Painting Montana's Prairie

                 
                                                                Painting In Progress


I'm currently working on this acrylic painting hoping to finish tonight. It's a painting of the Montana prairie, a mustang pony, and a family member. I'll be the first to say this has a punch of color. My Dad would always say he thought the most beautiful landscape was in Eastern Montana. When I was little and we visited I thought it looked barren, but these grassy plains were my Dad's playground when he was growing up in a large family. They raised sheep and cattle and they didn't have fences except in a barnyard corral. They all herded sheep. Someone had to be out there with them all of the time. These days you see field after field of wheat in the Summer. Also pheasant, elk, quail and a long list of fowl and animals.

I tried to get the richness of the colors when the sun gets a bit lower.There is so much sky out there. I made it darker than I normally would to set off the grasses.  The grasses are remarkable in the late afternoon and much darker. For this painting I actually brushed in a sketch of the mustang pony (what you see) and now I have to paint it with a knife and touch up the man. That of course will prompt me to do a little more here and there. The creative process. Some days it's so smooth you can't believe it. Other days, well, it's a little longer road to the finish line.

Thank you for visiting. Leave a comment if you like.

This will be for sale online with Saatchi Art

Miss Kolden Impressionist Painting

                                                                       
                                                                       "Miss Kolden"
                                                                      Masonite Board
                                                                       For sale here.

There is something peaceful about painting. I hope that is one thing that might show up in my paintings.

I've noticed in my portraits, this one included, that the eyes never look directly at the viewer. My goal is to make them look slightly relaxed and approachable.  I say, "Slightly." I also mean, "amused, thinking, shy, or busy."

Today it was a delicious temperature,  in the 70's. It made me wonder how these ladies in the1800's and early 1900's wore all of these long sleeves and long dresses, etc. in the summer months? And happily cooked over a wood stove. One thing we know. they probably weren't cold. Whew!

The garden will start popping open  flowers like popcorn after a few warm days. I can't wait to paint some of the gems. Hopefully their happy faces will be obliged.

Seven O'Clock Painting

                                                                        Seven O'Clock

                                                                            Acrylic
                                                                          Carol Yap

I've had a crush on teal and orange for a bit now. Teal always represents the tropics for me like Tahiti, Fiji and those faraway-warm-South-Pacific places. Then there are the beautiful vintage Mexican wedding dresses in teal that are striking, too. A teal tablecloth, flowers and fruit are the next best thing to the balmy, beach. Who can pass up flowers? 

This painting is titled Seven O'Clock because that is when the first rays shine through the window lately.  I used a  8 x 10-inch hardboard panel, acrylics and a palette knife. Every small painting I paint I feel like I see a little growth. Do any of you see it? No need to answer that!  It is for sale now with Saatchi Art. It is such a joy to paint. Sure we might have a little frustration, but we figure it out, and sail on.