Changing Palletes

The wheat is beginning to become fuzz on the plowed field. It is reaching upward and casting a slight green tent to the red clay. Though it is not all planted the growth of the first half is a welcome sight and the rain that came is the blessing we needed to get the second half of the wheat in.

While we wait patiently I have been working on paintings and preparing boards. Since my life involves painting at school, home, the farm and where ever I can carve out a few minutes. My supplies must travel. The old pallette I had was a great start up but it did not last. The hinge broke and it became like traveling with a fragile vase. Scared it was going to shatter and leave me stranded with nothing to work on.

So I splerged on a new one. This one is metal and is hopefully up for the task of going places. It is more compact and has square cups instead of slanting areas for the paint. The slanting areas just helped to mix the paint for me as I traveled around the dirt roads.

Time will tell if my treasure is worth it but a girls gotta paint, any chance she gets.

Hope to see ya'll at the Chili Cook off in McLoud Oklahoma.

God Bless.

Finish Painting a Patriotic Tractor

Last weekend I was able to visit the big town of Chickasha home of the fighting chickens. I met some amazing people. The day was pretty and the people that came through my booth were very pleasant. It was fun.

I added some more layers onto the Patriotic painting and got the background and under-layers painted.

Then I glazed it.

Last but not least I pulled all the mask off and then soften the stark white left behind.

When I put it on Facebook, someone asked to buy it within the hour. That just tells me that America is going strong and Tractors still hold a spot in many peoples heart.

Painting myself Patriotic

Well if you have read my last blog than you know we have 72 piles of ashes to feed. (Smile) The good news is the insurance check is already here and we are about to scatter the ashes and re-stack the remaining hay. The Silver lining is that not one other bale combusted which means we did not loose anymore hay. The picture is from last week as I plowed. 

We were working at getting wheat in the field which means that I spent my time in the other tractor preparing the soil. Saturday it rained and we had one field planted. My hubby was happy.

 Sunday we worked cows. We gave them a shot to prevent disease, like the flu shot. They also got new earrings or numbered tags that tell us which cow is which. 80 black cows are hard to tell apart especially in the dark.

I have stole a little time away to paint this week. I am working on a patriotic painting that I took at 4th of July parade. It just said what I needed right now. The people will pull together and get something accomplished.

May God bless you in all your celebrations and trials.

FIRE

You have seen the post of us cutting and bailing hay this year and my daughter playing while her daddy stacked it.

This morning we awoke to a panicked call from Dustin's cousin. The neighbor on his way to work saw one stack of hay on fire. To say the least she had a reason to panic.

When my hubby got to the farm half of the hay was in flames. He did pull out about 60 bales and saved them. The sheriff's deputies were nice enough to block off the road and let him just run back and forth across the road to get them out of the way. The local volunteer fire department tried to wet the rest of the bales and contain the fire to help my hubby have time to get the bales out of harms way.

Insurance will pay for the hay and we have enough in other stacks to feed all winter. The only gripe is that we literally watched our hard work go up in smoke.

Thankfully to the Sheriff and volunteer fire department we did not loose all 122 in that stack. 

Oh it all started because one hay bale was a little too wet. The fire marshal told my hubby that it takes 6 weeks for hay to combust. We always thought a week or two would be out of danger. Well it has been 6 weeks and 4 days.


Just another week on the farm right? God Bless

Looking for my next painting

I was flipping through old pictures to find some good artwork. I always say to take tons of pictures. Thought I would share a few from many years ago.

                    Here is my hubby when he was younger with his favorite dog. Sam was smart and helped put cows in, could get through a hot wire and road on the back of a truck at crazy speeds. The old dog looked like a coyote though and once or twice coyote hunters almost let their hunting dogs out on him.  We miss him but in his old age he ran out in front of a car. It killed him instantly.

          The picture of the truck window when brother and I went mudding. I needed pictures to start art that college semester and he took me though the fields so I could get some. I asked "You think dad will notice?" talking about his truck as we put up the fence. "Naw, work is distracting him now." Brother told me. We look up and across the road our cattle herd sticks its head up over the fence and jumps the fence into the neighbors wheat field. We had to call dad to help up get them back in the pasture. We didn't get in trouble but he did notice what we had done that afternoon.

This is a cool picture of my hubby's equipment. I am going to have to ask what you call it again. I think it is so neat looking. My hubby calls me crazy but says it works well when pulled behind the tractor to break up the ground.  This is it the next painting.

Have a good week and God Bless.

Hay stacking and Painting a Model T

Well hay is bailed and plowing begins but that means time is not slowing down. The hay must be stacked and counted and the fence built around the new hay stacks. My daughter loves to run the bails when we can. She is about two rows away from my husband stacking them. With all this going on I did sneak a painting into the middle of life.

Of course you know me I start with my aquafix and my mask and lay my painting out. 

This has a few steps in here. I added the rust red and used a dark umber for the shadows in the car. I used a non transparent color for the glaze this time. Since I did that I thinned it down a WHOLE lot. I also painted ultramarine for the dark areas. It gives a richer color than just Payne's Gray.

I added my glaze of Payne's Gray and a light color in the background. Also a little in the shine of the chrome.

I know this is a big jump but I painted without having a camera around. Rule to learn. 

Value rule. 1. Air is lightest. 2. flat areas are 2nd lightest. 3. Slanted areas are third value. While your vertical areas have the darker values in them.

Praise God in his sanctuary;

    praise him in his mighty heavens.
 Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Psalms 150:1-2

Drawing out a Model T

 I just thought you would like a glimpse into the good times of farming. Well maybe not good times but precious for sure. This little boy is having trouble getting milk so we have him and his cow up to help them along. This is a cousin and my little girl feeding him a bottle. Hopefully the cow will be able to nurse him soon.

Well back to the drawing board. I like to work up two sketches at a time. It keeps me motivated and I feel comfortable with the idea of having the what next question answered. Also when I mix up aquafix I can paint both at once. I also mask them on the same time to. Less clean up.

 The model T is my first to be completed. I like the layout and the aquafix done. I will show you as it develops.


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God Bless.