A Lamb Named Charlotte

Charlotte

Original Oil Painting on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Charlotte is a long haired sheep.  She is a bottle baby that was given to our grandchildren.  Those of you who have raised a bottle calf, lamb or any animal for that matter knows how attached you become to the infant animal that is dependent on your care.  Our grandchildren are in the process of practicing showmanship with their lambs and pigs for the spring stockshows.  Their little enterprise has grown from three show lambs to include three pigs, one bottle lamb (Charlotte) and two little goats.  Each afternoon they go down to the stalls to work or exercise them.  Before they get down to their serious business of working with the lambs, they let Charlotte out and they run and play with her.  It is such a sight to hear them giggle and run and see that little crazy lamb run after them like a little puppy!!!!  My next several paintings will be of some of their animals.  I have been inspired both creatively and with love far beyond any descriptive words (smiles).  You can find Charlotte in my Etsy store.

Black White Faced Cow Painting Felix

Felix

12x12 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Felix is a masculine bovine.  The inspiration for this cow painting came when a customer and I were visiting and came up with a cross between two previous paintings.  Thus, Felix was born (laugh)!  I like him though.  He has strong markings, a slight smile and very gentle eyes.  When I paint a cow I usually like showing the gentle look in their faces.  Cows can be wild.....they can be stubborn....they can actually be dangerous if they think their babies are threatened, but those gentle, large eyes usually get to me.  Felix is listed at this link:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/88460872/cow-oil-painting-felix-12x12-canvas

Cottontail Rabbit

Cottontail Bunny

6x6 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Here at our home in Fayetteville we have two decks....an upper and lower deck that faces the north.  In the mornings between 6:00 and 7:00 am we go to the upper deck to drink coffee.  Many times there are deer that are passing between the forest treelines on the east and west of our house.  There are other little forest creatures that grace us with their presence too.  For the last several weeks there have been two little bunnies that jump, run and play.  They have been a delight to watch.  One morning I decided to take my camera out and try to capture them.  All my shots were from above and not too conducive to painting, so I decided to sneak downstairs, and see if I could quietly get some photos of them.  Needless to say, I had to zoom in quite a bit.  I took a lot of images to get a few that gave me what I was looking for as resources to paint.  I found that painting this image was rather challenging.  First, there was a lot of green around them, and second, the values were very much the same.  I had to take a lot of artistic license when I painted the small one.  I will have to try this little guy at least one more time or the other fellow.  Both were so cute.  Below are other images of them.  I think this one thought he was hiding from me and I thought I was hiding from him (chuckle).  To check this little fellow out, click Cottontail Rabbit.

Hiding?

Posing?

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:)

Announcement of an Event

If you happen to be in Fayetteville, AR this evening, please accept this as a personal invitation to come by and see some of Cari Humphrey's and my paintings.  If you cannot attend our opening you are welcome to stop by Arsaga's Expresso Cafe at Crossover Ave and Mission any time during the dates noted above.

Blue Hydrangea in Fruit Jar

Blue Hydrangea in Fruit Jar

12x12 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri wollenberg

One of the great things about being an artist is getting to know more about flowers.  I have to admit there is so much "science" in raising beautiful flowers that I am sometimes overwhelmed when I put my "gardener's hat" on.  I have this crazy desire to raise my own flowers for floral paintings.  I have a lot of wonderful friends who have shared starts and seedlings of plants and flowers with me, and I am successful occasionally in following through with the discipline in caring for these prized gifts!  Hydrangea is one type of flower that I have become interested in during the last several years.  I found out that soil is usually what dictates the color of these gorgeous florals.  I have to admit that painting them is still my favorite thing even though it is absolutely delightful to cut some live flowers for a bouquet from my own flower beds.  There is defintely a connection in arts and sciences!

Pam's Bunny III

Pam's Bunny III

12x16 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

This bunny has white with brown spots. He is a flopped eared rabbit, but his ears have never flopped as they should. Instead they look as if they are airplane wings and he is fixing to fly somewhere. I've painted this little bunny several times. When I painted him this time I was doing a demonstration at an art walk in Rogers, Arkansas.  Of course I painted him from a picture, but after I finished him I had to make a decision of what kind of environment I would place him in. I decided to paint some rolling hills with tree lines in the distance. Thus, Pam's little bunny had a place to roam!  If you are interested in purchasing this little guy and giving him a home, click Bunny.


