Apertures

Acrylic 16x20" + frame

This piece is available at Artisans' Gallery in Laramie, WY. 307-745-3983

I enjoyed looking through the frame onto the weathered exterior wall, through the window into the first room of the shed, through the interior doorway to the second room, and through both the old screen door (which was partly ajar) and the exterior doorway to the farm yard beyond.

Quirky & Quaint

Oil, 11"x 14" on canvas
Small shop on 15th Street near downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming
This is currently for sale at Deselms Fine Art in Cheyenne. You may click on the link on my blog to access their gallery.

First Methodist Church 1890

I have been painting in a plein air competition in Cheyenne, Wyoming the past week. The shapes and textures of this old sandstone church caught my eye.

acrylic, 11x14"

SOLD

Clown Bar & Lounge

This abandoned structure in Bosler was a local hotspot years ago. All that is left of a once colorful past are the multicolored exterior walls.

Pastel, 22x26" SOLD to a collector from Sacramento, CA

Odd Couple

This wonderful stone house is located on Railroad Street in Laramie, Wyoming. It has a stone marked "1868" which is about the date Laramie first became a city. The house is abandoned and if the location were less than undesirable, would certainly be a bed & breakfast.

Forgotten

The University of Wyoming forced the removal or demolition of several homes when it expanded the UW's parking area. This little home was moved to another section of Laramie, but is still not resting on a foundation after many years. I painted this 8 x 9" watercolor on location to record this neglected and forgotten building.

House in Red & Blue

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, Wyoming

This small house originally faced Railroad Street and although the entryway was changed, the address remained the same. The 2 sides of the roof were at different levels and the gable over the addition to the porch a bit swayed, but the home was charming.

9x12" watercolor framed, golden wood.

Primary Colors

SOLD to a collector in Laramie, Wyoming

This image is half of the building which housed the Franklin dealership & garage in Laramie. At the time I drew this pastel a large billboard had been removed revealing the words GARAGE & STORAGE. The first floor was temporarily being used as the local children's museum, and had been painted with bright primary colors. I took this opportunity to draw quite an unusual piece, which on one hand referred back to the past and at the same time was ultra-contemporary...all from direct observation.

Schlumpf Barber Shop

SOLD to a collector from Laramie Wyoming

This building had an unusual history. Although this is now the rear of the building facing the alley, it was probably the only business in Laramie whose BACK door was actually the FRONT of the business. The Union Pacific Railroad is 1/2 block to the west of this structure and also the railway station. Schlumpf decided that passengers who wanted a quick shave or freshening up could easily walk right over to his shop. In this pastel the entanceway has been widened & warehouse doors added so that it became the REAR of the building for subsequent owners. Now the building has recently sold & the old windows have been replace, the warehouse doors updated, and historical traceries have disappeared.

The First Step's A Doozy

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, Wyoming

While walking downtown I often cut through the alleys and find that the rear of most buildings go unremodeled and take on a certain crude charm. I like the fact that these 2 buildings each had second floor doorways with NO landings or stairs. Try getting that passed with today's building codes! Pastel, 12x19"

Green Derby

SOLD to a collector in Laramie, WY

This 20x21" pastel was a commission I drew from a tiny and very yellowed photograph. The building suggests the 50's, most of the cars are from the 70's except the car reflected in the window. I only agreed to accept this challenge if I could put in colors as I chose fit and delete items on the sidewalk which I felt were distracting. I always paint & draw vertically on my wall. To ease the linear perspective challenges, I nailed two 6-foot straight edges to the wall & pivoted them to get the angles correct.

Standing on Two Legs

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, WY

This was a marvelous art deco Texaco station in Rock River, WY. After I-80 diverted most traffic away from Highways 287 & 30, many of these businesses closed. 2 of the large pillars had been knocked down, and the place was boarded up. The building was sold to a fellow who thought he could take out all the internal supports & make a large shopping mart. Needless to say, the Wyoming winds blew the building down. This was a 20x28" pastel.

New Additions

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This small house is located under the viaduct in Laramie and down the street from a lumber mill. All the windows are at different levels, and the entire house is made up of a sundry assortment of lumber, as if the occupant brought home a stick of wood every night and expanded his home each day. Although painted white, the owner had used several shades of white, hence the different colored additions as well.

Inside Out, cityscape

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This unusual building had the address above a wall with a doorway which led into a back yard. Neither house on either side of this "doorway" had an address, so I decided to do this watercolor to commemorate the event.

Munton Windows

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This small watercolor is only 3x3" in a 5x5" gold frame. I did it on site when I discovered these munton windows which had been totally covered in paint. Had it not been for the broken panes I never would have noticed the windows.

Oasis

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This "two seater" is located amongst abandoned motel cabins in Bosler, Wyoming. I recorded it with my pastels before it disppears along with the rest of the town.

Love's Theater, Hanna Wyoming

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This southwest style theater was along Highway 30 in the days when bands would perform live acts. The movies were accompanied by a piano. The building was razed by the UPRR due to potential liability concerns.

Green Derby

SOLD to a collector from Laramie Wyoming

This was a commission I did for the people that ran this restaurant in Casper, Wyoming during the 1970's