Back from the Northwest...busy fall ahead.

Laura and I are back from an extensive trip to the Northwest. Years of going only to Colorado and folks telling us we need to go further west, see the northwest, go somewhere different etc. well we did.

We left July 18th and returned August 6th. Roadtrip time in the Silverado and 6000 miles in doing so,
Laura participated in a wrokshop with a wonderful artist Mara Schasteen in Sheridan for 4 days and I explored the area and the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. We then headed to Yellowstone, The Tetons, Jackson, drove through southern Idaho and all the way to Eugene Oregon for several days with our daughter and son in law. Taking in the sights of Oregon, the coast, Crater Lake and of course the univeristy was a great time.
Our 3 day drive back took us into Utah, a visit to Arches National Park and back home through Colorado. To say the least I took a ton of picturesof this new area we were in and will be posting a few from time to time. Stay tuned and check back often for that.

Looking ahead is a trip to Telluride for a stay at The Running Horse Ranch on Hastings Mesa. First though we will stop in Victor Colorado for a plein air competition that Laura will be participating in and some new scenery for me to capture. All in all it has been a treat to be out of the miserable heat the weeks we have been gone, and a blessing to be with Laura seeing all of this together.
Outlook for fall is BUSY, Laura will be in the Westport Art Show Sept. 7th-9th and please stop in and say hi, booth 71. We also have other events to be involved in, and we do plan on having a gallery show in November.

One half century and a day older.

Thank you all for birthday greetings and a wonderful day celebrating my birthday on June 20th. As most know I take my Itunes and music in general pretty serious, and the night of the 19th as I waited for the midnight hour to strike and begin the celebrating I put together a list of 50 of my favorites just to have playing on my big day, and of course one to build on for the next 50 years. It was kind of fun going through the library of songs and making the selections.
Some in order, but ironically they seemed to follow the timeline of me and events and happenings in my life, so that seemed interesting to see how I came up with what I did. Kind of crazy I guess.
So for those that may want to know what it was all about, I thought I would make the list known. Enjoy!!
Ridin' the Storm Out (live)      Reo Speedwagon
Four Wheel Cowboy         CW McCall
Telluride      Tim McGraw
Angel Boy      Tim McGraw
Take me away from here      Tim McGraw
I Can't hold back      Survivor
Hollywood Nights (live)      Bog Seger
Magic Power      Triumph
Be Good to Yourself      Journey
Back in Black      AC/DC
Cats in the Cradle      Ugly Kid Joe
Dancing Queen from      mamma mia soundtrack
A Horse with no name      America
Going the Distance      Bob Seger
Roll me away      Bob Seger
Shane title theme      Movie soundtrack
The Big Valley theme       Tv series
Promised Land      Elvis Presley
Sara      Fleetwood Mac
The Dance      Garth Brooks
Galveston      Glen Campbell
The Buffalo Hunt Dances with Wolves     Soundtrack
Whispering Jesse      John Denver
Rocky Mountain High      John Denver
I guess He'd rather be in Colorado      John Denver
Annie's song      John Denver
Lady      Kenny Rogers
The Gambler      Kenny Rogers
The kid is hot tonite      Loverboy
Forever Autumn      Moody Blues
Pretty Amazing Grace      Neil Diamond
And the grass won't pay no mind      Neil Diamond
Cracklin' Rosie      Neil Diamond
Solitary Man      Neil Diamond
Crazy on you (live)      Heart
If everyone cared      Nickleback
Roll with the Changes      REO Speedwagon
Can't Stop Rockin'      REO Speedwagon
The Zoo     Scorpions
Lorelei      Styx
Great White Hope      Styx
Didn't Know it was Love      Survivor
It's the singer not the song      Survivor
When Seconds Count      Survivor
Beautiful Noise      Neil Diamond
If you know what I mean      Neil Diamond
Big Love      Tracy Byrd
Brandy (you're a fine girl)      Looking Glass
The Partys Over      Journey
When I said I do      Clint Black and Lisa Hartman
And the song that Laura and I find in each other,  "Something that we do"   Clint Black and Lisa Hartman

I can only imagine what the next 50 will be, but I can tell you that the first and last one have their spot secured.

Where was Winter? Spring and all the colors are soon arriving.

Spring seems to be right around the corner and with great disappointment in the lack of snowfall I guess it is time to concede and look ahead. There is some great photography opportunity's out there when it snows and the light and special effects that can take place are wonderful. You have to think that next winter has got to be better. Time will tell.

With that said we now start thinking about the budding of the trees, the Dogwoord, the Red Bud are especially nice and there is so many others, so time to get focused on what we can adventure out and shoot. Look for some of these to appear as the spring show of colors begins.

I will be posting some images on my facebook so look me up there as well.

Paradise Lost sales in California

Congrats to my wife for selling her painting of Paradise Lost in a show in California. She painted a 6x6 of it for a Randy Higby show in California and the piece has sold!!

Gallery Open

It has been some time since the last entry but I have been taking pictures!! Laura and I had a great summer although it was not a trip west this summer and I will get over that...... we did spend some time in the Ozarks and I enjoyed some various "local" image taking.

We recently decided to open a gallery at 1608 SW Twincreek Pl in Blue Springs Mo.

Yes it is home, but lots of space and not many folks living in it as the kids get older. So Laura has her oil and pastel work framed and on display on the main floors and has her studio. I in turn have an area in the lower level with my photography. We recently had an open house and enjoyed visitors, family and friends stopping in all day. We now show work by appointment only and feel free to contact us to see work or discuss commission work we also can do.

I sold several pieces at the opening along with Laura and one of my most special pieces called Winter Solitude sold to a Dr. in the Blue Springs area. He saw it and said wow, when I see this I see Colorado. Many thanks for purchasing and I will try to do better posting work!!

Enjoy the winter season as it holds many great opportunitys for great photography!!

Along time has passed since my last update. It is already the beginning of a hot summer and the humidity is well at work. I have taken various opportunities to get out and do some photography and will post a few now. In March I entered a piece in the local Blue Springs Art show and received an Honorable Mention in my category. I felt this a really nice honor as there was many wonderful images in the show.

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in any of these for purchase. Check the gallery section for some new work.