The Old Bridge

The Old Bridge___6x8 oil study__available at Firedworks, Alamosa, CO

LOTS OF EXCUSES why I have not posted in the longest time EVER since starting the blog!....mainly "life stuff", and travel...and school starting....and travel again!

I went back to Colorado to deliver paintings to galleries in Alamosa and Act I, in Taos, NM (click the link to see my "little dipper" on the home page :)

While there, I HAD TO paint some more. Here is a view of the old bridge near our cabin. THIS IS WHERE I will take our workshop group for a day of painting, next August!

I have big plans for this workshop and will post location works for the next few days...it is my FAVORITE place to paint.

email me  for a little e-brochure with pics!



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".

Line of Scrimmage

Line of Scrimmage__12x24 oil on linen___$2100

Available at Cactus Jack's in Gruene, TX

My longhorn paintings have football titles and images that reflect some of the deep things about the game, teamwork and how football is a lot like life!  There are "holes" in all allegories, but I like the symbolism found in sports...When a Quarterback steps up to the line, he looks around and must be aware of everything, while the lineman focus ONLY on their assignment and timing...I imagine that the other team is across the water and....

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Here are some locations for a few other 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!

La Luna Sobre Conejos____9x12 oil on canvas___$550 for Conejos Fire House Show

Our summer vacations are spent along Colorado's Conjos River. This canyon is remote, yet populated by some of the nicest people one could know! The big "season" is RIGHT NOW....Independence Day, and all of July! This tight knit summer community celebrates the season with cook-outs, and get-togethers where everyone feels welcome. Last year we celebrated the opening of our own little fire department. With Colorado fires on the news, we all are grateful for this, and support the annual events to raise funds for it! On July 13-14 we'll have our 2nd Annual Fire House Art Show, featuring some artists in this canyon....Look up the works of Charlie Ewing, Rick Howell, Jim Gilmore, Pat Haberman, Zella Meeks and ME!...I have been painting the spectacular moon...driving home the other night, I was welcomed into the canyon by this full moon over the Conejos River.

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!

Pecos Sketch

Pecos Sketch___8x6 oil study on canvas___$190 (unless you were in the class...wink)
Pat was working from my photo taken on the Pecos River near Del Rio, a few years ago. This photo was pretty and dramatic. Since Pat was taking his break inthe studio with me while the others went to town, I showed him a little preview of the upcoming lesson on "pre-mixing" to paint...This color sketch began as about 7 simple shapes of color!....then the shapes are subdivided with as much detail as you want!...SInce this is a small canvas, I did not divide to TOO much detail :)
I will teach at the same place next year and cover some of the same material...but always in new ways! It looks like early June will be my time again! Just in time for peaches and produce! Mark it on your calendar to come if you can!

Guadalupe Visitor_detail_ egret, cypress trees, river

Guadalupe Visitor_detail___30 x 40 oil on linen....
I will post the finished BIG PAINTING tomorrow, unless I am not happy with it, yet :) If you look at My blog,
yesterday I posted the "block-in" phase for this large work....if you search back a couple weeks you will see various egret studies. The small paintings were "bird tryouts" to see which "pose" I liked....This gesture looked best to me, and today I painted Mr. Egret into the large work...honestly, I have spent YEARS painting small ones every day, and it's like breathing to me! But the large works ...well, they are WORK! My pal Robin Cheers prefers to complete a painting "alla prima", and I reckon I do, too...it annoys me to work all day and not be DONE...BUT...Big ones have more parts...I am getting to like it, too, when I can leave for a few days and come back to the big one and get into it, again! Sort of like a favorite vacation spot you keep returning to....just looking at this small part of the big painting, I already see what I need to work on tomorrow....that stuff in the background on the right is too light :) Are you a follower of this blog, yet? Click to follow and you will find out when I post. Easier still is joining my group. E-mail me to do that, and you will get the art in your e-mail box every day... vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Colorado River, Texas Sky

"Colorado River, Texas Sky"____24 x 30 oil on linen____available
We have our very own Colorado River flowing right through Central Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. I walked alongside it last week with my friend, and this pretty bend caught my eye. This time of year there is a never ending spiral column of buzzards riding the thermals above the treetops. I like that. It LOOKS LIKE TEXAS!!!
I found out today why the Colorado River was flowing so hard that day....they are releasing water from the lakes near Austin to send downstream to the rice farmers who desperately need it. This is why the Colorado River was dammed up in the first place, ...for FOOD, y'all....the boating and water sports are a "new idea" and way down on the list of priorities....Our lakes are terribly dry, but one good tropical storm will bring them back in a hurry!

Conejos Cotton Hatch

"Conejos Cotton"___11 x 14___Oil on linen panel

Saturday, I will conduct a workshop for a CROWD! and do a demo or two , (Chicken Clinic?? of course!) and then we will have a gallery talk and a nice reception at the Gadsden Museum of Art. I look forward to meeting all the nice people who have put together a wonderful exhibit.

If you have not been to my web site, lately PLEASE GO. ALL the paintings from the "Last Year on the Farm" are there, and so are most of the field notes, and the status of each painting, whether sold or not. Please contact me if you are interested in anything ;)

**The painting today was painted in Colorado, on the Conejos River, while every cottonwood tree dropped it's cotton...it looked like snow that day (I left it all out of the painting, except the stuff that stuck to it.) But that's not all. A half hour into this, there was a HUGE hatch of little moths like I have never seen! I rescued 73 otf them before loosing count....
In a few hours I leave for Gadsden Alabama. My 365 paintings of "Last Year on the Farm" are there, now. The folks in Gadsden are buying them right and left, and I will bring home what's left, and start delivering the "Sold" ones! If you bought one, or want to CONFIRM your dibs, NOW is the time to do it. I have a lot of people wanting them and I will be selling them off unless you have a deposit...OK??

Conejos Willows

"Conejos Willows"____12 x 12 oil on linen panel_____ask

THis was my first one a couple of days ago.....the view of the Conejos river from our porch....my favorite view. Seeing it here on my screen shows me a few things I need to fix!