Somewhere in Texas

watercolor

$112

This painting was intended as a study for a larger piece.

Wait until Sundown

This painting was intended as a study for a larger piece. It would have qualified as a Palo Duro Canyon painting, were it not for the peaks in the background. Approaching the only entrance to the state park, one sees absolutely nothing to indicate a change in terrain. The land is "flat as a fritter," as we say. The flora, however, is accurate. Palo Duro Canyon and much of the Texas panhandle have a healthy supply of yucca.

There are no wild horses in the canyon now, but most likely, there were some in the 18th or 19th century. In my imagination, I told myself this horse was thirsty but dared not go down to drink because there would be more predators down there. Predators large enough to attack a horse. Specifically, mountain lions. Most would feel comfortable saying there are no mountain lions in Palo Duro Canyon anymore, but fairly recent trail cams attest otherwise.

Colored pencil on watercolor paper

$213

There has been an upsurge in popularity for paintings of cows, so I wanted to do one, but I wanted it to be unique in some way. It isn't unusual to see a bit of humor in my work.

More Cowbell

The title of this painting was inspired by a silly Saturday Night Live skit with the same title and with good reason, so here is story. In the 1950s, family members were spending a night at a remote motel in central Texas. The head of the household--and therefore the driver--was weary from a long drive and anxious to sleep. Alas, just outside the window, there was a loud clanging that prevented him from resting. He pulled on pants and boots and went to remedy the situation, coming face to face with a Jersey cow sporting a very large and very LOUD brass bell on a collar around her neck. As any Texas native would do in times of trouble, the man reached into his pants pocket to produce a pocketknife with which he removed the bell, and since the bell was now "orphaned," he took it with him. Yes, he stole the bell. Examining the bell more closely several days later, he saw that it was manufactured in France in 1878. It became a family heirloom. Many years later, a descendant --my future husband--enrolled at Texas Tech University where freshmen were "encouraged" to bring a bell to the football games. Surely, our brass bell was among the loudest at those games. So this drawing is actually more about the bell than about the cow. A nod to SNL for inspiring the work.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Limited edition giclee prints available. $48

Bra-Vo!

The spelling of the title is not a typo. Inspired by a real rodeo clown, this painting depicts the clown waving a rather large red bra at the bull. I did have fun with this painting, and I have considered doing another version of it, increasing the size of the lingerie and intensifying the rage of the bull.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

SOLD

Missing You

Given to punning, as corny as that is, I named this painting based on the cowboy's unsuccessful attempts to lasso that steer. We might afford him the excuse--cut him some slack, as Texans say--because of the haboob's interference. Cowboys in the Texas panhandle do have a major adversary by the name of Mother Nature.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Galveston, 1906

This painting was inspired by a very tiny portion of a vintage photograph. As I painted the characters, I imagined that by the end of the afternoon, the brunette in the foreground would surely have a date with that handsome young man, probably to the ice cream social after church the next day.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Red Kerchief

My peers often point out--and correctly so--that what pleases one person about a painting might go unnoticed or unappreciated by others. We all have different experiences to add to our viewpoint, different color preferences, different expectations. This painting happens to be one of my favorites. I will sell it, but reluctantly. And why is that? I think the lavenders might be partly to credit. Also, I did not expect the ripples in the water to be convincing, yet I find them very satisfactory. Unlike other pieces, I did not have a resource photo at all. I simply ... began.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Limited edition giclee prints available. $48

Wishbone

This painting was a challenge for several reasons. I did not want to paint another blue sky, although a typical sky would have been fine. I just wanted something with a different mood. Another challenge was the round things. The circles, shown in perspective. It was not my intension to include a lot of circles. Alas, a camp cook must have tubs and such. A circle in perspective is not a perfect oval. The half closer to the foreground would appear smaller than the half farther away, making the oval a bit lop-sided. What's more I needed to find the center of some of those lop-sided ovals. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about such things. The third challenge was that a chuckwagon would have had all kinds of objects and details to display, but I wasn't all that familiar with the subject at the time. The little dog was a family member named Lucy. Senior citizens might guess that I "stole" the name Wishbone from a character on the old Rawhide TV series.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Early Spring

American bison are a popular subject for local artists and there are a few small herds in captivity in the area. The local university, West Texas A & M, is known as
"the Buffaloes." Among ourselves, we do call these animals buffaloes, even though someone overhearing the conversation might indignantly correct us. They are much larger than one might expect, much taller than cows. They survive the icy winters of the high plains by growing very thick layers of shaggy hair, which they begin to shed as spring approaches. The shedded hair hangs in clumps from the animal during this time.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

This was an experiment in a more painterly style, a more contemporary look.

Lazy Cows, Lazy River, Lazy Afternoon

I imagined a hot west Texas day, where the sun beating down on the cattle would drive them into a playa to for relief from the heat and the flies.

