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.

"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.

"Mexico Bench"

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

I have spent 30 years living and working in Mexico. I love the colors of Mexico. The warm colors of Mexico. This image spoke to me because of the line of bright green and yellow tiles that lined the bench. Color is an important part of the culture of Mexico. 

"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.

"Morning Strawberries"

                                                             Morning Strawberries

                                                        Watercolor 18"x 24"  $425.00
                                                
                                                                         

"Morning Strawberry's" is a painting I worked on while I was teaching a Still Life class in Watercolor at Baker University with the Community Art Students. The sun was coming through the clouds warming the strawberries. The beautiful reds in the strawberries contrasted beautifully with the colors of the window sill, sky and bowl. I loved the brightness of the yellow bowl against the deep red in the strawberries. This painting is a simple expression of an early morning bowl of ripe strawberries.

"Long Days Ride", Figure

                                  

      Long Day's Ride

Watercolor 16"x 20"

$220

This was a very fast image painted from life. The cowboy was reclining and looked just exhausted after along day working at the ranch. I love the fast immediacy of this painting. Everything came through in his worn expression on his face and the way his head just dropped forward.

"Red Canna Lilly"

                                                               "Red Canna Lilly"

                                                               Watercolor 16" x 20" $175.00

 I saw this lily in a garden on the campus of the University of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg where we were living while I was getting my MFA. The lilly reminded me of a garden we visited in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. San Miguel de Allende was full of Canna Lillies of all shades and colors and suddenly I felt as if I was standing in that same garden listening to the sounds of Mexico. This image was painted from life and all the rich colors of Mexico are represented in the bold elegance of the Lilly.

Apple and Pitcher

                                                                  "Pitcher and Red Apples"

                                                                      Watercolor 18"x 24" $850

The magic in this image is in the bold folds of yellow fabric, the muted blue of the ceramic pitcher and the bright red apples. These are all complimentary colors. The movement of the fabric flows against the structured forms. The rich warm color of the background wall made the colors of the fabric, apples and pitcher stronger and more vibrant. I painted this with my watercolor students at the Lumberyard Arts Center in Baldwin, Kansas. 

"Training Barn", Lexington, KY

                                                 "Training Barn" Lexington, KY

22" x 30"

Watercolor $425.00

"Training Barn" was completed at Colonel's farm in the horse country of Lexington, Ky. A wonderful place with lots of beautiful horses, chickens roosters, and a great dog. I used to go to Colonel's all the time to work because the farm had so many interesting things going on. I returned from a project teaching and working in Kansas City and sadly the farm had been sold. But I have wonderful memories of being there. I love the colors and light that is reflected in the hay bales.