Virgin of Guadalupe

Virgin Of Guadalupe
Oil  14" x 11"
$225.00 + $10. s/h
click here for Paypal

I want to wish a Merry Christmas to all of my blog friends.  I'm offering a holiday discount through the end of December on this painting, although it wouldn't get to you before Christmas.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, is a title of the Virgin Mary associated with an image which is housed in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city.  I read that this basilica is the most visited Catholic site in the world (I would have thought that that honor would have gone to the Vatican, but I learned something new) and the third most sacred site in the world.  The first two are the Meiji Shrine and Sensoji Temple in Tokyo having 30 million visitors each year.

"Hasn't Been Used In A While"

"Hasn't Been Used In A While"
Oil  16" x 20"
Holiday Price $395.00
SOLD

My normal price for this size is $495.00.  From now until the end of December I'm offering this for a holiday discount.  Although it wouldn't get to you before Christmas.

I spotted this pickup east of Colorado Springs, on the side of a road near an old ranch.  I loved how it was sitting there as if the rancher had stopped once to tend to something, but then never got back in.

I often get my titles from poems and/or songs.  For this piece I googled "poems about trucks" and found the title, thus the quotes.

We're having strange weather today, so I'm going to re-photo this again.  The truck colors are accurate, but the grass is a bit brighter yellow/green than it is in the painting.  They're a bit "faller colors" in the painting..is that a real word?

Afternoon Aspen

Afternoon Aspen
Oil  24" x 18"
Sold

This aspen painting is from the same grove as the last post.  I've written about aspens in past posts and am writing about them again.  Aspens usually grow in large clonal colonies, coming from the same seedling.  They spread by way of root suckers.  New trees in a colony my shoot up over 100 feet away from the parent tree.  Aspens can live from 40 - 150 years above ground.  the root system can last longer.  Aspen groves are able to survive forest fires because the roots are below the heat of the fire.

Aspen Shadow

Aspen Shadow
Oil  24" x 18"
$595.00 + $20. s/h

This is a painting from the fall that I haven't yet posted.  I love the strong contrast of the grass and shadows.  I paint a lot of aspen, I think that many Colorado artists paint aspen.  They're a great tree to paint with lots of grays in the trunks.  Many of the mountain aspen have gnaw marks up and down the trunks....actually those are teeth marks from elk.

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE -- Christmas Poinsettia #2

Christmas Poinsettia #2
Oil  6" x 6"
$75.00 + $10. s/h

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

Paintings by Pam Holnback & Dottie Lirette

Small works, cards, great holiday gifts & mark downs!

Summerland Gardens Gallery

124 East Cheyenne Road, Colorado Springs

Wednesday, December 3rd  3:00 - 6:00 pm

I hope that those of you who live in the Pikes Peak region can join Dottie and me for our Holiday Open House!

I Don't See A Needle

I Don't See A Needle
Oil  8" x 10"
$195.00 + $10. s/h  (To purchase, click below for the Paypal button)

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/pam-holnback/i-dont-see-a-needle/293072

Last week I had a great morning plein air painting in Castle Rock, about 45 minutes north of Colorado Springs, with PAAC (Plein Air Artists of Colorado.)  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny morning.  We painted at a brand new park.  I think that these hay bales were brought in to cover the dirt next to the parking lot.  The land had been plowed, but there was no sign of wheat/grass shots coming up from the ground.  Thus, my title.

Hovering Clouds

Hovering Clouds
Oil on stretched canvas  18" x 24"
$595.00 + $20. s/h  (click the link below to purchase)
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/pam-holnback/hovering-clouds/293067

I love our western skies.  They are vast, open, calm, wild, grand, spiritual, colorful, gray.  Many artists over the years have made the west their home and become enamored of our skies.  I've painted our skies many times and am continually drawn to their ever changing colors and clouds.

I want to wish all of my blog friends a wonderful Thanksgiving.  This is my favorite holiday.  It's whole purpose is to be thankful for what we have and to share that thanks with friends and family.  May all of you have a great holiday.  I am thankful and appreciative of everyone that I've met through my six years of blogging.

Whispering River

Whispering River
Oil  12" x 12"
$295.00 + $10. s/h

I love painting rivers.  I love their sounds:  whispering, babbling, roaring.  That all depends upon their size and location.  The rivers we have here in Colorado look like creeks and streams compared to those in other locations.  But all rivers have their charm, their own identity, their own personality.  This river is from a warm summer day in the Colorado Rockies.  

