New Work for Russell Week

                                            Huddle,  oil on board,  11 x 14" ,  $600.




     Russell Week, for those of you non western art followers,  is a big week for western art in, of all places,  Great Falls, Montana, where I went to high school.   I never would have thought in the 60's that Great Falls would become an art town.  But,  thanks to Charles Marion Russell and his followers,  the C.M. Russell Museum started an annual auction and it has grown into one of the biggest auctions of western art bringing in over $1 million in sales.  The major hotels turn their rooms into galleries for the hundreds of artists that come to exhibit their paintings and  sculpture.

      I will be participating for the first time in the Out West Art Show in the Heritage Inn.  The dates are March 17th - 19th.  Room 175.  

      The image above is one of the new pieces that I will be exhibiting in the show.

Welcome Winter

I never thought I'd be welcoming winter since I consider myself a palm tree gal,  but since I've moved to Montana I find I love the colors of this season.

 Plus, winter is fun here with both downhill and xcountry skiing close by.  Not to mention the sauna at my health club.  

So,  here is one of my first  tiny snow paintings.   I am still mesmerized by how blue the light is when the sun is almost gone.

Sun on Aspens,  6 x 6 oil on board,  

framed in sliver plein 'air frame

free shipping within the US of A.

Willows at Simms

      Sometimes you know the wait will be worth it.  Several days ago I spent the day driving all over Montana.  A beautiful day with lots of clouds in the sky so the light was changing all the time as I drove through vast empty spaces.  I saw the scene below and the willow trees were shaded by clouds.  But I  liked the shapes on the hillside behind the trees so pulled off the road and waited while the sun and clouds danced around.  Then the sun suddenly illuminated the yellow green willows and the scene was transformed.  

Willows at Simms,  oil on gessoboard,  6 x 6",

 $150 ready to frame.

Spring Hay, Spring Blooms

Spring Hay, Spring Blooms,  oil on gessoboard, 6 x 6"

SOLD

Spring Hay, Draped

Spring Hay, Draped,  oil on gessoboard,  6 x 6", 
$150, Ready to frame,  free shipping

Final 30 in 30 Painting

This is the last painting in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days series to Benefit Prickly Pear Trust. 

 The remaining paintings will be for sale at this special price of $100 through the weekend only.  

25 Paintings have sold!  Thank you all!

Into the Light #3,  pastel on board,  6 x 6"

$100,  ready to frame,  free shipping

30!

This is not the final painting!  I will post one more since I removed the abstract painting that I posted early in this process.  So, to have an even 30 Montana landscapes I will post the last one in the next day or so.  Stay tuned!

Winter Cottonwoods, pastel, 5 x 7"

$100,  ready to frame, free shipping

#29 - Almost There!

Day 29 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I'll post one more tomorrow. 

 I have thoroughly enjoyed this venture for so many reasons.  First, it has served to focus my painting. The painting has to be done and posted daily.  It hast to be small.  It will be either oil or pastel.  It will be a Montana subject and if possible, the Helena area and if possible an area that Prickly Pear Land Trust has acquired or is working on acquiring for public use.  These  parameters lighten the load of decisions I have to make each morning in my studio and makes it easier to get to work.

   In addition,  it's been fun to post them and get immediate feedback from  people seeing them on Facebook, Daily Paintworks, my blog and website.  I've enjoyed meeting new friends and feeling a shared value of these beautiful locations.  I feel more in touch with other people in the Helena area who are actively using the land PPLT has preserved - skiing, mountain biking, hiking, or just enjoying it as part of our common landscape. 

Buyers have spanned the continent from Maine and Massachusetts to California and many in the Helena area.  I expected support from Montanans but am surprised by the buyers from the east coast and California who signed up. So thank you all!  

Mt. Ascension, Winter,  pastel, 6 x 6"

$100,  ready to frame, free shipping

27 & 28

 October, Missouri River,  oil,  5 x 7"

Prickly Pear Creek,  oil, 5 x 7"

$100,  ready to frame,  free shippping.

26

Mt Helena at Dusk,  oil,  6 x 8"

$100,  ready to frame,  free shippping

25

Snow in the Shadows, oil, 6 x 6"

$100,  ready to frame, free shipping 

24

City Through the Trees,  oil,  5 x 7"

$100,  ready to frame, free shipping

22 & 23

Last of the Light 2, oil, 6 x 6:

$100,  ready to frame, free shipping

Backdrop,  oil,  6 x 6"

$100,  ready to frame,  free shipping

21

Haystack Near Elliston,  oil, 6 x 6"

$100,  unframed,  free shipping

19 & 20

 Last of the Light,  oil, 5 x 7"

$100,  ready to frame, free shipping



The steep banks of the Missouri late on an October day.  In the blue shadows only the tops of the autumn trees are illuminated.

Looking Toward Mt. Ascension, oil,  6 x 6"

Sold

Day 18

I should call this Number 18, not day 18.  I've lost track of the days.  But I started this challenge 2 days late and it's Jan. 22nd,  so I'm only one day behind - two days??  But the bottom line is that I will paint 30 paintings in about 30 days, so never mind the technicalities.  This is supposed to be fun. (it is.)

Along the Road,  pastel, 6 x 8"

$100,  ready to frame,  free shipping

I really liked the dark and light pattern in this image.  The dark trees and their shadows against the light grass.  

Day 16 and 17

 I think these trees are a species of willow because even though they lose their leaves in winter the branches are a pinkish orange and when the sun hits them they glow.

Frozen, Spring Meadow Lake

pastel, 6 x 8"

$100,  unframed,  free shipping

Winter Trees, pastel, 6 x 8"

$100,  unframed,  free shipping

Days 14 & 15

People ask me if I miss the ocean.  No, I don't.  What the ocean is for me as a painter is a horizontal plane that reflects light.  Here in Montana the fields of grass and snow serve that purpose.  They are all horizontal planes that reflect the light.  The snow this winter is especially beautiful on the fields.  It is rarely white.  

   Winter Herd,  oil , 6 x 6"

$100,  unframed,  free shipping

Trees Near Elliston,  pastel, 6 x 6"

$100,  unframed,  free shipping

Day 12

I generally don't paint barns because I they have become cliche.  But, I liked the dark shape this one made and it's contrast against the sunlit fields.

                                       Barn Shadows,  oil on board,  6 x 8"
                                          $100,  free shipping, ready to pop into
                                            a standard size frame

Day 11

Cliff Shadows,  pastel,  6 x 6"

 $100,  free shipping

As the shadow overtook the cliff just the tops of the pines

caught the sunlight.