Avastin

This is a plea for help for all those suffering from advanced breast cancer. My good friend, Julie Heppe, has been on Avastin for some time and the drug has halted the growth of her cancer. She has relavtively few side effects and the drug is doing it's job. Why the Feds have removed or are considering removing the drug is incomprehensible. Please follow Julie's blog, julieheppefightforlife.blogspot.com, to support her fight. Incidentally, she is an artist also, winning many awards for her unbelievable photography.

Beauty of Christmas

Poinsettia II

Oil...30 x 40...$1500

This beautiful poinsettia painting comes framed in a hand carved,

Italian gold frame. I try to do a Poinsettia painting every year.

I always try to save the poinsettia and get it to bloom

another year, but I have not been successful. I keep it

all summer long and get it up to a very large size, but

I can never get them to turn red again. It must take

a very special touch. I guess I let some light creep in

and ruin the cycle. I hope you enjoy this wonderful

symbol of Christmas.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Santa Claus II

Oil...9 x 12... Sold

Every year I suit up and help Santa check on all the kids. It's

a great experience to see their eyes light up. Kids will tell you

everything they know about the family. Sometimes, the experience

is heartbreaking, like a little girl who told me her daddy would

get her a pony when he got out of jail. My heart just broke on the

spot. It's a great time of year and I love seeing everyone

getting into the real spirit of the season. The first Christmas

was a special time and the gift the Christ child gave us is

the most precious gift we will ever receive. But don't forget,

you have to ask for it.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone ever reads these posts. It's like writing

in a diary that no one ever sees. I want to have feedback on my

paintings and establish relationships with other artist, but I have

no idea how to expand the following. Nevertheless, I feel

compelled to try.

HH Barn

HH Barn

16 x 20...Oil...$125

This little red barn on HH Road in Sikeston, spoke to

me every day on my way home. Every afternoon I would

pass by with the evening sun shining on it, and it would

cry out, "paint me, paint me". Finally one saturday, I pack

my plein air easel up and painted the little red barn. The very

next week, the bulldozer was there tearing it down.

Bennett Springs Bridge

Bennett Spring Bridge

Oil.....9 x 20.....$200

This was begun as a plein air at the bridge. The

fishermen in the foreground are family members.

It was our first time to go with the group. They

go every August to fish and fellowship. The area

is beautiful. In the early morning, the mist is rising

from the cold waters. The temperature drops

dramatically as you go down the bank to the creek.

The colors of the water are not exagerated. They

are a beautiful blue green. Great scenery and

great fishing for rainbow trout.

Rusty Spur

Rusty Spur

Oil...8 x 10...$100

This spur ignited dreams of the old west from my

boyhood days of watching Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry.

The spur was actually found in a remote part of the

west by a fire fighter. It was given to a friend of mine,

actually the calf roper in a previous post. He showed

it to me and I knew I had to paint it. The painting is

actually much brighter than my photograph. I can

only imagine what caballero wore the spur.

Reelfoot Boat

Reelfoot Boat.....16 x 20...$300

This is a painting of a home made boat used on

Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. The lake was formed by

the Great New Madrid earthquake in the 1800's.

It was named for a tribe of Indians that lived nearby.

These boats are made to traverse the shallow bottom

of the lake and manuver between stumps. I love the

texture on the boat and the water. He actually reminds

me of my grandfather a bit.

He Knows

He Knows...Oil...$500

14 x 16 oval

This is a self portrait of myself in my Santa getup.

I go out every December and prowl the neighborhood

looking for nonbelievers. Sometimes I go into

the bank president's office, or to the doctor's office

and treat the adults like kids. It's great fun

and the joy it brings to little ones is priceless.

Three Goldfinches

Three Goldfinches...16 x 20...Oil

$300

This is the Alsup family barn on the outskirts of Sikeston, MO.

The barn stood for decades in this place as civilization

slowly encroached on its boundaries. The barn slowly

began to fail in the 1090's. I have taken many photos,

but this one was special with the light shining through

the broken roof rafters. Three little goldfinches are

sitting in the trees around the barn. Some months

after this was taken, the barn was torn down. I think

about all the history this old barn has seen.

Sister Hermaine

Sister Hermaine..Oil...16 x 20

$300

This lady lived our city in a small house on the corner

of a very busy street. Several times, folks would stop and

tell me that I needed to take photos of her. Her face

told many stories. I did stop one day, and explained that

I was an artist and wanted to take her picture. She

promptly ran me off. I had to find some of her church

friends to grace me in for photos. We took several

photos, and I did this painting. She passed away several

months after I took the photos. There are still several

paintings that I can do from her photos. She was

quite a lady.

Calf Roper...Oil...16 x 20

$600 Sold

This is a painting of a friend of mine who is a PRCA

calf roper. We spent the afternoon with me in the

practice arena taking photos of him coming right

at me. I kid him by telling everyone I had to do a

painting with the rope over his head, since he never

got the rope over the calf's head. Actually he roped

and tied several calves. We have a large rodeo

in Sikeston, and there is much interest in rodeo art.

I wanted to capture the action of the horse and rider.

I placed the horse and calf in a diagonal design

with the most detail in the horse and rider. Prints

and note cards are available of this painting.

Pink Hibicus

Pink Hibicus...Oil....20 x 20 $400

This painting was begun plein air in St. Petersburg, Florida

at a small mom and pop's motel call the Sails Resort.

