WINTER BLUES

9X12
oil/canvas board
$150

Crystal winter light casts its blue shadows across the landscape and we admire nature's work of art. 

Soon, the temperature is above freezing and the snow is melting to unlovely slush.  We will remember this particular snow fall, it came before we were mentally prepared to be snowed in, while we were making preparations to spend Christmas time with families.  Now we are thinking about the new year and looking forward with plans that will include friends, travel, art activities, and new landscapes to paint.

CEDARS IN SNOW

8X10
oil/canvas board
$125

And the wind and snow came.....bliizzard conditions in our state.  Many families, including mine, were unable to spend Christmas together.  There are hills in the area around my property and non 4 wheel drive vehicles were not able to navigate the drifted snow.  During the worst of our storm, we had what the weather forecasters called "thunder snow". ......thunder accompanied the howling winds.    It was beautiful, however, and to be enjoyed.

HAYWARD HILL, RAIN AND SNOW FORECAST

8x10
oil/canvas board
$125

It is two days before Christmas and the weather is iffy.  No sunshine today, we had some rain and snow is on the way.

This is one of my "Hayward Hill" scenes.I parked my car, stayed inside out of the rain.
I sketched my composition on the canvas and put down some color notes.  I finished it in my studio this afternoon.  This was one of those greenish-blue days.  The landscape was grayed down and, depending on cloud cover, was a bit dark.   We did get the freezing rain, followed by a LOT of snow.

HAYWARD HILL NEIGHBOR

9X12
OIL/CANVAS
$90




I see this fellow out walking on occasion. I wonder if his doctor told him he must or is he moving on his own initiative trying to keep himself mobile and independent. Whatever the reason, I wish him well and wave when I see him.

NEW CAMERA, BETTER PHOTO

Finally received my new camera so my photos should be better. I am re-posting my last one.

HAYWARD HILL ROAD, EARLY DECEMBER

8x10
Oil/canvas board
$90

I have not been posting for the last few days but I have been painting. I am still having camera problems so am using a borrowed one today and this not a terribly good photograph. The good news for me is that I have ordered a camera and it should be here in a couple of days.
I painted almost this same view in October. In this view, I am inside the fence and the gray line just below the horizon is Hayward Hill Road. I painted it last Saturday when the weather was much more favorable. The temperature at my house this morning was 14 degrees at 7 a.m. But this will pass and we will have much warmer days to come.

RED CEDARS, OKLAHOMA PASTURE

8x10
oil/canvas board
$90, S&H included in continental U.S.

In one post on my blog, I wrote of the red cedars that overtake farms and pastures in this part of, the country and are considered a nusiance. This is an example not far from my home. I think they are quite beautiful, especially in winter. They are green,not red. At certain times of the year, they have a reddish brown tinge on the outer branches. They provide a pleasing contrast to the browns and golds of winter and are seen in abundance along secondary roads.

STOCK POND, EARLY WINTER

8x10
oil/canvas
$90

We are past Thanksgiving, thinking about Christmas, and in to the warm/cold cycle. We have had some wonderfully warm days followed by a bit a rain and cold wind. As you drive through the country side, this is a familiar scene. You may see cows or not, the pasture has been grazed down, and the stock ponds are full since we have had a generous amount of rain this year.

OSAGE HILLS #2, SCRUB OAKS AND CEDARS

8x10
oil/canvas
$90, S&H
included

Some leaves on the scrub oaks are almost a salmon color when the sun finds them and they create a beautiful contrast to the brown leaves

The cedars are plentiful. You find them along the road, in the pastures, and anyplace else they are allowed to grow. I like being able to see them in the fall and winter landscape but farmers and cattlemen call them the "pesky red cedars" because they take over open spaces such as pastures. It requires a great deal of effort to get rid of them. I understand there are plans to burn them out. Spraying has been tried but not to great success. I will miss them if they are gone.

OSAGE HILLS STATE PARK, POOLED WATER

I went north to Osage Hills State Park yesterday (Sunday). It was a warm fall day with sunshine intermittently, very pleasant. Off the road and down a hill, I found this small pool, stranded when the water level dropped. There were tiny living things darting around along the bottom and the reflections of the trees lay on top casting shadows below. The ground was covered with leaves, brown and gold and red, crunching under my boots as I made my way down to the water.
I found another great scene as I hiked up a hill. Ahead I could see an opening at the crest with a light sky behind leafless trees. On either side were cedars and scrub oak which keep their brown leaves for most of the winter .....dramatic November! To be posted later since I am having camera problems.

POLECAT CREEK, NEAR KIEFER

8x10
oil/canvas
SOLD

Polecat Creek wanders around this area, crosses a road here and there and, I suppose, ends up in the Arkansas River. I took artistic liberty and moved the creek a bit because I wanted it to be in this meadow backed by trees with brown leaves. We have trees, I think some may be oak, that do not lose their leaves suddenly but slowly over the winter and perhaps not entirely until new growth in the spring pushes them away.

It was a lovely day. The temperature was in the 60's but the sun made it seem warmer.

10x8
oil/canvas
$90

Some rain, some sunshine, some wind.....typical weather. The temperatures are pleasant, great time of the year.
We have been busy at the gallery getting ready for the holidays. Our Christmas party and show will be on December 3. We have added many new art works, small and reasonably priced for gift giving and our decorations are smart and eye catching.
Last night was our monthly gallery meeting for all the artists and there was a lights on ceremony just down the street from the gallery. The season is upon us and next week we celebrate Thanksgiving.

