (Thursday night) and then at the Meadow Lark Country Club (on Friday morning) for a "Quick Draw", which is really a "Quick Finish" event... I am planning to do a BIG work. Come watch me paint !

______________V....Vaughan Spring Schedule________________

March 15-17, C. M. Russell Museum Auction, Great Falls, MT

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
Framed version__click to enlarge

detail

Duck! - SEWE Workshop

Duck Study__6x8 oil__SOLD

A few weeks ago I exhibited at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE). After the show, a few of us artists spent a few days at the ACE Basin, Donnelley Wildlife Refuge painting and photographing everything from avocets to whooping cranes! One morning we conducted a workshop for a group of young artists whose works placed high in the South Carolina youth Duck Stamp Competition. I used this study to lead the kids in a "team project"...THEY worked together to create a BIG painting! Click the album link to see!

SEWE Photo Album

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150605910121818&id=519566817#!/media/set/?set=a.10150714474389993.450636.37266499992&type=3

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V....Vaughan Spring Schedule

Now thru April Passing America...Cactus Jack's, Gruene, TX
Show runs through April

March 15-17, C. M. Russell Museum Auction, Great Falls, MT

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 upcoming

Ready for the Russell

Morning Star___6x8 oil___ Part of a group of 4 to be auctioned at the C.M Russell Museum, Montana
...ALSO, this image is being used by the Georgia State University Physics and Astronomy Dept. (Atlanta) to help promote "Astro Jazz". AstroJazz is an innovative program that, on March 16, will emphasize the "Venus Transit". This is when Venus passes between us and the sun...see images

I leave Wednesday for my first ever C.M Russell Auction, in Great Falls Montana! It's simply called "THE RUSSELL", and is one of the premier western art events in the country. The sale is unique among art events, in that there is art EVERYWHERE in town, not just at the museum. Some of the hotels actually clear the beds out of rooms, so that artists can make their own "galleries" there. I can't wait to go see some of my friends there, all camped out in the hotel rooms...I will be at the museum, doing events there. My auction "piece" is actually a GROUPING of four works which I did on the Amtrak last winter. See the selections HERE on my blog. I am not sure if it is a silent or live auction, but if you can't be there, and trust me to bid for you, I will! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

I also will be doing the "quick draw" event, which is actually a "quick finish" as artists are allowed two hours to complete one that they may have started earlier. For me, two hours is a LONG TIME, so I plan to do a BIG ONE, so that I can move fast and get a workout!...Please see schedule below and come if you can!
**

_____________________

V....Vaughan Spring Schedule

March 15-17, C. M. Russell Museum Auction, Great Falls, MT

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 upcoming

Those Red Walls

Those Red Walls___8x10 oil _____$400 unframed

Yesterday I related a story about my painting being stolen from a museum... Original Art has great value, but art theft just does not happen very often, because security is so good these days. I travel a lot and recently I was in an airport bookstore, browsing the non-fiction section when a man came up to me, pulled out a book there and told me I needed to buy it! He was the author and was excited that his book was there. I learned that he is Robert Wittman, founder of the FBI Art Crime Team! His book is called PRICELESS. I bought it and had it signed by him, and we had a great discussion there at the airport...I think I will e-mail him and tell him about my art heist!...by the way, the book is FASCINATING!!!
I will be in Wickenburg, AZ for the rest of the week! Come see me at Cowgirl Up!

_____________________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