Lately, I have been obsessed with cows–mostly photographing them, but now I’m starting to draw them too. I hope to incorporate them into some paintings sometime soon.

Why cows? Well, I do live in Texas and there are a lot of cows here. I live on the edge of a suburban city that meets the countryside with its farmlands and ranches. So basically, I see cows a lot. And I see a lot of cows.

But there is something else too. They seem to express, or maybe embody, a serenity and peacefulness that I don’t see often in the dashing to and fro of life in the suburbs. They stand so still. They move with such an unhurried walk–step, step, lift head and look, take a swing at the flies, shift weight, step, step, step, turn and look again.

And when they look at me with those big beautiful eyes, their gentle nature is usually what greets me.

Occasionally, I have startled a cow or two and they have let me know that they don’t like the idea of my photographing them. Their eyes widen so that I can see the whites all the way around the iris. Or they bray or bugle – not a mellow moo, but a outright call to cease and desist! But they lose interest soon enough and go back to chewing and walking and looking and resting.

Oh, how I love those cows.

I received a degree in studio art from Principia College, having attended other reputable art schools along the way: University of North Texas, Massachusetts College of Art, and The Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe. I would say much of what I have learned has been about learning to see as much as anything else. That and practice with the tools that I use: paint, paint brushes, canvas, paper, pastels, clay, camera. It often comes down to finding a process that will get the result that I see in my mind’s eye. Quite often happy accidents are my favorite passages in paintings.

For the past half year I have been posting paintings and photos on facebook for my friends to see what I am doing. Finally, with some encouragement from family and friends (you know who you are!) I have decided to commit to a public website and blog to talk about making art and sell the art I make. I hope you come back often and enjoy what you read and see. Feel free to join the conversation.