To continue the parasol story, I did this painting by request after the Russell Show last year. The gallery wanted a painting like “Little Star”. I would not do another of the same, but did do this one of the same little girl. This painting is much larger, 48″ x 48″ and is for sale through Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman, MT. This is not a terribly accurate image of the painting. The painting is better! www.montanatrails.com

To digress, I think I should show you my first “parasol painting”. It is called “Little Star” and is an oil, 24″ x 24″. I did this painting last year after having been to Crow Fair in SE Montana. This little girl was in the opening parade. I found her beautiful, and loved the mixing of the Native American and Chinese cultures. If one cares about being historically accurate, the Indians during the Reservation Period could well have traded for something like this Chinese parasol at that time.

This painting was chosen to be in the C.M. Russell Art Auction 2008, and it won the Russell Museum CEO Award given to one auction participant! It is now part of the Russell Museum collection. I have to say that when I saw this painting in a museum show recently, it was still one of my personal favorites.  www.cmrussell.org

I finished this painting recently. It’s called “Shade is Shade. Don’t Matter Where You Find It.” It is an oil, 24″ x 24″. I really enjoyed combining the images of the ladies’ feminine parasol, and the gruff, macho cowboy.

If you’ve spent any time at all on a ranch, you’ll know that ranch people are by necessity innovators and opportunists. Duct tape and baling twine can fix almost anything. All sorts of ‘parts” can be adapted to serve some completely different purpose. In this case on a hot summer day, the ladies’ parasol was quite the find. I had fun creating this very manly guy who obviously wasn’t at all embarrassed about using whatever he could to make his day a little more bearable!

To begin, I thought I might include my painting that was selected to be in the 2009 C.M. Russell Art Auction. The painting is titled “Just One Last Touch”, and is an oil, 24″ x 28″of artist Tom Gilleon “touching up” his painting while it hung in a Russell Museum show last year. While I did stretch the truth here, I had fun doing so, as this is the only way I could get away with painting a Gilleon tipi! www.cmrauction.com