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!)