This August I created a watercolor from this photo I took last year of a new little Drum Horse filly. This little girl is Freyja Maria and her mamma, Derby, out at HyTyme Drum Horses Enterprises. 

This photo may all be white and brown with a hint of pink, but when you're painting, you can always add more color.

I've been sitting on an image I took a couple years ago of some longhorns out in a meadow. I was waiting for the right time to create a painting from that photo and the time was just the other day.

I knew in my painting that I wanted to have a clear focal point. Sure I could depict more than one beautiful longhorn, but that would be a conflict of interests for the viewer. That's when I decided that the mama longhorn with the white draped over her back would be the most interesting one in the herd. The idea of the contrast of dark against her white back would help lead your eye along her horns to her face.

Have you ever thought about painting in watercolor, but don't know where to start? I teach Watercolors Made Easy in the Willamette Valley and would love to have you come to a class!

I’ve been working on a watercolor just for St. Paul Rodeo’s poster contest. All artists in the Wild West Art Show are able to submit two entries for the poster contest and the winner’s piece is the artwork for the next year’s rodeo. For the past four years I’ve entered the poster competition and have been seeing what the panel of judges have been choosing from and the winners. So, this year I thought I had a good idea of what they might like.

Here is a little glimpse of how "Red, White, and Blue" started. You will notice the lack of pencil marks on this piece, because I've been working on "drawing" out my paintings in a light wash of watercolor and one of my liner brushes.

I participated in the Quick Draw at the St. Paul Rodeo Hall of Fame Dinner this year. So, what is a Quick Draw anyways? Well, artists have a set amount of time to create a finished piece of art that is then auctioned off. This particulate Quick Draw, we had 90 minutes and could have a drawing done ahead of time.

I've been working on "drawing" with light washes of watercolor with my liner brush, so I didn't have a drawing done before hand. Instead, I just dove in head first ...

Come to Salem and learn how watercolors can be made easy to paint! This class is limited to 15 students and will be in the classroom at Hobby Lobby.

This class will be for everyone from 12 - 99 years and the drawing is already done for you. All materials are included, but you're welcome to bring your favorite watercolor brushes.

In class you get to mix your own favorite colors of sunset with the dark green forests skirting snow covered Mt. Hood. You can have the clouds reflecting their colors in the still waters of Trillium Lake. This is a follow along style of class, but it's very customizable to expand your painting into something uniquely yours.