Happy New Year!

Let me begin by wishing all of you out there a Happy New Year!  May 2013 be a blessed year for you and all of yours.

At the beginning of 2012, I made a list of goals in a post here.  I think I may have accomplished about half of those goals but half is better than none.  The most disappointing failure in the list of goals was not completing 20 counties for this project.  I only managed to complete 12 by my count.  I am barely over halfway done with this project after 2.5 years of work.  To be very honest, this project is starting to weigh heavy on me.  I enjoy traveling around and visiting new places in Arkansas but I would like very much to be able to focus more on places of special interest to me without the guilt of feeling like I'm shirking some responsibility.  However, that is sometimes the nature of projects like this one and I will soldier through. 

I guess I will try to start a tradition and make a new set of goals for 2013:

1.  Complete 20 counties!  I am currently at 42 out of 75.  I am planning a couple of plein air camping trips this year so that should help my cause.
2.  Get in a gallery outside of Arkansas.  I plan to visit Dallas fairly early this year and will see a few prospective galleries while there and gather as much reference material as possible.
3.  Get into 2 national shows.  I plan on actually using my Oil Painters of America membership this year by entering a contest or two.  I also plan on joining American Impressionist Society and entering some of their shows.
4.  Visit Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art!
5.  Participate in a plein air competition.  This was one I failed to get to last year.  There is a fairly competitive local competition that should be no issue at all for me to attend but last year I wound up having a conflict.  I'll make it there this year.

So, there you go.  My goals for 2013.  Some of those should be easy and some are not very much within my control but I'll work on them as best as possible.

Russellville Train Depot, Pope County

Russellville Train Depot

16X20 Oil on Canvas

Available

This one was in a partial state for a long time.  I had trouble resolving color and value on the foreground to my satisfaction.  

Slowing it Down, Hwy 65 Northbound

Slowing it Down, Hwy 65 North

8X10, Oil on Panel

SOLD

Right before winding into Searcy County, Highway 65 plunges down into the Little Red River Valley.  It's a potentially treacherous descent for semi trucks, especially in the rain.

Ellen Hobgood Gallery

I am very pleased to announce that I am now represented by Ellen Hobgood Gallery in Heber Springs, AR.  Ellen's gallery is at 101 S. 3rd Street in beautiful downtown Heber Springs, right across from the Cleburne County courthouse.  You can find an assortment of my Ozarks related paintings there including several Buffalo River pieces.  That courthouse is calling out for me to paint it, along with many many other locations in and around Heber!

Ouachita River at Malvern, Hot Spring County

Ouachita River at Malvern

8X10, Oil on Panel

SOLD

That is the I-30 bridge in the distance.  I took the reference shot for this almost a year ago.  Sometimes it just takes a while.

2012 Arkansas League of Artists Annual Juried Show

I am very pleased to announce that my piece "Simpson County, MS Courthouse" won First Place in the Landscape category in this show.  The show was juried by David Bailin, an art professor at the University of Central Arkansas and will be on display at the Butler Center at Arkansas Studies Institute until January.