The Sky's the Limit

SOLD to a collector from Laramie Wyoming

This is another example of one of Wyoming's vast SKYscapes. One of the main comments I hear from people visiting our area is the large amount of horizons that are visible. Pastel, 22x28"

Pioneer Snow Fence

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, Wyoming

This old turn-of-the-century snow fence is located on a county road about 15 miles west of Laramie, Wyoming. I pushed the envelope a bit on the colors, using vivid pinks, purples, and blues alongside more observational warm tones. This pastel on sandpaper measures 22x28".

Ranchman

SOLD to a collector from Laramie Wyoming

This was another 12x19" pastel drawn during a sketching session with a few friends. He came out looking a bit like James Arness, but I guess that's ok.

Cabellero

SOLD to a collector from Laramie Wyoming

We had a live model from Peru pose at a recent figure drawing session. This was my interpretation of this ethnically handsome individual. Portrait is 12x19" pastel done on charcoal paper.

Autumnal Spritz

Sold to a collector from South Dakota

12x9" watercolor in autumn shades and bordering between abstract and realistic treatment of the subject. This is displayed in a 16x20" mat.

Sitting on an Edsel

Collection of the Artist

This is a "protest" painting I did when a number of our friends' marriages were breaking up. The men are being distracted by the newer model and turning their backs & neglecting the used merchandise at home. The painting is done in oil & oil pastels and is 6x4 feet.

Ace Salvage III

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, Wyoming

This was the 3rd & final segment of a 12 foot triptych I drew with soft pastels on large sheets of BFK. I had originally done these junkyard scenes as metaphors of human existence. All the cars were once new & desirable, but these all became neglected shells waiting to be crushed & turned into rebar or flat rolled steel.

Ace Salvage II

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, Wyoming

This was the second pastel image created for the triptych I did of our junkyard. Total work measured over 12 feet long. I did this on large sheets of BFK.

Ace Salvage I

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, Wyoming

This was the first pastel of a triptych measuring about 12 feet across. We used to own this junkyard & I have always found old cars & buildings every bit as beautiful as the typical landscape.

Transmission Transition

Collection of the Artist

This started out as a rubbing from an automatic transmission. But it did not feel mechanical, more like worm-eaten organic material. So, this lithocrayon drawing evolved into these animated forms.

Stylized Sage

BUY IT NOW

I did this 22x28" pastel from a photograph taken on a dreary day in Wyoming. Because everything was grey & dimly lit, I let my imagination run wild. The cottonwood in the upper left is the average Joe's entry into the picture. The further forward, the more stylized the imagery & the colors become.

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"

Junkyard Queen

NFS Collection of the artist.

This actually started out as a study in black...

Beware the Green Eyed Monsters

NFS Collection of the Artist

This 3x4 foot oil painting is one that I did for my own personal enjoyment with no commission, no gallery, just for ME! You start by looking at the heraldic lion, but as each figure "morphs" into another, you find that the subject itself changes as does your focus throughout the painting.

North of the Old Laramie River Bridge

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, WY

I had gone to an art guild meeting one night & heard artists complaining that they had to travel so FAR to find esthetic sites to paint. The following weekend I plunked myself down on a spot which would probably be considered as undesirable. The thin cream line close to the horizon is actually I-80. And I used a bit of artistic license to remove some unwanted rubble. But here it is...a great landscape in an otherwise depressed part of town. Pastel 22x28".

The Sky's the Limit

SOLD to a collector from Cheyenne, Wyoming

I am still an advocate that there should be a "skyscape" category when listing artwork. This 22x28" pastel was done in my studio after I had snapped a few photos of this wonderful sky. As usual, I had to reinterpret the colors on the ground.

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.

Orange Glow

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, WY

This large 22x28" pastel features an observed sky with a stylized foreground with slightly exaggerated the colors.

Roadside Burn

BUY IT NOW

I enjoy the opportunity to record tendrils of shadows as they dance across the plains. Here, I got the added opportunity to record a recent burn adjacent to the highway. This 22x28" pastel is matted and framed, so overall it measures close to 30x40".

Wyoming Cumulus

SOLD to a collector from Gillette, WY

In Wyoming I really hate to have paintings called landscapes. I would rather consider many as SKYscapes. The funny thing about this large pastel was that everyone kept asking me if I ever "did" antelope. Finally, in desperation. I sharpened a few NuPastels to a point & with a few quick lines added a few antelope. I did not want to switch my subject from sky to animal. Afterwards, I could point to these tiny bits of color & say, "See, I "do" antelope."

