This page includes oil paintings I've completed over the last several years. To see works in progress, follow my blog on the home page. Unless otherwise noted, these paintings are for sale.
Thank you for visiting
(Click on image for larger view)
"Sky Watcher" (36 x 24)
gallery wrapped - finished edges
Private Collection
Weather watching is such a major part of a farmer's life.
When a cloud like this shows up you can only say "Lord have mercy"
(finished Sept. 2012)
"Where We Goin' ?" (18 x 24)
I can only imagine what great adventures await these boys!!!
(Finished May 2012)
SOLD
(Finished February, 2012)
Private Collection
Food for the body and food for the soul. (Finished February, 2012)
(SOLD)
"The Apple Peeler" (24" x 18")
Private Collection
Found an antique apple peeler at an auction. I thought all the gears and moving parts were really cool, so I bought it. Only payed $5.00 for it. It actually does work. (finished December 2011)
"Lightening the Load" (36 x 24)
The piano was packed for the for the long trip west; carefully wrapped in the quilt your mother and grandmother stitched as a wedding gift. In the back of your mind you knew it would tax the oxen, but your husband reluctantly agreed to bring the piano, along with other treasures and heirlooms -and don't forget your precious books. The oxen are strong but grass has become minimal and they weaken with each passing day..............
Grazing becomes more scarce and the oxen tire easily. The load will have to be lightened or you'll never make it to your destination. The decision is made to unload the piano along with many of your precious possessions. One last song is played before heading up the trail. The wagon slowly makes it up the hill. Your eyes are fixed forward - looking back would be too painful.
Grazing becomes more scarce and the oxen tire easily. The load will have to be lightened or you'll never make it to your destination. The decision is made to unload the piano along with many of your precious possessions. One last song is played before heading up the trail. The wagon slowly makes it up the hill. Your eyes are fixed forward - looking back would be too painful.
(finished January 2012)
(SOLD)
I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to cross the vastness of this country before there were roads. I can only imagine what it took to traverse the rugged prairie in a covered wagon. You could see “nothing forever” but endless grass and sky. Sometimes as I drive the now graded and paved roads I think of myself following the trail of the early pioneers … following the trail they blazed for me.
(finished June 2011)
"The Fiddler" (24 x 30)
A painting begins with a basic idea. A series of lines take their place on a white canvas and paint is applied filling the blank whiteness. Light is intensified by dark, attention is focused.
The reference for "The Fiddler" was an old black and white photo taken in the early 1900s. I was unable to find information on the photographer. (finished March 2012)
"The Banjo Player" (24 x 36)
Someone told me that each line on your face is a little remnant of a past experience. Happy or sad, each traces it's mark. From the referance photo, the banjo player must have had a very happy life - I'm sure he has quite a few stories to tell...
Thank you Mr. Allen Russell for permission to use your photo for my painting. You can view the reference photo on Mr. Russell's web page "Life in the American West" Montana Old Time Fiddlers Picnic, (finished Feb. 2012)
"Papa and Ted" (36" x 24")
Private Collection
Dad always loved the west. He was a farmer, but a cowboy at heart - riding a tractor instead of a horse. This painting is a tribute to Papa and his love of nature's beauty.
Sometimes a painting isn't quite finished even though you are "done" with it at the time. I actually started painting this in 2006. However, there was always something bothering me about the front legs of the horse. After 5 years of looking at "badly done knees" I think I finally got it right ... maybe??? (finished 2011)
"Nate and the Ol' 820 John Deere"
(12 x 12 panels)
Private Collection
This was a lot of fun to paint! Our son, Nathan, is a farm boy at heart. Even though he is a civil engineer currently working for a water resources firm in Englewood, CO, he still retains that "heart in the soil" attitude. Nathan liked the novelty of running the dirt-in-the-face, no air conditioning, 820 John Deere Tractor (circa. 1950s). And so, the subject of this painting.