Ice Lake Relections

Ice Lake Reflections
Oil  9" x 12"
SOLD

Last summer I had a commission to paint Ice Lake on the south side of the Air Force Academy.  It was to be a birthday gift.  I hiked out there several times and took lots of photos.  This was the second painting that I did of the lake.  And, after commissioning the first piece the buyer also bought this one!  Thank you!

Veteran's Day #3

Veteran's Day #3

Oil  8" x 8" on cradled panel

$195.00 + $10. s/h

For the last three years I've painted this flag several times each year:  on Veteran's Day and one other national holiday.  It's Veteran's Day again and another great day to paint the flag.  I wrote about this flag and the Veteran's in my family then.  Here's the post once more:

This is the flag that my late dad, Oliver Sidney Johnson, received upon the death of his dad, Charles Thomas Johnson, for his dad's service to our country.  My dad passed it down to my son, Clinton Charles Holnback.  At some point I'll probably take it to the Veteran's Hall and have them fold it and pass it on to my son.  But, for now, I bring it out and paint it occasionally.  It's a great reminder of how lucky we are to live in this country.  Thanks to all of our Veteran's.

Saturday was the big Veteran's Day Parade in downtown Colorado Springs.  We have a lot of Vets here as the military is a strong presence in the town with Fort Carson, NORAD, Peterson Field, Schriever Air Force Base, and the Air Force Academy.  Many Vets stay and make Colorado Springs their home and many Vets return to live here when they retire.

I come from a family of Veterans.  I'll introduce you to some of them again this year:

This is my mom, Rosalie Phillips Johnson (1921-1971).  She became a pilot after college.  She then served in WWII as a WASP, Women's Air Force Service Pilot.   The WASPs flew new planes from factories to embarcation air fields where they were either flown or shipped overseas.

My dad, Oliver Sidney Johnson (1920-2004), is on the far left in the back row.  He served in WWII as a radio operator and machine gunner on B-24s and B-17s in the 490th Bomb Group flying out of England.

My grandfather, Charles Thomas Johnson, (1890-1964) is the one circled.  He served in WWI and also was a Colonel in WWII.  This is General Patton's staff (you may recognize Patton in the front row.)  I can't imagine how it must have been for my grandma to have her husband and only child both in Europe during the war.  She also served our country as an ambulance driver taking soldiers from Chicago's Midway airport to the hospital.

My husband Peter's parents were also Veterans.  They both served in the Navy.  This is their engagement photo.  My father-in-law, Peter Carl Holnback, was a fighter pilot in the Pacific.  My mother-in-law, Olive Hird Holnback, was a WAVE:  Women Accepted for Voluntary 

Emergency Service.

Slick Chick

Slick Chick
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

I've learned some more about chickens....thanks all for the emails/comments.  The thinner white one (the second of the four) is a Leghorn.  The rounder ones (paintings 1, 3 and 4 in this little series) are White Plymouth Rocks.  You never know what you learn while painting!

Which Came First?

Which Came First?
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

SOLD

As you can see, I'm on a roll with these chickens from Mudflap Ranch!  They make such great subjects!  I've found out that these chickens are White Plymouth Rocks.  These particular girls lay a light brown, tan egg.  I know for a fact that their eggs make great omelettes!

Chicken Licken

Chicken Licken
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

SOLD

Here is another Mudflap Ranch chicken.  There were two very white chickens.  This one had a longer tail and was a bit thinner.  I got lots of photos of both of them!  

Henny Penny

Henny Penny
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10 s/h

I don't know much about chickens.  I have no idea what kind of a chicken this is.  (I googled white chickens and found that there are many kinds of white chickens...White Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island White, Leghorn.  I had no idea!)  But, it's one of many chickens that my friend Marianne raises out on their ranch, MudFlap Ranch.  I was out there recently and took hundreds, maybe dozens, of pictures of all of the chickens and the rooster.  I do know that if you keep throwing out chicken food they'll run to the food.  This makes picture taking pretty easy.  I also know that different kinds of chickens lay different colored eggs.  My husband picked a basket full of a beautiful colored eggs....which made great omelets.

In A Heart Beet

In A Heart Beet
Oil 8" x 10"
$195.00 + $10. s/h

SOLD

Last week I went out to my friend Marianne's ranch.  They live about 45 minutes east of me.  We had a great lunch, fed the chickens, goats, ducks.  Saw the turkeys, horses, machines, etc....everything you'd see on a small ranch.  And, I came home with a big supply of beets from her garden.  As I do with many vegetables, I painted them right away before they became part of our dinner!  Thank you Marianne and Grant! 

