Howdy, Neighbor!

In addition to his own acreage across the road, our neighbor, Farmer Mike, rents our pasture land, which comes right up to the rustic, dilapidated picket fence bordering our yard, for his horses and cows. (Don’t worry, there’s also a good barbed wire fence running right alongside the rustic, dilapidated picket fence, to keep our equine and bovine neighbors in the pasture and not in our yard.)

Sometimes there will be a whole group of cows and/or horses having a cocktail party right up by our fence. Today when I walked out into the yard, this guy was all by his lonesome, peacefully munching right across the way. He was quite handsome with the late afternoon sun shining on his red coat. I called out to him, “Hey!” He probably thought I said Hay and he looked up right as I snapped this picture.

And now, changing the subject jut a bit: I wanted to post these work-in-progress photos for Roses for Enid (a painting dedicated to the memory of my Grandma). I listed this on eBay last night, but for some reason Blogger won't let me edit the post, so I’ll put them here and that way they’ll be right above the finished piece if you scroll down a bit.

NOW we’re cookin’ with gas!

Midsummer Morning
© 2007 Karen Mathison Schmidt
16 x 16 • acrylic on 2" cradled gessobord
SOLD • private collection (Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Just a quick post to show you the finished painting ... and to make the big announcement:

Not only do we have running water, now we have HOT water! The propane tank is FINALLY hooked up to the gas lines. Ain’t life grand?

Walk Into Spring - Episode I

Pear Trees on Ockley - The Adventure Begins


I started on the pear trees painting today. One of the things I read somewhere recently that has helped me most: in almost all paintings from life, the first thing you see should be the last thing you paint! Keeping this in the front of my mind helps me from getting caught up in painting details too early.


On this painting, though, I decided to get the treetops mostly finished before starting on the shadowy part in the foreground, because painting the trees is what I’m most apprehensive about in this painting. I just looked up “apprehensive” – it means “anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen.” Yep, that’s the feeling I have about trying to get the trees right. So if I tackle that first, the rest of the painting should be a breeze, right?

In the Morning

"Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul."
– Psalm 143:8


“In the Morning” ©2007 Karen Mathison Schmidt
12 x 12 • acrylic on 3/4" cradled gessobord • sides painted dark brown
The cradled back allows for hanging flush against the wall
Gloss varnish for protection and ease of cleaning • sold unframed
CLICK HERE to bid!

I hope everyone had a happy and blessed Easter!

I actually finished this painting some time ago, but I just finished varnishing it and painting the sides. Our dog Trixie and I have a standing appointment for a long walk first thing in the morning (6:30-ish), again around 11:00 am, and again around 3:30 on weekdays. It's actually in my day planner. If I'm "in the zone" and work just a few minutes past the appointed time, she'll sit and drill a hole in my head with her stare until I snap out of it. Sometimes I forget to eat lunch, but Trixie won't let me forget our walk! We go, no matter what the weather (although sometimes we cut the walk a little shorter if it's absolutely freezing, and on rainy days we adjust the times to take advantage of breaks in the weather - we're both pretty flexible that way). I love our walks - after a few hours of concentrated creativity it's good to get up and out for a breather!

Well, I had the idea a few weeks ago of doing a series of paintings of what we see on these outings. The Neighborhood Paintings. I thought it would be a good exercise in paying attention. I set myself a goal of 20 paintings for the series, and so far the ideas are coming WAY faster than I ever expected!

This oak tree is one of many on the rolling front lawn of the church in the next block. I took the reference photos one chilly morning in March, just after dawn. The trees in the distance, over the edge of the hill, really did look all blue and misty like this, although somewhere in the development of the painting the lawn became a little bayou with grassy banks. (Over the years I've come to accept and look forward to the fact that sometimes, in spite of all my planning and studies and sketches, a painting just goes off and be's what it wants to be - it's kind of cool, actually - like a surprise gift someone gives you for no particular reason.)

I used brushes and painting knives on this one. I think I may have used my thumbnail and the paint rag once or twice. It has lots of layers of glazed colors, and interesting texture and abstract elements when viewed up close. I used a gloss acrylic varnish for protection and easy cleaning. Below is the monochromatic underpainting, and a close up detail of the finished work.