Springfield Artworks Gallery Show

We're back from Nebraska's Big Rodeo in Burwell and are now getting ready for the Sarpy County Fair and Rodeo.   Sarpy County is a local rodeo just south of Omaha, NE.  All during the rodeo and fair this week, the Springfield Artworks Gallery is doing a special show of my western art.  Greg and Margie Trembley are the artists/owners of Springfield Artworks.  Glen does amazing work with glass and Margie is a fabulous milliner (designer of hats) who is busily preparing for Omaha Fashion Week coming right up.  I will be working on art at the gallery each day of the rodeo through Sunday.

The little trailer my brother Robert helped me put together is coming in quite handily for hauling my art gear all around.  Here's the latest shot of it from today:

The Sarpy County 4-H Club does a great job of making the county fairgrounds look attractive!

Happy trails to ya'll !!

My Version of Woodstock

Instead of the Catskills of New York, my wood stock was of a more practical nature this week at my workbench.  All week the whir of drills, ZERRR of table saws, and wratcheting of bolts could be heard.  The familiar phrase, "Thank you for shopping at Home Depot", was ....well, quite familiar.  Almost daily!  I have been building a variety of displays for my art work...both prints and originals. And now I am almost to the the finish line of that project.  Tonight I return to another phase of preparation which I hinted at a month or so back.  

What is all this for?  Well, follow me down the road in your mind to the county fairs and rodeos around the country.  Next week I will be at the Burwell, Nebraska rodeo all 4 days selling my artwork.  Burwell boasts of one of the world's largest outdoor rodeo arenas. The following week I will be at the nearby Sarpy County Rodeo with the Springfield Artworks Gallery doing a special exhibit of my work.  Then the first week in August I will be at the Cass County Fair and Rodeo.  

Here are some photos of my displays:

I love building things out of wood.  The smell of wood is so appealing.  And I am thankful for the ideas that God brings to mind in how to design display systems that will be portable, sturdy, and easy to put up and tear down.  Hard work has its rewards, and part of that is the satisfaction of seeing an idea come together as you work and struggle with it until the final result is what you had in mind.

  It will be a busy number of weeks coming up.  I will miss not being at my easel creating new work, but meeting people and being at rodeos is a whole lot of fun, too!  Maybe I will have the pleasure of getting to see some of you along the way!  

Be strong and courageous!

Studio Work

 My little art manikin Michaelangelo has been having to run to keep up with me in the studio.  You are looking at a stack of 8" x 10" prints that I've trimmed and packaged ready for selling.  That's about 100 right there.  I still am working on the 100 11" x 14" prints.  The 8" x 10" prints are priced at $13.00 and the 11" x 14" prints are priced at $20.00.  Besides drawing/ painting, all kinds of attending work goes along with making a life in art.  I've also been tweaking an outdoor painting easel (plein air in French artspeak)  to fit my needs.  Here's a look at that project:  

I enjoy working with wood as I've watched my dad make many things for us in the shop.  I've saved myself around $200 by making this easel.  The base was from a broken telescope that a neighbor gave to me.  I stripped the hardware and designed a base to fit my paint box.  The paint box was given to me from my sister Robyn whose kids didn't use any more.  It had been an art kit for kids.  I converted it into an outdoor painting easel.  

I drove by a wheat field this week that had just been harvested.  It reminded me of all the summers in Colorado that I drove a grain truck helping farmer friends with the wheat harvest. I always kept a sketchbook handy to record the harvest sights.  Here are a few pages from those old sketchbooks:

This last one is a self-portrait.  When you've been driving all day and have drawn about everything there is to see in wheat harvest on the high plains, you get a little desperate for subject matter.  :)  I used the rear view mirror of my grain truck to draw this.

Be strong and courageous!

Contest of Wills

17.5" x 25"

Fresh off the easel...."Contest of Wills" is my latest in graphite/charcoal work.  This is my son Elijah in the black hat and his friend Kelton endeavoring to overturn the steer.  Were they successful?  I bet they eventually were!  What I enjoyed portraying in this work was the struggle involved shown in the directional alignment of the boys' bodies.  Juxtapose that with the firm planting of the steer's feet in oppostion.  Lots of energy depicted here, but it is not going anywhere fast!

