Butterfly & Flowers...

Recently, a co-worker passed away.  It was a shocking thing where they went in for a surgery that is considered by some as an everyday procedure.  Unfortunately, complications occurred and there was preparations for a life flight to another medical facility but the co-worker passed before that could occur.  It's been a sad week at work.  This co-worker loved purple and butterflies.  So I did this painting at the request of another co-worker that thought it might be a nice gift for the family.  I'm not sure if my artwork is worthy of something like that but here it is....

"Purple Butterfly and Flowers in Remembrance"- 11" x 14" Watercolor and Ink on Paper.

Fat Tire and Lab Scruff

Here's my most recent pieces finished.

"Schlick Fat Tire"; Watercolor and Ink on 12" x 12" Paper

"Lab Scruff"; Watercolor and Ink on 8" x 10" Paper

I've got other pieces of art in the works and hope to share them with you soon.  I welcome any feedback or comments!  Thank you for stopping by.

Fresh Green Bike and Not All Who Wander

Photo: "Fresh Green Bike"; Poured Watercolor and Ink, 11" x 14"

It's been awhile since I've updated this site.  I had a life change that hit me sideways.  I went into work one day earlier this month and was told that "we were parting ways", and just like that I found myself unemployed.  It was a complete surprise because I LOVED doing the job and thought I was doing it very well.  I'm still trying to get back up and have found that I've had more time to do a little painting now between job searching.

Photo: "Not All Who Wonder...."; Watercolor and Ink, 12" x 12"

"Not All Who Wander..." is one of my favorite sayings.  This I added my one one line at the end to have a bit of fun with it.  I even had a 12" x 12" white frame on hand to finish it off.

Photo: Framed and ready to go... this is available for purchase.

Thank you for stopping by and I welcome any comments you may have!

Farm Themed Commissions....

I recently went to the open house for a local Farm Credit Services where two of my artworks were newly framed and hanging.  One near the front lobby area and another at the end of a hallway.  It was rather fun to be in a business where my artwork was on display.  I was commissioned for these two fun farm inspired pieces....

"CR Barn and Silo"; Watercolor and Ink on 22" x 28" Paper.
Commissioned Piece

Photo of framed CR Barn and Silo.

"Old McDonald's Pig"; Watercolor and Ink on 20" x 20" Paper
Commissioned Piece

Photo of Framed Old McDonald's Pig

Joe's Auto....

Here's the latest of my commissioned pieces and it was a FUN painting to do!  I always wanted to put a gas station behind one of these cars that I have been painting.  Joe was excited at the possibility and was please with how it turned out.  This is his 1970's blue Chevelle in front of an older Standard station.

Photo:"Joe's Station"; Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 14" cold press paper.
Commissioned Piece

Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any feedback you may have.

Catching Up....

I've been working on several different paintings in the last month; a couple of them have been commissions and a couple have been bit by bit between the commissions.  Here they are....

"1950 Dodge Pickup with MOPAR Christmas Tree"; 9" x 13"  Watercolor and Ink on paper
Commissioned Artwork

"Love and a Lab"; Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 15" paper
SOLD!

"Black Cherry and Pistachio Motorcycles"; Watercolor and Ink on 16" x 17" paper
Commissioned Piece 

Dogs in Ink...

I've recently been doing a bit of playing with ink drawings of dogs.  I did one of my black lab, Jazz, and afterwards had a friend request that I do a drawing of her dog.  Here's the fun results....

" I'm Waiting..."; black ink with a touch of watercolor.
Available for purchase.

That's my Jazz with a fun quote.  She's quite the lover...lol

"Trek in Ink"; Black ink with a touch of watercolor.
Commissioned Piece

Here's Trek done in black ink with a touch of brown watercolor for the eyes.  It's been rather fun experimenting with ink and a bit of water coloring.  Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comment you may have.

For Pete's Sake, It's George's Motorcycle....

