hypnotic hereford

You're getting very sleepy...... Well...you might be if you don't like cow paintings.  I do not seem to be able to get enough of them.  They always make me happy.  I have so many more images that I have taken or friends have sent me that have not made it to a canvas yet.  This is painted on a 10 x 10 x 2" canvas.  I think herefords are my favorite because I love their scruffiness and coloring.  So fun to paint white shadows.sold

dixie

This handsome lab belongs to  Matt and Sidney. Matt decided he wanted a painting of Dixie for his birthday. Dixie was his first baby and even though they now have a human baby he wanted a picture of his first for his office. This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen panel.  

cooper

This cutie belongs to a young friend of mine and is a rescue dog. Cooper stood out to her because he had freckles like she did. She is recently engaged and gave this painting to her fiance for a birthday surprise. This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen panel.

happy trails

Something a little different.  This is painted on a 12 x 24 x 2" canvas.

chip off the old block

I painted this picture a few months ago and never posted it.  I finally figured out a better way(for me anyway) to photograph large pieces.  I take my photos outside with the back of the painting is facing the sun.  If it is a small painting, you can put it in a box lid or something so that light does not get through. Learned this from Qiang Huang. To photograph the large piece, I tacked some dark felt to the back of the painting to take the place of the box.  Handling these big pieces is  hard. This is another 4 x 4 x 2".sold

  I put "puppy love" on my mantle so that I could live with it a while.  It helps me to see problems.  I decided to upgrade his horns and make it so that the end of his tail did not look like a lobster claw. Check him out on my previous post to see the changes.

puppy love

I was giddy the whole time I was painting this longhorn.  I usually start with the eyes when I am painting animals.  If you can capture the life in them it is smooth sailing after that.  He was staring at me with that hound dog look as I painted. This is a large 4 ' x 4' x 2" canvas.
I took this image when I visited Oregon last Fall.  The bluebonnets were added for a Texas slant.  I was juried into the Woodlands Waterway Show in Houston for my animals so that is what I will be exhibiting at the show.

in season

I painted one of my cows right into a field of bluebonnets. The bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas.  They will be in season when I head to Texas April 9th but I am not sure we will see many in the eastern part of Texas. If any Texans can tell me an hours drive or so from Houston where I might see some I will go out of my way.  This is painted on a 12 x 24 x 2" canvas.  sold

Jack

Jack belongs to my cousin's daughter.  Does that make her my second cousin?   The painting was a birthday gift from her husband.  I love Jack's chocolate almond eyes.  Reminds me a lot of my Callies. This is painted on an 8 x 10 x 2" canvas.  Kudos to Josh for giving such a thoughtful gift!

murphy

Murphy belongs to a young couple who just got married.  A friend commissioned me to paint it for their wedding gift. I know. I mostly got glasses and plates for my wedding presents. I hope Murphy is adjusting to life with a new man in his master's life.  This is painted on a 12 x 12 x 2" canvas.

to the barn

I have an attention deficit when it comes to painting.  My mind has been working over time these days thinking of things I want (or need) to paint.  I want to paint more egg set ups and I will but I have been wanting to paint this long horn for a while. I had to get it out of my system.  It is painted on a small ,6 x 12 x 2" canvas but I think it would be nice on a large canvas.  This longhorn lives in Springville, AL. This is about thirty minutes from where I live and I have taken pictures of them a couple of times. This image was taken by a fellow artist, Diane, and she was kind enough to share it with  me.  I tried to keep this one loose and just focus on the shapes.sold

new eggs, old spoon

My sister brought me some fresh eggs yesterday.  I have never painted eggs before so I thought it would be fun.  It was.  More to come!  This one is painted on an 11 x 14" linen panel.

home on the green

Painted on a 24 x 24 x 2" canvas.sold

Have a great weekend!

hey jude

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I am headed to a show in Houston, Texas in a month so I have decided to paint a few Texas sized paintings.  This one is painted on a 2' x 6' canvas.  The top photo is a closer view of the face.  I am not skilled in photographing large works so I decided to show three views.
 The show is the Woodlands Waterway Art Festival and the dates are April 10, 11 and 12th.  Road trip!
Oh yeah, "hey Jude" was playing as I finished this piece.  Great song!

part and parcel

I tried to remember things I stressed to my workshop attendees as I painted this today.  At the top of the list was "make every stroke count".  Don't slap paint on your canvas without a purpose.

