"Cowgirl Cool" version #2

14"x18"

Oil on Board

for purchase information contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery

Finished! And I'm pretty pleased with this, overall. I'm wondering if I ought to exxagerate the highlights in the dresses of the middle and left girl. . .I have made more than a few attempts to paint this subject in a way I like and it feels great to be happy with this one. I expect to revisit it again someday, though, and just see how I would paint it in another year or so.

"High Flyin' Cowboy"

8"x6"
Oil on Board

$150 includes US s/h

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Yes, I'm on a cowboy and rodeo kick these days! I love drawing and painting subjects that feel full of energy. On this one, I particularly had fun with the palette knife as it accentuated the movement and the explosion of energy as the horse tries to get rid of that rider.

Bucking Bronc Shakes It Up!

Image size: 8"x7"

Graphite on Bristol Board

$150 included domestic s/h

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While working at the gallery today, I managed to sneak in this drawing. As I was doing it, the song, "Shake It Up" kept going through my mind, so that's the title!

"Indian Racer"

6"x6"

Oil on Gessoboard

contact River Bend Fine Art Gallery for purchase information

Happy Thanksgiving to all! So many things to be thankful for--one of which is to paint!! Can't imagine life without it!

This little painting is from the Pendleton Round-up and features one of the riders in the Indian Relay Race. In each race, 4 tribes would race against each other. It was so fun to watch--everyone one of them just went as hard as it as they could, no holding back. The energy was amazing.

"Cowgirl Tags the Calf"

10"x8"

Oil on Board

sold

Today I was able to work on this commission (which I started a while back!) and I'd say it's just about finished. I need to live with it a bit before I decide! I've been getting alot of comments and encouragement regarding the hunter/jumper and rodeo paintings I've been doing and I'm grateful for that. I look forward to doing more. I've got a painting I started a couple of weeks ago that I'm itching to get back to. Ah-h-h-h, the life of a painter--never enough time to paint everything you want to paint!!

Speaking of commissions--I do them!

"Cowgirl Cool"

12"x12"

Oil on Board
NFS at this time

I don't think this painting is finished. I was going into new territory today as I did it and feel like I need to sharpen up the three girls. What a challenge! I was trying NOT to have too much detail, too many sharp edges, etc. but I think I may have overdid it! Color was also a challenge. It's a complicated composition with lots going on in the background. I started with a full palette of colors--about 10 besides black and white-- and ended up simplifiying it more and more the more times I wiped the painting off and started over!

"Twister" (sold)

12"x12"

Oil on Board

$365 includes s/h

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Today's post is of another painting for the Ranch Life and Rodeo Show that (I confess!) I painted last week! I had done a small acrylic of this subject and loved the shapes and energy of the horse and rider, so decided to try it in a larger format. It was fun and interesting to me, too, how different it came out in the oils--much more subdued colors than the acrylics. I am still enamored with the subject--I could see doing it as a block print and a drawing, also. NOTE: this painting is available after June 30.

"Buck-A-Roo"

Image: 6"x7.25"

Linoleum Block Print

Block Printing Ink on Archival Rives Lightweight Paper

Edition: 10 plus Artist's Proof

$65 includes s/h

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Good to be back! It's been a great two weeks of meeting a new grandchild, visiting and playing with the others and finishing up work for the Ranch Life and Rodeo show in which this block print will be included. It's been refreshing to do some traveling and get some inspiration!

"Cutting In Close" (sold)

12"x12"

Oil on Board

NFS at this time

Finished the painting I posted the day before yesterday--at least I think so! I need to live with it some more to know for sure. Crowds! Geez! I feel like I never quite know what to do with them--I think this is OK, but again, I need to live with it for awhile!

Painting in Process--Barrel Racer (sold)

12"x12"

Oil on Board

Unfinished

I've been invited to exhibit some paintings in a show about "ranch life and rodeo", so am needing to concentrate on that for a bit. It feels great to revisit the subject. This painting is of a barrel racer. In this competition, there's three barrels positioned in a triangle in the arena and the riders are timed as they ride close and fast around each barrel and back to the starting line. It's a test of horsemanship and the agility of the horse and is mostly done by women. At least some rodeo events are obvious offshoots of the work that cowboys do, so I wonder about this one. I haven't found any information about the origin of barrel racing, but I wonder if the contest might have come about as a reflection of the skills needed by horses when they are cutting cattle. Hope to finish this tomorrow!

"Rough Ride #2"

9.5"x6.5"

Watercolor, Graphite & Colored Pencil on Yupo

$90 US plus $10 domestic s/h

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The rodeo paintings seem like a natural to use this painting technique with because it lends itself so easily to showing movement. It's really fun--alot more spontaneous than what I've been doing the last couple of weeks!

