"Cedar Fields" Vinland, KS

                                                                  

                                                              "Cedar Fields", Vinland KS

                                                                           Oil 24" x "32 $550

I love the Vinland Hills of Kansas. It is only 50 miles from downtown Kansas City. It is a very remote,  rural area. It is just south of Lawrence, Kansas. I taught at the Lawrence Art Center where Kansas University is located for many years. The Lawrence Art Center is an artistic engine in the region and many artists working in a variety of different mediums have come to this area due to the growing arts culture. Vinland is a community and consists of one street that circles a small cluster of historic buildings. I love it here and always bring students here to work painting Plein Air. (You can view their work from Vinland at artistictrekkers.blogspot.com). It is unrestricted. Many of the beautiful farms and scenery are just there and don't require someone's permission to access the areas. In the fall when this was painted there were lovely colors and vibrant meadow grasses that reached up into this beautiful grove of cedars across the road from the 100 yr. old library. It was a windy day and the colors in the tall Kansas prarie grasses were vibrating with the changing light created by the wind. I believe I could paint in just this one area for the next five years and still not capture all there is to see.

"Outside of Lone Tree Wyoming" Wyoming

      

             

                                                                "Outside of Lone Tree, Wyoming"

                                                                   Watercolor 18"x 24" $450.00

"Outside Lone Tree Wyoming" is one of my favorite places on earth. This is one of the last places in the continental United States that is not fenced. Traveling across Wyoming has been part of my life and this particular area just south and east of the Unita Mountains in southwest Wyoming is vast and wild. This is an area that has not been touched by mankind. The land moves from deep rock canyons to clusters of scrub cedars. There is a unique stillness and truth in the vast and beautiful emptiness that this land holds.

"Chair, Blanket and Mexican Rug" Living Arts and Science Center, Lexington, KY

Chair, Blanket and Mexican Rug"

                                                                          Watercolor 18"x 24" $475.00

"Chair, Blanket and Mexican Rug" is a work I completed while teaching in Lexington at the Living Arts and Science Center in Lexington, KY. The Day of the Dead Festival had just been completed and my heart and mind were filled with memories of the light of Mexico. My husband and I spent fifteen years living, working and traveling throughout Mexico. Everyday was filled with the magic of discovery of this very ancient land. Color is everywhere in the handmade Contemporary Mexican Folk Art. I loved this rug and we acquired it while working on developing a collection of Contemporary Mexican Folk Art for the Smithsonian Institutions. Mexico and her light will always be a very important part of my life and my experiences.

"Venice's Boots" Lawrence Art Center, Lawrence, KS

                                                 

                                                                              "Venice's Boots"

                                                                              Watercolor 18"x 24" $425.00 

I completed this painting just after I returned from Wyoming and was teaching at the Lawrence Art Center. These boots belong to my niece, Venice. She lives in Jelm, in rural southeastern Wyoming. Jelm is actually a town with a post office, gas station, small store, bar, cafe and eight log cabins that her parents rent out to tourists. The resort is called "Woods Landing". It is located on the Laramie River and is listed on the historic register. It is a beautiful place to live and grow up. I also lived in Jelm when I was in college at the University of Wyoming. I lived in one of the eight cabins that line the Laramie River long before Sue and Bill, my sister and brother in law purchased it. My heart always seems to be in Wyoming. The long harsh winters create a unique relationship between the land and the people who live there and I love the silence of the vast landscape. I was in Wyoming working on a mural project for Harmony School which is the school Venice attends. There are 26 students. The mural told the story of Wyoming from the time of the dinosaurs to modern times. I stayed at Woods Landing with Venice and at the end of the project, Sue, my sister in law asked me if I wanted to take Venice's boots. She had outgrown them. These are Venice's old boots that she wore while she barrel raced in Wyoming. I was deeply grateful. I carry them with me everywhere and students have painted them all across the United States where ever I teach and work. I am deeply grateful to Sue for giving them to me because I am able to carry a part of Wyoming with me where ever I go.

"Pots and Mexican Blanket"

                                                          "Mexican Pots and Blanket", Blacksburg, Va

                                                                           Watercolor 22x30" $525

My husband created these pots while we were living in Oaxaca, Mexico studying Spanish at the Instituto Culturale. We went to school in the morning for language then in the afternoons we had the opportunity to take ceramics, cooking, or weaving. We loved visiting all of the indigenous villages and archaeological sites in the region. We returned to the States and life found us in returning to graduate school in southwest Virginia. We were surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains and we loved going to school, however, during those cold winters we often thought of our trip to Oaxaca, the warm sun and the wonderful adventures we had. I began to miss Mexico and during one of those cold December days, I gathered up his pots and one of our Mexican blankets and began this painting remembering the warm sun, welcoming people and the sounds of Mexico.

$475.00