I painted this from a photo I took at Big Cedar in Missouri last fall. My husband and I were coming from our cabin, going to breakfast and the morning light was so beautiful. The hazy blue over the Ozark hills and the light streaming over the treetops, onto the road was breathtaking. Pictures and paintings just can't do Mother Nature justice. It was such a beautiful week to be out painting. My painter friends were painting all over the place and it was so exciting. I am looking forward to the paintout next year also. This is an 8x10 oil.
This is another small painting I just finished. It is a 6x12 oil on gessoed board and the paint is still wet and thick. It was fun. This is our hill in back of our cabin at the lake. The hills were just aglow with the dogwood this past weekend. Such beauty! God did good on these here hills in the Ozarks!! Love it! 
I have photographed this area so much as it is close to where one of my painter friends live. Such a pretty area and there is usually a heron around close. I got some good photos of the heron, just rearranged the photo and trees a little to improve on the composition. This is a 6x12 oil on a canvas panel. 
This is a small 5x7 on a wrap around canvas and sits on a small gold easel. I painted a larger one from this same photo and have posted it earlier.
This is Cass Tiny. I painted this painting for the National Bird Hunter's Association Futurity winner. It will be given to the winner of last year's event. This is an 16x20 oil, painted on a Fredrix linen canvas board. I think the linen boards are much more durable than canvas when it comes to transporting around and I love painting on them. Just hope this painting pleases the owner. This photo was taken with my new phone with camera so maybe later I will take a better picture with my regular camera, although I think it did quite well. Oils are hard for me to photograph and I was real surprised that it came out this good. SOLD 
I have been trying my new Open Acrylics and this is a 9x12 on Fredrix Canvas linen panel. These are trees from my back yard and we often see deer running through the woods, so decided to try painting it. And the snow was definitely on. I photographed the scene and just added the deer. I like these Open Acrylics a lot but am ready to go back to my oils for awhile I think. We had a 22 inch snowfall so had some time to paint. Finally got it scanned to blog.
This is another 5x7 study that I did yesterday afternoon after doing my 9x12, which I will photograph later. I painted this on one of the little Centurion linen canvas panels which I ordered from ASW and I love them!! They were inexpensive for linen so just ordered some small ones, now I shall order some larger ones. These acrylics are so fun! This is a scene which I photographed in the fall down along the river. Such a pretty area!
This scanned a little too dark but it is only another 5x7 and I am still playing with the Golden Open acrylics and I love them for these small studies. I am going to try to move up in size and see if I still like them as much. I did a 9x12 yesterday but it is too large for the scanner so will have to photograph it before I can blog it. They dry much slower than the regular acrylics but faster than oils. If you get a magnifying glass, you can see three white face Herford cows way over there in the pasture. This is a tree shaded area where we had to go through the puddles before going over the little ridge and down a slope to the pasture.
I did this one on a Masonite board that I had coated with gesso so it had a little more texture than the Gessoboard that I bought. The paint goes on so different than on the canvas ones. I just like it all. I guess I prefer the linen panels. I used to like the stretched canvas but am always afraid I will puncture the canvas while moving them around so much. This one is an 8x10. Maybe I'm moving up. I tried several different fraes on this and I had one wide off white with gold trim and it really was what it needed. I donated this one to my bank's Open House for a drawing. It is in our local park.
I wonder sometimes if I couldn't paint these lake scenes and bandstands in my sleep as I do so many of them but there is always someone that wants a painting of the bandstand and also the little lake scenes. I love both places. I have posted so many of these that I won't tell much about it except it is in our park in the middle of town. We still have summer concerts. This is another 6x8, painted on a Pintura panel which has a canvas surface. Frames are hard to find for this size but I like to paint this size. Quick and easy. My daughter gave this one to her boss and his wife, Kevin & Brandi McCollough for Chrismas 2012. 
This is one I just sort of made up. I start with photos that I take, then they evolve into something completely different. But at least, that is a starting place. I have had three different skies in this thing, finally decided to put the brushes down and leave it alone. I did not like it at all at first but when I set it in just the right frame, it comes to life. It is just 6x8, painted on a Pintura canvas panel. I must paint larger soon but these little ones are so fun and don't take much thinking, so I like. The snow is on right now so I can get more painting done.
