NewBo Arts Festival...

Well, I am happy to be able to say I've been juried into another art festival.  On Sunday Sept. 4th you will find my booth among others in the NewBo Arts Festival in the NewBo District of Cedar Rapids.  I've been busy painting away in preparation.  I'm still trying to build a bit of a stock after my wonderful experience at Houby Days where I sold about half of my paintings.  Yahoo!  I hope it goes well at the NewBo Arts Fest and swing on by if you happen to be in the area.  Here's one of three paintings that I finished this last weekend and early this week.  I've got more in the works....

"Old Blue with yellows"; Watercolor and Ink on 10" x 12" Paper.
SOLD!

"1959 Biscayne Rear"; Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 14" Paper
Available for purchase

"1926 Franklin"; Ink with Watercolor on 8" x 10" Paper.
SOLD!

Happy Holidays!!

I wanted to wish all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  All of the Christmas orders have been taken and filled... I put the finishing touches on the last one this last Thursday night.  I had quite a few this year and here's some that I know have already been given out before Christmas that I can share with you....

"CCR Customized Motorcycle"; Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 14" paper.

"Blue Fairlane, His Baby", Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 14" paper.

"His 56 ", Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 14" paper.

The two above were for the same person and were commissioned by his family at his request.  I designed them so that they can hang side by side.  I've seen both of these cars at local car cruises and they are amazing.  There's more commissions that I can't show here yet because I don't want to ruin the Christmas surprises.  There's dogs, a cat, and a house.  I'm hoping to post them after Christmas here.  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!

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!

A Bit of Catching Up...

I've taken a vacation to Vegas and am a little behind on posting some of my recent artwork here on my blog.  So here goes...
This first painting was done as a Wedding Anniversary present for a friend who grew up in my same hometown (Cedar Rapids).  He now lives in Las Vegas with his wife and I thought it would be nice to bring a bit of hometown to him in a painting.  I call the piece- "Cedar Rapids Tour".  He loved it!

"Cedar Rapids Tour"; Watercolor and Ink on 11" x 14" paper.

Then, just before I left for Las Vegas I finished this fun one that I call "Purple Coupe".  

This painting was based on a photo that I took at work one day.  There was this cute coupe that was parked across the street from where I was working in Czech Village in Cedar Rapids.  I snapped a shot and thought it would make a good painting.  Go figure! :)  Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comments you may have.

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!

Car Row...

Here's a fun one I just finished.  It's based off a photo I took of a row of cars from a car show last summer.  This row seemed to be cars in the 1930's-1940's.

Photo: "Car Row"; watercolor and Ink on 9" x 12" paper.
Available for purchase.

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

Stingray Blues...

I just finished this for a surprise 4th of July birthday present this last Friday.

Photo: "Stingray Blues"; watercolor and ink on 9" x 11" paper.
Commissioned Piece

A wife wanted to surprise her husband with a painting of his 1971 Stingray.  It was a fun project to work on.  I worked up four different layout drawings and she rather had a tough time deciding on which one.  But finally got it narrowed down to Option #1 below.

It's always fun trying to surprise someone with a piece of custom artwork, or at least I think it is. :) Thanks for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have!

Split Front Bumper...

It's been almost a month since I've put anything on here.  Yes, I've been bicycling with the nicer weather and painting has taken a bit of a back seat.  This is a fun piece that I've been working on bit by bit. It's base is a poured watercolor, then a bit more regular water coloring, and then some finishing with red ink.  I call it "Split Front Bumper". The base car is a 1970 Z28 Camaro that I did some commissioned artwork on last year. The idea has been "simmering" in my mind for awhile of collage of doing a little something different.  Here's the little different....

Photo: "Split Front Bumper"; 11" x 14" Watercolor and Ink on paper.
Available for purchase.

I welcome any comments and thanks for stopping by!

Yellow Nomad Dreams...

I took a photo of this car last Summer when I was at the Swisher Car Show in Iowa.  I really fell in love with this beautiful 1955 white/yellow Nomad.  I could easily see myself cruising down a two lane highway in it.  The "station wagons" have always had a special place in my heart.  No surprise there when you consider I've had three different station wagons and they always have room in the back to stow a bicycle which is my first love. lol

Photo: "Yellow Nomad Dreams"; watercolor on 11" x 14" paper.
SOLD.

I think it's ironic that just as I am finishing up painting this beauty, I end up seeing the same car at the Houby Days Car Show.  It's a small world sometimes. lol I gave the gentleman a business card and asked him to check out this site within the week.  But I got so enthused after seeing the car again that I went home that evening and finished the painting.  Here's some photos of the painting in process...

