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.

"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.

"Draw at the Kaw Indian Reservation"

                                                            "Draw at the Kaw Indian Reservation"

                                                                        Oil 18"x 24"$475.00

I painted this piece on the Kaw Indian Reservation with a group of Plein Air students from Council Grove, KS. The Kaw Indian Reservation is vast and beautiful and full of color. Nothing interrupts the distances where the land meets the sky. The long views of unspoiled land brings the sky closer to you. You are not separated from the earth and it becomes a breathing living soul that you meet as if for the first time. This deep ravine was full of the colors of the earth. Water caused the erosion and exposed a crack that was full of beautiful lively color that told the story of how this beautiful place came into being. The wind moved the color onto the canvas for me.

"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.

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.