Early Fall Cedars, Artistic Trekkers, Vinland, KS

                                                      

 

"Fall Cedars", Vinland, KS 

Oil 18"x 24" $475

The early fall colors were just beginning to show and the deep grasses were moving in the wind as a rainstorm was beginning across the field. I loved looking up at this cedar field from the Nitcher's Farm in Vinland, Kansas. The cedars were full and their beautiful colors mixed with all of the colors in the wonderful tall grsasses that had yet to be cut. I loved the way the clouds moved over the field.Vinland Kansas is one of my favorite places to work. I have been taking students to Vinland for five years and still feel we have not seen all there is to see in this very small, very rural collection of historic buildings which is fifty miles from Kansas City in the rolling western hills of Kansas.

"Jeans and Mary Jane's"

    

                                                                                             

               "Jeans and Mary Janes", Houston, TX

Oil 18"X 24" 

Permanent Collection Living Arts and Science Center, Lexington, KY

"Jeans and Maryjane's" is a work that was completed in Houston, TX. Houston is an interesting place full of images of the Modern West. This piece came to me as I contemplated the odd mix of Houston's western culture with a contemporary heartbeat. The old oak chair was one of several chairs I found in a garage while I lived with my husband in Wyoming. I had thrown my jeans across the chair and took off my Mary Jane's just under it. The light was an afternoon light that was just manifesting across the room and I loved the play of the light on the walls and in the deep creases in the jeans. It was very demonstrative of Houston's western culture seen in the wonderful mix of burnt sienna walls and the old oak chair with a pair of well worn jeans tossed across it. The Mary Jane's are also a bit nostalgic.

 

"Morning Flowers"

                          

                                                                           "Morning Flowers"

                                                                         Oil 18" x 24" $450.00

Morning Flowers is a wonderful painting that the light hit just right. I love working with dynamic still life paintings that are full of color. The Mums were laying down next to my jeans and I felt they made a wonderful contrast against the deep blue of the jeans. The light was just coming in from the top left and the intricate folds of the fabric against the fullness of the flowers told a wonderful story of how light and color can create so much beauty in such a simple subject.

                                                               "Hunt Morgan Garden House"

                                                                        Oil 18"x 24" $850 (Sold)

"Hunt Morgan Garden House". I loved this garden house and all of the color that came forward in flowers that laid against the old bricks. I painted this on site and the light moved into the garden house as I was painting it. The Hunt Morgan House is located in Lexington, Kentucky and is one of the many historic homes in the city. The day was very bright and hot and the light reflected  all around the interior of the bricks. The flowers seem chaotic due to their wild growth and the explosion of color against the brick gave the whole scene over to just an expression of bright and brilliant color.

"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

"Amy's Laundry"

                                                                               

                                                               "Amy's Laundry"
                                                        Watercolor 16"x 20"  $425

Amy was my neighbor in Blacksburg, Virginia. She was against using a dryer because of the energy it wasted and she loved the way the fresh air permeated the clothes. She had this wonderful clothes line in her backyard and one day she was drying all the jeans and they were so full of personality. All sorts of adventures were revealed in those jeans. Hiking trips to the Appalachian Trail, bike rides through town, hours spent in university classes, long nights out and walks through town. I loved the colors and the way the light hit the basket and the shadows the jeans cast on the walls.