Art is metaphorical.  Not only does this drawing highlight a popular event in rodeo, but it speaks to life as well.  We all find ourselves engaged in a variety of struggles.  Often they endure for extended periods of time.  The point is to not give in, but to find the struggle itself a  noble opportunity in developing character, and to find a grace greater than the struggle available to help.  How we deal with struggles shapes who we are.  I hope this drawing helps viewers gain perspective on their own struggles and encourages them to stay strong in the endeavor!

Be strong and courageous!

My Wild Life

How would you like to encounter this guy with no fence between you?  That was my experience last Friday!  And I'm alive to tell about it.  Actually I was staring out the window of my Bronco shooting photos of Mr. Elk until I felt it was no longer necessary for me to do so if I wanted to live further.  I spent the entire day at the Wildlife Safari between Omaha and Lincoln doing a photo shoot of the variety of wildlife living there.  Although normally I would rather see an animal in its natural environment, this fills a gap for me to be able to collect reference photos and sketches for my wildlife artwork.  

Seeing the amazing variety and behaviors of these diverse animals provided a fresh reminder of the awesome God who thought up all these species.  I am in awe of Him as I watch His world!

Be strong and courageous!

Hope your weekend is filled with joy!

Majestic Moose

When in the presence of these mighty animals, you can't help but sense awe and wonder.  Moose are generally solitary animals and when not threatened, they are gentle and quiet.  They are riparian, meaning they like to graze in wetland areas along rivers and streams.  I did this little 9" x 12" study in pastel and want to eventually work it into a larger work of art.  Aren't those antlers just amazing?  How would you like to be adorned with such accessories?!

Here's an update on the current drawing on my easel.  My time has been spent lately in developing other aspects of my art business, but I did get some drawing done yesterday.  I plan to put in more hours today.  What I wonder is....what is with all the ropes coming down through my son Elijah's chaps?!  

Lastly, here is my little art manikin Michaelangelo going head over heels to point out that he has been BUSY cutting prints to size and inserting them in packaging ready for selling.

Be strong and courageous!

 

What Is Going On In My Studio?

Here we are at the backdoor entrance to my studio, just off the basketball court.  Come on inside and I'll show you what I'm currently up to.  Summer events are coming fast and furiously, particularly the rodeo season, so I have been pushing hard on a number of fronts.

First off, here is my art manikin Michaelangelo to attest to all the frenetic activity.  He's pooped and taking a break for the moment.  Since much of my artwork deals with the western lifestyle and rodeos, I plan to be at a number of rodeos and county fairs this summer.  Just don't look for me in the bull riding events!  At the end of July, the Springfield Artworks Gallery is hosting a trunk show for me during the Sarpy County Fair and Rodeo just south of Omaha here.  This Saturday night will find me at the Fremont Youth Rodeo.  

Okay, you may wonder what I'm doing with a sewing machine?  I wonder, too!  But I have devised a plan to transport my artwork around to the various shows and events.  Here you see some heavy canvas material in the machine.  Carrying artwork around is hard on the frames, so to keep them from getting scratched, I am making canvas satchels to carry them all in and to protect them in storage.  The first one I made out of burlap, but prefer the canvas as it is heavy-duty.  So on to the making of the next 13 satchels!

And there's some new developments in how I am going to offer my artwork to you.  More to come on that in the near future, but I couldn't wait to give you a sneak preview.  These will make great gifts and ways to have my art on a less expensive level than the originals.

Don't forget...that mystery project that you saw in boxes in the back of my Bronco a few blogs ago is in great forward motion!  My brother Robert has graciously been helping me in the assembly of this project.  We are currently working on the wiring.  Will post photos of updates on what it is looking like soon!

Okay, my studio is getting crowded and I'm running out of wall space.  Perhaps you have some at your place?  Check out my online galleries and see if there is a piece just begging for you to give it a good home.  Have a great weekend enjoying these beautiful summer days...June finally came!  I'm in another art show downtown here for the Papillion Days on Saturday, then rodeoing in the evening!