December Longhorn - and Erica's Wonderful Pet Portraits

December Longhorn

Oil on black canvas, 16x20

Please click here to email me for price and availability

After a bout of indecision with a cowscape I made earlier in December , I decided to try another cowscape, and plan from the start to leave the canvas black. So here is December Longhorn, staring out of that darkness at you. I really like the expression on his face, and all the colors there, and on his hide, too. 

The black canvases continue to interest me. They change everything! What do you think? 

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LAST YEAR, at a show in Chattanooga, I met a lovely couple who really responded to my paintings. They bought two of them, and when I delivered them to their house, I found that Erica was not only a painter, but also a palette knife painter. 

We clicked immediately, and over the year, I've watched her painting grow and develop. She does beautiful landscapes (I have one!) - and wonderful, fun pet portraits. She gave me permission to share them here. 

If any of you would like to find out more about Erica, or talk to her about a pet portrait, please click here to email me, and I'll get you in touch with her. 

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Dog of the Day 

This is a lurcher (? who knew?) whom I met at a show this summer. Love her eyes! 

In the Barn - and Abby Fits In

In the Barn

Oil on canvas, 30x30

Available at Center Framing and Art, 

56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT

To all of you who came to the Paradise City show this past weekend, and stopped by my booth to say hello, thank you! It was great to see you, and you added greatly to my enjoyment of the show. 

I had a couple nice sales, some to new buyers and others to people who've bought my paintings in the past. The lovely couple below, who now have four of my pieces, said the greatest thing to me. Not only do they love my art, they said, but they're buying more also because they want me to be able to keep painting. How great is that?  

Still, this fall's Paradise City was only a break-even show for me, and so I am considering skipping it next fall, seeing if I can find a more profitable - or closer - way to spend my weekend. 

It wasn't just me, of course. The weather was rainy and cold, the stock market took a big tumble, and while folks were buying, they generally weren't buying two-dimensional art. Jewelry and three-dimensional art were the big sellers of the show. 

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I DID A GOOD but pretty frightening thing after the show at Paradise City. I left a big bulk of my supply of paintings at Center Framing and Art in West Hartford Center, CT. 

It was a good move, because Lori, who owns Center Framing and Art, sells lots of my paintings, and she loves them. But it was a frightening move because I have two shows in Texas coming up in early November, and I have to paint like a crazy woman to have enough art to fill my booth! 

But I'm excited about my new paintings, and I am eager to try new things with them - and so it's good, all good. And I do love a challenge. 

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SO, THOSE NEXT shows, in Texas. The first is the Houston Fine Arts Festival, Nov. 1-2, at 1500 McKinney St., downtown Houston. The second is the Winnsboro Fine Arts Market, Nov. 7-9, in Winnsboro, which is a couple hours from Dallas. 

I've never done a show in Texas, but I'd think that my big paintings, especially sunflowers and cowscapes, might do very well there. At the very least, it will be an experience! 

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Dog of the Day

The Dog of the Day is our new addition, Abby. She is getting along great with the other dogs, and injecting a nice dose of puppy high spirits into the lives of our aging pack. Woodreau, the not-so-white fluffy dog up on the back of the couch, would like to be mean to Abby, and boss her around - but she pretty much just refuses to take him seriously. He lunges and barks and she plays. Abby is proving to be a real gal pal for my dear JoJo, which makes me very happy. Below, Joey and Abbs take a break from a bout of very enthusiastic playing. 

Miles and Miles (and Miles) of Texas

Near Winnie, TX

Oil on canvas, 10x10

Tubac Trip Painting No. 7

I  believe I have found the longest road in the world. 

It's Interstate 10, and in addition to wherever else it goes, it runs for 879 miles IN Texas. 

I drove for the entire day Saturday in Texas, stopping only to paint, to get gas, to smush the roof of the van into an overhang at Starbucks (cosmetic damage only, and easily fixed, I think), and to make this painting. 

Aside from that, I drove for 11 hours, all in Texas, and I have hours and hours and miles and miles of Texas to go today. 

I will say that this route is more interesting than the one I drove the last time I was in Texas. At least here, there are hills and even mountains. The landscape does change, if at a snail's pace. 

In those miles and miles and miles of Texas, I did see lovely old abandoned farms. I saw a huge new power line going up. I saw a wind farm, about a dozen BBQ joints, and the beginnings of what looks like The West. 

I saw a small group of Texas longhorns at the side of the road, and doubled back to take some photos. Unlike regular cows, they were not interested in me, and neither turned to look nor came near the fence. Their horns are so long, they are nearly ridiculous! 

On the way to the longhorns, I saw some Texas llamas, who stared at me probably the way I was staring at them. 

And as the sun set spectacularly, I saw two real Texas cowboys, rounding up some cattle. It was too dark to take their photos, but it was a real treat to see working cowboys. 

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Scenes from the day

Here's more of the landscape where I painted, near Winnie, TX

Texas llamas

                                       

 Real Texas longhorns

       

Wonder if these cows feel less than? 

Throughout the day, I saw lovely farms and ranches, working and abandoned

The sky was intense pretty much all day

 About midway through the day, the land began to look Western.

  I don't think I've ever seen an 80 mph speed limit before... and I would ask: What's the point?

 The sunset just got better and better and better

Teeny dogs in a huge state... But still, dogs of the day! 

Blue-plate special

Texas Roadway. Oil on stretched canvas, 10x30

The gorgeous places in this country move my heart, thrill my soul, excite my eyes. The Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, the Canyon de Chelly, Shiprock, all the extraordinary places I've seen and painted on this trip - they have been miracles of nature and inspiration.

But still, to my peasant eyes, there's nothing quite as wonderful as the ordinarily beautiful. The sun setting on the grasses of the prairie on a secondary road in Texas was so breathtaking that I pulled over, just like that, set up my easel and painted in a near-frenzy. The light and the landscape grew more and more beautiful as the sun neared the horizon. The grasses became rosy, warmer and warmer in color, the shadows deeper and deeper - and then a train passed, and the engineer whistled his whistle at me, and it was such a perfect piece of America, it brought tears to my eyes.

In all of this journey of discovery, it is these moments that are my touchstones. Yes, I can go to the miraculous places, the ones we all cherish and protect - but my gift, I think, is recognizing the beautiful in the mundane, and my challenge is to capture and communicate that understanding.

Thanks for reading!