Night Textures

"Night Textures"  14 x 11 oil     Available at SEWE

 

SEWE is the upcoming Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, SC.

This will be my 12th year there! If you browse my BLOG and do a search for SEWE or Southeastern Wildlife, you will see a bunch of works I have presented there over the years!

This image above was painted at Sargent Beach, TEXAS last summer, and is my catalog image for SEWE.

I will TEACH A WORKSHOP in Sargent on the weekend of the April Full Moon! we will do moonrise at sunset, and sunrise at moonset and enjoy a feast at the great Crab Trap restaurant....Sign up soon!

Email me for details,  but please do not hit "reply" to this! click here:

vvaughan8@yahoo.com

 

 

 

SHOWS AND WORKSHOPS

SHOWS

Feb. 11-14, 2016 Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, Charleston, SC

March 18-May 9, 2016 Cowgirl Up! Wickenburg, AZ                  

• Fri., March 19 Miniatures Sale   
• Sat., March 20  Bash n' Bid  
• Sun., March 21 Quick Draw
•                                                                                                                                                       

WORKSHOPS





• WORKSHOP: IN SALADO, TX  April 8-9, 2016  email V....  for info
• WORKSHOP: FULL MOON on the TEXAS GULF COAST  April 22-24, 2016  email V....                

 

• WORKSHOP IN THE MOUNTAINS    July 17-21, 2016.                                                                 
• Features Sunrises, sunsetrs, moonrises, moonsets and live ranch-life sketching. In the south San Juan Wilderness Area of southern Colorado...along the Conejos River and 70 miles from Taos, NM.                
• email V....  for info

                

A Little Light

A Little Light___a little Texas December Sunrise, 4x6 on canvas___$150

Testing...One...Two...Three...
I left off with this blog sometime in May!
If you are connected with me on Facebook (Virginia Pedro Vaughan) or Instagram (@vvaughan8) or
 Twitter (@vvaughan8), then you have seen this...and some other art posts.
I can't wait to show and tell some recent art and news! For now, I just want to say HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Y'ALL!!
Are you surprised to see a post from me?
I would love to hear a "hi" back from EVERYONE!!!!
vvaughan8@yahoo.com 
V....

Stormy Thumb

Stormy Thumb___16x20 "Quick Draw" in oil
Yesterday's post showed my first "quick draw" at the Phippen Museum Western Art Show out in Prescott, AZ. Here is the one I did on Sunday last week. It also took one hour and was auctioned off along with 18 other artist's works. The scene is Thumb Butte, with the lights of Prescott twinkling.
I worked from a reference photo I took the day before, when I took a wrong turn on the way to the event, and saw a spectacular view from the hill top!
The painting is larger than my usual quick draw canvas....see ?

 

 

I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE that my works are now represented in Sedona, Arizona at the wonderful

Mountain Trails Gallery

_________________________________________________

 

Flight

12 x 36 oil

Available at Mountain Trails Gallery, Sedona, AZ



See the Thunder 2

See the Thunder___24 x 30 oil on linen___$4500 framed at Wind Way Gallery, Rockport, TX

A few weeks ago I posted the study for this painting. H.L. purchased it, and graciously let me hang onto it while I used it for reference to paint this larger version. I will show this one in Rockport, TX at Wind Way Gallery, where I have a special exhibit as their guest artist for the next couple months...unless you ask for it first ...

As a plein air painter, I often take my outdoor works and use them as studies for larger versions. One of the things I teach in my workshops is HOW TO create a large painting from a smaller study. ...BUT, my next workshop is all about sketching, drawing and grasping a glance quickly with a drawing instrument. It's called Chiaroscuro and Chocolate...see info below __________________________________________ 

Here are some locations for a few of my workshops. email me if you want more info on any of these...

See this SPECIAL ONE.

I can't wait to see the water go down the drain BACKWARDS there!

September 6, 12, 20, 27__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscuro" contact V...,. 

Sept. 15, 2012___Salado TX, Contact Belinda Walker__1 or two spots open!

Oct. 28-30__Texas__at Fredericksburg Artists School

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!

THe Balance of Clouds

The Balance of Clouds__6x8 oil study on panel___$190 unframed for Conejos Fire House show

We left our canyon yesterday to pick up a couple of our kids in Santa Fe. It was a great drive from our place to Taos, where I left a nice new batch of works with Anita at Act I Gallery.

She has absolutely the BEST gallery in Taos, and YES, I am partial!

After Taos, we took the road to Espanola and Santa Fe, and saw scenes like this the whole way...yes, I painted this in the car...along with a few others...the sky was amazing and reminded me of all the many things that have been written about it ...this title is from the ancient book of Job (37:16)....read it if you have a chance...

