Little town . . .

West of here it a little town with a huge tower, Goehner, Nebraska. Over 1/4 mile tall. Driving I-80 in or out of Lincoln, it's a beacon you can see for a long time before you get close to it. And when you get there, you still aren't close to it. 

One day I'll be able to capture in my paintings the immense vast of the sky and miles of prairie but for now these paintings are fun to put on canvas. The exercises have given my hand a new looseness and I'm enjoying the process.

Controlled Burn

Another 30-minute study from photos of a neighboring field. Spring is a time of prepping the fields for new growth and controlled burns is one way to clear the old vegetation and enhance the soil. I love to watch the crews as they work patches of fields and burn off grass and urge the creeping fire on the ground. I have lots of pictures of a local crew and will be painting more of these soon.

Between Ranches Postcard . . .

Between Ranches Postcard

More from what will be a series of Nebraska scenes in oil. I have taken so many photos from a moving car on treks across the prairie. Every scene seems to be the same but all are different in their own ways. And so many more to come.

This is a little 5x7 quick study that still gives a sense of the grassland expanse and the warmth of the day.

Six Miles Apart . . .

Six Miles Apart

After numerous trips here and there through Nebraska and tons of pictures downloaded, I'm starting to get oil on canvas. I've not painted in about 40 years (how did that pass so quickly?) and the above painting was never really my style but now it seems to be taking over and it's more painterly than ever existed 40 years ago. Happy that my hand has loosened and can breathe.

As you drive across Nebraska and any state that has an interstate, you bypass these little towns without a thought. Towns six miles apart, thanks to the railroads. In the distance you see grain elevators and low buildings, all white and shimmery in the summer.  Farms cut in half by interstate highways with odd buildings here and there. Cows. Tractors. Abandoned cars and rows of unused farm equipment.

More to come.