Bareback Rider

Oil on board, 7 3/4" x 6 5/8"
$165 plus $7 shipping in U.S.
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This starling hitches a ride on a vibrant spring morning. Hope you had a peaceful Memorial weekend.

Cooling Off Period

Oil on board, 7" x 5"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

We're having a typical eastern Oregon spring, with temps in the 80's one day (or hour) and chilly/rainy the next. This cow decided to cool her heels for awhile when it got a little too warm.

Tall Barn

Oil on board, 6" x 8"
$165 plus $7 shipping in U.S.
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For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

This Cricket Flat barn seems especially tall because of it's relatively narrow width.  It's used primarily to store hay.

Shoreline, White Light

Oil on board, 13" x 21 5/8"
$1200 plus $15 shipping in U.S.
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For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

I've been doing a lot of California dreaming lately. We're flying to San Diego in a couple of weeks to attend our granddaughter Ashley's high school graduation in Murrieta, where we used to live. We'll stay in a condo near Del Mar beach--always one of our favorite haunts. It will be fun to walk those serene and sunny shores again.

This painting was done in October of 2007, just before we moved back to Oregon.

Where's Breakfast?

Oil on board, 5.5" x 10"
$225 plus $10 shipping in U.S.
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For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

We came across this pair during a walk. I think they were overdue for their daily rations and not at all happy about it. I get grumpy when I'm hungry too.

Shadows of April

Oil on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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A row of tall cottonwoods casts long shadows across new green grass in this painting from the archives. At a distance, the clumps of golden willow take on almost the color of autumn.

I've at long last completed a scale drawing for the mural project I'll be doing at our local college, Eastern Oregon University. I'm not quite ready to post it on the blog yet, as it has to meet with the approval of the selection committee. Cross your fingers for me, will you?

Lifecycles

Oil on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

I painted this loose little piece on location several years ago, but don't think it was ever posted. I remember being struck by the dead tree in contrast to the vibrant, leafy one. It seemed in my mind to sum up the cycle of life.

Greeting Another Spring

Oil on board, 8" x 7.5"
$225 plus $10 shipping in U.S.
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The same barn as in the previous post, from another angle.

We're having spectacular spring days lately, with all the changeability typical of eastern Oregon. One minute it's brilliant sunshine, the next, swirling clouds and rain. I love it all.

See Through

Oil on board, 7.5" x 9.25"
$250 plus $10 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge

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Managed to slip in the studio and work on a small piece today. I'm feeling the need to have a little more "brush elbow room" lately, so this is a bit larger than the typical daily.

Large doors on hanging tracks slide open on opposite sides of this wonderful old barn on the outskirts of La Grande. In the early days it enabled horse teams with wagons to enter and leave. Nowadays I'm sure they do the same thing with tractors and trucks. These big wooden barns are endangered species--very few of them left around here.

"Ranch Gate" and Group Show

Ranch Gate

Oil on board, 6" x 6"
Unframed: $125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
Framed: $180 plus $12 shipping in U.S.
Email for purchase

Sorry for the sporadic posts of late. Is it just me, or when spring comes along does it seem like there's suddenly a jillion things to do and not nearly enough time?

Work on designs for the mural project mentioned earlier continues, and even though many hours have been spent on it, I still don't really have anything post-worthy. Such is the nature of coming up with mural designs--for me, at least.

Today's painting was first posted a couple years ago. In case you're wondering what in the world this is, it's called a rock crib. In places where the soil isn't deep enough to dig a post hole without hitting bedrock, ranchers build these cairns as deadweights and stretch fence wire from one to another. The posts in between often just rest on the ground, rather than being buried. This painting is currently float-mounted and framed in a handmade 1 1/2" deep gallery-style frame (see below). I will sell it framed or unframed--just let me know which you prefer.





We spent last weekend in Portland and attended the opening reception for "Simply Red", the group exhibit I'm included in at the new Mark Woolley Gallery downtown (see my April 18th post). It was a fun party!  Here's a little video to give you a sense of the evening's energy:

Old Home Road 2

Watercolor on Fabriano paper, 10 3/8" x 14 1/4"
$600 plus $8 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge

For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

Here's the second watercolor I painted from our North Carolina trip, mentioned in the April 13th post.

This Instant

Acrylic on Fabriano paper, 22" x 30"
Float-mount matted and framed: $1300 plus shipping
Email for purchase info

This painting will be in a group exhibition opening this weekend called "Simply Red (2)", celebrating the grand opening of the new Mark Woolley Gallery in Portland, Oregon. The gallery is on the 3rd floor of Pioneer Place, 700 SW 5th Avenue. I'll be at the opening on Saturday, April 21st, 5-9 PM--hope to see you there. Sounds like it will be quite a party...Mark says, wear RED!

The painting is part of an ongoing series of works I've been doing off and on for over 25 years, inspired by the human and animal motion studies of 19th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge.

Old Home Road

Watercolor on Fabriano paper, 14 1/8" x 21 3/8"
$850 plus $12 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge

For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

Back in the spring of 2004 my wife Brenda and I traveled to North Carolina for the opening of an exhibit of my work at a gallery in Winston Salem. Brenda was born in the state, but left at age five when the family migrated west.

We decided while we were there to try to locate her childhood home near Lenoir. After some rather vague cellphone directions from her mother back in Oregon, we ended up on a winding road through a charming pastoral glen appropriately named Happy Valley. We did finally locate the house. Predictably, it seemed much smaller than Brenda remembered. Just the same, she was excited to reconnect with her earliest memories, and I enjoyed sharing the experience.

A couple of watercolors resulted from the trip, which I don't believe I've ever posted here. The setting for this one is just around the bend from her home.

North Shore

Oil on canvas panel, 9" x 12"
$475 plus $10 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge

For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

Recently, I was commissioned to do a painting on a Hawaiian Islands theme. It was great going through photos from our trip to Maui a couple of summers ago--a chance to re-live the experience of that magical place. I was reminded of several paintings I'd planned that never materialized. Wanting to offer my clients a choice, I ended up doing two paintings. Here is "the one that got away".

(Note: if the painting has a strange "moire" pattern on your screen, be assured it's not there in the actual painting. The canvas pattern distorts the digital grid on the screen at certain sizes. Eliminate it by enlarging or reducing the size of the screen image.)

Afternoon in Spring

Oil on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com

Here's a post to let you know I'm still around! Research continues for the mural mentioned previously, so I haven't had much time for the dailies. Actually, "research" is code for "tearing my hair out in despair"--the usual state of affairs when I'm trying to get a mural concept to gel. Right now it's at the information-gathering stage and I've been poring over hundreds of photos and other materials. I'll post about progress when I have some progress to post about.

Meanwhile, here's a piece done a couple of years ago in May. It's not quite this green around here yet, but soon...soon!

Nap Time

Oil on board, 6" x 10"
$225 plus $8 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge

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Ever wonder what goes through the minds of these animals? Here's my guess:

"The sun feels really good today--especially since I'm still wearing my winter coat. My belly's full of hay and I've slurped all the grain out of the bucket...what now? Think I'll take a nap."

The dailies will be scarce for a while. I'm starting research tomorrow for a mural I'll be doing in one of the buildings at the local university. The project will consume a lot of my time for the next several weeks. I'll post updates on it from time to time, and squeeze in a daily or two when I can.


 Not to hurt our humble brethren (the animals)
 Is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not
enough.
 We have a higher mission:
 To be of service to them whenever they require it.

~Saint Francis of Assisi