HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014! DREAM BIG!

What a wonderful new year it is going to be!  Positive thinking begets positive results...
                                                       that's my motto for this year!

                                     Dreaming big and imagining the real possibilities!

The year is off with a BIG bang! I have been chosen as the artist to create and paint an outside mural for our downtown comprising of 30 life sized portraits! A HUGE undertaking and one I would never have dreamt to come my way; a little nervous, but I am going to give it my best shot.

Speaking of shots...........I just completed a painting of my friend, Robert 'Cowboy' Culbertson, who I was so fortunate to spend a week with at the American Frontier Productions in Kansas last summer. That was quite a treat and I sure hope to get the opportunity to return there!

The next great thing is that a portrait of mine has been selected to be included for the show at Scottsdale Artists School, in Scottsdale, AZ. If you have never been there, you should add it to your list. I am so humbled to be a part of this show. I have seen the incredible  art chosen in previous years and am super excited to be part of it this year!

 

The show opens January 10 and since I will be traveling to AZ in Feb., I will be sure to go see it grace the halls of SAS and have my photo taken along side it.

 

Dream BIG! Who knows where it will take you...

 

 

Artists needing Artists...

What a wonderful time this weekend was! To spend time with a friend and fellow artist and get to spend a great deal of the time in the studio. Even though we were on the computer a lot and looked at more than a few photos, we actually painted, too. My friend, Pat Getha, was also very sharing in that she showed me a few settings on my camera that that are helpful and I learned a couple of shortcuts in Photoshop.

I shared with her as much as I could by way of art adventures that I have had and lots of paintings that she had never seen, along with some of my hand-pieced quilts that I made ( Pat insists they MUST be in a future painting), so there we go...bouncing ideas off each other.

She worked on a little gem in scratchboard, something she had not done since high school. It was exquisite when she finished! In the meantime, I pulled out a painting that I had started, thinking I knew exactly what was going in the background.........well, it took on a life of its own. It now has a very different background than I had planned and is taking it a whole new direction. THAT is the real high about creating art!

It has a long way to go yet, as many areas are just under painted with acrylics and has yet to be painted over with oils. ( I don't usually work this way, but this is an experiment...) the subtle blues, greens and violets in the background don't show very well in the photo but they are there. Now I have to come up with a completely different title..........many come to mind.

 I would love to hear your suggestions!   Artists need Artists.........

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!    

Once in a lifetime experience!

Hollywood has a new film set! Showing up early to check things out turned out to be the start of a true adventure. Seems they were in need of a sign painter...... and there I was. So Monday morning we started planning the layout and lettering for sign #1. All was well until the sky turned dark and winds picked up. We got the sign moved to the livery just in time, before the hours-long deluge drenched everything!

Tromping through the mud and mini rivers that formed , we still managed to keep the hammers and paint brushes in full motion.

Sun up to sun down, we all worked to bring the dream of  Robert  'Cowboy' Culbertson to reality. What a privledge to work alonside the likes of Jim Hatzell,  from films such as 'Dancing with Wolves'...and most of the 'Boys from Illinois'...

They rarely stopped to take a break and I followed suit, knowing time would fly and we needed to finish by Thursday night, before the unveiling on Friday.

Cowboy and his wife, Donna, had decided to honor Richard DeShon by naming the hotel after him; but we had a tough time keeping a sign that big hidden from him when he showed up on location!





Stay tuned.....

What a treat when he saw the sign;
he was delighted and planned to surprise his wife, Mignon,
 by not telling her before she came to see the town herself.

 

Pre- Art Conference

What a wonderful day! Rising early and then getting my luggage delivered was a good start to the day. Wanting to get re-acquainted with Dubois, I went for my favorite walk along the Wind River again.

About halfway through, the winds started howling fiercely and the rain came. All I could do at that point was to fasten the chin strap on my hat and keep walking. Luckily for me, it didn't last very long.

Deciding where to have lunch, as there are several choices. I liked the look of the Cowboy Cafe and it seemed to be pretty busy, a good sign.
I must have made the right choice because not only was the food excellent, just as I was finishing Pam and Les Cable and several others from the art conference showed up. Great reunion!

#29 Dressed for the Occasion

So after doing such a quick one yesterday, I was ready to tackle a more complex subject for today's painting. I wanted to paint this ever since I photographed it during my first visit to the great state of Wyoming............God's country! If you have never been, put it on your bucket list and be sure to visit the area around Dubois. Incredible! I will be working on some large paintings from my visit, later this year.

I was fortunate to have been in the company of some mighty fantastic artists while I was there. One was a genuine cowboy and brought his horse and posed all afternoon on the last day of our visit. Thanks, John Phelps!

Dressed for the Occasion

5 x 7"  oil on panel

Until tomorrow.....................Happy Trails!                    Ruth Ann