We have visited there over the fourth of July for

approximately 12 years. All the folks who come

over the fourth are repeaters and we have watched

each others children grow up. Now the children are

having children. We are breeding the Sails to

capacity. The flora there is magnificent. Hibicus of

all colors reside there as well as bird of paradise.

The Rusty Truck

Rusty Truck...Oil....16 x 20

$600

This is a studio piece done of an old truck in Iowa or Indiana.
I can't remember where the photo was taken. The
fall colors worked well with the rusty truck. I do not
know what kind of truck it is. If you know, please comment
and tell me the modle and year. The old truck has seen
better days, as has many of us. I think it has great personality
as well as the old cabin behind it. It tell a story to each viewer
and I hope rekindles memories that are good.

Farm Headquarters I

Farm Headquarters I

Oil

9 x 12

$50

This is a plein air painting of a farm headquarters that I pass

each day. I see it early in the morning, in the fog, late

in the afternoon, and cloudy days. It has many different

personalities. Each one begs to be painted. I did discover

painting this scene about ants and ticks. In Missouri,

they're never far away. When I got home from painting, my

paint box was full of ants, and my legs were covered in ticks.

The wonderful life of rural america. The only fame we have

here, in Sikeston , Missouri, is the Jaycee Rodeo and

Lambert's Throwed Roll Cafe.

Wheat Harvest I

Wheat Harvest I

Oil

12 x 16

$175

The harvest in May is a wonderful time with the colors

of the machinery together with the yellow wheat and

blue sky. It happens very quickly and then the

farmers burn off the stubble left behind. I have often

tried to capture the night fires in vain. In addition to

the golden wheat, the soy beans and corn are a vivid green.

It's a great time to be out plein air painting.

End of the Season

"End of the Season"

Oil

9 x 12

$200

This is a studio still life painted with a limited palette

of Cad Red Light, Ultramarine Blue, and Cad Yellow Light.

It's reminicient of sand lot ball played many years ago. The

glove is my first purchase, circa 1960, a six fingered, trapeze.

We would take old bats that had been broken in league play

and nail the crack in the bat, then wrap it with black tape.

We would get several more years of use out of them.

I like trying to capture the look of the old leather in the

Rawlings mitt. The baseball has seen better days also.

Kentucky Hay Barn

Kentucky Hay Barn.....Oil......9 x 12

$125.00

This barn was on the way to Murray Kentucky. We were going

to Kentucky Lake for the weekend, and when we past this barn, I

had to get out and take several pictures. They were also

cutting tobbaco behind the barn and had all the equipment

for harvesting tobbaco sitting around the barn. Coming from

the "Bootheel" of Missouri, we do not grow any tobbaco, and

it is interesting to see the harvest. The tobbaco is hung in the

rafters of the barns, the doors are closed, and a smoke curing

process begins. The tobbaco barns line the roadway in every

shape, age, and size. It is now in vogue to paint the barns black,

which causes them to stand out in the fields.

Field Hand

Field Hand....Oil......16 x 20 Sold

This is a painting of my wife dressed as a field hand

picking cotton. Southeast Missouri is the farthest north

area of the country that cotton is grown. My of our families

were sharecroppers. We all worked in the field to help the family

business. I was fortunate to be raised "in town" and didn't have

to pick very often. There was, however, a field very close to

home where we could pick and make a little money. Cotton is

a very colorful crop as it grows. It evokes memories from a distant

past that are often not completely pleasant.

Pine Trees and Dump Truck

Green Truck...Oil....9 x 12

I would go to the next small town to a catfish restaurant with

my wife and this truck was always sitting right in the curve

of the road looking back at me. It spoke to me and I knew I

needed to paint it. I passed it by for several months, each time

wanting to stop and paint, but always with a car full of people.

Finally I did stop and take several photos. I did the painting

in the studio and the very next time we went by the location

it was gone. It just seemed to want to tell a story.

THE BLACK JOKER

The Joker... Oil.... 16 x 20 Sold

This was an itinerant worker who traveled through
town shining shoes. You would bring him a bag of shoes
to shine and then a few days later find him and pick up your
shoes. He always carried a guitar and would play music on the
street. Sometimes he billed himself as Cool Papa, and sometimes
he was the Black Joker, and had a jester costume on. He told
me that he was going to use this painting on his first album
cover. I feel like I caught the essence of his character.

Sea Oat....Oil.....9 x 12

$100

I was using my guerilla paint box for the first

time, when I pulled the palette out too far and

dumped my brush cleaner. The painting them became

a knife painting. I think it was a happy accident as

I think I liked it with a knife better. I am finding

as a beginning plein air painter that organization plays

a bigger role than I thought. I was fortunate to be near

our room, however, if I had been out in the countryside

I would have been in serious trouble trying to paint

with no brush cleaner. I am learning to think things

through much better, and to observe others setups

more closely.

COTTON VACATION

Cotton Vacation

20 x 24 Oil

This is my first post and I am trying to feel my way through.

I am electronically illiterate, but I am struggling

through it, all the time wanting to strangle everyone

who said it was so easy. This is a studio painting of my wife

and friends out in a cotton field that sits beside a bank

in our small town. It is reminiscient of times gone by

when we picked cotton here to get money to go to

the theater on Saturdays.