Portfolio of Works

"Heart Beats of Home"

SNW Gallery, Manhattan, KS

March 4 to April 15, 2023

Dou exhibit with Nora Othic

I am not one to have music playing when I work in the studio, preferring quiet. However, one of the few artists who I do enjoy listening to is Annie Wilson with the Tallgrass Express String Band. I met Annie several years ago and expressed to her how she sings what I paint. I have long thought it would be a fun project to do a painting series based on her lyric poetry. Her recent CD has a song that brought me out of an artistic slumber and motivated me to move forward with this idea. Her song "Peace on the Prairie" hums in my mind and now in my brushes as I create these works to honor her song. 

The Volland Store Premiers the Exhibit Sept 10-Oct 3, 2021

Music Video by Dave Kendall of Prairie Hollow Productions:

https://youtu.be/GbR3Qg-3I9g

A second one-day exhibit will be at The Pioneer Bluff Event Center in Matfield Green, KS on October 16, 2-5 PM

Lyrics by Annie Wilson "Peace on the Prairie":

The distant hills are glowing in the sunset’s magic light
Against the sun the grasses shine in iridescent white
The wind is lying down to rest, the air is growing cool
Each wildflower bloom is lit up like a prairie jewel

   There is peace on the prairie - We can feel it deep inside
   Peace on the prairie - We can see it in the sky
   The waters flow, the grasses grow - Everything feels right
   There is peace on the prairie - tonight

The pond below reflects the changing colors of the sky
Silver pink and orange turn to turquoise in the light
The distant coyote sings his song to welcome in the night
A Great Blue Heron slowly glides across the evening sky

CHORUS  

The cattle on the hillside are belly deep in grass
Heads down low and grazing as they’re slowly inching past
Tall grass covers all the world as far as we can see
From the hilltops to the meadow with its gentle winding stream  

CHORUS

A special exhibit of works along side her music will be at The Volland Store in Volland, KS in September 2021 with a reception from 2-4 PM on Sunday, Sept. 12.

The Volland Store

The show will have a second one-day event at Pioneer Bluffs Event Center with a Tallgrass String Express Band Concert on October 16, 2021 from 2-5 PM

From the moment I first drove across the Flint Hills of Kansas for the first time, way back in 1987, I was in love with the land. I am captivated by the play of light and shadow over the edges and crevices of the hills. Watching the colors of the grasses as they fade past their emerald green of the spring burn growth to the crimsons and golds of the autumn will never cease to bring me joy. The Kansas sky is often beyond description. Many times the cloud formations and colors can not be replicated, I like to say that "only God can do that in a sky and get away with it. If I painted it, no one would believe me."

Mixed in with the wild prairie,  ranchers etch out their living, trying to find the balance to care for the fragile prairie so her fruit of nutitious grass flurishes, as they also stive make a living. 

Birds are found in about every environment. Some are well know because they are loud in color and voice. Others are taken for granted or un-noticed because they blend in so well in their home environment. I am particularly drawn to the latter because they are really very beautiful in their camoflauged, feathered coat. I partiuclarly like to "super size" the smaller birds for more impact in drawing attention to them. I have spent, and will continue to spend, countless hours birdwatching and photographing my subjects so I can capture their true spirit in my compositions.

Out door or On-Location Painting is a fun but challenging exercise! It is such a worth while skill to develop that I have started a tradition of hosting monthly paint outs, year-round. If others come it makes me accountable to get out there and do it! Plus when the daily grind is keeping out of the studio, it forces me to "keep my brush wet" figuratively speaking, and nurture my right brain!

Images created to be applied as prints to a resin Toto sculpture for the 2018 Oztoberfest in Wamego, KS. The original paintings and sculpture all sold but prints are available! Contact the artist for information. Prints also stocked at Hands of Time Gallery in Linsborg, KS.

I call these "Small Gems" found around the garden, on roadside weeds and in the pastures. Insects have always interested me. I collected them for fun for many a years, facinated by the variety and beauty.  This interest landed me a job working for the University in the Entomology Department for several years. While there I was able to use my artistic talents for their benefit doing illustrations for presentations, displays and publications. 

When I was a young child I lived in Thailand. I absolutely loved elephants. As a wee squirt I would fearlessly run to them and want to hug or ride them. My father one day said he would get me an elephant, but I had to understand I would be fully responsible for caring for it, and cleaning up after it. I was thrilled. He then (very wisely) took me to an elephant park so I could observe and see what was involved in their daily care. Needless to say after watching the first one "bombs-away" and watch the keeper scoop and wheel barrow away massive amounts of dung, my love diminished. So my attentions turned to horses. That passion has never left me.

Sometimes I just venture into something new to try and it works.