Shaded Farm Road

Shaded Farm Road

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

This piece of land is just outside of Kerrville, Texas.  The composition didn't require much creativity on my part--it was ready and waiting for me.  The shaded dirt road led right to the lit bales of hay and around to an old hidden structure behind a fence. I just tried to do it a little justice...

-julie davis

Texas Connection

Texas Connection

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

I love the road trips we make to the Hill Country because I indulge in the landscape's eye candy along the way.  The title references the ranch road intersecting with the highway, as well as the phone lines that run along it. Loved the red pipe section of the fence, too.

-julie davis

Cut-Through

Cut-Through

sold

The Guadalupe River runs through the Kerrville area, and it's north fork runs through nearby Hunt, Texas.  On the last day of KOPE, I painted along the banks of the Guadalupe on our own property in Hunt.  This partially shaded passage through the fence is where the whitetail and axis deer cut through on their way along the banks.

-julie davis

Old Smokehouse

Old Smokehouse

sold

This week I've played around with some of the scenes I came across at the Kerrville event.  I loved this one, and felt like exploring it again, though there is something so special about the energy of painting a scene for the first time, problem-solving and all.  Anyone know what I mean by that?  I could be crazy.....or just very tired.....:)

-julie davis

In the Shadows

In the Shadows

12 x 9 in., oil on panel

nfs

The beautiful weather of the past week made for a near perfect first experience of a plein air painting competition for me.  I participated in the three-day Kerrville Outdoor Painters' Event (KOPE) in Kerrville, Texas.  The organizers arranged access to exceptionally paintable properties for the artists--I thoroughly enjoyed each minute, and finished with some strong paintings and some new artist friends, and reconnected with others I don't see often enough.  

This painting was my first of the event.  We painted on a ranch a few minutes from Kerrville that had numerous old structures--this was the old smokehouse.  

-julie davis

Fenceline Grove

Fenceline Grove, 6 x 8 in.

sold

Sincere apologies for the inconsistency in posting lately. We have sold our house and are moving! In town....but hectic doesn't quite describe the last few weeks. I'm trying to get my painting legs under me again, and am most excited that I'll have a larger studio--a whole room all my own. Things might be a little off and on for the next few weeks, but I'll post when I can and know that I'll be consistent again soon.

This little painting was from my Idaho trip--this old fence just blended into the trees along it. With a lovely field adjacent, it caught my attention.

-julie davis

Light Snow

Light Snow, 6 x 8 in.
sold

Last Friday, Austin received a whopping inch (yes, one) of snow--and school was cancelled (mostly due to the ice that was so nicely hidden beneath the snow). We get so few "snow days" here that we were all pretty excited.

Around noon when the roads became passable, I headed out to Hunt to meet some college girlfriends as planned (we were not about to let a little snow cancel our plans!) Just outside of Austin, I had to stop and take some photos--and make a mental picture of it all. It really was beautiful, and an entirely new way of seeing the countryside with which I'm growing so familiar. I must say, I had a blast painting this, and knocked out a larger version today. Here's to more snow days!

-julie davis

So We Meet Again

So We Meet Again, 6 x 8

The way properties adjoin each other is one of the little tidbits I find interesting along the roads. Green grass can abut a field of golden flowers that can meet up with simple red dirt or a field full of cacti or cedars or oaks or all three. I liked the way the green shoulder here met with the wheat colored grass and muted flowers.

-julie davis

A Spot in the Shade

A Spot in the Shade, 6 x 8

This little tractor sits quietly in the shade of two oak trees on our neighbor's property in Hunt. I don't think it's run often, as a shiny, new one sits nearer the house.

-julie davis

Between the Posts

Between the Posts, 6 x 8

Today was the third in a very welcomed three-day weekend. I struggled on this one--wiped it down two or three times, and finally came out with something I liked. I wish I knew what made some days like that!

-julie davis

Intersection

Intersection, 6 x 6

Trees can look so indecisive for a brief period in early winter, when some branches have foliage and others do not. This one was no exception. I'd like to explore painting bare branches on a larger canvas this winter -- it's a challenge to keep them looking elegant. Laurel Daniel painted a tree in this "transition" recently. It's beautiful. Check it out.

-julie davis