LAST OF THE GOLD

Hey Friends, No. 3 in my short series of plein air paintings taken from a beautiful sunflower farm in Buchanan, Va.  Right off  Rt. 11 on Wheatland Rd.  This piece was imagined from painting there last year.  And we are planning to return a couple more times this year.

I used a palette knife for this painting and really enjoyed the process.  Not a lot of control with a knife yet but maybe in time.

And here is how it could look in a kitchen.  Of course a black frame would set it off nicely in this kitchen

This is for sale on EBAY as are all my plein pieces.

HAPPY TRAILS

BIG SHADOW

Hey Friends,  Back with No. 2 in my Wheatland Farm short series.  A single giant tree I hope is still standing after the tornadoes Sunday.  I choose to paint it because of the shadow it threw, big and wide.  There were some cows at the other end.

Here it is shown on a wall somewhere in cyber space. 

Would look pretty nice in a frame, right?

I will post more in a few days.

HAPPY TRAILS

PAINTING LEFT FIELD

Hey Friends,  Just finished a small series of  plein air started oil paintings.  I started them with acrylics, as the block in, before going out to this fantastic farm in Buchanan, Va. with my paint buddies, the Double Line Painters.  Obviously I put foliage on the trees, they are just so unappealing naked.

We went last week, and it was and still is winter time here in SW Va.  We even had tornadoes in the area Sunday!! Very unusual for this area.  Lynchburg, Forest area got the worst of it.

Above is what this small painting could look like, but much better if it was framed.  Maybe some day I will learn to frame them on line.  The middle photo is just a detail shot of the tree shadows.

This is for sale on Ebay and it should be dry tomorrow and ready for shipment.

I will post the others scattered over the coming week.

HAPPY TRAILS

WE HAD A BEAUTIFUL DAY HERE IN SW VIRGINIA

Hey Friends,  Myself and Linda went to practice a little more plein aire today. Not sure I'll be ready by Oct. 14th for the BIG plein aire event "PLEIN AIRE SOUTH PEAK"

The top 2 photos are from last week, just been a tad busy and not blogging like I should.  

I don't think I've finished this one yet.

This bottom piece is from this morning.  Just to be fair to myself, I have been trying the palettes of the guy that wrote the book "YIN YANG" Mr. Zhang works with

He has 3 palettes

Yellow-Purple

Blue-Orange

and

Red-Green.

The photo directly above is using the Red-Green Palette.  The one I painted before this one (which I scrubbed off) was using the Purple-Yellow Palette.  And the Purple-Yellow is not a good one for landscapes.  I guess it would be good for still life or a pale cat or dog.  You can't get a good dark or a good green.  It was ugly.

That is another good reason to practice plein aire when you want to use a different palette or try new colors.  For the next session, I will try the Blue-Orange and then the common palette of a cold and a warm of the 3 primary colors.  That will be fun, getting back to the basics.

Til next time.

Take care of your neighbors when it counts.

Plenty of prayers and good MoJo to our neighbors in Florida.

Happy Trails

New Show in Covington and Plein Aire at South Peak

Hey Friends,  Judy and Mary Anne along with Kyle (above photo) hung a new show at the Alleghany Highlands Regional Library in Covington, Va. today.  We hope you will be able to visit them and see the new work.  HERE is a link for more info.

Linda and I went to South Peak again today to do some more practice pieces.  The sky was beautiful even though these photos don't tell you much.

These top 2 photos were taken from the parking lot of the Hilton Hotel, just below South Peak as you can see.

I was using some palettes I'm not exactly used to.  They came from a book called the YIN and YANG.  The top 2 were a red/green color palette.

And these two were the blue/orange palette.  I did not finish any of the 3 totally.  They were pretty slippery and I need to let them get sorta dry or sticky so I can get some more paint to stick and stay put.  I like both color combos.

I won't know for sure until I finish them.  Hopefully they can go into the art show.

Have you put this plein air event on your calendar?  You can come October 13, 14, or 15.

More details will follow.

AND ART BLAST HAS BEEN CHANGED TO SUNDAY ,9-3.

Was scheduled for Sat. the 2nd but IRMA and HARVEY have changed it to Sunday.

Hope to see you come by.

Happy Trails

GREAT DAY FOR PLEIN AIR AND A WORKSHOP

Hey Friends,  Busy time of the year, right?

Have you gotten your Babes already for school?

Linda and I don't have to worry about that anymore, our Babes are all grown with Babes of their own.

So Thursday we went to South Peak, here in Roanoke, Va. and painted from inside an empty/under construction Home unit on the top floor.  With the windows and door open it was almost like being outside.  We wanted a little plein air practice because our event at South Peak will be here before you know it.

And I want to remind you there is still time to sign up for the "NO BRUSHES WORKSHOP" at the LAC.

CLICK HERE for registration info.

Go.....Do it Now....And I'll see you there.

Happy Trails

NEW WORK HANGING AT HARROGATE BY ME AND LINDA

Hey Friends,  Just letting you know, in case you are in the area, Linda Schaar and I changed out the art work hanging at Harrogate in Salem, Va. today.

Linda took this photo and sent it to me (my camera ran out of power).  Her phone has an excellent camera in it.

We did this after our meeting at South Peak this morning, with Bonnie Hooper.

We feel like this Plein Air event at South Peak this Oct. is gonna be GOOD!!

We sure are hoping so and we are putting in the time and effort and planning to make it top notch.

