I am enthralled with the old buildings found in rural Iowa. The photo I used as a reference was taken many years ago, so who knows if this view is changed! It was a beautiful, sunny day with the cerulean sky color I love. I also like the water tower peeking from behind the red […] more »
This is a partial view of the west side of the Albia square storefronts. Having lived in Centerville for a number of years, I’ve been interested in small towns and their changing businesses and old buildings. We drive through this quaint town numerous times and I snapped a few pictures for reference. What caught my eye […] more »
My work in collage has been inspired by many artists. Some of these are Matisse, Romare Bearden, Joan Miró, Edward Betts and Gerald Brommer. The definition of “collage” is a picture built up wholly or partly from pieces of paper, cloth or other materials stuck on canvas or other ground. Collage as a medium emerged […] more »
I discovered this interesting but greatly worn-out barn on my road trip to Cantril to see the round barn a few years ago. I never saw such a large dairy barn, with the roof all torn up. When I took the photo, another storm was brewing. After the sky turned black and I ran back […] more »
I’m still fascinated with old barn structures. My sister-in-law sent me this photo of a barn in northwest Iowa, near Boyden. Not sure if it’s still standing. I liked the character of the rickety fence in the foreground — it has been patched with numerous boards. So far in painting these barn motifs, I haven’t […] more »
This old pizza place was an interesting structure and color, along with the signage and surrounding buildings. I was told it was no longer doing business, but someone down the street was selling pizza now. This watercolor was completed at the Davis County “Plein Air” event on the square in Bloomfield. In the early morning […] more »
I enjoyed doing a close-up of this raggedy cupelo. It was almost falling off. The barn is located in southeastern Iowa, near the town of Seymour. more »
This is an open shed with hay bales, located in southern Iowa. The photo was approximately taken in 1995, when I went in search of barns to photograph. My idea was to document many of the old structures that were disappearing from the rural areas. This is a typical Midwest scene found around the countryside […] more »
The challenge was to paint this engine in a smaller format, which is very different from my usual work on a large 22 x 30 sheet of paper. It still makes for a great design, with less nitpicking details. It brings back memories when I was very small, Dad used to take me to the […] more »
This is the second of my train engine watercolors, a side-angled view with lots of details. I was attracted by the yellow of the engine and red stripe and the value pattern of the shadows, and didn’t notice many of the details until I started painting. It is a massive structure and I composed with […] more »