November Moon_Full moon, Texas Hill Country, night

November Moon__12 x 16 oil on linen___available
Monday night was a beautiful full moonrise, and some of my artist friends and I met to paint it. I could not stay long, so ended up with a study while there, which I worked on in the studio today.Couple a bad photographer (me) with a bad monitor (mine) and you have an explanation as to why there are two versions of this painting today. It's the same painting, but I cannot tell which one looks closest to the original, since my monitor is unreliable these days. So, pick the BEST one, and that's what the painting looks like!
Our Central Texas moonrises are the BEST! Maybe because there are sweeping views of the distance and one gets a good feeling of the majesty of creation. I will be teaching a workshop in February at the beautiful Fredericksburg Artists School. We will take on the moon! ...and probably a couple of sunrises and sunsets, too. Come if you can, Feb 5 - 7. Click the FAS link for info.

Midnight Pie_sketch, old people, grandparents

"Midnight Pie"___an old sketch while Grandmother told me the story....
Grandmother Helen was a fearless cook, and often tried new recipes. But Pappy's favorite dish of all was Grandmother's cherry pie. She told me the story about how one time, neither of them could sleep, so they went outside together, in the moonlight, on the front porch at 8 Sunset Trail, Sunset Valley, south Austin, TX...a sleepy little community, established over 60 years ago...a place where the yards were big enough that they had a small stable full of horses in the back. They sat in the metal chairs there with Pappy eating a big piece of cherry pie...she in her robe, he in his birthday suit! I couldn't get this image out of my mind and HAD to sketch it. ...haha!!....I have been looking for the sketch to share with the family, but didn't find it till today...too late for the funeral.

To FULLY understand this, please look back at my blog from a few days ago, where I tell about the passing of a great lady, Helen Vaughan, my grandmother (for the past 33 years).
http://vvaughan.blogspot.com/2009/10/seventy-years-agocows-angus-farm.html

Our family came together for Grandmother Helen's funeral, yesterday in San Antonio. The cemetery there is just full of family, and walking among the headstones was, somehow, comforting. ...In my blog post few days ago There is a photo of Helen and her best friend/cousin, Dorothy, who also passed away last week. What a moment to see Dorothy's fresh grave right there by Helen's. The stories and memories were flying and a few new memories were made...especially for the youngest kids in the family.
I will always have this vision of midnight pie, and probably will not be satisfied till I paint it someday.

Fall Flight_Geese, goose

"Fall Flight"___7 x 8 framed size....oil on matt board, framed and ready to hang__$190
I worked this study from some reference photos I took in Maryland last fall. There was a pasture full of Canada Geese grazing, and flocks were flying over at the same time. I have been to the Eastern Shore several times in the fall and am always amazed at how many birds gather there. I am still not sure if they are there for the winter, or are just passing through on their way south. To me, Maryland is "way north".
Since I have two more years of high school football, I will not be going to Maryland in the fall (or any place for that matter) till 2011. Till then, I will stay close to home and in the studio! As fun as travel is, and as exciting as art selling and painting all over the country are, there is NOTHING to compare with watching your own young "chicks" prepare to fly out on their own!...I FINALLY believe what everyone told me: "They grow so fast!"

Geranium Day_geraniums, red flowers

"Geranium Day"___12 x 12 demo. Oil in linen panel___$ wet and available $ to the first who asks

At the end of a great workshop, yesterday, the light was low and fell perfectly on these geraniums at D.'s place, so I did a quick demo...the bottom image was what I ended the day with: a "nearly finished" 30 - 45 minute demo. The top image is how it looks after about another hour of tweaks. I put little containers under the "floating stems" on the left side...and added some juicy paint for the finish. The light caught me off guard, today...the sun sets an hour earlier...so I photographed the finish in VERY warm sunset light...if you are interested in it, please et me send you a better image :)

state 1_Geranium Day...