Even if you don't paint, you should make plans to be there.  There will be fun and vendors with food and drink.  And the Judge, Trey Finney, will give a demo !  And let me mention that if you aren't interested in watching a demo, just watch him.  Yum.

More info to follow.

Thanks for visiting

Happy Trails

CHAMBER NIGHT AT GOOSE CREEK STUDIOS IN BEDFORD,VA.

Hey Friends, A quick note to let you see what I did last night with the DLP's.

We went to Bedford, Va. to support Goose Creek Studio's and help entertain.

First we stopped at the Wharton Garden, one of the prettiest parks in the region.  It is between the library and the Bower Center.

A long shot of the other DLP's.

Then to the Goose Creek Gallery-Studios (back view) to finish our paintings and chat with the visitors.  Several of the studio artists were set up and working and entertaining also.

One shot of the DLP wall with a couple pieces of my work.

We all had a good time and got to eat dinner at a favorite restaurant "the Bella".

We ended the evening when a little rain came through.  But then it rained all the way home.  Linda and I were thankful it was still daylight, we HATE driving in the rain at night.!

I will be at the Lexington Art Show Sat. morning and hope to see you there.

Happy Trails

ART ON THE GREEN - LEXINGTON, VA.

Hey Friends and Fellow Artists,  This coming Saturday, April 29th, on the sidewalks of Lexington, I will be displaying some of my artwork for sale.  This is the first time I have done this show, so wish me luck and pray for sunny skies.

This is one of the pieces from my FRACKING SERIES.  It is a 9x12 wrapped canvas, half an inch deep as you can see.  It started life in the cemetery on the hill in Fincastle, Va.  It was finished in my studio.

The art show is from 10am to 4pm.  Please stop and introduce yourself and sign up for a free give away.

Happy Trails

BEAUTIFUL DAY AT SINKLAND FARM IN CHRISTIANSBURG, VA.

 Hey Friends,   I had a beautiful day in Christiansburg today with the DLP's.

We went to Sinkland Farm..  There were plenty of pumpkins

and children.  Several buses of field trip babies.  I thought this cow (above) was udderly cute!  You can test your milking skills

And how about their herd out in the pasture?

This metal steer (above) should have come home with me.

Loved this sign "How Tall this Fall"?  The kiddies loved

racing and chasing in this simple bale maze.

They have several kinds of critters for the Babes to touch

Sheep, goats, rabbits, donkey and horse.

 This cute donkey is standing at attention just like his Boss wanted.  They have chickens, peacocks and pigs.

They host all kinds of events and parties and weddings

Here is my pumpkin head.  And I had two more

photos I wanted to add but Blogger (Or maybe just the

Comcast service) is getting on my nerves.  I should have done

this much in 10 minutes but it's taken 30 minutes so far.

And it wants to make the text any color but black.

Happy Trails

SUNDAY AT THE SOUTH PEAK PAINT OUT

Hey Friends, this will be a photo post...not much verbiage today.  Only to say what a difference one night can make.  Rain & more rain yesterday.  Wake-up and it's sunny and beautiful (just a bit windy)

Linda and myself had a grand time.  I didn't even mind the wind the first couple hours.

Lots of favorite artists there and among them, Mz.Suz and Charles above.  Then I forgot to get everyone's photo.  Will try harder next year.

Go ahead and pencil it in for 2017.  We will be back.

Thank you Bonnie Hooper and Staff.

Happy Trails

SOUTH PEAK PAINT OUT IN ROANOKE, VA.

Hey All You Lovely's Out There,  It may wind up being a bit wet tomorrow for the Paint Out but only in the morning according to the weather channel.

So you can still come by in the afternoon.  It would be interesting to watch artists paint in the rain!

Bring Irish Coffee's with you if you want to make sure it's fun.

Look at these gorgeous views I took a few weeks ago.  I think you can see West Va.!

I'm looking forward to it - Rain or Shine.

Happy Trails

Until We Meet Again

CARVIN'S COVE - A PAINTING WE DID GO

Hey Friends,  It was a lovely day here in SW Virginia.  It was getting pretty hot by the time we packed up.  Supposedly a HEAT WAVE will be with us for next several days.

I did my usual today.  I got my START on canvas.

Loved the way this path gently zigged and zagged its way along the shore.  I may have said already, that I like getting an understanding down on sight and finishing later from memory

Had to include one Fisherman.  Don't see too many motorboats on this little body of water.

It is a peaceful, quiet place to concentrate on your work.

LIFE IS GOOD.

Happy Trails

FINALLY - A DAY OF PAINTING !!!

Hey Friends,  It has been a great day here in the steam bowl of SW Virginia, also known as the Roanoke-Salem area.  The photo above was taken when my paint group, DLP, was at the Peaks of Otter on the Blue Ridge Parkway last month.  I started 3 paintings that morning.  I finally finished one today.

And I had my wits about me and took the camera out to the studio for progress shots

I even made a tiny, 30 second video, at the bottom of this post.

This is a sycamore tree that may be in it's final stages of life.  Slowly, limb by limb, they die.

Almost finished here, about another hour will do it..  This is on a gesso'd panel.  My favorite surface.

I do love the "YES" canvas but the gesso'd masonite is the best.

And here is the little video, I do hope it works.  I have one of my favorite CD's play in the background.  That would be, Beaux Jacque and the Hi-Rollers.  A zydeco band from Louisiana.

It's hard to paint while they are playing.  All she wants to do is dance!

I will post my others in a day or so.  I may hate them in the morning.

Thanks for your visit.

Happy Trails