A bit of delay in getting this up on here but here's the Harley Motorcycle commissioned I finished.  I call it "For Pete's Sake, It's George's Motorcycle."  The friend that I did this for, his real name is George but a lot of his friends call him Pete.  Talk about identity crisis! lol... he fortunately loved his painting and here it is...

" For Pete's Sake, It's Geogre's Motorcycle"; Watercolor and Ink on 14" x 14" Paper.
Commissioned Piece

Buick Roadmaster Convertible...

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to post something on here.  I'm still painting but things get busy sometimes.  Here's a watercolor/ink that I finished about 2 weeks ago.  This is based on a photo I took at Good Guys Car show a couple of years ago when it was in DesMoines.  I believe it is a 1952- 1953 Buick Roadmaster Convertible. Enjoy....

"Buick Roadmaster"; Watercolor/ink on 11" x 14" paper.
SOLD.

I'm currently working on a commission of a Harley Motorcycle that I hope to share with you soon.  Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to email me with any feedback you may have!

To the Dogs....

Here's a couple more of the commissions that I did for Christmas.  I can finally share them with you now that they've been given.  Both of these paintings were to be a memorial to dogs that are now enjoying "doggie" heaven.  The first one here is called "Tucker" which is an adorable Cocker Spaniel that I was given a picture of....

"Tucker"; Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 14" Paper.

The other dog painting is called "Skippy"  who was a Pomerania who loved to snuggle in blankets, or so I assume from the picture I was given....

"Skippy"; Watercolor on 11" x 14" Paper.

 I welcome any feed back and thanks for stopping by! 

Taking Christmas Orders....

I still have a couple of openings available for commissioned work for Christmas.  So if you are looking for a unique and special gift, think about a gift of custom art work.  Perhaps, a car painting for that classic auto car enthusiast or perhaps a painting of a lost best friend to serve as a memory.

Contact me soon, because the calendar is filling up and Christmas is also fast approaching.  I can be reach via my email listed on this site.  Just put Christmas Commission in the subject of the email.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stude 37 Inked!

I did a watercolor of this a short while ago, and I thought that it would be a fun experiment to do it in an ink.  I really enjoy the details of this 1937 Studebaker that I took a photo of last summer at Good Guys Car Show.  So here it is done in black and red ink.

Photo:" Black, White, and Red Stude 37"; Ink on 9" x 12" watercolor paper.
SOLD.

I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for stopping by!

A 60 Polara...

Based on a photo I took from a car cruise that took place at the Coralville Mall near Iowa City, IA last Summer.  It was a 1960 Dodge Polara.  This was a fun and relatively fast watercolor and ink that I pulled off hopefully showing off some of my car artwork tomorrow across the street from the Chelsea Car Show in Chelsea, IA. I just hope that the rain forecaster tomorrow morning is short and sweet.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Photo: "60 Polara"; Watercolor and Ink on 9" x 12" paper.
Available for purchase.

I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for stopping by!

A STUDE 37

This was a quick fun one that I did.  It's based on a photo that I took at the Good Guys Car Show last Summer.  It's a black 1937 Studebaker.  I decided to just do part of the front end of the car to focus on some of the details more.

Photo: "Stude 37"; watercolor and ink on 9" x 12" paper.
Available for purchase.

I welcome any comment and thanks for stopping by!

A Halloween Move & Glimpse of Latest...

My favorite time of year - Halloween, and I will be moving into to new digs near the Czech Village area of Cedar Rapids.  No longer a renter, I'm becoming a homeowner.  Here's a photo of a current commission project that I'm trying to finish before my move.  I warn you, it is a poor photo.  Yes, the camera is packed and this was taken with non-internet-accessing-low-tech phone. As you can see my shadow above.  It's going to be a four pane of a red 1971 Demon.  This is for Mr. Motorhead to pay for a riding lawnmower at the new digs.  It's a big yard - I NEEDED it! Enough said :)

Photo- Prelim ink drawings for Demon four pane.

I hope to share a better photo of the real paintings soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

A Doggie Break!

