Works In Progress

Here you will find a sampling of some recently finished pieces, as well as examples of paintings that are "works in progress" which will be offered for sale at completion.  Please email me if you have questions about any of these new images, or click here to send me a "web" note on my "Contact Me" page. 

My models here are "Boo and Claire".  Just after Christmas I made an appointment to photograph these King Charles Cavalier Spaniels.  Their owners, Bob and Cissy Wilson, still had holiday decorations up, so I posed the dogs in front of the Christmas tree.

This is the beginning charcoal phase.  I will soon start to paint, and I know this one will be fun!




Meet Tristan - "Agility Champ".  This painting was commissioned by David and Julie Reeve of Weatherford, TX, for their friend, Debbie Spence.  Debbie's been training agility dogs and their people for a long time.  She has an incredible list of accomplishments with her dogs, and especially Tristan.  His accomplishments are too numerous to mention them all, but here are a few:

USDAA Grand Prix World Championship (Scottsdale, AZ) .  Tristan took 1st place in the Veteran's Grand Prix.

NADAC Championship (Castle Rock, CO).  Tristan finished in 2nd place for Regular Finals and 3rd place for Jumper's Finals.

 


Here, I am using Maddie as my model.
This is the painting when it was about half-way completed.






 This is the completed painting of
 "Maddie's Christmas"       
which was used as a Christmas Card.

  
These wonderful Dichi Goldens,  "Missy and Maddie",  are two of my favorite girls.  This portrait was commissioned by their owner, Karen Fairchild.  After completion of the portrait, I painted a fun piece, "Missy Swimming", and Maddie in a Christmas scene, used as a Christmas Card!

Missy is quite the athlete.  Jumping into the pool retrieving balls in her mouth is her favorite pastime!

Gillian Salling's "Three Generations" of Fernheim German Shepherds includes clockwise from left:

  Gundi von Fernheim, CDX, TD, BH, CGC (Grandmother);
Yanni von Fernheim, SchHI, BH, TR1, OB1, TD,CGC (Mother);
               Greta von Fernheim, TD, BH (Daughter).

This painting was a trade for my newest German Shepherd puppy, Hansa Von Fernheim.  Hansa came to live with us a little over a year ago.  She loves to go for walks in the pasture with me and her cousin, Wasko von Fernheim.

One of my favorite places to visit is the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.  They have a huge herd of buffalo.  I was at the right place at the right time when I spotted this group of Buffalo Bulls napping in the warm afternoon sunshine.  I loved how each one was posed; although, I did take some 'artistic license' and change up the actual composition just a bit for the painting. 

This is the charcoal stage of my "Buffalo Bulls".

Although close to completion, there are still a few important areas which don't suit me yet.





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"Buffalo Bulls"  completed.

While at a Cutting in Texas, I happened to note this beautiful horse intently watching as cowboys worked cattle in a nearby pen.  He might have been thinking, "I can do that!"    "Let's Ride".

I like to paint white animals.  It's fun and challenging. To give form to a white object (of any kind) you need to see the subtle color and value changes going on.  Reflective light can be in many different shades of color, depending on what is around your subject.

Meet "In A Hurry!"  On this white horse, for example, if you examine the painting up really close, you'll see many soft colors everywhere - never just pure white.  That is reserved only for hightlighted areas and even then, I usually use a a white that is tinted with another color! 

A painting at an early stage.  This is "Spring Fling". There is a lot of energy here!  These horses may have just been turned out of their stalls, and are obviously "feeling their oats" as they race across the pasture.

Here is "Spring Fling" completed.  It's changed a lot, hasn't it?  Artists frequently do this.  As I worked on the scenery, I began to see something else in my "minds eye".  For some reason, I began to see a last romp over the pasture beneath a sunset sky, instead of a green pasture and trees in the background.  This painting is in the collection of Nathan and Dawnell Shelly.

One of my students, Bo O'Rourke, has added this one to her collection.  "Ears To Ya" is the second painting I did using these mules as models.  They are owned by Sue Bonham, who commissioned an earlier portrait I did of these little guys.