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!

#90 - Windy Hilltop

Cow Hilltop__8x10 oil on linen panel__for Passing America: The Great Plains__$590 framed

Some of you have noticed the #89 before the painting title (or #90, for this post!). I have numbered each painting that is in the upcoming exhibit as a way to track and catalog the pieces. VERY SOON, I will have all the works TOGETHER in a special place on my web site, and you will be able to view thumbnails and a LARGE image, and to see which works are available. I will give my blog/email/Google group/and facebook friends the first look at the exhibit "all together". There is still a lot of writing to do, but each painting has a story of travel and observation of the lost farms across the Plains. I hope you will stay along for the finish of my journey.
Below is some info about upcoming workshops, and help for a Texas fire victim ...

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.

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!

#93 - Morning Puff

Morning Puff___8x10 oil on linen__$590 framed for Passing America: The Great Plains

Along the Texas Plains Trail one morning, I did this "drive-by" painting south of Lubbock, near Slaton, TX. These humid clouds and all the moisture and "lift" became tornados later in the day. (May 17, 2010)

This canvas is one of 150 works completed for a solo show at the Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Please join me at the opening reception on Friday, October 7, 5 - 7 pm. I will give a brief talk about the works and my journey through the Plains. The Exhibit runs from Oct 7 - Dec 11, 2011...please let me know if you go, and what you think!

ALSO...PLEASE see what you can do to help a Bastrop, TX fire victim...My good friend, Linda....(below)

Flames of Life

A SPECIAL REPRODUCTION to benefit a Texas fire victim___various sizes

To see the sad story, and photos click here...PLEASE pass this along to ANYONE who might help!

For order/size info, click here http://www.reallybigcanvas.com/content/flames-life

High Plain Span

High Plain Farm Span___6x8 oil on linen panel for Passing America: The Great Plains
I painted this one last spring...back when it was green...These days my nearby "plainscape" is various shades of brown and gold.
In a few hours I will venture north to Kansas...painting the sunrise and HEAT along the way, I hope!...I have a few more quick trips to gather some last minute drive-bys, before the opening reception of my solo exhibit, Passing America: The Great Plains

Plains to There

Plains to There___6x8 oil on linen panel___for Passing America: the Great Plains
For the next few weeks, I am gathering together all of my "drive-by" paintings of farms across the plains. Here is one I painted RIGHT at the beginning of my project. I seem to have a number of paintings created along the edge of the plains (where the edge is OBVIOUS: next to the Rocky Mountains). I am intrigued by the CONTRAST: one side is flat as far as the eye can see, and the sky almost matches the land...featureless, while directly opposite are the mountains with great towering clouds and the upslope which catches light and shadows....this one is at the southern edge, near Santa Fe. The summer sky builds like this every day, watering the mountains, and leaving the farms mostly dry...But the water is there! Available to the farmers for irrigation.
So I am rounding up the small works, to varnish them, tweak the rough ones, clean up the edges and put them in frames. The rest of my frame shipment comes in this week.

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!

To Lincoln_clouds, summer,plains

To Lincoln__6x8 oil on panel__study for Passing America Exhibit in 2011
Now might be a good time to look back at my blog and scroll upward from August 1 or so...For the past few weeks I have posted works from summer travels, mainly my Colorado sketchbook and Nebraska "Drive-by" paintings....the one above is another from the Nebraska group....It was late afternoon, after a whole day of tromping around Butler County with my friend/driver, Allen. This one was painted with his wife Anna in the back seat, and on the way to an art show reception at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln, NE. Some work from their permanent collection was there (The Curator's Choice Exhibit), and a painting of mine was on display. As we drove to Lincoln, the sky was building to a crescendo as thunderheads popped up all around...it looked like the day would end as it had begun! Tomorrow I will post the last one from this trip!
AND THEN THE SKETCHBOOK AUCTION BEGINS!!! ...I'll explain tomorrow.

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!