If "y'ain't from 'round here," a playa is a pond created from rainwater runoff rather than a spring or stream. Playas don't drain because of the make up of the soil at the bottom. This affords oases for the fauna of the High Plains, inviting a wide variety of birds, mammals, and amphibians. The presence of fish in such lakes is likely only if they are stocked and have continual runoff sources, perhaps from city streets or irrigated farmland. Most playas dry up during the drier seasons, so they don't sustain fish.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Side-steppin' Trouble

The setting is Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas panhandle. Visitors to this state park can find stone structures and go inside. Yes, there are rattlesnakes. It's their home. The people are the visitors. There are horses to rent and ride, trails to hike or bike, and even a musical in a beautiful amphitheater.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Still Life with Saddle

Fellow artists and I arranged our various personal objects to photograph for a still life that reflects our local culture. I painted two variations, one a "portrait" layout, the other a "landscape" composition.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Bonnie

This painting is one of the more popular ones chosen by patrons for greeting cards. Tourists and residents alike want cards that reflect the Texas "vibe," with the state flower and longhorn cattle. The original is still in my possession and available for purchase.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

This painting was based on an old photo of the actual saloon in Old Tascosa. The scene is edited for the sake of composition an originality, and the photograph has issues with glare, which I shall correct as soon as possible. I have begun a second version to experiment with chiaroscuro to enhance drama.

$384

Old Tascosa, 1907

Tascosa, sometimes called Old Tascosa, is the former capital of 10 counties in the Texas Panhandle. The town emerged briefly in the 1880s as an economic rival of Dodge City, Kansas. Located in Oldham County, northwest of Amarillo, Tascosa is now a ghost town.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Red Sandals

Floating along on Facebook a few years ago, I chanced upon a cute video of a little girl playing a violin in a shopping mall. She is very talented, but what captured my attention was the way she moved her feet as she played. I grabbed a canvas immediately.

Since, I have learned that her name is Karolina Protsenko. She must have been about 8 years old at the time of the video I first watched, and now she is well into her teen years, and perhaps beyond. I'm sure you can find her on YouTube.

As I said, she was playing in a public place, but that didn't suit my imagination. She was wearing a hat, but not the style of this one, and there were no dogs or dolls with her. I just felt they belonged.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

The Stubborn One

Perhaps every youngster on the open range has to be a bit stubborn when it comes to roundup time.

30 X 40 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

$1470

The Upper Room, 1927

The scene is totally fictitious, and yet not. I imagined a scene described in the Bible but set in a different time and place.

The details are more interesting to me than the figures.

The Coleman lantern, the ladder, the coffee pot, the towels and pan of water. Even the dog, who was added simply for the sake of composition.

Most of the figures are just "guys" but if you are a Bible student, y ou might figure out the names of some of them.

Santa Fe Train Depot, 1930 24 X 48 oil on gallery wrapped canvas SOLD

This painting of the old train depot in Amarillo, Texas was in response to requests for an art show to benefit a city improvement project. The painting won third place and sold that evening. If you know something about Amarillo history and see that the depot doesn't look like it does now, it may be because there were changes to the structure after 1930. The engine was on display outside the depot for many years. The train engine is The Madame Queen 5000.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

$384

Looking Forward

I was commissioned to do a portrait that included these three figures, but my client was unsure whether she wanted a potrtrait configuration or a landscape configuration. I did both, simply because I like the subject. It was a pleasure. She chose the landscape version, so I still have this one.

Although this family has spent time in both Oklahoma and Texas, the honest truth is that they do actually live in Oklahoma now.

16 x 20 oil on traditional canvas

Commissioned

Partners

A commissioned portrait of a family member who has spent his life in the saddle and is taking one last adventure with a new colt.

16 X 20 oil on canvas

NFS

Tysen & Addy

This painting is not for sale because it was a wedding gift for the couple.

I particularly enjoy working with shadows and reflections.

16 x 20 graphite

SOLD

Dairy Morning

I did this drawing as a commissioned piece for a client in Tennessee, but the dairy she remembered from her childhood was not in Tennessee. I don't recall where it actually was, so I have placed it in this category for the sake of convenience. I had one tiny photograph of the buildings. The rest of the details were born in my head, and my client was delighted.

16 x 20 oil on canvas

SOLD

Determination

This silly painting sold at an art show, where other of my pieces went barely noticed, proving we cannot account for taste. I do see some redeeming qualities in the work, though. If you are not a horseman, I will point out that the bridle is not properly rigged on the horse, just for starters.

9 x 12 watercolor

NFS

Lighthouse Rock

Strange rock formations such as this one are called hoodoos. In general, a hoodoo is a spire made of rock and minerals that can range anywhere from five to one hundred and fifty feet tall. There are big, round hoodoos that look like boulders perched on kitchen stools, tall, thin spires that seem to go on forever, and rounded chimneys with large rocks sitting quietly on the top.

This popular hoodoo is located in Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas panhandle. Even many of the natives of the panhandle do not know that this hoodoo has a twin of sorts, also in that canyon. Because these hoodoos are created by wind and water erosion, you may find photographs that do not appear to be the same rock formation, because the figure is constantly changing, albeit very slowly.