Friend Me, Makenzie-My Favorite Social Media

Friend Me, Makenzie        12 x 12 oil             SOLD

I have at LEAST 1500 friends.

At least that's what my social Media Accounts tell me!

One of my friends told me she heard a buzz out there that "blogging is dead". I think Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter started those rumors!

I have done BOTH blogging AND social media extensively....here's what I think... I LOVE the "friendships" I have built with Blogging, and my Google Group....Though sometimes I feel like I am "rambling"... I sense that Instagram and Twitter are like that big high school gathering where everyone has a clever comment, but no one listens, and CERTAINLY 

nobody "goes deep".... Have you ever traded quips with someone (usually an argument) and they walk into the room, snap a comment, and then run away before you can reply?....Twitter feels LIKE THAT! I DO like being able to post a picture on Instagram (though EVERY pic is cropped to a "square"...NOT good for some artwork...I like saying just a few words, posting the pic, and clicking a button that will send it SIMULTANEOUSLY to facebook AND Twitter (though, with no pic on Twitter, there is a link to the pic, if someone will click it, but I doubt they do :) So there! I will be doing it ALL while I make up my mind! :) WHAT SAY Y'ALL???

The Hard Way

The Hard Way_____24x24 oil___ Phippen Museum Western Art Show

 

The Hard Way needs to be seen up close! Zoom in and you can see some texture there! I'll have this painting at the Phippen Museum Western Art Show in Prescott, AZ over Memorial Day Weekend. PLEASE com e see me! Below is a funny story while I painted it.

 

YESTERDAY and below

I posted info about a special workshop coming up in June. CLICK HERE to see that.

 

 

I had just finished the detail on the horse's eye, and went to get a drink, but when I came back to the easel, there were smudgies all over the area I had worked! Sometimes my little finger steadies my hand while I paint, and I "step" into the painted area with it, but these smudges were too high....I was mad! Someone came in and slapped around my wet paint!!

see culprit below

 ...dang moth



Yellow Horse Study

Yellow Horse Study__watercolor__available

 

I am catching my breath after a month of sadness.

THANK YOU, my friends for your continuing "hello, how are you" notes.

One thing I realized through losing my mom and then a brother-in-law, and then ONE MORE setback, is that it HELPS to spend some of the grief-time doing something that is enjoyable. For me that meant long visits with those closest to my heart. Yet, USUALLY I was not the one reaching out...You who came alongside KNOW WHO YOU ARE, and I WILL NEVER FORGET...

 

Doing artwork has also helped get me back to "life".

I gathered my works from the last month, and had to chuckle over what variety can spill out of a grieving, creative mind! From sensitive watercolors to irreverent tee shirt art!

The sketch above is a nice outcome from teaching a class...an upside-down watercolor demo like what I used to do for mom.

 

It has been YEARS since I designed a tee shirt! The shirt below is an idea I had after recently taking my usual walk in the neighborhood, getting LOST, somehow, then making the mistake of sharing my confusion with a dear old pal who still makes fun of me for it!

Ah, what are friends for, if not to cry with you, laugh with you and laugh AT you!

 

 

To Order this fun shirt click here or contact

 http://wwwshirtaday.com/shirt./missing-elderly/2118

Backseat Driver

Backseat Driver__8x10 oil study on panel__$450

This week I have been working from some reference obtained along my farm journeys. I remember this cattle drive alongside the road we traveled out west. We slowed down so I could paint as we passed. The drive-by painting I did then was of the COWS! It was snapped up by the Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska.

This one is available!

Getaway__The Phippen Show

Getaway ___16x20 "Quick Draw" at the Phippen Museum Western Art Show

 

Last weekend I was in Arizona at the Phippen Museum Western Art Show, held at the courthouse square in Prescott, AZ. The highlight of the weekend is the "Quick Draw", when 20 artists stand back to back, draw their weapons (paint brushes!) and have one hour to complete a work of art. It is then auctioned for the benefit of the Museum (AND the artist!)...the auction is a lively time with a lot of laughs...and a little bit of competition from the art patrons! 

I call this one "Getaway"...it's one of the biggest quick draws I have ever done.

The Grand Champion painter this year was Bill Cramer, a good friend (his work is breathtaking!)...He had fun bidding on my painting, but alas, was outbid...but THANKS, BILL, for the validation!

