Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Prickly Pear


6x8 oil on cotton canvas panel
$75 (email me if interested)

We have lots and lots of these in our yard. They begin blooming in June. The pads and the fruit of the cactus are edible. The fruit is ready after they blossom, in the late summer and early fall. Just be careful of the spines on both! The tiny ones on the fruit are really hard to remove. In a drought, ranchers have been known to burn off the spines so their cows could eat the cactus for the liquid inside. I made some note cards from this painting. I would like to paint a series of cacti paintings, especially one with the fruit because I like the contrast of the red fruit against the green pads.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Texas Hill Country


8x10 oil on stretched cotton canvas
$200 (email me if interested)

Another painting of my stomping grounds. My favorite is painting sun dapples through the trees. I always paint them using the same colors. Maybe I should step out on a limb (no pun intended) and try other colors.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Mission San Jose Door


12x12 oil on cotton canvas panel
$250 (email me if interested)

After living in the San Antonio area for over 15 years, I finally took a day to visit the missions. San Antonio has five counting the Alamo. These five missions were built along the San Antonio River. The other four missions continue to operate as active parishes of the Catholic Church. I took lots of pictures. After getting home and looking at my photos, I can think of some other compositions I should of taken. I am from the old school, it is hard for me to just click, click, click. It's digital! This first painting was an unusual size for me. With all the carvings around the door, I probably should have gone even bigger. Thats a lot of detail to do that small. When it comes to architecture, one little brush stroke can throw the whole perspective off. After looking at it for a few days I may go back and tweak it a little.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Enchanted Rock #2


20x24 oil on stretched cotton canvas
NFS
It has been awhile since I have posted anything. Even so, I have been painting everyday. I recently finished this larger piece. It is a gift for my wonderful Air Force son. Shhh! don't tell. He hasn't seen it yet. He will be coming home on leave in a couple of weeks. It is for his new apartment to remind him of Texas. I hope he likes it. I have also been doing a series of urban landscapes of Austin. I will post some of them later.