1 Ballad: Chicken Chair

Detail: "Chicken Chair", from "The Rest"__48 x 36 oil for 

Ballad of the Farm: Then, Now. Tomorrow

The image above is a SMALL PART of my painting for a special museum event.
I call this part of the painting "Chicken Chair",
Over the next few days and weeks I will unveil the whole work, and tell of my inspiration.
My instructions from the curator were to "break out of my box", and explore the theme.
If you know my work, do you see anything "out of the box", here?

SO...I have been invited to "sing" part of a ballad!!

"Ballad of the Farm: Then. Now. Tomorrow." is a unique exhibit of artworks 

Presented by Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, with funding from NEA (National Endowment for the Arts),  MAAA, (Mid-America Arts Alliance), and others. 

The opening reception is Saturday, May 23, 2015. See the BROCHURE

Eleven artists have interpreted historic photos from family farms of long ago.

I think I am the only artist from Texas! 

I was given this opportunity last October, along with

 HUNDREDS of amazing historic photos to inspire me. 

My blog will take you along on my latest journey on the land!

Lets go!!

****

UPCOMING FOR V....

Phippen Museum Western Art Show___Prescott, AZ___May 23-25

Ballad of the Farm: Then. Now. Tomorrow__OPENING__David City, NE__May 23

This event is a VERY SPECIAL exhibit, that I have put my heart into since October, 2014. I will have a month of TARGETED blog posts about this topic, and "unveil" my special painting very soon. Visit Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art for more, and PLEASE follow my journey...soon!

Platt Turkey Crossing

Platte Turkey Crossing___a study for ranch commission

Last year I painted out several times along the great Platte River in Nebraska. The study above was from last summer...a cool morning with a blazing sunrise!

 While standing on the bank looking into the sun, a gang of turkeys on my side of the river decided to cross right there in front of me. this is a small work painted with a big brush, so the turkeys are way too big for the size of this river. I can't wait to re-create this in the proper scale.

This study and a number of pictures I took will help me create a larger painting that I hope will convey the magnificence of this place.

I find that, as I work on my Birdseed Project, I put birds in all my paintings. Call this my "bird phase".

Duck Creek Lightning Night

Duck Creek Lightnings__24x30 oil on linen__a commission

I have a commission to paint a ranch in Nebraska. I have been there several times, most recently in June (Tina was my travel buddy)...The very first day there, we had the ranch to ourselves, so we tromped around with the help of some "wheels" they provided...This place is situated on the Platte River, and there were miles of wild places to explore. My FAVORITE impression happened as we pulled away at dusk, and I tried to capture it here. Storms were approaching from the west, with thunderheads building, and I am just sure I saw some distant lightning.  In the wetlands were DOZENS of "lightning bugs" and they seemed to be blinking replies to the lightning in the clouds....

_______________________

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!

Grazing Riverside

Grazing Riverside__11x14 oil on canvas panel__available at the Gadsden Art Museum

Painted on location on the Coosa River in northern Alabama. I photographed while still in the field, and never took a picture after I "formed" the horses a little better...so this (above) is a step before "finish"...below is a picture that, when I looked at it later, seems to "line up" with the scene I was painting...

_______________V....Vaughan Spring Schedule________________

Works hang till May, Southeastern Plein Air Festival, Gadsden, AL

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

Summer Workshops in Texas, Colorado and more!

...see my schedule for more dates and events

Chilly for Breakfast

Chilly for Breakfast__ oil on linen__sold to F.S.
We had a couple of paintouts at this location during my Fredericksburg workshop this week.
These cows look like they are all safe in the corral, but the gate was open the whole time and they were free to leave and roam up to our hilltop location....which they did! Cows are very curious and could not resist inspecting our easels and art gear!
Our hands froze on this chilly morning, but it was worth it to paint in such a great location!
(A BIG version of "Chilly for Breakfast" one will be on the easel right away)

#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!

#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!