"You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy." (Painted Dec 2010)
"Walking Home" (24 x 18)
This is a sentimental piece. This painting is reminiscent of my childhood (minus about 100 years - our road was graded). Our bus route was really long, about an hour, and we were the last ones off. At one point the bus came within a mile of our farm. On nice days we would ask the driver to drop us off and we would walk the mile home, saving us from the agony of riding the whole route. And, we would get home about a half hour sooner... (Painted fall 2010)
"April in Alaska" (18 x 24)
(SOLD)
My nephew and his family lived in Alaska for several years. My sister Marcia wanted a painting of a special time they had roasting hotdogs with their grandchildren Josephine and William when they were there last April. The composition of the painting includes Denali Mountain. Though not really this close to their house as seen in the painting, Marcia wanted to include it because it's such an icon to Alaska. The building in the background is a greenhouse. (Painted fall - 2010)
"Scottish Highlanders" (36" x 24")
This was a fun painting to do. Highland cattle have such personalities. When I started this I wasn't sure if I could get them to look like the hairy beasts they are instead of haystacks with legs and horns. There is a bit of light glare on the top. The sky is actually bluer than it appears in this photo.This painting was done using a reference photo taken in Scotland, by artist and photographer, Shadwell. When I asked for permission to use his photo he told me these cattle were in his neighbor's pasture. The middle one was very curious and wanted to get up to the front of the bunch to see what was going on - exerting herself in the process. (painted summer 2010)
"Dancing on the Beach"
(20" x 16")
(20" x 16")
Private Collection
Commemorating Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1994
Commemorating Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1994
Painting is a journey along an inspirational path. Around every turn is a new discovery, a new breakthrough, a new "aha" moment. Painting Mom and Dad "Dancing on the Beach" was just that - a journey. Mistakes are made, as you can see from posts on my blog home page, and yet we persevere, we press on. Dad would say, "It's not the destination, but the journey." It's what we learn along the way. It's the feelings and emotions that are attached to our learning experiences on our journey that make the destination ............
(painted summer 2010)
"Panning for Gold" (18" x 24")
(SOLD)
Sam and Louis on vacation with Grandma and Grandpa Albers in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Don't think they found much gold, but they sure had a good time. (painted spring 2010)
"At the Beach" (18 x 24)
Private Collection
I
used a reference photo taken the week before Janell and nephew Jason
were married. They are now the proud parents of twin boys. Thought I
would include three sail boats in the painting to represent Jason and
their twin boys Owen and Austin. (painted fall 2009)
"A Toy Boat" (36" x 24")
Private Collection
"A Toy Boat" based on painting by Henri-Jacques Bource, (Belgian 1826 – 1899). My husband wanted a special house-warming gift for his sister Sharon. He found a photo of Bource's work and asked if I could paint it for her. I thought - why not? So....... here it is. (painted fall 2009)
"A Toy Boat" based on painting by Henri-Jacques Bource, (Belgian 1826 – 1899). My husband wanted a special house-warming gift for his sister Sharon. He found a photo of Bource's work and asked if I could paint it for her. I thought - why not? So....... here it is. (painted fall 2009)
"Prairie Sentinels" (48" x 24")
We have some tremendous storms pass through here in early summer. Nothing can stand in the way of nature's fury. The barn and windmill are a testament to the strength and fortitude needed to be "Prairie Sentinels" - a bit worn and aged, but still standing - keeping watch over the prairie. (painted summer 2006)
"Fall"
(20" x 18")
Private Collection
(20" x 18")
Private Collection
One of my first portraits.....daughter Jessica when she was three, enjoying the warm sun on a beautiful fall afternoon. We were living in Lorenzo at the time. (painted summer 2005)
(30" x 24")
Based on painting "There's Always Tomorrow" by Betsy Cameron. (painted fall 2003)
"How Far to the Horizon"
(30" x 24")
Based on a painting by James Daley (painted winter 2004)
