Bison Stroll - colorful little buffalo painting

5 X 7 oil on canvas panel $50

Includes shipping and insurance U.S.

Today the thermometer climbed to over 70 degrees F. At the same time the North East part of the U.S. is getting covered in a huge blanket of snow - possibly a record breaker. Our warm weather is following 2 straight weeks of colder-than-average temperatures: unusual for Texas during any winter.  We had been keeping both wood stoves burning non-stop during that time. If I didn't have 2 momma cows and 4 calves to tend to twice a day, I wouldn't have stepped a foot outside.
Sophie is producing quite a bit of milk, but I cannot seem to convince her to willingly accept either one of the 2 foster calves. Abbey continues to care for all three, and I retrieve all the extra milk from Sophie to drink and make butter and yoghurt. I also give some of it back to the smaller of the 2 fosters - the one that Abbey doesn't like.

Numbers 14:8  If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.

If you are interested in this painting, click here to send me an email. I accept checks and Paypal. I can also arrange LAYAWAY. To view my latest paintings on Daily Painters go HERE. To view larger paintings, go to my Website HERE. To view a wealth of OTHER Texas Artists, enjoy THIS site!

Spooky Spotted Cow - new angle

6 X 6 Oil on board  

Available through the Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas

My neighbors next door have had the worst luck these past few months. Phyllis hurt herself stepping off a ladder while decorating their Christmas tree, and Ron slipped and fell on his shoulder outside the Post Office. They also have cows, and this time of year, they must be fed daily. So Mike (and sometimes I) have helped out by feeding the cows for them.
I never go anywhere without my camera, and a couple days ago I had a chance to get some more images of the Spooky Spotted Cow that I love to paint. Her horns are getting quite impressive - I always marvel at how they can manage with such ornaments on their noggins.

Jeremiah 2:32  Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.

If you are interested in this painting, click here to send me an email. I accept checks and Paypal. I can also arrange LAYAWAY. To view my latest paintings on Daily Painters go HERE. To view larger paintings, go to my Website HERE. To view a wealth of OTHER Texas Artists, enjoy THIS site!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Tomorrow is my Momma's 86th birthday, and she is AMAZING!!!! 

The summer of 2013 was not fun. She and I spent most of it in Doctor's offices, examining rooms and hospitals. She was diagnosed with both colon and lung cancer and has been totally cured with surgery and gamma radiation. To see her now you would never suspect the trauma she endured. And her latest checkup revealed everything in perfect order...the Energizer Bunny keeps on running!

When I talked to her today she told me about her morning spent visiting the "old" folks in a local nursing home! Faces light up when she appears, simply because she does not allow sadness or despair to follow her. Instead she brings hope and a positive attitude and the pure and simple joy of living. This has been her mission in life (that, and COOKING for EVERYONE!)  

Mom, I hope to continue following in your footsteps - thank you for paving the way (and sharing your recipes!)

On to farm news...

This evening Miss Sophie is 3 days post-calving which means THE MILK IS MINE! Some people drink colostrum, and there's really no reason not to consume it. It is, however, a bit thicker than regular milk and has quite a bit of cream in it, too. I also suspect that it has a bit of a laxative effect, which I would rather avoid!

Therefor, for the first three days after my cows give birth, all the extra milk (and there is GALLONS) goes to animals - the dogs and cats and chickens and foster calves all get a huge treat.  At that 72 hour mark, though, the milk comes into the house for ME...to make cheese or yoghurt or ice cream - whatever - until the calves all get big enough to consume what the lovely Miss Sophie produces.

Fuzzy Kitty is my milking companion. Any time I head for the barn, she is right on my heels - even if I'm not carrying my milk bucket. She is absolutely fearless around the cows, and she knows she gets to lick the milk cup when I'm done.

Proverbs 13:20   Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

We Have a baby! Sophie had her calf.

Welcome to the world, Bronco Billy!

Yesterday evening around 9:45, Mike returned from watching the Ohio State game with a friend, and he commented to me, "What's the calf?" I thought he was teasing me, as I had just checked Sophie a couple hours earlier, so I scoffed at him. "No, really, you haven't seen it?"  I can get into my cold-weather-coveralls pretty fast, and I did it in record time last night. As I approached Sophie in her pen, I could see a wet, red glob next to her and I realized she had fooled me again and I had missed the birth by minutes. 

A quick check revealed it's a HE, and within 15 minutes he was up and finding supper. I spent another 30 minutes just reveling in the miracle of yet another healthy calf and then returned inside.

I named him Bronco Billy because he was the buckingest calf inside a cow and again this morning on the outside. I was rather hoping for a heifer baby, but I'll take unassisted birthed baby bull calves all day long if they turn out like this one.

Sister Puddin' stood watching on the outside, hoping for a quick snack herself, no doubt!

