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A Family Resemblance

White Rabbits on Handmade Paper

The challenge of this painting was to create enough contrast to keep it interesting. All this white needed some balance. However I didn't bump up my contrast too much because part of what draws me to this image is the confusion it brings at first glance. You have to “think” about what it is for minute. I am rather fond of images that challenge the eye.

These New Zealand White rabbits were photographed at a local tourist trap. They had about 30 rabbits of varying ages (and sizes) that you could pay a quarter for some bunny kibble to feed them. So of course I did. And that's why they are all circled tight like they are.

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A Fowl Look

White Rooster on Handmade Paper

My fierce looking rooster was a bird from the farm we lived on in Rapid City. He wasn't ours, (nor were the peacocks, ducks, geese, Llama, horses, dog, cats or giganto goat.) But we got to enjoy them as ours, without all the feed and vet bills. (Sweet)

They had about 20 or 30 of these type of chickens with about 5 roosters. This white one here was a nasty bird who dug his spurs into everything else on the farm including the dogs and cats. Eventually he disappeared under questionable circumstances. (The actual owners of the bird weren't that fond of him, as he wouldn't hesitate to attack people as well.)

At any rate, I really liked this white rooster because he was terribly showy. (Hey . . . what can I say, I’m a visual person.)

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All Is Calm

Sheep by Barn

This painting is based off a photo I took of our farm several years ago. We no longer have our flock of sheep. Now, years later, they still provide fond memories.

I loved having sheep. Our flock would range from around a dozen to upwards of thirty. They would always be there to greet us with a loud chorus of baaing when we drove in the yard. They were a mixed lot so their voices ranged quite a bit, from a soft lamb like baa to the deep baritone of the dark faced ones. Whenever we walked up to them, they would crowd around, snuffling, looking for a treat or a scratch on the nose.

They provided a sense of peacefulness to the farm. I'm not sure what it was about them that did that. I really miss "the old girls" as well as the spring lambs. My hope is that, someday in the future, when the craziness of life slows down a bit, we will once again have sheep.

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Bulls Eye

Rodeo Bull

This image was created for the Rolfe Rodeo to be featured as the design on their fund raising t-shirt sales.

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Cowgirl

Longhorn Cow

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Ewekie

Sheep

This is an excerpt from my artist blog regarding the Ewekie painting.

Ewekie here, was my first purple sheep. ...And let me tell you she caused quite a stir among the locals in my dusty little rural town. People actually came into the gallery because they had heard about (a purple sheep painting) and I guess they had to see for themselves the insanity of such a thing.

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Lambs

This is from an excerpt from my artist blog regarding the story behind the Lambs painting.

These lambs are from our first year crop of lambs. A few years after we moved to Iowa we decided we needed to raise some livestock and we thought sheep were the critters for us.

We bought about a dozen ewe lambs of mixed heritage and let them mature fully. We like to think of our critters health in terms of the long haul, and waiting a little longer to breed them was they way to go. So when the time finally came, we went shopping for a ram. Since we had so few ewes, and since we intended to keep the ewe lambs, we picked out an older (cheaper) ram, which we would replace the following season.

He was a handsome stately gentleman, whom we named Chester. Chester was gentle, and there was nothing bully-like in his behavior at all. (You know, what you actually picture a ram’s personality to be.)

Well the girls loved him. He was always surrounded by two or three ewes, nuzzling his nose and ears, leaning against him and just in general following him around like a bunch of groupies. They never gave him a moments rest.

A few short weeks later we found him dead in the paddock. No coyotes or anything noticeable as to why he died. So we just surmised it was old age. Chester had done his job though. Every ewe had at least one lamb.

The following season we got a new younger ram. The girls wanted no part of him. He was course, where Chester was gentle. He harassed them while Chester just let them come to him. It was then that it dawned on us, that perhaps the girls had just sexed Chester to death. I mean he was older, but they really just kept after him the whole time. Nothing rough, just always gently touching him and surrounding him, grinning and winking.

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Mixed Company

Domestic Rabbits

These little rabbits were a great deal of fun to paint. All fifteen were based on several photos of just a few models. A friend of mine was raising rabbits and had bred a mixed litter. They were eight weeks old when I photographed them.

I had fun with the composition because I just kept sketching in rabbits until I ran out of paper. Originally, I considered grasses or gravel for the background, but didn't feel they would work because of the complexity of the composition and the color variations. I decided on a simple color wash instead. The simple background kept the rabbits as the central focus.

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Tough Guy

Rodeo Bull

This bull was loosely based on a rodeo bull waiting in a holding pen. I was attracted by his vivid markings and colorations. However the most important thing that I wanted to convey was a distinctive personality. I wanted "Tough Guy" in a relaxed posture but alert. His expression being an interesting combination of docility, fierceness and a certain serious dignity.

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