The Beauty of Trees

The Beauty of Trees 24x20 oil on canvas
On a recent trip to Washington State it rained almost every day. However, the days that were high overcast lent a delicate light to my favorite subject, trees. Right outside the back door of my son's home was this banquet of colors with a the soft air giving them an even more delicate look.
These become especially precious because we live on the prairie where it is nearly impossible to find a scene such as this.

Thistle II

Thistles II oil on panel 6x6
Thistles have obviously caught my attention. This time the dark background brings a little more drama with hints of color that there may be more thistles nearby. Pretty dramatic for being labeled a weed.

Fairy Thistles

Fairy Thistles  9x12 pastel on archival paper
Wildflowers and weeds are some of my favorite subjects, living in farming country many of my neighbors consider these to be a plant that needs to be destroyed so it will not infest the grain fields. I need to state that although it is a feeling among some, certainly not all. A retired farmer purchased a close-up of a thistle at my last show. He couldn't take his eyes off of it.
The title comes from the fact that these are so airy they seem to almost be fantasy, like a fairy.

Prairie Dragon

Prairie Dragon image 8.5x14.5 matted &framed approx 15x21
This painting is done from photos of a massive prairie field burning for many, many miles the first summer we returned to our farm. I was able to capture many images and then lost the files in my computer, only to find them in hardcopies in a file in my studio.  The golden grain against the blue sky and purple/grey of the smoke is difficult to imagine. The horror of losing the crops and yet the spectacle is awesome and breathtaking.