WICHITA WILDLIFE REFUGE, ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE

$90
8x10
oil/canvas
board





We are having unseasonably cold weather, 45 degrees today, drizzle, no sun. So, I painted from a photograph I took at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Oklahoma, earlier in the fall season. Fun to do and a distinct contrast to what I was seeing outside my window. We are promised warmer weather in a couple of days, can't wait.

NOVEMBER CEDARS

8x10

oil on

canvas board

$90

The grasses are gold and brown with still a touch of green. The cedars are a dark contrast to the sky and ground. The landscape is ready for this Thanksgiving season.

STORM COMIN' IN

8x10

oil on

canvas board

$90

At times, we have weird weather, the sun will still be shining but the storm is moving in with blue/purple clouds behind the trees. If this were springtime, which is also tornado time, I would be tuning in for a weather report

PRETTY WATER, REVISITED

8x10

Oil on

canvas

$90

Pretty Water Lake is about five miles from Sapulpa, north on 97. It is a small lake and a favorite for fishermen. The lake gets stocked on some sort of schedule and about now trout is on the menu. The water always seems dark and green because of the surrounding trees. Nice place to be.

CANEY RIVER FEEDER, ANOTHER VIEW

8x10

Oil/canvas board

$90

A couple of posts back is Caney River Feeder. This is a "turn around and look the other way" view.

Guess I should give up on the autumn colors, they are still here but fading to dark golds and browns. Thanksgiving is nearing and then our thoughts turn to the Christmas season. My Water Street gallery is planning a big Christmas open house on December 3. It is to be an invitational miniature show and sale with selected artists invited to bring their work to show along with the gallery artists.

Our gallery operates as a co-op and we recently added two more marvelous artists. They are Gail Rogers and Anne Spoon. They have websites and blogs if you would like to see their work just "google" them. Their work will soon be seen on the gallery website: www.waterstreetartgallery.com.

LATE SUMAC

8x10, oil on canvas board

$90

In early November, there are still patches of greyed green and there are still leaves on some of the Sumac. Our colors are fading quickly and many of the deciduous trees have lost all leaves. But there are still some in beautiful color and we continue to enjoy this marvelous fall weather in Oklahoma.

CANEY RIVER FEEDER

12x12x1 1/2

oil on gallery wrap canvas

$150

North of the Tallgrass Prairie but still in Oklahoma, the Caney River flows south out of Kansas and small feeder streams find it along its way. This is one of those. This area still has some green and autumn color perhaps because of its proximity to the stream. This is one of those perfect Indian summer days with a slight breeze and the temperature in the high 60's, made all the more enjoyable because the trees will soon be bare and the wind cold.

I am particularly fond of this square format and since this canvas is wrapped and the edges are 1 1/2 inches deep and painted, it will not require a frame.

BIXHOMA SUNSET

8 X 1O, oil on canvas board,

$90, S&H included in cont. U.S.

We have colorful sunsets and, if the sun is setting behind a lake, you definitely get more bang for your buck. I have trees in front of my house that prevent me from seeing sunsets so sometimes I will drive a few miles to enjoy one.

OKLAHOMA TALLGRASS PRAIRIE PRESERVE

Tallgrass Prairie photos taken today. There are great hiking trails here.

This bison photo is from a previous visit a month or so ago.

LONG HORN CATTLE

Today was a beautiful day to visit the Tallgrass Prairie again. We had sunshine and temps in the high sixties. The bison have been rounded up and are corralled for their annual check up but I saw some mighty fine long horns today. You can see they were checking me out as I stopped to take their photo.

Now I need to go to my studio and paint.

SKYLIGHT

8x10, oil on canvas board
$90, S&H included in
cont. U.S.

This scene is of a foot path on Hayward Hill Road. We have had rainy and cool weather and some autumn colors have faded. The leaves are swirling and falling in the wind and they rustle and crunch under foot......a nice time of the year. I think I will make a pot of chili. Chili and Fritos for dinner.

SUNSET HOUR

8x10, oil on canvas board

$90, S&H included

HAYWARD HILL, IV

8x10, oil on canvas board,
$90. S&H free in cont. U.S.




I had to paint at least one more view off Hayward Hill Road. The autumn colors are fading in the country side but still quite vivid in neighborhoods where maples and Bradford Pears have been planted. I liked this scene for its simplicity. There are some orangey grasses and a purple flower I did not recognize.

We have enjoyed some sunshine the last two days and that is changing. Rain tonight and tomorrow along with cooler weather is our forecast. I am working at my co-op gallery tomorrow so won't mind the rain so much. We have preparations to make for some upcoming events. Our Gail Booth is doing a painting demo tomorrow evening at the gallery. On November 14, our jewelry artists, Silk Degrees, will have a Trunk Show and through November and December we will have our Christmas Invitational Miniature Show with a reception on December 3. I am looking forward to this interesting and fun season.

POST ROW, OKLAHOMA TALLGRASS PRARIE

5x7, oil on canvas,
$70, S&H included for cont. U.S.




I drove north, close to the Kansas border, last month to the Tallgrass Prarie Preserve. There were hundreds of bison visible from the road and sometimes in the road. I managed to get some pretty good photos of some and having never tried to paint a bison, I thought I might. Should I succeed it will be posted. I painted this little scene from one of my photos.

PAINTING AT LAKE BIXHOMA

8x10, OIL ON CANVAS BOARD,

$90, S&H included in cont. U.S.




I was drawn to this area of the lake when I saw the reflections in the water and it was a protected area from the wind. There is a foot bridge to the right which is a painting for another day. I lost the sun and reflections before I finished but I did get a photo. I enjoyed my time there alongside the critters.....feeding fish, a variety of birds, and a frog. Thankfully, not a snake in sight.