Udder Relief

oil on canvas paper, 9" x 12"

Yet another cow painting.  I'm on an animal kick right now.

Cream of the Crop

 

oil on canvas paper, 12" x 12"

It's back to cows with this study.

I Hear You

 

oil on panel, 10" x 10"

Just felt like painting a cow, this time a young Holstein (my favorite!).  I love the sweetness that comes through their eyes.

Lynch Creek Cow

 

oil on copper plate, 8" x 10"

It was such fun to slap oil paint on a metal surface, I had to do another one straight away!  This painting came about super fast, and I left some bits of the copper plate showing through the background hills.  You can't see that in this photo, but in good light at the right angle, you can make out the shiny copper surface in a patchwork pattern within the background and the cow.  I've done metal paintings before and each time it has been an extremely satisfying experience.  Can't wait to do it again!

Spring Heifers

oil on panel, 16" x 20"

I love Holstein cows.  They dot the landscape here in Sonoma County like moving abstract black and white paintings.  The black and the white are up for interpretation, however; depending on the light and the time of day, there can be all sorts of colors in there.  I may be stretching it a bit, though.

Holy Cow

oil on panel, 24" x 24"

I started this painting in New Mexico and finished it here in California.  This is one of those iconic Southwestern sights, and a reminder of our temporary status here on earth, that we, too, are just passing through.  I find the bones themselves to be luminous and wanted to accentuate that quality. I also love the curvilinear shapes of those horns!

Dairy Queen

oil on panel, 24" x 24"

Lordy, it took some labor to birth this baby!  She made it clear to me early on:  don't mess with my face.  So, I messed with just about every other part.  And I may not be done messing with her, poor thing.  Oh well, at least she's got a comfy chair to sit in.

Sacred Path

oil on canvas, 30" x 24"

This is another attempt at a narrative painting, something I was introduced to in Taos.  The cow, the Indian girl and the bird all symbolize sacred things to me.  The colors white, red and black also signify birth, life and death in the life cycle.

The Blessed at Rest

oil on canvas, 24" x 24"

This painting has gone through some changes, all in the service of experimentation.  I used pretty much all the tools at my disposal, including brushes, palette knives, carving blocks, brayers, paper towels, and my gloved fingers.  I learned a lot from this one.  Next one, though, will be on panel -- much easier to get the desired effects!

Denman Street Lamp

oil on panel, 11" x 14"

Just one of the many interesting features of the property where I now live, this street lamp sits outside the milking barn-cum-art studio-cum-brewery.  

Shhh!

oil on panel, 12" x 12"

This is a painting I did for a UNM student exhibit currently showing at David Anthony Fine Art in Taos.  I'd had it in mind to do this humorous portrait for a while, so when the opportunity arose, I seized it.  

A Delicate Balance

oil on linen-mounted panel, 16" x 12"

It is what it is, folks.  All my paintings are experiments to varying degrees, and this one was my attempt to merge my love of cows with my love of birds, as well as subject with background, admittedly with varying degrees of success.  I do like that cow, though; she makes me smile.  The bird is a black-billed magpie.

The Watering Hole

oil on panel, 20" x 16"
sold

A Holstein cow standing in water, one of the two main paintings I worked on during an animal painting workshop with Lindsey Kustusch.  I was not particularly happy with either effort, but I do like the cow itself in this one.  I may work on it a bit more later, but for now it's going to the time-out room.  

Curiosity Called A Cow

oil on canvasboard, 8" x 6"

I was hoping to paint some cows in a landscape yesterday from a pullout on lower Wilson Hill Road, and was delighted to spy a bunch of them off in the distance.  When they saw me setting up my gear, though, the entire herd came running up to the fence.  I switched my focus to portraiture instead, and God bless her, this Holstein cow held perfectly still with this gaze for the 20 minutes it took me to bash in her portrait.  That's a first!  I finished it off in the studio later, and will definitely return to that same spot again to paint more cows, one of my favorite subjects (aside from birds, that is).

Millerton Point Grazer

acrylic on canvas, 10" x 20"

This painting was done from a photo I had taken at a pullout along Shoreline Highway, just north of Point Reyes.  It was either at or near Millerton Point, but I can't be sure.  I loved the halo of light violet behind the black cow provided by the distant hills.

Nicasio Cow

oil on masonite panel, 6" x 12"

This was done on site a few months ago and somehow never got posted, so here it is.  

Brown Cow

iPad painting, 10" x 14"

A quick little iPad sketch, I like how the trees in the mid ground are set against the background trees. I may try to do something with that on canvas later.

Marshall Petaluma Road

acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"

This is a studio painting done from a photo I had taken from the road.  Update:  I reworked the sky today, warming and lightening it according to the needs of the painting, rather than my misbegotten loyalty to the photograph I was working from.  I sometimes forget to remind myself where my loyalty should be:  with the painting and not the photo.  I've found that, when using a reference photo for a painting, I have to remind myself to paint what I know (or remember) and not what I see.  When painting from life, it's just the opposite:  to paint what I see and not what I know.  Both disciplines seem to complement each other, like stretching opposing muscles.  That's why I like to bounce back and forth between the two.  

Ely Road

iPad painting, 10" x 14"