"Zion Morning"

12x16

oil on canvas board

sold

I painted the top painting in 2010 and was not pleased with it, so I decided to repaint it.  The bottom painting is the edited version.  I enjoy repainting canvases from time to time to see if I can improve on what was painted years ago.  The colors are warmer in the second version and the river has better reflections in it.  I do like the second painting better--hopefully I am getting better at expressing myself in oils.

"I Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills"

oil on canvas board

20x10
$140

This is a scene from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge--one of my favorite areas to paint.  This particular scene is found on the trail to the Narrows.  There is a place overlooking the stream that has plenty of rocks on which to sit and enjoy the view.  I started this painting before I attended the Edmond Art Show and finished it after I returned.  I did well at the show despite the cold windy weather--I sold 10 paintings!  Now I am inspired to paint more.  I always enjoy visiting with my fellow artists and I picked up a few painting tips from them as well.

"Elk and Calf"

oil on canvas board

12x16

sold

I just finished this painting of an elk and her calf.  I had taken tha photo in the Rocky Mountain National Park a few years ago, but I didn't like the background in the photo.  So I looked through my photos to find a good background and found this scene taken in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  Since there are elk in the refuge, I combined the two photos.  We don't very often see elk in the refuge and if we do glimpse them it is usually in the evening or morning when it's hard to get good photos.  I've only seen calves this size in the refuge one time and they were too far away to get a good photo.  We are going back to the Rocky Mountain National Park this summer so I'm hoping to take more photos of elk.

"Cliffs at Mesa Verde"

20x10

oil on canva board
$175

I just finished this painting of a scene in Mesa Verde, Colorado.  This is the first painting I have ever done in this long vertical format.  It was certainly a challenge to paint, as the cliff was worn by time and rain into unusual shapes.  I loved the colors in the rocks, however, and had fun painting them.  I'm considering painting in an eagle or hawk, but I'll have to think about that for awhile.

"Lake Altus"

12x16

Oil on canvas
$150

Yesterday, I repainted an old canvas that I'd painted years ago, a painting of a lake in our area. My painting stye has improved so much since then, I was ashamed to display it any longer, so I decided to repaint it.  It's not exactly one of my best, but I am certainly more pleased with the second one.  As you can tell, the lake is low, but if I were to paint the lake as it is right now, you might not see any water at all in this view.  I don't like to look at Lake Altus these days--its too discouraging!  We really need rain!

Cactus

 

"Cactus"

oil on canvas board

12x16

sold

I had a lot of fun painting this cactus plant in the surrounding weeds.  The first day of painting was discouraging and I almost rubbed it off.  The colors just looked dull and uninteresting.  But after I began to put in the highlights on the cactus and the weeds it came to life.  Sometimes it pays to struggle on and not give up!  And other times it doesn't.

The Herd

The Herd

10x20

oil on canvas board

sold

This is a scene I recently painted of buffalo in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  This Refuge is only an hour from our home in Altus and a favorite place for my husband and me to camp and hike.  I take lots of photos to paint from.  The photos of the buffalo were actually taken in Wyoming, while the background photo was taken in the refuge.  I really enjoyed working with these colors--I usually don't have such a variety of colors to work with when painting the refuge.  I have been learning to work with grays more in mixing colors and I find that its easier to acheive the colors I am looking for.  I learned a lot from an artist named Don Finkeldei who puts a lot of instruction on his web site.  He was very gracious to answer my questions.