Ultramarine Morning & City Ride in Des Moines
May 22, 2017
This is a special design combining the bicycle amid the downtown buildings on Grand Avenue in Des Moines. more »
Posts Tagged “Iowa”
Crossword Clues with Orange Hens
May 16, 2017
Chickens galore! This collage is one I completed as a Daily Painting exercise. Most of my artwork are larger sizes, so I thought it would be fun to do a small and simple piece. It is also great to be able to use some of my collage paper scraps. I have about twelve bags sorted […] more »
Prairie Cathedral (Elevator Icon #1)
January 31, 2017
Lately I have been working on a variety of Iowa-themed work in preparation of my joint exhibition next year with Deb Baughman, to be held at Indian Hills College in Ottumwa. This collage is a design of an old grain elevator in Chariton, Iowa. The structure was interesting with its many jutting pieces stacked on […] more »
Pink Prairie Patterns (Iowa Barn Series)
January 24, 2017
It all started back in 1985, when a customer told me about a cool barn to see and possibly do a painting of it. So I grabbed my Minolta camera, the old film kind, and took off. The adventure led to traveling down many southern Iowa country roads without a plan or map — just […] more »
Saffron Sky, Downtown Des Moines
December 27, 2016
This is a design from my archives that I decided to rework and improve with various color changes and textures. The inspiration for this vertical design was the architecture of the buildings in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. I love the different shapes of the buildings. It began with a picture-taking adventure throughout the city, from various […] more »
Court Avenue Farmers Market, Des Moines
December 15, 2016
This artwork is part of my Downtown Des Moines series, one of my most popular themes. I worked from a photograph taken a few years ago. A sketch fleshes out the main shapes and I edit throughout the drawing because there are a lot of unnecessary details that will not contribute to the final composition. […] more »
Rooster Romp (Barnyard Dance)
November 3, 2016
This rooster acrylic collage is one of the many I have done with an Iowa animal theme. I usually begin doing a loose contour drawing and do not concern myself with a perfect, detailed drawing of the subject matter. I want the linear design to be lyrical and expressive. The background element was unknown at […] more »
Southeast Iowa Barn Series #102
September 20, 2016
I am continuing my Iowa barn series with this old structure with rustic barn boards, ragged roof, cupelo and windmill. It is very characteristic of Midwestern life, but largely disappearing from the landscape. This one is still standing, at least it was the last time I traveled in that direction. more »
Southeast Iowa Barn Series #101
September 16, 2016
These old structures are fascinating and almost completely disappeared from the countryside where we live. This one is gone, but I used a photo taken years ago. The gaps in the roof and uneven barn boards have interesting abstract designs which attracted me in the first place. I used artistic license with the color — […] more »
Udderly Iowa
September 1, 2016
This is a row of spotted Holstein dairy cows — I love the black and white patterns of them. I decided on painting the plain background first, in a neutral color so it wouldn’t conflict with the positive shapes of the cows. Pieces of an Iowa map are the foreground, sprinkled with some tulips. Lastly, […] more »