New Additions

BUY IT NOW

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.

Fruit Demo

This was a 9x12" watercolor I did as a class demo showing how pigment could be removed with a damp brush, a bit of a challenge when you paint while walking around a classroom.

Sundown Near Chugwater

Sold to the University of Wyoming Departemtn of Engineering

This acrylic painting is 16"x72". I am finding it almost impossible to document. My husband was buying an old car & I was enjoying seeing some new country. The time of day was just perfect for this composition!

Sundown Near Chugwater (detail)

SOLD to the University of Wyoming Department of Engineering
This is the left 1/3 of a 6 foot wide panoramic painting I just finished in acrylics. Elongated shadows in the late afternoon near the town of Chugwater, Wyoming made this a dramatic landscape. I have always liked the hills and plains much more than the forested areas.

Storm Warning, landscape

BUY IT NOW

This 22x28" pastel was done from a photo I took while driving toward Laramie a few summer's ago. I loved this cloud as it came rolling into view.

Inside Out, cityscape

BUY IT NOW

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.

Wyoming Floral Landscape

SOLD to a customer from Laramie, WY

I did this on site along side a secondary highway in Wyoming. By sitting low to the ground, I could raise the forground foliage and incorporate it into the scene behind. 5x7" acrylic.

Wyoming Stock Pond

BUY IT NOW

This fenceline catching tumbleweeds at sundown bordered a stock pond very near the Wyoming & Montana Border. I liked the way the upper & lower halves of the image are so different...one in its natural state, the other half manipulated by man.

Wyoming In Spring

BUY IT NOW

I live at 7200 ft and our springs come in with a vengeance, bringing our snowstorms & water. This is spring as I know it. This 5x7" acrylic was painted on site from the INSIDE of my car, sparing me from the blustery weather.

Wyoming Fenceline

BUY IT NOW

This 5x7" acrylic was done on site just east of Laramie. As usual, the fence didn't seem to be keeping anything in nor preventing anything from getting out.

The Sky Below

BUY IT NOW

This 5x7" acrylic was done on site. We call these "prairie puddles". I caught the reflection of the sky above in the puddle below.

Munton Windows

BUY IT NOW

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.

Painting in Progress

This painting is at the underpainting stage. I am just about to add midtones & then highlights. The painting measures 16"x72". I found this scene up near Chugwater Wyoming very late last fall & have just now gotten around to trying it in the studio.

Road to Nowhere

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, WY

This road extends 53 miles before you get to the original homestead near Laramie Peak in Wyoming. Pastel, 22x28" on sandpaper, gold frame approx 30x40".

Soon to be Sauce

BUY IT NOW

This acrylic was done as an in-class demo showing how the local newspaper could be transferred onto wet paint and how colored glazings could redirect the composition.

Reverberation

SOLD to a collector in Voorhees, New Jersey
This brilliantly colored 9x12" watercolor was created by dropping pigment in a wet page, allowing to dry, and then painting within the drops & runs.

Sunlit

This small watercolor started out as a spatter painting and loose yellow-green wash.

Handsome One

This is my version of the mask I did for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) fundraiser in Fort Collins, CO.

White 'Fro

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, Wyoming

The interesting thing I found about this drawing was that the man was neither black nor his hair & beard white.

Red

SOLD to a collector from Laramie, Wyoming,

Once in a while you become seduced by color. This isn't a particularly successful drawing, but I had a good time trying to resolve it.

Tri Sunset

BUY IT NOW

This is a small triptych composed of 3 one-foot canvases Produced with a large brush, there is little to no detail.

Oasis

BUY IT NOW

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

BUY IT NOW

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.

Radials & Radii

BUY IT NOW

I found the naturally recurring circular motifs within this scene fascinating. These were kiln pieces from an old cement plant which had been delivered to our junkyard. The tires, barrels, shadows, and circular variations within the kiln pieces made an intersting oil. 18x24" in dark brown wooden frame.

Wind's Victory

BUY IT NOW

I made an acrylic "sketch" of the prevailing wind dominating a fenceline and it started to remind me of a checkered racing flag. I might develop this idea more to fruition in the furure.

Brush

BUY IT NOW

This 9x12" watercolor was an in-class demonstration of various ideas in watercolor techniques. I liked it enough to include it here.

Watercolor Jujubes

SOLD to a collector from Fargo, North Dakota
This small watercolor started out as a yellow wash with green & orange dropped upon it. These color shapes gave me inspiration to complete the work. 6X9" muted yellow mat and 16x20" gold metallic frame.