 

Psalm 105:5  Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced

nodp

Dave's Place - landscape commission of home

16 X 32 Oil on Canvas Panel

SOLD

My friend Dave is the historian/archivist of his family, and his home is a veritable museum devoted to the preservation of his family's colorful and proud history. Dave saves everything, and everything he has saved has a story to tell, and he remembers them all. Dave appreciates art and the people who make it. Dave appreciates me.
I began this project with a trip to Dave's farm, camera ready. It was late Spring and already hot - even for Texas. The earliest wildflowers (like bluebonnets) were gone and the warmer season ones (like the Mexican Hats) were in full show. The Zinnias were yet to show. But Dave said it would be OK to paint them all together. I also was given permission to use "artistic license" and place architecture and yard ornaments anywhere I wanted - with the object being to please the eye, rather than reproduce reality. Dave let me know which images needed to be included and which to eliminate, and turned me lose.
The painting is nearly complete, with one more approval from its designer. Then on to new projects!
In the meantime, we are still on "Sophie Watch" with a still swelling udder, but no sign of labor yet. Yesterday was her due date, but the weather was not dreadful enough yet...we are expecting worse within a few days. Meantime, she happily munches hay and treats and enjoys the brushes and scratches she is getting from me. I will be setting my clock (again) for a 2:00 a.m. check....

Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

If you are interested in this painting, click here to send me an email. I accept checks and Paypal. I can also arrange LAYAWAY. To view my latest paintings on Daily Painters go HERE. To view larger paintings, go to my Website HERE. To view a wealth of OTHER Texas Artists, enjoy THIS site!

Spooky Cow - from a new angle

12 X 12 oil on 3/4" birch panel - can be hung unframed 
Available through the Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas

Winter is on its way - SERIOUS winter for us thin blooded Texans.  The forecast for Wednesday night's low is in the teens. And of course, I have chicks about to hatch and "teen aged chicks" ready to move out of the brooder into the coop, where they will be forced to fend for themselves and get along with the older biddies.  I have spent the day cleaning, rearranging and hanging heat lamps and creating "safe areas" for the half-grown chickens, moving firewood closer to the house, getting a stall ready for still-gestating-Sophie and preparing for the COLD.
Mike got another doe last night, and since I knew today was already full, I encouraged him to take it to the processor. It was an extravagance (especially since I know they can't possibly get as much meat off the bones as I do!), but it's nice to have neatly wrapped little packages of tenderized steaks and ground meat (that I will turn into summer sausage). Plus they gave us a large bag of bones for the dogs, and said I could come back for more while it was still hunting season. I am tempted to freeze some; the dogs love them so much.
Sophie had an enormous glob of goo suspended from her girlie parts this morning, but her udder is still not expanded like it was just prior to calving last year, so I think we still have a few days to go. She will be locked up tonight, however, just in case. Another nagging worry is the cougar that has been sighted  just a mile from our farm. There are plenty feral pigs for it to survive on, but I assume that the domestic calves would be easier prey. I find myself counting noses (and beaks) hourly.

Jeremiah 31:2  This is what the Lord says: “The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.”

If you are interested in this painting, click here to send me an email. I accept checks and Paypal. I can also arrange LAYAWAY. To view my latest paintings on Daily Painters go HERE. To view larger paintings, go to my Website HERE. To view a wealth of OTHER Texas Artists, enjoy THIS site!

Sunset in Morgan Mill - by Debbie Grayson Lincoln

8 X 10 oil on panel

$100 includes shipping and insurance U.S.

I have a fun commission that I am starting this week - and the background needs a fairly dramatic sky. I have been sorting through my huge inventory of magnificent sky photos and I keep coming back to this one - seen right outside my studio door one evening recently.  It needs to be a bit stormier, though, so I plan to make the clouds in the lower left more ominous - I want to get the feeling of "coming safely through the storm and seeing the light of safe passage shining through".  I will share the other elements in the painting as I get to them.
The news from Morgan Mill is pretty unexciting - over an inch of rain (praise God!), some very cold weather that froze the mud (low 20's), baby chicks need to get out of the brooder (but it's too cold), and Miss Sophie continues to gestate. Her udder is expanding finally. Stay tuned...

Psalm 119:117   Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.

If you are interested in this painting, click here to send me an email. I accept checks and Paypal. I can also arrange LAYAWAY. To view my latest paintings on Daily Painters go HERE. To view larger paintings, go to my Website HERE. To view a wealth of OTHER Texas Artists, enjoy THIS site!

Wild Ride - Abstract Horse painting by Debbie Grayson Lincoln

24 X 30 Oil on Stretched Canvas

Contact Artist for Availability

I had to escape the realistic paintings today - something wild in me just had to get out, and this is the result.
We woke this morning to drizzly, icy conditions and it has been the same all day. Cold and miserable. Feeding this morning was not fun, and I am immensely grateful for my warm house to return to. After making sure the animals were all dry and fed, I came inside, stoked both stoves full of wood, and settled in before the easel. I have been in Heaven.
Sophie update: no changes in physical appearance or demeanor, which is good. Today is NOT a good day to give birth.
Luke 1:14   And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
If you are interested in this painting, click here to send me an email. I accept checks and Paypal. I can also arrange LAYAWAY. To view my latest paintings on Daily Painters go HERE. To view larger paintings, go to my Website HERE. To view a wealth of OTHER Texas Artists, enjoy THIS site!