Photo: Prelim background work and sketching.

Photo: About half way done...

Photo: Almost there...

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

"A Royal V Eight"

I finished another painting this last weekend.  This has been on the back burner for almost a year.  I've played with the idea of doing this painting shortly after I took the photos of the 1954 Dodge Royal V Eight at one of the Thursday night cruises in Cedar Rapids early last Summer.  In fact, while I was playing with this ideas for the Demon painting came into being.  Then, I ended up getting some other commissions and other projects.  This painting ended up getting set to the side.  Now, I finally had the time.  Here it is...

"A Royal V Eight"; watercolor on 16" x 20" cold press paper.
Available for purchase.

It was fun playing with a bit of a different style on this one too.  I welcome any comment you may have and thanks for stopping by!

A Green Thunderbird

With Jazz, my black lab, finally getting more settled in.  I'm finding more time to paint.  While she chews on a rawhide, I'm able to sit quietly in my studio.  I finished this painting the other night.  It's based on a photo that I took last Summer while spending the day at the Good Guys Car Show in Des Moines Fairgrounds.  I believe it is a 1964 Thunderbird.  Here's the painting...

Photo: "Green Thunderbird"; watercolor and ink on 11" x 14" cold press paper.

And here's the photo of a photo that I based it off of...

Photo of a photo of the car at Good Guys.

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

Chevy Breeds Racing #1 and #2

Another commission finished just in time for a Christmas gift.  These 2 paintings are based on a father and son's cars and was commissioned by a daughter/sister for the pair.  She wanted both the paintings to look as much a like as possible and have the cars racing.  The loaded question was whose car should be out in front.  She said her brother's which is a 1968/1969 Chevelle SS.  Her father's car is a 2012 Camaro. Here's the final paintings...

"Chevy Breeds Racing #1"; Watercolor on 8" x 10"

"Chevy Breeds Racing #2"; Watercolor on 8" x 10" paper

I started out with this as an original photo to work with...

Original Photo worked from

 From there I worked out 3 options and this was the one that was decided upon...

Option #3- drawing that was chosen.

It was decided that there would be a "grill focus" in the upper corner of each painting to make it special gift for each receiver.  Here's one of the paintings in process...

"Chevy Breed Racing #1" Watercolor painting in process.

Then I took what I thought were the finished paintings to show to the Sister/Daughter and there were a couple of things that needed to be fixed....

"Chevy Breeds Racing #2- What I thought was done?

It turns out that the father's car had a black stripe for part of the hood.  That was an easy fix.  The other error that was discovered is that the brother's car now had a 496 engine instead of the 396 engine that was showing in some of the other photos that I was given.  Oooopss!  That was a bit more of a challenge.  Because it's not so easy to erase or paint over with watercolor.  I ended up doing a bit of improvising and this what was the result...

"Chevy Breeds Racing #2"; final Watercolor on 8" x 10" paper

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

Happy Holidays!!

Wishing you and yours the Best of this Holiday Season!
These are most of the paintings that I've painted in the last year.  It's always amazing to look back on a year and see what has happened over the year.

Demon Four Pane...

The dust has finally settled and most of the boxes have been unpacked from my move.  In fact, I’m preparing for a little housewarming get together soon.  BUT the really important thing is that I managed to find my good camera and I was able to take some photos.  Here it is, in its entirety – The Demon Four Pane! 

"Demon Four Panes- four 8" x 11" paintings on paper.

 Here's them individually...

"Demon Logo"; watercolor on 8" x 11" paper

"Demon- Rear End"; watercolor on 8" x 11" paper.

"Demon- Side View"; watercolor on 8" x 11" paper.

"Demon- Front End"; watercolor on 8" x 11" paper.

P.S. Mr. Motorhead was VERY please with his paintings!  Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comments!

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!

Dad Had One...

Yep, Dad had one of these!  This is painting based on one of the several photos I took at the Good Guys Car Show this last summer in DesMoines.  I was drawn to paint this one because I remember my Dad had one of these Pontiac's.  It was a faded green too but had a great deal of rust.  We ended up getting rid of it because a passenger side door that would never stay shut.  I remember hanging on for dear life to my little brother, who hung on to my mom as she would take the left turns.  These were before the days of safety belts.  The final straw was the time Mom took a left turn on 1st Ave Cedar Rapids, I forgot to hold on, and I thankfully rolled over to the curb missing the on-coming traffic.  That was it and it was traded in for a newer Ford LTD.

Photo: "Dad Had One"; Watercolor and Ink on 8" x 10" Paper.

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!