Footnote:  Pam is one of my painting students and she agreed to bring two of her pet rabbits to class one day because she knew that my grandaughter was going to be at class.  My grandaughter was about 5 yrs old at the time and was afraid of them!!!!  In her defense, they really were big.  I bet we took more than 100 images between the students and myself to get "one" good resource picture for paintings of those little critters.  They are NOT good models (laugh).

Eddie's Lamb

 

Eddie's Lamb

9x12 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

I painted this picture from a reference photo I took at my son's home.  I took lots of images because the lambs kept eating and eating.  Their heads were down constantly and finally this shot as this one looked up.  He was in front of a fence that the afternoon light was shining right through.  You can purchase this painting by clicking Eddie's Lamb.

Mozart

Mozart

12x12 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

I have learned a lot lately about Classical Musicians. When I went to art school we spent little time on visual artists' contemporaries...the "other artists". I was never assigned a paper on any artist other than visual...the ones I was studying. My art history books were full of the different art movements, but my focus, as was my discipline, was so much on the visual that I missed learning about some of the great musicians and writers...what a shame for me? Since I started this small series of naming my paintings after these famed musicians, I have done a little research on each one. I had read and seen movies about Beethoven, but had not personally read much of the other classical composers to any extent. There are so many fascinating, different opinions about these composers' personal lives. One unofficial quote of Mozart, "People make a mistake who think that my art has come easily to me. Nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not studied over and over," rung a bell for me as an artist. I feel like I can listen now to classical music with "even more" enthusiasm. Mozart's life was absolutely too short. It sounds like he had so many people who influenced him...both good and bad. I think he had compassion for people as well as "passion" for music. I wish he had been born in our times. Something I am impressed with most as I study anything...the more we know, the more we know we don't know about everything! "Mozart! How I love your music!"  Prints are available at :  Mozart

White Peonies 2010

White Peonies

by

Cheri Wollenberg

My husband and I grew up in Oklahoma.  We live in a different state now.  We live in a university town where we are blessed with many diversified cultures and wonderful people.  We love living here; however, we have found that the differences in how we pronounce words are not only with people who are from foreign countries.  I have to laugh as I write this because I have had to learn how to pronounce the flower (above), the peony as "pea-a-knee" rather than the "country" or "Oklahoman" way.  I had always called them "pea-o-knee" ....with an exaggerated accent on the "o" (laugh).  But, one thing I know....they are a beautiful flower and these were my yearly bouquet to emulate into a painting.  Their excellence of beauty is hard to capture, but I am satisfied that I painted it with energy and love.

Turquoise Pitcher and Gourd VI

Turquoise Pitcher and Gourd IV

8x8 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Gourds are still calling me to paint them.  I have this little turquoise pitcher that seems to scream at me every time I look at my still life items.  Depending on the light source and the other items that are reflected into it determines it's color.  It never ceases to fascinate me.  I haven't got to paint for over a week and I found myself doing this painting rather quickly....almost as if I was gorging food (laugh).  I like some of the attributes of the painting, but if I were to do it again.  I might hone a few things.  I like it though so I'm done with this one!  To buy this painting click here:  Turquoise Pitcher and Gourd IV

Strawberries

This is an older image and blog entry that I had posted on my former blog.....the one I lost!!!!  It seems there is an abundance of fruit this year.  Strawberries are delicious to eat, but their vibrant color and beautiful shapes are very inviting to a painter.  I enjoyed painting these lovlies.  I'm forever amazed at God's providence and creation.  I'm still new to blogging and each day I'll probably tidy the post up a bit (smiles).  So, bear with me all you silent ones out there - ha!

Pear and Strawberries, 6"x6", Oil on Canvas

Three Amigos

Three Amigos

SOLD

(Fine Art Prints Available)

I lived most of my life on a farm-ranch in Oklahoma.  This experience gave me a great appreciation for the natural beauty and design of the outdoors and of farm animals.  The patterns and natural earth tone colors of steers' coats became a fancy for me.  The "Three Amigos" is an oil painting I did of three steers.   I have painted them several times and I only have giclee prints of them now.  I sell other cow paintings on http://www.chatterboxart.etsy.com/.