Parting Gift

The gallery The Creamery, located in the town of Platte, SD is closing.

I have been a part of this gallery since its conception and worked with the owners, in store, for the last 4 years.

Sadly the current state of economic affairs is placing a strain on the amount of traffic through our little town.

We hugely, depend upon tourist.

The owners Marc and Dianne are met with the daunting decision to close the establishment and hopefully give another entrepreneur the chance to make something of the building.

This decision made, we are opening for a few weeks to allow for last minute sales and vendors clean out.

I made a little parting gift that I hope Marc and Dianne will fondly remember me.

A continuation of the building series can include the buildings that Marc and Dianne restored for our town.

The Creamery and sitting directly across the street is the Theater.

Marc totally gutted the building then restored her back to period, all its interior.

She boast a live stage where performances still take place and a theater screen for movies.

He updated to sound.

The Lyric Theater..original to our town and now still enjoying performances from traveling artists and current movie projections.

I need to work on my paintings not all looking the same...that said...the one picture shows the pictures I took of the street view angle i wanted to paint. Then a close snap of the view I gave the buildings in the painting...I was going for a vintage look of a snapshot taken looking down main street...then the painting as a whole.

Except that all my paintings kind of look the same...I hope you do enjoy the outcome of the piece. And I hope Marc and Dianne won't just place it in the closet.

I will miss the gallery...it was an interesting place to work, shop and meet other artist.

2 W 4 1/2 S

This is where I am with the painting 2 W 4 1/2 S...

Here is the last updated version...I smoothed out the 'bulls eye' effect around 'Platte' and brightened it up some. Added texture. I am not sure if it is finished yet...for one thing the picture has a little glare to it. Eventually i hope to be done with this one!

you can click on the picture and bring them up to see them better...thank you for looking.

Next Collage Started

I began the next collage in the Homestead SD series.

The homestead in this picture is a little large.

You can see the additions made as the farm prospered.

This painting is better planned than the last one I hope it goes together easier and faster.

I enlarged a portion of map with the Platte area.

It shows Rt 44..that is taken W of town.

I will put an road going south that will lead to the rest of the directions and the title of the painting...2 mi W 5 mi S...I think it will be 5 miles I need to travel it to make sure.

The fence I am going to put in the foreground of this painting will be a post and barbed wire model. In my mind the fences tie it together as a element for my series.

The homestead painting on the canvas you see i am taking from a photograph I took of the place.

Using permanent ink I have drawn the likeness and used several washes to get this much to date.

Stay tuned

:)

Finished

Okay I am back

I laid the picture back onto the table and this photo shows the color a lot better...

I added a little more color to a few areas...and this is what I think is finished!

"Rt 50 N"

I replaced an earlier rendition of the painting

it was so washed out

this one has a bit of glare to it

but the colors are truer.

Thank you for all the emails already telling me you like the piece...(y'all are FASSST!)

it means a great deal to me and I appreciate that you take the time to let me know you like or don't like and why!

Current Progress

Here is five additional days of adding to this painting. Yesterday I just couldn't get it adjusted at all. I don't like how my letters ended up on this painting BUT

I do have a better plan for the next one!

My colors are lot richer than the picture shows

Pretty much I think I wanted to get rid of the letters so I kept adding the gesso in dry brush...just kept swiping it on.

First I did try adding a little color around them that didn't send me so i added more texture

i like the texture but still don't (didn't) like those letters...

but the letters ARE needed as a description to where to find this house

which IS the theme and subject of the painting...

what a dilemma...

Mostly because I refuse to let myself just 'go' with painting in collage style.

I think i loosened up a LOT! considering.

What would you have done to it?

Thanks...you can click the image to enlarge.

as I look at the project it isn't that bad actually...i do think i am going to go back within some of the areas and maybe add more color...

there might be another picture coming of this project...

Painting Progress

Not much to report.

Here is the progress on my collage painting.

In a post down you can see where I left off.

Layers of paint have been added next will be the directions from town to get there. I am hoping this will be well received for people who like to take pieces of SD home with them.

I have more to add I am not "there" with it yet.

I came back to describe what I have so far...

I wasn't so far a long as I remembered in the other post.

The house is a house off route 50 to Chamberlain.

I LOVE old houses and barns and I photograph them all the time.

My intentions originally were to just frame them and try to sell them as a memento of a visitors visit. But I am liking the collage painting look better.

Next will go the directions "from Platte 10 miles west on HWY 44 then RTE 50 N just south of Chamberlain there is the house...I think this might make a nice series as well..for the collector, or the living ancestor of that particular Homestead...who identifies and wants to have the painting to remember the site by.

Anyway, this is where I am.

:)