I’m sitting in my friend Steve Seltzer’s studio and talking him into doing his own blog. I wish I could say I did this painting, but sadly, that’s not the case. I love Steve’s work, and we are lucky enough to own a few pieces. This painting is called “A Garden Stroll” and is 30 x 24. You may contact Steve about it, or go to his websie to see more of his work. www.seltzerart.com

Spring is so exciting in a place where you have the seasons. I love watching the earth come alive again! Driving to Red Lodge, MT this last spring, I was lucky enough to see these willows along the banks of Beaver Creek. They turn a wonderful yellow before they begin to bud out. I was attracted to the yellow as seen against the warm grays of the hill beyond. This painting is a small one, 9×12.

I’m now getting back into the studio. Lots going on here in the summer, kids home, cows, a remodeling project, and some sadness – several family members with cancer. Please let someone find a cure for that disease.

I did participate in the Montana Land Reliance Show last month, selling several pieces there. It was a lot of fun – and for one of my favorite causes. Tonight is the C.M. Russell Museum Masters in Miniature Show. I had intended to display my pieces here, but can’t find images of them! You may see them on page 49 in the online catalog. The event tonight is from 6 to 9 at the museum, and will be fun as always! Please come, support the museum and buy some art!

Also, I am posting a 12×12 lily pad painting I especially like, Tres Soeurs as it is a little more colorful than some of the tonal ones I’ve been doing. This piece is for the Coeur d’ Alene Miniatures by the Lake Show – now hanging at the Coeur d’ Alene Galleries. The auction itself is September 24th.

2010 is the centennial year of Glacier National Park, which is an absolutely amazing place. If you have never been there, you need to see it at least once in your lifetime. I did this painting of Many Glacier for Helena Montana’s Holter Museum show “Montana Landscape: The Eye of the Beholder”. The show runs from July 1 – through October 17th, 2010. In picking this scene from countless others in the park, my focus was scale. To me, Glaceir Park is about grandeur and all about scale. In that context, we people are so insignificant. I liked this view of Swiftcurrent Ridge, as the Park buildings below point out how massive the ridge is just beyond the lake. “A Break in the Fog” is an oil, 24″ x 32″.

Need I tell you what Sishiqua means? I think every mountain peak in the western territories with a similar shape was given a similar name by one explorer or Indian tribe or another. This volcanic cone peak  is in one of my favorite places, near Augusta, Montana.

A few years ago, I forced my daughter to climb with me to the top of what is now called Haystack Mountain. The climb up and then down again was brutal, over big lava rock boulders. Smarter people quit half the way up. I was so tired when I reached the top I didn’t even take any pictures, darn it all, but the view was beautiful!

I did this painting to submit to the Paint the Parks Competition. It qualifies as a representation of the Lewis & Clark Historical Trail. Lewis camped near this spot on his return trip from the coast on July 8th, 1806. “Sishiqua” is an oil, 24 x 32.

I was going to save this image for a blog closer to the 4th of July, but I wanted to put something besides a landscape up today. This is very Montana – and appropriate as it’s now Rodeo season. The brand on the horse is ours – TL. “Stars & Stripes” is 18 x 12 and for sale at the Beartooth Gallery in Red Lodge, MT.

I just noticed that it’s been a month since I made a Blog entry. This title, “In Blows Summer” bespeaks both the painting and my life as summer rolls around! So many projects in so many directions have kept me from thinking about my Blog, among other things! This larger painting is one that I finished for the MPA Show, “Russell’s Haunts” now showing at the C.M. Russell Museum, and is the piece I picked that is representative of the Judith Basin, SE of Great Falls, MT. I thought I might include both the sketch here, “Spring Storm”(9×12) and the final painting (24×30). Sometimes my final painting is quite different from the sketch. That isn’t true this time, although I changed the format some. I do like the fresh, rougher quality of the sketch, which may have had something to do with the time issue as that storm was rolling in! I will never quit being impressed by the drama and incredible power evidenced when our storms descend. Nor will I ever quit loving the big expanse of sky we are privileged to see here in Montana! Those are, of course, the subject in these paintings.

“Spring Storm” 9×12                  “In Blows Summer” 24×30 is below

I guess I’ve been gone from my blog for awhile…  I’ve been working on a few larger pieces, delivering others, and also have been lured out to again experience spring in Montana! It’s easy to find excuses to be working outside now!

I love Glacier Park and all the wild places I’ve been lucky enough to experience over the years. This painting was inspired by a sketch I had done at Lake McDonald near West Glacier, looking out toward Mount Stanton. It’s hard to beat the subject matter! The painting and the original sketch are included in the Montana Painters Alliance show at the C. M. Russell Museum, opening this month. The show is called “Russell’s Haunts” and includes sketches and paintings we did at two of Charlie Russell’s favorite places, the Judith Basin and Glacier Park. “Mountain’s Majesty” is an oil, 24 x 24.

Tomorrow begins Art Week in Great Falls, MT. I will be involved with two of the five different art shows in town. I am showing in room 176 at the Heritage Inn (part of the Ad Club’s Russell Art Show) and also have a piece in “The Russell” – the show to benefit the C.M. Russell Museum. I chose to do the wall sale this year instead of the auction. That sale is this Thursday night, March 18 from 5:00 – 8:00pm. You may view the catalog online.

I’ve shown you this painting before but since this is the big week, I thought I would show it to you again. It’s called “The Season’s Last Lilies” and is an oil, 24″ x 24″. Hope to see you there!

I had been eying an older painting recently that I felt needed a redo. I began that redo with my saw and made a vertical painting square, which immediately helped the composition! Then after getting rid of the frog, adding the two flower buds and some new paint I think I have a piece I really like. “Prelude” is 18 x 18.

I have been doing lots of landscapes lately. I’m not quitting the figurative pieces, but I feel I need to gather some more good research in that regard. I hope to get to some rendezvous, rodeos, Native American events and biker rallies this summer!