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.