I am painting at a fund raiser for the University of Alabama at Birmingham's  Comprehensive Cancer Center this Saturday night. It is one of the nation's leading  cancer research and treatment centers. The fund raiser is called "Art Blink" because the artists have and hour and a half to complete a painting.  Attendees bid on the paintings to raise money for the cancer center's fund for excellence. (research, family assistance, etc) It is a black tie affair so the only downside is that I have to dress up.  Even so....I am honored and excited to be a part of this affair.  I am going to paint a large rooster that will be auctioned. This one is a warm up and is a 6 x 12 x 2".sold

sunny

 This was the painting ( 8 x 10") I demoed yesterday for day two of my workshop.  It was one of my favorite pictures and memories from our trip to Costa Rica. Our family was having dinner at a place literally on the edge  of the beach so we watched the sun set and I got some great pictures of this young one. I told my class it sounded more romantic than it was.  There were lots of hawkers on the beach who came and tried to sell you anything from pottery, bird whistles, jewelry and drugs.sold

Below are some more photos of my awesome students hard at work.

noodled

 I just finished my weekend workshop and it was so fun looking back through the pictures.  I had one surprise photo that is the bottom one of this post.  The Montgomery twosome/funsome took a selfie.  We had a wonderful group of people and painters.  The first day I painted "noodled" for my demo. (8 x 10") I did not really noodle it during the demo but  I had a hard time leaving it alone this morning before the workshop started.  I did not take my own advice to stop working on it when it was finished and fresh.  The ladies all painted great cows and in one case a great looking horse.
I will share some more pictures of the workshop tomorrow.  I already miss my new friends.

love like crazy

The title was inspired by Lee Brice's song but it is appropriate for the way I feel about red angus in the late afternoon sun.  This cow is my sister's next door neighbor.  She does not live on a farm but she is surrounded by them.  I got so excited when I saw these on my way to Nashville last weekend that I was having a hard time holding my camera steady.  The lighting was perfect and so were the cows.  They came right up to the fence hoping I was there to feed them.  It did not help that I drove up on a tractor.  (just kidding about that)
This is painted on a 16 x 20 x 2" canvas.  

all dressed up

I don't paint hens very often but this one caught my eye.  I mostly favor the bright colors in roosters.  I might have exaggerated her tail feathers a bit....
This is painted on an 8 x 8 x 2" canvas.sold 

whole lot of lemon

My Dad always ordered iced tea with a "whole lot of lemon" when we would dine out.  This is painted on an 8 x 8" linen panel.  

Have a good weekend!

long stem

I bought a few roses yesterday and am enjoying painting them.  I intentionally painted this a little looser.  I love painting on an elongated canvas.  This one is a 12 x 24 x 2". 

The scene when I went out to photograph the painting.  Ruthie thinks she is so cool.  She is. A snake in February?  My husband did not think he liked cats until he learned they help keep snakes away.  Ruthie is his hero. He is not a snake lover.  The second night we were in Costa Rica he opened our room door and there was a small black snake greeting him.  It could not have happened to a better person.  I just got my running shoe and pushed it outside.  I make fun of him but if it had been a big spider I would not have slept the rest of the trip.

mardi gras

I have not painted my colorful bowls in a while.  This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen panel.

tres limones

 I am trying to get back to painting after a long absence.  I actually painted most of this a while back but decided it was missing something.  I added the knife today and I think it works much better.  I plan on painting still life set ups for a few days because I miss it.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" linen panel.

A few pictures from our Costa Rica trip.   The first two are shots of canyoneering in the Los Rocos canyon.  Our favorite thing the whole trip.  

Lots and lots of cows everywhere.  Any small space of land would host some.  In the middle of our first resort.  

A sloth in the Rain forest.  They stay in a tree eating for a week or more. They only go down once a week for their  constitutional.  We got it to look at us by whistling.  Their predators are eagles. I have a mean eagle whistle. If they have a baby and it falls out the tree, they would rather have another one than to go down and get it.  That is not only lazy, that is bad.

A sable tree in the rain forest.  

Views of Tamarindo beach.  

keeper

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I am posting a large 24 x 36 x 2" painting that I painted a few weeks ago.  I don't always post the larger paintings that I do for shows.  I am not very good at photographing large pieces.  This is pretty representative of the work.

I had a wonderful vacation with my family and now feel like I need a vacation from my vacation.  We did volcano hikes through the rain forest,  canyoneered through La Roco canyon, fished, sons surfed, and we all hiked and zip lined through the cloud forest in Monteverde.   We started in the rain forest around Arenal Volcano, then went to Tamarindo beach area and finished up in the cloud forest at 5000 ft elevation in Monteverde.  I will try to share some pictures and information about this beautiful country in the coming posts.

I have been busy since returning preparing for the Art Event at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville this Friday through Sunday.  I LOVE going to Nashville.  I am lucky to stay with a good friend, visit with my artist friends, see previous patrons and meet new ones. I will mostly be featuring my animal pieces.  I will also have one display panel of my beach figurative pieces.  Click on the highlighted Lipscomb phrase to go to the link for the show information.