Recent Paintings

I finally got to settle down to painting after the holidays. I should not let them interupt painting but they always do. You need dedicated time to create the idea and then paint it. Blocks of time seem to get gobbled up this time of year. I keep saying I am not going to let other people determine my schedule but the result would be divorce and becoming a hermit so we compromise. Here are my two I am finishing up this week

Grand Teton Gallery Jackson Hole

I spent a good part of August and all of September in Wyoming and South Dakota. I am now exhibiting in a new Gallerly in Jackson Hole Wyoming, called the Grand Teton Gallery!! It is almost across the street from the Wort Hotel on Broadway. Ian McLennan is the owner and we hope him all the success in the world. I also had a week in South Dakota taking picturs of cowboys and Indians for new paintings. It was a good photoshoot and should have reference for many paintings. Now is the time to settle down and paint since my son was married this past weekend (congrats, Emily and Brian) and all the hoopla is over for a while.

Grizzlys Everywhere

Well, May and June in Wyoming was like living the documentary, Wild America! There were Elk with calves, Pronghorn Antelope with young, Moose with young, Bighorn sheep with young, Mule Deer with young and then there were the Bears with young.
Because of the unusual snowfall of three times the normal and unusually cool weather the snow pack was down at 8000 feet and so were all the animals. Hiking was kept to a minimum so I got lots of painting done. I am now in Grand Teton Gallery in Jackson Hole Wyoming as well a Silver Sage Gallery in Dubois Wyoming. I was in the Wind River Artist Guild National Show and took a first place ribbon in oils and sold the painting as well. It was called "Coming Home" and it was two cowboys driving some horses across a river. All in all it was a great spring

The Charge

This is my latest that I am working on. I am still not sure of some of the background figures or if I want to add more costuming to the featured subject. It is time to set it aside for a week or two.

"Insurrectos " finished?

I added a couple more shadow figures but still not happy with it. This may never see the light of day. Maybe I need to darken the sky?

The Insurrectos (Generals Villa and Zapata)

I had this one started at least a year ago and was stuck. I put it aside and decided it would be a good painting to drag out and work on since I had not been painting a lot. I am not sure that makes good sense since it is not an easy painting to do with multiple figures and depth perception but what the heck it wasn't painting itself, sitting in the corner. Besides those paintings haunt you and you have to make a decision sooner or later to finish or throw out. It was a linen canvas and I just couldn't do that to a piece of linen. Here it is in an almost finished state that I will set in a corner and look at and decide again to invest in a frame or pitch. What do you think?

Paying Respects

I have just about finished what I now call "Paying Respects". These cowboys as far as we know did not bury their friend but have come to say "goodbye" and "pay respects". If their friend died from a fall from a horse or shot through the heart we cannot know, but the grave will soon disappear from wind and weather and this may be the last time they will visit or even be able to find it. Only one horse has a rope but all three cowboys have guns, so maybe that tells us something.
I tried to keep the color tones somewhat somber. The computer picture is actually a little bright and the colors a little rich. I hope it works and you enjoy it.

Cowboy Funeral

I have continued to fill in the cowboys and tried to balance out the background light with the shadowed figures. I want to keep them from being silhouettes so that there is enough interest to want to go back and look at the painting again. I will try to keep the background light and uncompeting with the main characters. I will continue to work on the lighting and shadows and refining the overall feel.

A New Trail

I guess I am writing this mainly to myself. I have been tending to my aging mother who passed on to be with God and her family on November 8, 2010. After spending 2 to 3 hours a day for the last 8 months with her, it is now time to return to my art. I found through all this time that painting is something that can be done any time but to create art and do the best you can do is not something that can be done with out complete devotion to it. It is time to get back to work. I warmed up with a little 9x12 of String Lake near Jackson Hole Wyoming. It is a wonderful little place with lots of atmosphere. You can hardly go wrong in any weather or time of year. I also have gone back to painting The Funeral piece and will show you how I am progressing. I have worked one part of the painting all the way to the foreground and in to the distance to try to establish some feeling of depth and see if I want to make changes

Headin back to Dubois

After spending almost two months in Ohio it is time to get back out to where I belong. Tending to an aging parent in Ohio is a tough part of life but it is a necessary part of life. Now is the time for a few weeks in Wyoming to paint and recharge the old batteries. "End of the Day" was a fun low light paintng to do. I have started a "Cowboy Funeral". I took a progress picture as I started here. I roughed in with burnt umber over a pretty red canvas. I am hoping it will subdue some of the color and at the same time warm it up a bit. I will try to show this painting as I progress but it will have to wait until I return . I will see you all again in September.