Round Hay Bales in the Summer

Round Hay Bales in the Summer

12x12 Original Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Summer brings heat and hay harvest.  It is a good time for family get togethers, apple pie, and watermelon.  Country folks continue to bale hay, feed the chickens, cows and other farm animals.  Summer also is a time for riding horses, fishing and mowing the lawn (over and over and over).  We have been working at our farm home.  It is so hot this year that we work for a couple of hours and then cool off and drink lots of water and tea.  I'm thankful today for the earth and its beauty - Psalm 104:5

By clicking Round Hay Bales, you can find out more about it.

Eggs II

Eggs II

6x8 Original Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

I've wondered the last several days how creative an artist could be in painting eggs.  I think since I seem to be consumed with this topic and chickens lately, I'll explore it a little bit.  These eggs certainly tasted good.  They were supposed to be laid by cage-free hens.  They are a pretty golden brown color and I enjoyed painting them.  It makes a nice subject for a daily painting....lots of practice and just plain fun!  This painting is listed in my Etsy store.  You may take a look at it by clicking Eggs II.

Miss Hen and Eggs - Two Paintings That Go Together

Miss Hen

8x10 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

As I get older I have this crazy desire to do things I never did before.  It may be the "bucket" thing....I don't know.  My husband and I will be moving back to a farm home in the near future, and I have decided that I would like to have a couple of hens.  There are several reasons for this.....I think it would be nice to have fresh eggs; I think chickens are  fun subjects to paint; and, I have a little farmer grandson who get's really "wide-eyed" when he thinks he is fixing to embark on a new venture.  We have raised cattle, lambs, pigs, and crops, but never chickens!  At one time of my life raising chickens would have been the last thing I ever wanted to do.  My grandmother had them and when we grandchildren went barefooted in the summertime.........well, you know the rest!  Anyway, I'll probably extend this post at another time and write about some of my previous experiences with roosters and chickens, but today....I wanted to post two related daily paintings that I finished a couple of weeks ago.  The hen above and the eggs below can be seen on etsy if one would be interested in buying them.  I enjoyed painting both of them.

Egg and Broken Shell

6x6 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Country Tree

Country Tree

6x6 Oil on Artist Panel

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Back in November, 2010 my husband and I were in Oklahoma for a few days. He was sowing wheat on an acreage close to our home there. I rode for a couple of hours in the tractor with him and took photographs all around the field. This painting is from one of those photographs. It is a simple painting but sometimes I need "simple" (laugh). Great fun. Click tree to see more about it.



Pears IV

Pears IV

18x18 Original Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Painting oversized pears create an extremely impressive composition.  In today's new homes the ceilings are high and to place a painting almost halfway to the ceiling dewarfs many subjects.    The pears (one in the foreground and two in the background) are four times the size of a real pear, casting shadows across the white table cloth that dissapears to a rustic, dark red background.  This is my fourth painting this year of larger than life pears.  The others were requested by different buyers.  Click Pears to get more information about the size and price:)

Pink Peonies and Black Kitty Cat

Pink Peonies and Black Kitty Cat

8x8 Oil on Artist Panel

by

Cheri Wollenberg

I picked this little ceramic cat up at a local flea market several years ago.  I have wanted to paint it with something for a long time, but never had just the right objects to place with him.  But as I worked with the peonies and black vase, it was like he was purring and trying to get my attention.  He worked out perfectly for this simple still life and he looks like he has found a place of importance (laugh)!  You can find him here.

Painting Demo of Bouquet of Daisies - Daisy Dance

Daisies are cropping up all over alongside the roads in Northwest Arkansas.  I find myself dreaming up how to paint them as I travel on the road.  What is really scary is that I would like to stop.....doesn't matter where....and pick some of them.  Is this stealing?  They are wild flowers and they don't look like they belong to anyone!  I fear I have been a thief on occasion.  Tempting they are and I have decided to give you a very small story in pictures about this painting - a painting demo starting at a decision making point.  Here goes:

No....I didn't pick these daisies along the road!  Yes, they are fake!  I prepared a canvas with acrylic paints and did a quick, rough underpainting of the daisies.  I started my imagining a little too late, but I painted gray tones where I would place the daisies and I painted the vase brilliant yellow.  When it was dry I began to paint over the underpainting with my oil paints. 

I have a tendency to over-do everything!!!  I had such a good time painting the daisies that I tried to get them all on the painting support.  This created a perfect ball for a bouquet (a manicured topiary!) (laugh).  I decided I needed to take some of the daisies out!

Daisy Dance

12x12 Original Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

This is better even though the bouquet is a little tight.  I could paint more flowers out, but this is where I'll stop.  I will paint another one with some real daisy flowers.  This was good practice!  Click here if interested:

Daisy Dance