Sugarcane Sky

SugarCane Sky___6x8 oil study on canvas panel___$150 (click image to see detail)
The painting below is the first "version" of my first sugar cane painting! Driving back to the hotel from seeing my son off to football camp there were sugar cane farms on both sides of the road. The fields to the south had great backlit thunderhead skies...probably floating over watery marshlands of this south Louisiana landscape....but then....as the sun got low in the west, and the clouds started to spread out, it all changed, and I FELT LIKE changing the painting... Actually I ONLY changed the sky...if you see a difference in the sugar cane field landscape, it's caused by the camera or exposure...The painting below, only exists in this photo, now...
I am fascinated by this landscape: Cane farms, rice farms...is that cotton, too??? ...and LOTS of old mossy oaks and HUGE pecan trees....and egrets!
Tomorrow I will explore the area with my camera and paintbox, and head up to Baton Rouge for a visit with the friend I have known the longest! We were 4-year-old trouble-makers, Rhonda and I...long long ago!...
I have enjoyed listening to local radio and TV...hearing what THESE folks say and think about the BP oil disaster...the lives and jobs lost...and their futures!...both this trip and my trip to ARIZONA a few weeks ago have taught me the VALUE of local leadership, and local news...closer to the source!!!

Summer Shade

Summer Shade___6x8 oil on linen___$150 workshop demo
I am teaching this week in Fredericksburg...Today featured a typical summer day in Texas...bright warm sunshine (OK..."hot" sunshine), plenty of those puffy clouds delivering shade across the landscape and the constant sound of cicadas. This was my afternoon demo for the group, and all we had to do was step onto the porch to see it. The views are beautiful, here...I spoke on drawing this morning, handed out some "goodies", fielded lots of thoughtful, smart questions and we even enjoyed some of Fredericksburg's famous tree-ripened peaches...best crop in years! ...it's a good, small group of 8, and several came from out of state. (Leigh, from Illinois said our cicadas sound different from her cicadas...) I am loving this!

Spring Day on the Old Farm

Spring Day on the Old Farm___6 x 8 oil__one from Last Year on the Farm__available
I passed by our old farm the other day...It looked a lot like this painting, which I did during one of my sessions of "24-paintings-in-24-hours"....I pulled this one out as I was varnishing the "remnants" of the 365 paintings , getting them ready for the exhibit now hanging in Marble Falls, TX.
Next week is my birthday week, and I plan to get out and paint a lot. Spring is beautiful this year...I can't wait.
Tomorrow is Easter. I hope you will take time to ponder the amazing meaning...Happy Easter! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

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El Confin de la Luz

El Confin de la Luz___a gallery work__24 x 30 oil on linen

Here is a big one I have been working on for a while. The mission, here, is San Jose in San Antonio, TX. I have had this painting in mind since last spring when I was there as a BIG STORM blew up and The rain cloud was literally over the mission, much like this.

I love the symbolism of the mission, its architecture and purpose, juxtaposed with the symbols from nature: light, shadow, storm cloud, big heavens, rain left behind, doves flying through...The title is Spanish, meaning "Boundary of the Light". It is a line from the book of Job in chapter 10....

The hardest part of this painting was the perspective drawing, and keeping the verticals vertical! If you have drawn with me, you remember how I STRESS VERTICALS on man-made things..they are ALWAYS vertical, from any angle...my next drawing workshop is June 14-17 in Fredericksburg, TX. e-mail me for info vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Painting From Studies_a demo, 16 x 20

"Draught Breaker"__16 x 20, state one demo, oil on linen panel___available after a little refinement

I drove 150 miles through driving rain to do this demo for the Brownwood Art Association. What a great group showed up! I was VERY honored, because it was a PERFECT DAY for these artists to stay home in a dry, cozy studio ...these are my favorite days to paint!!! It is still raining, the Round Rock (literally) on the Chisholm Trail through my town is 2 feet under the RAGING waters of Brushy Creek...and Texans are giddy! All the tanks (ponds) are FULL!!!

Now, about this painting:...I used to feel like I was cheating, because the painting happens so fast when I work up a small study to a larger canvas. But nowI figure that it's no different than the graphic designer who must wrangle several versions of "mock-ups" or rough art as they design, before settling on the final version. (I did this for years, in my "old job"and have file cabinets and computer files FULL of layouts with rough art...because whatever elements weren't used in THIS design could be used in THAT design...so I kept ALL the studies!)....BUt, as a "plein air - daily painter - instructor" I find that my "rough art" is the little paintings....sometimes a little one HAPPENS to be well composed and "worthy" of a large canvas, so those are the ones I work up in the studio, using the small one as reference....the good thing is, I can sell the little studies at little prices!...Kevin MacPherson compares painters to musicians saying "Painters are the only ones who can sell their rehearsals!"

Upcoming Workshop: February 5-7, 2010 Fredericksburg Artists School

Imagining Rain___8 x 10 oil

"Imagining Rain"...8x10 oil on linen, click image to see detail__Available

I am staying at Caro and Don's place while spending a little time on the coast. The mornings here are irresistible to paint. I LOVE the BIG, low clouds on the Texas Coast this time of year, and keep imagining rain!!.