#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!

#91 - Thunderhead Glow

Thunderhead Glow___6x8 oil on linen _for Passing America: The Great Plains_$490 framed and shipped
This one was my last drive-by of the day last spring when my friend Barbara C. drove me on the entire circuit of the Texas Plains Trail...I have some interesting posts to put up about that trip...they were LONELY roads in wide open farming places, but so few people in the towns, including Crosbyton, TX, where I painted this one. I hate to say it, but we got a creepy feeling at the hotel there, and moved on down to Lubbock for the night. It was not the town itself ...towns can't be creepy, people are, and there was a strange character checking into the hotel ahead of us, so we "moseyed"...even though we were REALLY tired and it was almost dark...PLEASE stay tuned for some news about my upcoming show. I have a lot of things to "unveil" and many of you have been following along all these years...I REALLY enjoy your input...THANK YOU!

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!

Cowgirl Gold

Cowgirl Gold___16x20 oil on linen___for Cowgirl Up! ...Wickenburg, AZ, March 26-28, 2010
I had a nice visit with the Austin Palette Club this morning, and began this painting as a demo for the group. Since I had painted a plein air study several months ago, it all felt very "familiar" and I think the demo came out well....note to artists: when doing a demo, be sure that you are comfortable and familiar with the "subject", and be sure that the group is NICE...makes the demo easier ...The Austin Palette Club is a VERY NICE and HAPPY group of artists! We had a great time together, but it went so FAST!!!
The title of this is really "Nestled in Gold", but as I typed it in, I saw that I had already used that for another painting. OOPS! Cowgirl Up! asked for our titles months ago, and I turned in "Nestled..." without thinking. This is the painting that they are using for the show catalog, and it is a painting from the plein air study I did last fall while visiting CO with a couple of friends.

Drawing the Gate_sketch, cowboy, horse, ranch

"Drawing the Gate""Drawing the Gate" "Drawing the Gate"___from my travel sketchbook...driving by the Birdwell Ranch in New Mexico
STOP THE CAR!!!!
Yeah, I guess I might say that from time to time as I travel as a passenger across the plains...God bless my friend Barbara who was driving this leg, and who was so agreeable to "obey" hahaha.
This was a precious scene we came upon, as the mounted cowboy turned his horse, grabbed the gate and drew it shut. Then he loaded his horse in a trailer and drove off. Behind them was a small group of hereford cattle that we guessed were either dropped off or rounded up.
This scene reminded me of the frequent "wranglings" at our farm, where some of our family members were cowboys and rodeo riders and did the practical cowboying of moving cattle from pasture to pasture....I miss those days!