"Shadows on Dee's Hilltop"___6 x 8 oil study on canvas panel___$100

Today was my last workshop of the year...My last real event for 2009, and it ended with a bang! We had a FULL workshop who met at the home of the organizer, D. ...the morning demo was from her hilltop, looking across the way to a beautiful ridge of Texas Hill Country....the group has decided to meet there for the full moon on Monday night, and I can't wait!

For you football fans, my young son finally saw action for nearly three quarters of the game last night. I told him that if they let him run the ball he needs to run it to OUR sideline so that I can get good film...what a nice kid...he did it just for me! ...and he threw well, too...and the team played well so the Dragons won...

Canada Fall_ Canada goose, fall color

Canada Fall___oil on mat board with frame__Framed size 8 x 10 or so___Framed price $175
I have a little batch of frames that were assembled too small for my paintings, so I am working up a few studies on the matt backing. Here is a little Canada Goose from photos I took in Maryland last fall.
Off to a football game, now! Next week our Round Rock Dragons will be on ESPN-U for their High School game of the week. We will play the state ranked Stony Point Tigers, also in Round Rock...stay tuned! Look for the tall thin QB, my son, a junior back-up QB #14...

Seventy Years Ago_cows, angus, farm, landscape

"Seventy Years Ago"___3.5 x 16 oil on linen panel___click to enlarge___$250
I imagine that seventy years ago this farmscape probably looked just about the same. I painted it today from a photo, using a long piece of linen panel I have....It was a pensive moment as I painted this, now looking back on my relationship with a wonderful lady who passed into eternity, yesterday. Her picture is below, taken 70 years ago!!
Helen Vaughan was my husband's Grandmother, my children's GREAT-Grandmother. I counted her as my Grandmother, too, since I lost all mine while I was young. She was from that Great American generation which loved freedom and worked hard for everything they had. She rode and trained Arabian horses til she was past 80! She was the youngest at heart as anyone could be...never getting TOO set in her ways. But her GREATEST ability was that she was able to make YOU the center of attention. She had a way of engaging in conversation that never pointed to herself, and she did this by asking questions. Questions that could NOT be answered by merely a "yes" or "no": "What is your favorite thing to think about?" "What did you enjoy playing when you were little?" "Tell me about your best friend when you were ten"...A few days ago she asked me "what month is this"? I said "It's October..."and had to bite my tongue, because I ALMOST reminded her that in a few days it would be the day that her beloved Eddie, our Pappy died, in 2001....She was a Texas woman through and through, but "all-girl" as she loved dolls, and shoes and accessorizing! ...we all laughed at the contents of her suitcase, which she took to the hospital a few weeks ago: about 300 packets of sweet-n-low and 7 pairs of shoes! I do not remember seeing anything else in that suitcase....Grandmother seemed to wait till she had seen everyone yesterday, and just as the last few family members left for a bite of dinner, she left us....October 28, 2009, exactly one month past her 97th birthday, and EXACTLY, to the day, 8 years after Pappy died...same day...
She loved Jesus, and now is alive like Him, forever....THANK YOU, Lord for Grandmother Helen.
Helen Vaughan (left) and Dorothy Miller, her life-long best friend ...Dorothy just died this week, too....The photo was taken in 1939. Seventy years ago.

Bovine Winner_cows, angus, farm

Looking Forward_ 20 x 30 oil on linen__available!
This past weekend was the first annual show for the American Society of Bovine Artists...yes, Bovine. And yes, I am a (new) proud member! I am also proud to be the first winner of the first show. The painting above is a studio version of my field study from "Last Year on the Farm", my series of 365 paintings of my last year....all 365 paintings are on my web site, if you have not seen them, yet, please go look!
This art is also the image I chose for the cover of my book about it. The book title is "Last Year onthe Farm: A Story of Change. You can see the first 10 pages of the book here http://www.blurb.com/books/196927
...Today is a sad day. My husband's beloved grandmother, Helen Vaughan, who we call "Grandmother", was placed in Hospice care. She may not live long. I will like to tell about her beautiful life...she just turned 97...was born the year that the Titanic sank....wow. She lives very close to me, so I am going to spend the night there tonight and may not be in touch much for a while...please enjoy my links.

