No Joke...

"Dublin West"

8x10

oil on board

I opened an email this afternoon. An Account Manager of Zatista.com notified me that I was "Artist of the Day". Yes, its April Fool's day and those who don't see this today may not see it featured on Facebook HERE but I bask in my recognition for the day. Yay!

Today's painting is the one I was whining about the last several posts. I have decided enough is enough and stopped fiddling with it. This is the Dublin West BART [Bay Are Rapid Transit] station. It was painted from a pic taken with my phone when I was on the way to San Francisco last month.

8 Seconds

18x 20 oil on canvas

I have been following Michelle Burnett's Challenge Blog ever since she started in April. It has grown rapidly in just the few months she has started it. I was always a little intimidated because of the caliber of artists submitting their work and the subject matter seemed very complex.

When I checked on Following the Masters this time, the challenge just cried out to me, "DO IT!" with a subject near and dear to my heart. Her blog is also educational and I loved the website she listed on her lesson plan which directed the viewer to the works of Western Artist Maynard Dixon. Seeing his paintings again tipped the scale.

I grew up on Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, the Lone Ranger and every Western [movie and TV] out there. When I was growing up in Japan, I would accompany my dad to the Army Base movie theater and watch every 'spaghetti western' that came in.

Some of the few American TV programs that Japanese TV Stations ran were Rawhide, Bonanza and the Rifleman. I grew up thinking that the Cartwrights were fluent in Japanese.

So thank you Michelle... this little cowgirl had a great time painting this image.