Work In Progress

I have 3 trees in pencil marked on the left side and ready for the first layers of paint.

I will be working on it this week and will have the final product in a few days.

3-5-10 "Canada Geese at Sunset"

I don't usually paint in a series but I've got geese on my mind after seeing so many still here for the winter. They are a beautiful bird when in the sky flying overhead in that gigantic V and bigger than you think when on the ground and you're up close.

Water color 6.5 x 9.5 matt opening

$50.00 postage paid

2-24-10 "Cananda Geese Over Iowa"

I thought all geese flew to warmer weather during the late fall months to avoid the cold and snow but I've seen quite a few different geese and swans around here this winter.

The colors are quite subdued in this painting but that's the look I was aiming to achieve. I just kept putting on paint and washing it off till it left the stain in the paper grain then I gave it several more light washes to finish it.

Water color 6.5 x 9.5 matted $40.00 free shipping

2-17-10 "Looking for Dinner"

You can expect to find cats around a barn as sure as there are cows in it. If it wasn't for the hard work of the barn cat the mice and rats would be running the place.

This painting actually started out as somethig totally different that wasn't working out well so I washed it away and started all over again. The stain of the first painting left a blueish tint to the paper that fit this time of day perfectly so I made the most of it.

16x20 frame size, Water color

$50.00 plus $5.00 shipping

2-8-10 "Lucas Farm"

Wouldn't it be nice if summer were here and the grass was green and the sun warm overhead? This painting is about as close as we are going to get for a few more months. The size of this painting is a lot larger than what I have been finishing lately, it is actually 13x21 unframed, which is large enough for me to complete in a couple of days.

Water color, 13x21 unframed

$150.00 plus $5.oo postage

2-2-10 "A Tribute to Winslow Homer"

I guess I could call it the winter humdrums. After several landscapes I needed to brake away from the norm and try something out of my comfort zone that would challenge me as well as entertain me. I wasn't trying to reproduce this painting (Apple Picking, 1878) exactly (as if I could) but use my limited talents in this simple likeness. Homer used opaque water colors (gouche) to create a painting that was very dark so th sunlight striking the bonnets and folds of clothing would stand out. I've always appreciated this painting and am happy with my results. I'm going to frame it today and my wife already has a spot on the wall for it.

1-18-10 "January 1st. #2"

Last fall we took a road trip over to Pella, Iowa to look at some preserved door and window trim in an old farm house that was going to be torn down. The owners were selling the woodwork and we were interested. While I was there I snapped some photos of the house knowing it would be torn down in a few short months. This is a likeness of it at dusk on a snowy evening.
Water color 9x12 $45.00,
Matted, shipping $4.00

painting in progress

Water color can be transparent or opaque, it all depends on the whim of the painter. I use to try to keep my work transparent but anymore I don't even try to follow that path. I paint any old way I want.

1-7-10 "A Country Winter"

Once in a while I'll pull an old painting out of the closet, look at it in a whole new way and start to make changes. Thats what happened to this winter scene. It needed some deletions, some additions, and some TLC. It is actually not as deep blue as the photo shows it to be.

Above is the close up of the barn.

Above is the close up of the cardinals on the tree and fence.

25x30 water color
Not For Sale

1-2-10 "New Years Day #1"

This will be a winter to remember in Iowa as the snow falls, blizzards blow, and the temperature drops. This idyllic winter farm scene is just what a farmer might see as looks out his back room window to check out the snow fall.
Water color 9x12
$45.00, Matted, shipping $4.00

work in progress

I'm starting another two or three winter scenes.

Merry Christmas

This Christmas day painting is a gift that I gave to my daughter as a wedding gift back in 2001 and seeing we are stranded here in Nebraska for an extended period of time due to a major snowstorm/blizzard I am using it as my blog entry today. I may have posted this before so here is a chance to enjoy it all over again!

12-13-09 "Three's Company"

This painting took me around the block and back again! At first I didn't like the trees in the background, then the sky, then I took the red out of the barns, then I put it back in with more of a orange-red color, and then I added the cattle after I thought I was finished. And now it has turned out just as I wanted it too.

Water color, 9x12

$30.00 plus $4.00 shipping

work in progress

Today we have the first heavy snow fall of the year and I am painting a summer scene! Oh well, paint away.