I have started something a little different for me (something I believe you need to do once in awhile to keep you fresh)...I am starting a series of cowboy paintings.    I have always been a fan of cowboys, even since I was a little kid...all of the TV stars, etc., but also growing up, we had horses...work horses and even went to my Uncle Robert's (yes, I'm his namesake) farm in Mississippi on weekends and rode horses...mine was slow and steady...Dan.

In the last few years, I have gone back to those times...Wrangler Jeans, Lucchese Boots, BIG belt buckles...and country music.  I have even gone to a few rodeos and the clown in "Thangyuhvurrymuch!" is from one at the Shelby County Showcase Arena.  This is the first of what I think will be a fun and interesting series of figures, horses, and other Western symbols.

On another note, my mentor Fred Rawlinson once told me that he had a painting for sale in his gallery that left a lot of the watercolor paper unpainted.  He liked the design, etc. and thought it was appropriate.  A patron asked him if he would discount the painting because "he hadn't painted everything."  Fred just looked at the guy, laughed and thought..."you clown."  I will probably paint more of the paper in the next few pieces, but I am just giving you a warning...I might not...something different, you know.  As Elvis used to say, "Thanguyhvurrymuch!"

Tying One On--Wilson Creek is my first BIG watercolor in a while.  I feature my son, Chad, fishing in Wilson Creek a few years ago...it was July, and the water was low and slow...but as a fishing guide in Montana told me once, "trout gotta' eat!"

So, we went fishing.  

Not sure if the boys caught anything...the massive boulders were exposed from no rain that summer...it was hot, and the trout were pretty lethargic...but, it was a beautiful day in the mountains.  

It snowed about six inches there yesterday and it was a hard freeze last night.  But y'know...somebody's