Chilly Morning at Allen's Old Place

Chilly Morning at Allen's Old Place__8x10 oil on linen__$450 with wet paint
With miles and miles of Nebraska cornfields and soybeans ready to come out of the fields, my workshop found the PERFECT HILLTOP to paint from. A hilltop place (formerly belonging to one of my hosts, Allen, but now being restored by his good friends, the Moravec's) has given us 360 degrees of landscapes to paint! You will see a number of my hilltop demos in the next few days! Whereas the sun rose QUICKLY from reds to yellows in yesterday's post, this sunrise "stalled" when low, foggy damp clouds rode in on the western breezes. Artists like when there is a LITTLE more time to grasp the glance outside.
Passing America: The Great Plains click to see 154 works from the show

Black Baldy

Black Baldy___6x6 oil on panel___$290 framed for Passing America: The Great Plains
I posted a Hereford of the same size and price, yesterday but forgot to hit the "publish" button on the blog. So, if you only see the blog (and not the e-mail) click here to see yesterday's Hereford ...This is "cow week" as I have a small little group of different types of cattle that I have seen across the plains...these are small canvases in matching frames for my exhibit, but they are not "drive-by" paintings. ...This painting above is what we call a "white face", which, I think is a type of Hereford but if anyone knows better, please let me know! I suspect they have a little bit of Angus.

Lowing 3_black cow, cattle, white face, small oil painting

"Lowing 3"___6 x 6 oil study on linen___$150
The cattle are still lowing...I have revisited the farm lately, via photos and a few small studies. Compare this "Low-er" with yesterday's. It appears that it is the same cow, and I think it is. Funny, as an artist paints, our eye records MANY things each time we look up. We take note of proportions, and negative space and lights and darks and all the art terms you can think of...These things stay in our memory bank, stored up to use later on another painting. While painting the "bangs" on this cow's forehead, I remembered painting similar shapes and textures in yesterday's work....same cow! To you art students: THIS IS WHY carrying a sketchbook is SO IMPORTANT. I worked from two different photos that I had taken, but did not remember or notice the similarity in the photos of the cows. Shooting pictures really does NOTHING to improve your art technique...but sketching does! Do you agree?

Lowing 2_cow, cattle, white face,oil, small original

"Lowing 2"___6 x 6 oil study on linen panel___$150

The cattle are lowing...it's Christmas time and I always loved this "theme" when I lived on the farm. If you haven't looked at the 365 small paintings from my "Last Year on the Farm" (which is the name of the exhibit which traveled the USA in 2008), please go look! Especially take a look at the December paintings and read those field notes...there is a lot about "lowing" in those paintings. It was a cold December, as it's turning out to be this year, and our cows huddled up together a lot....Merry CHRISTmas!

Farm_Two Years Ago_cows, white face, angus

"Farm_Two Years Ago" __Oct 16, 2006____From Last Year on the Farm___available
I actually painted this three years ago, but it was two years ago this month that we left the farm. Several people new to my blog have asked me about the story...please browse my web site and see all the art and read some of the articles there...it's still precious to my heart.
Tomorrow I am spending the day in Calvert, TX (over by College Station.) I will be painting at the Calvert
Victorian Tea, and my friend Robin Cheers will be painting at the evening Gala. Robin and I will be staying with Barbara and Cecilia...native Calvertonians, and I have made a cherry pie for our meal together!
I am teaching a short workshop in the morning...sunrise and Kolaches are beautiful in Calvert! Then I will head over to paint the ladies at the tea. (I am betting on ladies, since it's a big college football day tomorrow!) We anticipate a beautiful scene, with people in Victorian dress. The events will be in a couple of the restored Victorian mansions of Calvert. Robin is great at this sort of thing...I might bail and paint a landscape with cows.... Victorian Cows, of course!! :)