With the barns at the Dahlem Farm work under my belt, I turned back to the Crouch Creek that runs through the  same farm property.  Here on another cool, windy May morning I painted the creek. Even though I have painted this creek more times that I like to remember I always find it a challenge.  

Boy am I getting ready to move on to a different subject and scenery! But May cold and clouds persist and I just can't justify driving to a distant site and having the clouds and the threat of rain spoil my chance to work outside in this cold. So much like Monet and his wheat stack series, I again take the barns before me and work. ( I can't believe I mentioned Monet and my work in the same breath.) Leaving the site and evaluating my painting I decide that the foreground could use some interest-cows from one of the many dairy farms I have seen. 

Even though the morning was cold I again headed to the Dahlem Farm to paint.  A few sturdy souls were preparing their gardens plots on the farm property but otherwise I had the grounds to myself.  The morning light was breathtaking and I quickly composed my thumbnail sketch and then began my painting.  A fellow artist and plein painter stopped when she saw me working as did a passerby who stopped to see what I was working on.  Clouds seemed to take this break in my work to move in and I decided to head back to the studio.  Looking at the painting critically, I thought the foreground was too empty.  I added the fence to take the viewer into the middle and back distances.  Not satisfied I then added the cows...boy am a glutton for punishment or what? Oh well, as I often tell myself, all this painting is like going to the gym and working out.  Sometime it just isn't pretty or perfect....

Continuing to explore at the Dahlem Farm I selected this view of the three barns that remain on the property. Again, I added the fence posts to impart a sense of foreground and to push the barns into their respective spaces.

This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Richeson, Sennelier and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Pastel Premier pastel paper.

Although this spring provided few opportunities to paint plein air, I did stay close to home and paint at the Dahlem Farm that is part of the Dahlem Conservancy. Minus the tall bramble and summer growth I spied a view of the property's little white farmhouse. I borrowed the fence posts from another view of the farm and included them in the right foreground to counterbalance the weight of the farmhouse on the left of the composition. 

The Witte Museum and the San Antonio Art League and Museum are co-sponsoring "The Spirit of Texas" a juried art exhibition in honor of the The Art of Texas - 250 Years. Artists nationwide submitted original artwork inspired by the Lone Star State. My pastel painting  "Shawnee Trail - Tribute to Robert Summer" was selected as part of the top 20 national works. https:/www.wittemuseum.org/spirit-texas-juried-art-competition/.

This work is created with: Rembrandt, Richeson, Sennelier and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Pastel Premier Pastel paper.

Reading recently that May was one of the cloudiest months in lower Michigan on record, I am still producing studio work. Based on a recent August trip north and subsequent evening excursions in Fishtown I painted this rendition of the docks along the Carp River. High water levels in all of the Great Lakes currently threaten harbors like Fishtown.

This work is created with: Rembrandt, Richeson, Sennelier and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Wallace Professional pastel paper

Early one mid-May morning the sun was making an attempt to shine.  Heading quickly over the the Ella Sharp Museum complex I set up my easel and made a thumbnail sketch of the farm lane. Attracted to the pinks and red oranges of two of the buildings counterbalanced with the neutral grays and bright warm light of the other shapes was enough to engage me.  High clouds began to form but I had my sketch of the light and shadows and I completed this painting of the charming farm lane. 

Even though the calendar said it was spring, the weather refused to cooperate. Back in the studio I began remembering the sun and warmth of a wonderful summer visit to Leland. Walking among the many shops and around the pier was a morning ritual. Here the buildings seem to crowd the harbor and make Fishtown truly a one-a-kind type destination.

Good Friday dawned cold, rainy and dreary.  My friend and fellow artist Kelley and I were determined to plein air paint.  We called one of the local greenhouses and asked permission to paint from their sheltered site.  The greenhouses were warm despite the upper 30's of the outside air and the intoxicating fragrances of the Easter lilies, pansies and flats of countless flowers made us feel as if were were indeed painting en plein air.  It felt great to get out of the studio and paint from life.

Even though sculptor Robert Summers' monumental work sits prominently in downtown Dallas adjacent to the Dallas Convention Center, the sculptures appear to me as in a lonely cattle drive. My interpretation of the dry, desolate and at times dangerous trek was to use a limited palette of blue grays on the Longhorns and warm purple red shadows to suggest the heat of the lengthly drive endured by both man and beast alike.

In 1992 Robert Summers began his work on the largest arrangement of bronze statues in North America.  The works were commissioned by the Dallas Trees and Parks Foundation. There are three cowboys on horseback and over 40 Longhorn steers.  The whole magnificent arrangement sits in the heart of the City of Dallas on four acres.  Jim and I had the incredible experience of walking among the monuments that stand as tribute to the history of Texas. Back in the studio I selected this rider and Longhorn steer as my inspiration to a living artist and sculptor.  

This work is created with: Nupastel, Rembrandt, Richeson, Sennelier and Great American pastel.

This work is created on: Wallace professional pastel paper