Two Small Cow Paintings!

Little Alice - Cow Painting

6x8 Oil on Ramar Artist Board

Cheri Wollenberg

Sassy

6x6 Canvas Print

Cheri Wollenberg

Today I'm being kind of lazy and posting about two small paintings at once.  I decided to do some smaller works.  Actually this is a challenge to me.  I don't work too well with small brushes. I'm used to doing much larger works of cows, and I use much larger brushes.  These are two of our son's cows.  I have a wealth of resources with his changing herds.  My husband and I run around in the Gator and the cows come up very close to the Gator.  They are so curious and many times think we are coming with something for them to eat.  Had a good time taking photos of these!  

Ms Abby - Cow Painting

Ms Abby - Cow Painting

20x20 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

Painting cows are a delight for me.  I have many references of cattle.  My husband and I are now retired, but we have raised lots of cows in our own time; however, in this post besides showing you my latest painting, I want to tell you a little about my son.   He is in the cattle business in a very big way (the reason I have fresh and more recent cow image resources).  I've mentioned him in earlier posts.  He is a busy person with his job, raising anywhere from 450-650 head of cattle at different times of the year.  He also raises sheep and pigs (rather on a small scale) for his children who are involved in livestock shows.  He also farms and grazes approximately 2,000 acres of grassland, wheat and soybeans.  In addition to all this, he preaches at a small church in our community every Sunday.  Next to my husband I guess I could say that I admire him more than any other man I know.  I have two other men whom I'll share about in another post sometime.  He loves his children and spends time with them.....how he does this I do not have a clue except he has help from Someone Higher than any of us.....a Divine Help!  Of course by now some have decided to quit reading this rather long post, but if you have not....Ms Abby the cow presented in this painting is listed in my Etsy store.   Click to see her.  Thanks for coming by. 

Cow Painting - Sweetheart and Friends

Sweetheart and Friends

16x20 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

Painting cows is something that I have been doing for about 20 years now.  I still get so much pleasure watching them, photographing them and naming them.  I enjoy and am inspired by other subject matter, but animals seem to give me an extra amount of creative power; therefore, I feel at ease in expressing myself.  Thanks for coming by and looking at my new posts for the New Year of 2014.  You can find out more about this painting by clicking on the title or here:  Click

Cow Painting of Winken,Blinken, and Nod

Winken,Blinken and Nod

24x36x2 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

 

Three very different colored cows are lost in a sea of bright, golden wheat. They reminded me of an old children's poem Wynken,Blynken and Nod. The black and white, black and blond cows are watching and searching for a way go home. Perhaps they are waiting for someone to direct them. They are happy and unconcerned about the anxieties of the world. They are dreaming of food!

Blondie - A Cow Painting

Blondie

8x10 Oil Painting on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg 

Blondie is another one of my son's cows that graze behind our house.  She had her nose turned up one evening as the sun was going down and I fancied that she was smelling the grass and clover that was all around her and the other cattle.  Her blond coat of summer hair was high lighted in the sun,  and her ears were perked up as I walked up with my camera.  She looks proud and relaxed in this painting.  Cow paintings are such a favorite thing to paint.  She is priced in my Etsy shop.  This link will take you there.

Daffodil - A Cow Painting

Daffodil A Cow Painting

16x16 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

Daffodil is one of the cows that has been eating grass back of my house all spring.  She is one of 150+ head of cattle that belongs to our son.  They are so fat and tame that I can walk right up to them and move around with my camera in the pasture.  Occasionally they look up curiously and every once in a while one will paw her foot as if to try to scare me off......at first I was concerned when one did this to me and I instinctively jumped.  My jump scared her more than it scared me (chuckle).  I have enjoyed this herd of cattle more than any I've ever been around.  They have been a tremendous inspiration to me as I look at the natural patterns and textures in their colorful coats.  The original painting of Daffodil can be bought in my Etsy store.. here and different sized prints can be bought of her on my Fine Art America website..here.

Pete and RePete

Pete and RePete

18x18 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Ducks Waddling Home

Ducks Waddling Home

9x12 Oil on Stretched Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

(SOLD)

This painting was quite fun for me to do.  When we go to our farm in Oklahoma I am so inspired to do animals.  There are horses, steers (cows) and so many different types of fowl going south this time of the year not to mention the dogs and barn cats, possums, armadillos and the cats of "white and black" that are not so welcome!  The ponds are a retreating place for geese and ducks on their journey south. 

I had one of those artists' moments while we there this last time.....one that all of you artists friends can relate to....  One morning as I was drinking coffee on our back porch, a huge group of egrets were surrounding the cows in the pasture at the bottom of a hill behind our house.  Something startled them and they began flying and they all flew toward our house into the trees in our back yard.  As they were flying in to land on the branches their legs straight behind their bodies, necks forged ahead, and their large wings spanning out like airplanes, they were so interesting and exciting and............you guessed it.........I was without my camera!  It was one of those moments that all us think to ourselves that we need our cameras to  record such a wonderful moment, to capture a shape or position, to catch an exhilarating feeling of awe!  They were gone almost as fast as they flew into my presence and all I have is one vision that sticks in my mind, but one that will inspire me to do some research on those magnificent birds that companion the cattle this time of the year. 

Maybe I will paint them someday....but in the meantime I will paint the duck pictures I have (laugh).  I think I may be chattering!  I haven't posted in a while and for any readers that have actually made it to the end of my story.....now you know why my father's family called me "chatterbox".

This painting is available to buy by following this link:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/57483362/ducks-waddling-home-original-oil

Cow Painting of Charlene

Charlene

12x12 Original Oil Painting by

Cheri Wollenberg

This painting features a young British White Cross that was on my son's ranch for a while. I think she is fine and I thought Charlene was a good name for her. She has an innocence about her, don't you think? She is set against a dark red background which seems to accentuate her white coat.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting, follow this link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/40031439/cow-painting-of-charlene-original-oil

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/.