So, I thought I'd put in a couple of examples of the illustrations I've been working on the past two weeks. There are 22 of them in total and they are for a book for Catholic middle-schoolers. Part of the purpose of the book is to teach the kids about some of the saints and holy people in their Catholic tradition. They are 8x8 inches and are gouche, watercolor and black prismacolor. The top one is Josephine Bakhita and the lower one is Saint Nicholas. It's been a really intense, but interesting and fun project. Lots of research! I have 1 and a half more to do and then I'll send them off! Think I'll have a party!

"Airborne" (sold)

8"x6"

Oil on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

I love the over-the-top crazy courage that someone who rides broncs and bulls must have! Being the tame middle-aged woman I've become, I am happy I get to paint these and at least spend a fair amount of time trying to feel what the cowboy's body is doing and the fierceness of the movement of the horse!

A note about yesterday's post: my computer was down yesterday and most of today so I color-corrected my photo and posted with a different computer and monitor. When I got my own computer back, I checked the blog and saw that the color of the painting was way off. I have since corrected it. I had some really nice responses to that painting and sure hope the change in color doesn't change that!!

"Wild Thing"

Acrylic on Cradled Board

8"x8"

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Somehow acrylic seems to feel right for expressing the energy, the heat of the day and the intensity of the experience of being at the rodeo. At any rate, it's sure fun for a change! Thanks to you who contacted me about yesterday's post--it's encouraging when a person's trying something different!

"Twisted" (sold)

8"x8"

Acrylic on Cradled Masonite, no need to frame

$150 inc. domestic shipping

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Needing to get a couple more pieces ready to hang in a show next week, I just decided to pull out the acrylics--and what fun! Seems like I can't use them without having intense colors. I worked with acrylics for awhile but switched back to oils a couple of years ago because I was accustomed to being able to blend on the canvas and really had a hard time trying to make acrylics "act like oils". I see some people manage to pull it off, but I've never figured it out! However, I'm seeing that they are what they are and I can enjoy that. It would be fun to try an acrylic with subtle colors. . .!?

"Bull-Rider Study" (sold)

Image size: 8" x7"

Graphite on Paper

Unframed drawing is $95 inc. s/h

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It's been a crazy time and I haven't been able to get my little paintings done, so I thought I'd do another drawing. In doing I realized how good it is to do something that feels more spontaneous and loose. I see that the drawings are a necessary practice for me!

"Wild Ride" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

The subject of this painting is pretty appropriate today! LIFE has been a wild ride the past couple of days--one day brings the good news of being included on the Daily Painters Gallery website and the next, yesterday, brings the sad news of having to put down our deeply loved dog, Murphy. Needless to say, I feel like I'm on that horse--but I am hanging on! Murphy was a joy and a blessing and all shall be well. For the moment, my concentration isn't too great and I see things that need to be changed in this painting--I'll reshoot after I make them!

"Ride On!" (sold)

6"x8"
Oil on Board

One of the joys of doing these little paintings has been working with these rodeo scenes--I'd done a couple before last October, but was pretty intimidated by them, actually! I really like working with motion and trying to imply the action and it's interesting to me to see how my brushwork and treatment of different areas of the paintings has changed over the course of doing this blog. It's kind of funny to me, too, because I hadn't been to a rodeo in at least 25 years and I have always been allergic to horses, so never have spent time riding! That may have to change. . .

"Waiting Her Turn"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

$100 plus $10 US s/h

She's waiting for her turn at barrel-racing at the Sisters (OR) Rodeo. I posted a painting here of this subject on Feb. 12 which I actually painted last summer. I was curious just to see how my technique would be different after all these months and quite a few paintings. It's gratifying to see that there are changes! Hopefully for the best!

A note: I have been trying all afternoon to figure out how to get the Paypal buttons on some of these paintings--sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't! If not you can always email me to purchase through Paypal, but I hope to have this figured out soon!

"Walking Tall"

8"x8"

Oil on Board

Another painting from my reserves, as I didn't have enough time to complete what I was working on today! This was painted last summer. This horse and rider was next in line for the barrel racing competition at the Sisters (OR) rodeo and I was attracted by the posture of the horse and the feel of the tension of waiting.

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"Bull Rider" (sold)

6"x6"

Oil on Board

It's too late in the evening for me to be trying to think up a better title for this one! I would like to say something profound tonight about the experience of painting so often and how much I am getting out of it, but right now, all that comes to mind is how good it feels to move the paint around and that I just love the whole thing! Life is good!!