Yeehaw! I just got picked up by another gallery. Hamley & Co. in Pendleton, Oregon now has three of my art pieces displayed in their gallery. It's been difficult in this economy to get into galleries with most having their hands full just trying to market their tried and true stable of artists.

I've also picked up a big commission piece to do, as well. I love my job!

I am on a roll! Burnin' Daylight is a big hit and I already have two interested parties. That has inspired me to get right into another painting.

I started Red Roper yesterday, but forgot to photograph the drawing phase. However, once the painting is complete, it will be posted on YouTube so everyone can watch the process from start to finish. At this point, I have blocked in most of my darks, except on his face and hat. Poor guy looks like an amputee at this stage, but I'll give him a leg tomorrow. You may recognize the cowboy from a couple of paintings back. He was my subject in "What a Drag." It's a different day, different place, different horse, different shirt...same hat!

This will be quick. I just wanted to let you know my husband made a time-lapsed video of me painting "Burning Daylight" (formerly Tack Shack) for his site on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYXuHrKg5r0. If you enjoy what you see, you can also subscribe to his site and be updated when he does something new, as well as when he does new videos of my paintings.

This was a long session. I wanted to get through with the tedious wood. I also worked on the shadows and the saddle. I did a lot of detail-type things. Things like seeing into the shadows. Unfortunately, the camera tends to make shadows opaque black, but in reality you can usually see into the shadows. The value contrasts aren't as great, but they are there non the less. This painting is almost finished, however I am contemplating painting a horse shoe on the gray boards on the left and hanging a set of reins or a coiled rope on the door. The horse shoe would be relatively easy, but the reins or rope will be difficult. Maybe I'll come up with something else. I still have to add the fringe to his chaps, too, which are full of movement. This cowboy was moving fast to change mounts. He was working hard for his pay that day. They were roping and branding yearling heifers that weighed about 800 lbs. By the end of the day, they had branded about 100 cows!

I've still got a lot to do on this, but I'm making fine progress. I haven't done much on the building yet, and I'm not sure I like it yet. I've started the tedious work on the saddle. The shirt and hat are about done and the chaps are close.

Tack Shack is simply a working title. After some thought, I've decided to call it "Burnin' Daylight."

I'm loving this painting so far.

It was hard this time to decide what to paint. I have hundreds of good references--that's the problem. I finally decided on this one. I love the lighting and the idea of coming out of darkness into light. I actually blocked in some of the darks so I could see if the drawing would read.
Right now I'm dividing my time between painting my house and painting fine art. Hopefully, the house will be
done soon.

I have been awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award by Marsha Robinett www.marsharobinett.com/, a watercolorist and pencil artist of the highest caliber. Now it is my turn to pass it on, but first I am supposed to write seven things about myself.

1. I love Jack Russell terriers and have had several over the years. Currently, I have a mother and daughter pair. They are very layed back Jack Russells with very sweet dispositions.
2. My husband, Ken, and I have been married 28+ years and truly enjoy each other's company. He is a nature photographer and one of our favorite things to do is travel around taking photographs of birds and animals.
3. I have three children and eight grandchildren.
4. I have a passion for cowboys and horses but have never lived or worked on a ranch. I have done some horseback riding, but am far from being a horse woman. I just love them.
5. I am a freelance writer as well as artist. I write an art column and feature articles for my local paper and write feature articles for a local magazine. I'm writing a historical fiction novel too.
6. My great, great grandfather was one of the original wild west Texas Rangers. Cool, huh.
7. I love ice cream and popcorn, but not in the same bowl.

I am passing the Kreativ Blogger Award on to:
WR Jones http://onpainting.wordpress.com/. Bill is not only an exquisite painter, but he's funny too. His blogs are hilarious most of the time, but his paintings and drawings are seriously divine.