Prescott is just about THE place for western art. I think more prominant western artist live here than ANY PLACE! Some of them (Bill Anton, Cynthia Rigden, Dave Powell) judged the art and I won THIRD place in a very competetive oil painting category.

The award winning work is below

El Presidio_Sonidos de Paz__10x30

Son of Sun

Son of Sun___18 x 18 oil on linen___for American Women Artist's Show, Tucson, AZ

This is a familiar image for me!...one I have derived works from since taking a similar photo a few years ago. This version faces left whereas a previous version faces right (see below-on blog)... This square format original is my piece for the American Women Artists Visions of the Southwest Show. It opens in a few weeks at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ on November 2.

I am orffering the giclee reproduction for a short time. It is a NICE giclee on paper, signed and numbered in a VERY small edition of 20. Please consider a gift of fine art for Christmas!

 

 

 Sunny One __12 x 16 Giclee Reproduction on paper__Click here to enlarge

Limited edition of 20. Signed and numbered ___Price $80 includes shipping (USA)

Rest of the Horse

Horse Rest__Oil Pastel study

As we explore sketching in all different methods and media, I am doing demos for each lesson. This was done with oil pastels and a mineral spirit wash...The last sketching workshop (Chiaroscuro and Chocolate) is this Thursday in Austin, TX....contact me if you would like to join us!

_______________________WORKSHOPS_____________________

September 27__Austin___ "Chocolates and Chiaroscuro" contact V...,. 

Oct. 28-30__Texas__Full Moon 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!

Sunny One_State 1

Sunny One__state 1__12x16 oil

I saw this scene a few years ago near our farm. Horses do not eat sunflowers, but this one was grazing below the flowers. Every few moments he would come up for air and I snapped some photos that have been reference for a number of paintings. So this one looks similar to another recent one called "Sunny"...

I had to photograph it before I had finished, but I call this "state 1", and you might not notice changes on the finished work....I am delivering it to Taos' Act I gallery TODAY!

.

Before I head back to Colorado, I want to express sorrow about the shooting there in the movie theater. It was stunning to open the YAHOO! front page  recently and see a photo of a church service honoring the victims. In the photo there was a projector with a photo of a victim. it touched me, so I saved it on my desktop...then a friend told me that a mutual friend of our families was a victim...a man named Gordon Cowden....when I looked back at the YAHOO! photo I had saved, it was Gordon's picture on the screen at the church (see below)...He was the first one to have a funeral last week   :(    please pray for these families for a LONG time....

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!

Sunny Quick Draw

Sunny __12 x 12 oil__Quick Draw aat the Phippen Museum Show__Sold

A week ago I was in Arizona, painting at the Phippen Museum Western Art Show Quick Draw. This quick draw gives artists 45 minutes to paint, an then 15 minutes to frame it! The crowd gathers around and watches. Artist friends come by and heckle (gotta love those artists!) Then we parade the paintings before a huge crowd and the works are auctioned. Sunny sold to collectors who have purchased from me before!

HEY YOU ARTISTS IN AUSTIN! I have a small group who organized a quick workshop HERE in Austin on the week of June 11-15. I will teach on 3 or 4 of those days! ASre you interested? The group is guaranteed to be small. Email if interested! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Blue Trailer

Blue Trailer II___11x14 oil on linen panel___$850 unframed

I am painting things now for the Phippen Museum Western Art Show in Prescott, AZ. I'll be there in a few weeks with new stuff and visiting old friends! The painting here is another ne using my student's "palette droppings". Zoom in to see some surprise color!

I used a palette knife, here, and painted for another small audience at my mom's nursing home. I like to joke that they are the best audience, because many of them do not see so well, and they were all raised to be polite and say "That's GOOD, dear!" hahaha...

I will teach a workshop in Fredericksburg next month, and plan to show how to work with palette droppings. My theme again is "Capturing Impressions Quickly"...this year we will work outside less and draw MORE! Email me if you are interested! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

_______________V....Vaughan Spring Schedule________________

Workshop: Fredericksburg Artists School, June 11-14

High School/Middle School Student Workshops: Austin, TX, June 18-21

 Southeastern Plein Air Festival, works hang thru May, Gadsden, AL

Memorial Dy Weekend-May, Phippen Museum Western Art Show, Prescott, AZ

Summer Workshops in Texas, Colorado and more!