Last Full Moon_farm, moon, moonrise, harvest

"Last Full Moon, Last Year on the Farm 10-26-2007"_____________sold
It seems longer ago than just two years when I painted for the last time on our farm...oh, I went back for a "last day", but this was the day before I left and locked the door behind me....my kids later went back and broke into the house with a photographer friend and took pictures which they gave me for Mother's Day...that's another story...especially when they got caught.
I remember this painting so well, because by this time all the furniture was gone and no one was there but me. The night was quiet and I could HEAR every brushstroke.It was a hard, hard time, and I get a lump in my throat just typing this. Please 'feel sorry for me, though. I am one who NEEDS the reflective moments and the sad moments in order to REALLY feel blessed. Hard to explain, but I must confront the hard times head on, and understand them fully before I can accept them. Because of this I was the last one to leave the farm. Sometimes I admire folks who can turn a page quickly and get on with life...speaking of turning pages, I have a link below to my little book "Last Year on the Farm: A Story of Change". Click on the book cover and it turns pages so you can see the first 10 pages or so. You can order the book from this link, too.





http://www.blurb.com/books/196927

Taste of Red_16 x 20_Red poppy, flower

"Taste of Red"__16 x 20 oil on linen__available from me...without the bee

What a great and busy weekend!

Saturday my husband and I got up at 3 am to drive to Waxahachie, TX for the Texas Country Reporter Festival. We had a football game (youngest son) Friday night, so had to leave Saturday... Got there at sunrise and set up on the courthouse square. Thousands of people were there and a bee, who couldn't take his eyes off my poppy painting. He roamed all over both flowers for several hours, coming and going, and finally resting atop the smaller bloom...see him at the top left? So I shot him...with the camera, of course.

Then, today I painted at the first annual American Bovine Art juried show in Gruene, TX. I brought this painting with me and decided to varnish it while it hung in the courtyard. It caught the eye of a beautiful butterfly and I had to stand guard until the varnish dried, shooing the little fellow away so he wouldn't land and get stuck....all in all, I am happy to have the endorsement of bees and butterflies!

Oh, and my painting for the Bovine show won first place... Thanks to Kay at Cactus Jack's for hosting a great show!!!

Across the Way_school bus, country road, farm

"Across the Way"___5 x 7 oil on canvas___$150 if you want it first... add $50 for the great frame I have on it

Well, I just put this one and yesterday's bus into a couple of matching 5 x 7 frames I didn't know I had. Nice black frames with a gold liner...matches the bus! To put this one side by side with yesterday's bus, you can trace the path they took as they skirted our farm each morning and afternoon.

I heard bus musings from SO MANY PEOPLE after yesterday's post! Poor H. tripped getting on once and STILL remembers it!...J. had her shoelaces tied to the seat and fell on her face, too, at the hand of a class bully. R. decided to walk the two miles to school after FIVE years of riding with all the riff-raff...I forgot to ask her if it was barefoot, in the snow, up hill both ways....

Speaking of school, some of you have asked...my son's school was hit so hard by that swine flu. Most of the football team missed at LEAST a game or two, and it killed our chances at the playoffs. SO...they moved my son to varsity for good and are grooming him to be next year's QB...Friday Night Lights for us from now on!

So I framed these busses...wet...and am putting them in my art show, tomorrow. Come see me if you are in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area of Texas! This is my last art show of the year...I think...