#89 - Canyon's Canyon

Canyon's Canyon__8x10 oil on linen panel_for Passing America: The Great Plains__$590 framed
This is a "drive-by" painting for my upcoming solo show in Nebraska. This one was painted along the road east of Canyon, TX and along the rim of the great Palo Duro Canyon...

Below is a link to a great magazine feature about my plains project...

And below that are other important links I hope you will look at!

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!

#88- Panhandle Span

Panhandle Span___8x10 Oil on linen panel __for Passing America: The Great Plains_$590 framed
Location: Texas Panhandle, along the Texas Plains Trail on the span of plains, under the span of sky.

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.

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

Step Ladder Sky

Step Ladder Sky___8 x 10 oil on linen panel___for Passing America: The Great Plains
I was going to post this one today, anyway...a drive-by painting in the plains of northern New Mexico. But, this is the first time I have given a title like this...the title goes with that step ladder of cirrus cloudy sky, but it also goes with a LANDMARK EVENT in my life.
For 27 years, I have been a FULL-TIME MOTHER (doing a little art on the side)...This week, my youngest (a 6'4"+ football athlete) goes away to college and the "new normal" begins!...
So, the FIRST THING I noticed about this "new normal", is that since all my TALL KIDS are gone, I do not have easy access to the top shelves, anymore....yesterday, I had to go to Lowes and buy a step ladder....

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!

Afternoon Clearing__ranch, cows, landscape, farm

"Afternoon Clearing"___16x20 oil on linen___A Commission for Terry N.
I loved having the chance to paint out on the land again! Even though I mostly did this one in the studio from photos, it still felt like "home on the range...or the farm" to me! Thank you for the commission, Terry! I hope the family likes it and that you do not mind the "artistic license!" It was great to feel spring showers and to "see green" for a while!
For you artists out there, just because the client gives you a handfull of photos and tells you which is the BEST view, I find that MOST of the time they will not mind if you take a little license with the final painting. In this work, I put the trees in better places and added some of that good red dirt that Terry liked. Heck, even when I painted our farm 365 times I sometimes left out the buildings or added cows where I wanted them!
In a few weeks I will have my first workshop of the year. We will focus on sunrises, sunsets, moonrise and COLOR! Please e-mail me if you are interested (Feb 5 - 7 in Fredericksburg, TX...a great place to get out of the cold!) vvaughan8@yahoo.com is the email

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!

August 28 on the Farm___

"August 28, 2006__Last Year on the Farm"__giclee available soon
This painting was one of my most requested ones of my "Last Year on the Farm". It sold FAST! I painted it THREE YEARS ago, today. I saw a similar scene at a nearby farm, today and it remined me that I promised myself (and a few collectors!) that I will soon paint a large version of this small study. I have the canvas ready, and a frame to put it in! The large original


will be 24 x 30 (or maybe 30 x 40...I can't decide!)...but, I also want to print a small edition of canvas giclees....My "farm work" remains my BEST work, I think. I published a small book with LOTS of pictures of the paintings. Order info is below...
A thought for my artist friends: Use your good studies as reference for larger works....this is what they are for! So many of the little "daily paintings" I do end up being re-created as larger works. Half the fun is trying to re-capture the freshness and brushwork of the study....the other half of the fun is selling the little study!

"Last Year on the Farm : A Story of Change..." THE BOOK IS HERE!

$29 plus 5 to ship. Total : $34

This exhibit of 365 small plein air paintings toured the country on exhibit in 2008. All of the paintings are up on my web site, and many are available for purchase NOW!

I put together a 50 page book, measuring 7" x 7", which is just FULL of some of my favorite images from my "Last Year on the Farm". There are two paintings for each month and a section showing two complete groups of "24 paintings in 24 hours" : "Fall Day...." and "Winter Day....". The book is available in paperback or Hard boound and includes a few of my thoughts and a short story about the project.

It is a WONDERFUL story of the end of a way of life in America. It's a story that touches MOST Americans as we say goodbye to small time farming.

Use the Paypal Button below, or CONTACT ME via e-mail if you wish to pay with a credit card. Or mail a check or money order to:

V....Vaughan

2606 Starling Dr.

Round Rock, TX 78681