I am having more fun this week with these little ones, getting used to working with my new Golden Open Acrylics. I am trying them on different surfaces. This is a 5x7 on Gessoboard. The surface is so smooth and I really fought getting the paint on but this is my second on and it came a lot easier. So I like!
I am re-blogging this one because the other one was crooked. I did that in photographing it. I am not the best photographer in the world, that is for sure. I matted this one in a tan matt with a dark gold liner, then a dark frame. Wow, was it pretty! He painted a little larger this time. This one is 11x15, matted to 16x20.
I like to redo subjects in oil and watercolor so this is the watercolor like the small oil I previously posted. It is a 6x8, matted to an 8x10. Fun!
This is just a small 5x7 painted from a photo I took last fall down by the lake. It is an oil and I painted it before the last one posted because I had to wait for the oil to dry before putting it on the scanner. The Golden Open acrylic dried faster. I also did a couple of little watercolors of this same subject, which I often do, for little cards and gifts. I will blog them later today or tomorrow. I also did two small Open acrylics yesterday afternoon which I will blog. They are just small, quick little paintings that I do when I don't have a big block of time, which I don't seem to be able to make much anymore. My own fault, my energy runs out. So I have worked in oil, watercolor and acrylic all iin this one week. The snow is on.
This is a small 5x7 similar to a larger one I did earlier. I got me some new Golden Open Acrylics and am trying them out on some little ones. After painting in oil for so long, I really fought this one, but it was lots of fun. I think I am really going to like them. But I like all mediums. I go from watercolor to oil to acrylic, just back and forth, and an occasional pastel. Very occasional though. They dry much slower than my usual acrylics so are very different in handling. I did another one yesterday and another small lake scene today. I will blog them tomorrow probably as I will be housebound with the snow.
This is a characature of one of his referee buddies. I don't know if they are insulted or flattered with these quick little watercolor paintings of themselves. I think maybe Kirk should do one of himself. Wonder if he would make himself this goofy. I have blogged some of his other referee buddies before and I can't imagine guys that look this goofy taking the state awards like they did last year. They have got to have more on the ball than they look like. Agree?
This one was a challenge to get a correct colored matt. I finally chose an Oyster White, which leaned toward a golden white, then put a dark gold liner on it, which really made the feathers glisten on the turkey, then framed it in an oak frame. It really looked sharp. This one is acrylic also. He sometimes does watercolor and I want him to try oil but that will take some stern encouragement I am afraid. He thinks that medium would be too difficult to handle. Guess a lot of it is what one gets used to, and is comfortable with.
We see so many of these geese come into the fields around here as we live very close to a wildlife area where they plant crops for them. They frequent our pond areas and our crop areas also. They are such a beautiful graceful bird, but can be a nuisance also. Same size painting and frame. Also done in acrylic.
Another one same size and matted to an 11x14 frame. He loves doing these wildlife paintings. Sometimes tries other things and I am wanting him to try a plein air workshop and try painting outdoors. Since he paints in acrylics, he thinks that would be quite difficult handling those paints outdoors. I have tried it and like it, although oil maybe is easier as for the difference in drying time.
Another one in the same size and matted to an 11x14 frame. I put a walnut frame on it with a medium color matt and it made a pretty powerful painting, even if it is quite small. The left edge of the painting looks washed out but that is what my scanner does, not the painting.
This is also a 71/2x10 matted to an 11x14. He did most of these I am blogging last winter or before. He hasn't had time to start his winter painting yet but promised me he would get started this evening. We will see. He is just one busy guy. I wish he had more time for painting.
I just had to share some more of my son's paintings. This one photographed a bit darker than the original. He paints quite small, usually an odd size, then I have to figure out how to frame them in standard size frames. But that is o.k., just sometimes a challenge. This is his usual, 71/2x10, matted to an 11x14. I just finished matting and framing about eight, some of which I have blogged before. It was fun, matching matts to paintings and frames.
This one isSOLD a 6x8, matted to 8x10. Just another study for the girls to pick from. SOLD 
Just another steeple study. This one is 5x7, matted to an 8x10. Again, playing with skys.