Or JOIN ME at one of these events this month:

TOMORROW! Saturday, Oct. 24 in Waxahachie, TX at the Texas Country Reporter Festival ...then ,Oct 25, I will be in Gruene, at the first annual Bovine Art Festival, painting on location at Cactus Jacks.Oct. 31 All Day Workshop with Austin's PACT. Limit 20 students email me for details vvaughan8@yahoo.comMark your long range calendar to take a break from the winter cold!Come to my FEB 5 - 7 , Workshop in Texas at Fredericksburg Artists School...sunrise to moonrise...painting fast is the theme....how to see and put it down and trust yourself capturing the moment!

Topping the Hill_school bus, country, telephone pole

Topping the Hill___5 x 7 oil on canvas panel____$150 if you want it first
Fall is back to school time...I never took the bus, and neither did my children....except for field trips and travel to footbal games with the team...I do not really like them, except that I like the way they look. They are always the BRIGHT focal point whenever they are in view...And busses riding over country roads are especially bright and cheery, somehow.

JOIN ME at one of these events in October:
THIS Saturday, Oct. 24 in Waxahachie, TX at the Texas Country Reporter Festival ...then ,
Oct 25, I will be in Gruene, at the first annual Bovine Art Festival, painting on location at Cactus Jacks.
Oct. 31 All Day Workshop with Austin's PACT. Limit 20 students email me for details vvaughan8@yahoo.com
Mark your long range calendar to take a break from the winter cold!
Come to my FEB 5 - 7 , Workshop in Texas at Fredericksburg Artists School...sunrise to moonrise...painting fast is the theme....how to see and put it down and trust yourself capturing the moment!

Little Drive_cows, Cowboy, horse, cattle drive

"Little Drive"__4 x 8 oil on linen___$120

That's it! Just four calves. They needed to be moved from one pasture to another, so here was Bobby, moving them on horseback. I painted this from a photo of our farm. I miss the constant activity there...and the open spaces....and the change of seasons. I have noticed that in a neighborhood, the cycles of life and seasons and even weather are not very apparent...I am eager to be back on the land some day....looking!

JOIN ME at one of these events in October:

THIS Saturday, Oct. 24 in Waxahachie, TX at the Texas Country Reporter Festival ...then ,

Oct 25, I will be in Gruene, at the first annual Bovine Art Festival, painting on location at Cactus Jacks.

Oct. 31 All Day Workshop with Austin's PACT. Limit 20 students email me for details vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Mark your long range calendar to take a break from the winter cold!

Come to my FEB 5 - 7 , Workshop in Texas at Fredericksburg Artists School...sunrise to moonrise...painting fast is the theme....how to see and put it down and trust yourself capturing the moment!

Phone Call_sketch, girl on phone, woman

"Phone Call"__from my sketchbook
It all starts with sketching. Want to be a good painter? Start sketching! Want to sculpt? Begin by sketching! Put away the camera for a few minutes and pick up a pencil or a brush. (I know some of my pals are rolling their eyes at me, because I ALWAYS have a camera or two (three if you count the phone) in my purse. I am a happy snapper, BUT, I am a voracious sketcher, too. Doing a sketch is EXPERIENCING the subject...your eye has to fall on each part, you MUST make judgments about every detail compared to every OTHER detail, and you become FAMILIAR...whereas SHOOTING it is a fleeting moment and your eye approaches the subject as a WHOLE. Heck, I rarely focus my eyes when shooting, preferring to see the whole composition....sketching frequently will make you a better artist....more on the subject tomorrow...
JOIN ME at one of these events in October:
THIS Saturday, Oct. 24 in Waxahachie, TX at the Texas Country Reporter Festival ...then ,
Oct 25, I will be in Gruene, at the first annual Bovine Art Festival, painting on location at Cactus Jacks.
Oct. 31 All Day Workshop with Austin's PACT. Limit 20 students email me for details vvaughan8@yahoo.comMark your long range calendar to take a break from the winter cold!
Come to my FEB 5 - 7 , Workshop in Texas at Fredericksburg Artists School...sunrise to moonrise...
painting fast