So I felt like I needed a bit of a break from bikes and cars.  I happened to spot his adorable shot on Face Book of a friend's dog.  It was just too adorable and I thought that might be a fun break to paint a dog.  So here's a painting that I call ," Scruffy Dog"....

Photo: "Scruffy Dog", Watercolor and Ink on 12" x 12" Paper.

I sent a picture of the painting to my friend.  She was VERY please with it and said it was the cleanliest that she had ever seen her dog.  LOL!  I guess he likes to play in the dirt.  I will say it was quite a FUN break to paint this Cutie.  Here's a copy of the photo that inspired me...

Thanks for stopping and by and I welcome any feedback or comments you may have!

Comings and Going of a Black Hearst...

I saw this black Hearst a couple of months ago at a car cruise in Coralville, IA.  It immediately grabbed my attention because of the spider web detail on the head light.  It was SO "Halloween" and being one of my favorite holidays I took quite a few pictures of it.  It's a 1940's vehicle and I'm really unsure as to anything more than that.  I just thought it was rather neat and not of the "norm"; if you know what I mean.

Then, the idea of painting it came to me when I was looking through some of the car photos that I had.  But I didn't want to do it in a normal type of way.  So I played with a bit of drawing and came up with a cropped view of it coming towards you and another that's going away.  I call it the "Comings and Goings of a Black Hearst" and here it is...

Photo: "Comings and Goings of a Black Hearst"; Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 17" paper.

I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thanks for stopping by!

Old Chevy Pickup

I had a friend that teasingly challenged me to paint an old Chevy Pickup Truck.  I found a picture among some of the car shows and cruises that I've gone to with Mr. Motorhead.  I found this old Chevy Pickup among them.  I believe this truck is from the late to mid-1940's by the styling of it.  It was a copper colored on the top of it and black on the bottom.  I call this painting the "Black Bottomed Truck". Enjoy, here it is...

"Black Bottomed Truck"; Watercolor and Ink on 9" x 12" Paper.

So, Sal... What do you think of my version of an old Chevy truck?  Let me know! :) Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comments you may have!

Pink Mercury 9...

Here's a cute little one that I worked on this last week.  It's based on a car I saw at a local Cedar Rapids car cruise night some while back and I was enamored with a pink car that was not a "Mary Kay" car. LOL!  I tried to just focus on the unique tail lights and the back end of this vehicle.  I also decided to play with a bit of cropping view of the car for something a bit different and new.  Here it is...

"Pink Mercury 9"; a watercolor and ink on 8" x 8" paper

 I believe it is a 1964 Mercury Monterey that I based the painting off of.  Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any feedback you may have!

Half of Green Machine...

I've recently been house shopping.  And while I'm going through all of these houses, I've been dragging Mr. Motorhead along with me to look at things.  It always comes in handy when you have know someone that is a maintenance man to take a look at things.  It gives me an idea of what's fixable and what's not so fixable. Poor Mr. Motorhead putting up with all of this and never once complaining.  I decided that he little a extra Thank You for all that he's putting up with.  So, I did another painting of the Meen Green Machine for him.  The Meen Green is a 1971 Dodge Scamp that Mr. Motorhead owns and pampers.

I had Mr. Motorhead close his eyes while I put it out the painting in front of him and then had him open his eyes.  He liked it; I could tell!  But the first thing out of his mouth was: "Where's the other half?"  Yep, he has a bit of a smart-alack streak in him.  I told him if he continued to be nice to me, I MIGHT paint the other half of the car! Course, I told him it would be a smaller version if I did.  LOL!  Take that one buddy; got to keep him on his toes!  Here's the half I did paint...

"Half of Green Machine"; Watercolor and Ink on 8" x 16" paper.

   So hopefully, in the near future I will be sharing some good news about a house in the Cedar Rapids area that has become my home.  I would like to have a permanent place to call my studio.  I'll keep you posted as the process goes on.  Thanks for stopping by and always feel free to leave a comment!