Plein Aire over Hardy June

Friends and I met to do some painting at a spot overlooking our town of Hardy, and the beautiful Spring River. There were several little cottages, some of them dating back to the 1920's, with names like 'Breeze Inn, Stumble Inn, Gone Inn'. Apparently the mafia used them for vacation back in the day. The elderly owners were wonderfully hospitable, and invited us back again !

Another view from my perch

Pots of blooming flowers were everywhere

Lawn area, with wood house,' daisy shed' and screened porch.

One of the little cottages. This one was surrounded by pink and white blooms - made me think of Monet....

Plein aire with friends from the gallery

Thompson Park, in our little town of Hardy, in the Arkansas Ozarks.. Nice hot day - spent the morning with gallery friends painting. Quite a few people stopped by to sneak a peek, and we sent them up to our Sring River Art Gallery. This photo was taken 3 hours into our painting session.

Charlotte- a work in progress

One of the paintings I'm working on at the mo. Still some fiddly things to do to it. I have to sort that out, but it's getting close. Painting in oil on home constructed stretched canvas measuring 32" x 40".

Meadow Run ~ it's finished!

I always breath a sigh of relief when I finish a painting. I love the colors in this one. It really didn't take long to paint, but I had a lot going on and had to worked in spurts. Drag your curser over to get a larger image of our 3 guys fooling around.

More horsing around - April 2009

We rode every time it stopped raining, and switched horses around just for fun.

Horse Source

1. Razzmatazz, Charlotte and me. I decided that this being her first trip to the US, I would acquaint my niece to the ways of the South. No saddle or bridle, just a good solid horse. Razzmatazz was a tiny colt when I got him at 3 months old. He is now 15. My first horse and every bodies favorite goof ball.
   

'Charlotte' 16" x 20" on stretched canvas

Easter Vacation

No foreigners visit would be complete without a trip to 'the mall'.

From left to right : Son Nathan, niece Charlotte and brother Bill.

Easter vacation

My younger brother Bill, and my niece Charlotte came over from England

We had a very busy 2 weeks, sight seeing, riding the horses, and clearing some of the recent storm damage. Billy did a lot of repairs at the farm, and can be seen here shimmying up a tree to cut it down. Charlotte posed on request

Spilled Paint

Fooling about in the feed shed, I spilled some house paint. What a mess. Rather than waste it, I painted everything in sight, plus smeared it on 3 old canvas's.

spilled paint 14"x14" on stretched canvas

Couple of paintings finished recently

Baby Ace 14"x11" oil $75.00

First Halter 12"x12" oil $75.00

Lauren March 2009

Finally finished this big 24" x 36", oil on stretched canvas. The most difficult part was the bicycle tires. They had that 'run over by a mac truck look about them - all wobbly. Hope Lauren likes it.

Artists of the Delta Show

This weekend I loaded a few paintings into the truck and headed for the Newport Depot for the very first Delta Artists show.
The Clinton School is funding a Delta Visual Arts Center, with all kinds of good stuff, such as a gallery, work space for artists, and workshops. As our area of the world is a little devoid of places to exhibit paintings, but has no shortage of folks churning them out, this is a very marvelous idea.
So off to the show I went, lucky me. My set up was next to the podium .
I met many talented people, and chatted with various guests. The work that I do is more fulfilling when people connect with it, and relate in some way, which many did. As well as good company and lots of visitors we had lunch provided. For the evening reception with dignitaries, hors d'oeuvres and wine. To top it all off, the graduate student who headed up the project was awarded my painting 'Considering Blue', which she had chosen as a favorite piece. All in all, a day well spent.
In the photo, from left to right,
Clinton School Masters Candidate,
Ex. Dir of Newport Economic Development,
Dean of the Clinton School

Peace Finished February 27 2009 20" x 24"

Finally finished this one. Some paintings just take off and paint themselves, and this was one of them - everything went down without a struggle.The dog is front with the pointy ears is Rimshot, with his friend Chigga Boom. Rimshot doesn't care who he sleeps with. Cuddled up next to his nose is the current favorite stuffed toy. Soon, all the stuffing will be gone. It's a dogs life.

New Painting - almost completed

I made the canvas for this one - measures aprox 23" x 26", and is down to finishing touches. I'll post a better photo after it's done.

'Peace' depicts Chigga Boom and Trickshot, the Jack Russells at peace before the fight. It is the first of 3 theme paintings.

Morning Glory's in February

Morning Glory's. I managed to finish the third painting this month, in spite of the weather. This will be all of the Morning Glory's till they bloom again in Spring. I really didn't think I'd have time to finish the last painting ( 16" x 20"), due to the ice storm, a couple of weeks ago. Tree limbs fell like rain under the weight of the ice. Still, in spite of all the wood clearing that needs to be done, I had to take some time out to paint. So here they are, Mornig Glory's in February !