...see my schedule for more dates and events

Trot Away

Trot Away___5x7 oil on canvas___$150

Working from my same "model" as the last two blog posts here is when she finally had had enough and trotted away. This sketch is another one using my "palette droppings" after a week of teaching "rookies". At the end of a few days the oils get sticky so I gather it all up. Hating to waste it, I have learned how to use it...I will teach a workshop in Fredericksburg next month, and plan to show how to work with palette droppings. My theme again is "Capturing Impressions Quickly"...this year we will work outside less and draw MORE! Email me if you are interested! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

_______________V....Vaughan Spring Schedule________________

Workshop: Fredericksburg Artists School, June 11-14

High School/Middle School Student Workshops: Austin, TX, June 18-21

 Southeastern Plein Air Festival, works hang thru May, Gadsden, AL

Memorial Dy Weekend-May, Phippen Museum Western Art Show, Prescott, AZ

Summer Workshops in Texas, Colorado and more!

...see my schedule for more dates and events

A Little Paint

A Little Paint___8x10 oil on linen panel__$250 all wet

Here is the one I started at the corrals a couple days ago, and just now finished on the porch. I mentioned it a few days ago... it matches the other painting really well... http://vvaughan.blogspot.com/2011/07/shady-wait.html

If you click here you can see both horses along with my painting set-up....Tomorrow we head back to Texas...hot times ahead!!!

UPCOMING SCHEDULE-----------------------------------------------------------------
August___Painting the Plains...I will be ALL OVER The place, finishing my project which opens on...
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
Late Summer 2012 Workshop in a COOL PLACE...early August! TBA!

Shady Wait

Shady Wait__8x10 oil on linen___$250 wet

I went down the way to Rainbow Trout Ranch this morning. They always have horses saddled up and ready to go, and plenty of wranglers wrangling them. This beautiful palomino was hitched up on a shady porch and I liked how occasionally he would reach his nose out into the light. Just after I finished this little plein air piece, someone got on and rode away. Below is a picture of the setting where I painted with my model in the background...Tomorrow I will post the study I did of the paint, there. I had to work fast....

Little Drive_cows, Cowboy, horse, cattle drive

"Little Drive"__4 x 8 oil on linen___$120

That's it! Just four calves. They needed to be moved from one pasture to another, so here was Bobby, moving them on horseback. I painted this from a photo of our farm. I miss the constant activity there...and the open spaces....and the change of seasons. I have noticed that in a neighborhood, the cycles of life and seasons and even weather are not very apparent...I am eager to be back on the land some day....looking!

JOIN ME at one of these events in October:

THIS Saturday, Oct. 24 in Waxahachie, TX at the Texas Country Reporter Festival ...then ,

Oct 25, I will be in Gruene, at the first annual Bovine Art Festival, painting on location at Cactus Jacks.

Oct. 31 All Day Workshop with Austin's PACT. Limit 20 students email me for details vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Mark your long range calendar to take a break from the winter cold!

Come to my FEB 5 - 7 , Workshop in Texas at Fredericksburg Artists School...sunrise to moonrise...painting fast is the theme....how to see and put it down and trust yourself capturing the moment!

Morning Meal_4 x 4.75_ V....Vaughan

"Morning Meal"___4 x 4.75 oil on canvas panel____$120 to the first to ask!
Here's a juicy little painting that might take a few days to dry! I should have done an auction, since a wait will be needed before I can ship it. The paint is so thick :) It has been a golden fall, and FINALLY cool here in central Texas. Great time of year to enjoy family and football games (my son's Dragons won tonight!)...AND outdoor fall festivals! Join me in Waxahachie, TX on Saturday at the Texas Country Reporter Festival. I will be there on the courthouse square. I forget the booth number :(

Spring Light_____6x8 oil_____V....Vaughan

"Spring Light"_______6 x 6 oil_____$200

The other day, I had a bunch of left-over greens and "mud" on my palette. I call these "palette droppings", and I like to scrape them wilth a palette knife and smear onto a panel till it resembles something!.. There is a new foal on the farm...I have spent a lot of time shooting pictures from my studio deck. What a happy foal, too...ALWAYS darting around and teasing "mom", who I painted here. I missed seeing the baby who was laying almost flat beneath the mare, and got up just as I finished...

Pedro

"Pedro" 6 x 8 collection of V....Vaughan Family
This is another painting I did with "palette droppings"...I dipped into my private collection to show here, since yesterday's painting generated a few comments! Yes, this is one I plan to keep....but I'm painting similar pieces! Hope you've enjoyed the "break" from farm paintings...back to "farming" tomorrow :)