Back Lit

Back Lit
plein air oil  8" x 8"
$195.00 + $10. s/h

I loved the strong shadows that were created by these back lit aspen.  I'm always drawn to the light on the bark of aspen trees, but in this case the trunks were very dark and I was drawn to the shadow shapes.

This was from a great September morning painting at Diane Vulcan's house in Woodland Park

 with my plein air group, Garden Artists.

 

Valley Of Aspen

Valley Of Aspen
Oil  8" x 8"
$195.00 + $10. s/h

Here's another recent plein air piece of the autumn aspen.  We've had the most beautiful fall that I can remember in a long time!  The greens are greener.  The yellows have more orange in them.  Every thing is a bit brighter this fall due to the abundance of moisture and rain this summer!  

I love it when there's a great spot to set up in the shade!

Aspen Grove

Aspen Grove
Plein air Oil  11" x 14"
$295.00 + $10. s/h

This is a recent plein air painting done a few weekends ago at the Meininger's Lodge in Bailey, Colorado.  The Meininger's own several large art supply stores in Colorado and invited artists to paint at their mountain retreat.  It was a beautiful place.  I hope that they do this again next fall!

Fall Mums

Fall Mums
Oil  14" x 11"
$295.00 + $10. s/h

Recently my plein air group, Garden Artists, painted at Spenser's Market here in Colorado Springs.  I had thought that I'd paint some of the fruits or vegetables in the farmer's market area, but when I saw the racks partially filled with fall mums, I knew I had to paint more flowers.

Beta Vulgaris

Beta Vulgaris
Oil  8" x 8"
$195.00 + $10. s/h

According to Wikipedia, the scientific name for beet root is "Beta Vulgaris."  No wonder kids don't always eat their vegetables.  With names like that!  

I wanted to do some plein air still lives so I set the beets up on the patio and painted away!

I had to spray the beets with water every few minutes to keep them bright and red-violet.  

When dry they look more purple and brownish/gray.

And The Beet Goes On!

And The Beet Goes On!
Oil  8" x 8"
$195.00 + $10. s/h

A friend has a huge plot in a nearby community garden and dropped off a bunch (is a group of beets a "bunch"?) of beets a while ago.  I love the color of beets and new that before we ate them they would become a painting!

I just googled "beet" and learned so much from Wikepedia!  I didn't know that "Betanin" the color which is obtained from the beet, or root, is used industrially as a food color.  That makes sense, it's so bright and beautiful!  I didn't realize that the betanin is used to improve the color and flavor of tomato paste,  jams and jellies, ice cream (I've never had beet ice cream..maybe it's used to color strawberry ice cream!!??), and breakfast cereal (so now kids can say that eating cereal is really healthy!)  

"Come Share The Wine"

Come Share The Wine
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h
SOLD

Day 29 in the 30 in 30 Day Challenge
In a recent post I talked about how I find my painting titles.  For this painting I Googled "songs about wine" and clicked on the page for "Wine in song titles."  There are a lot of songs about wine!  One thing I noticed is how many songs are about cheap wine!

I liked this Bing Crosby song because I agree with him, wine is for sharing.  When we have friends over for dinner, we always serve wine.  And, Bing Crosby reminds me of my late dad.

Come Share the Wine by Bing Crosby
"Come share the wine,
It's so nice and warm in here
we're happy and kind."

There must be more to the song, but this is all that was on the list!

As I Pour The Wine

As I Pour The Wine
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

SOLD

Day 28 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

Wine glasses also are something I like to paint.  For this painting I toned the canvas black and really like the way it looks.  

Heavenly Bounty

Heavenly Bounty
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

SOLD

Day 27 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

I've mentioned in the past that I often Google "poems about ..and then whatever I happen to be painting" to help me find titles.  For this series I put "wine" in that spot.  In the last half hour I've read dozens of poems about wine and find it interesting that so many of them have religious and Biblical references.  

How do you come up with titles for your paintings?

For Bacchus

For Bacchus
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

Day 26 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

I recently painted several wine bottle and wine glass pieces that I'll be posting over the next few days.      I've painted lots of these over the years and always like the challenge of painting ellipses.  Enjoy!

Spicy Flavor

Spicy Flavor
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10.s/h

Day 25 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge

This is the last of the 4 garlic paintings that I recently finished.  It was a fun little series which I think I'll do again sometime.  Because they were painted on different days in different light, but on the same surface, it really got me looking at the grays.  A great exercise.

Fleshy Sections

Fleshy Sections
Oil  6" x 6"
$100.00 + $10. s/h

Day 23 in the 30 in 30 Challenge

This is another title that I found while Googling "garlic".  I love the sensual sound of it and think that it is just the right description!  What would you title a garlic painting?