Good Afternoon: Thought I would catch you up on my two latest paintings and the  Melvin Gallery Show. 

Here are my two latest paintings. First is "Canyon Face" I started working in oils about a month ago and really am enjoying the color and vibrance from 

the oil paint. Canyon face is 12x12 on Gesso Board and I just ordered a frame for it. 

Other new painting is "Afternoon Build Up". It is also a oil and is a 8x10 Canvas framed.

I am looking back now at places and memories I have for doing these paintings. The western landscapes offer so much to a artist to study and paint. I am in that mode right now. True I live in Florida and I do Florida art but my main painting direction now is Western Landscapes and Contemporary Western Art in Oils, Watercolor, Acrylic and MIxed Media. 

If you have a interest in these two paintings got to my website to see the pricing and contact me if you are interested.

 Ok the Lakeland Art Guild Annual Juried Show is currently running until June 8th, 2019 at the Melvin Gallery at Florida Southern College in Lakeland Florida. The gallery is open Monday-Friday 10-4 PM. I am happy to announce I won Best of Show for my piece "Farmng US301". It is explained in a previous blog in November 2018. Do try to see all this good art. I was humbled to win with so many talented artists  and it is such a great show. 

All for today. Enjoy your week. Steve




Good Morning and hope you are enjoying your day. I just finished this piece today and the paint still  is drying. It is a 22x28x1.5 Acrylic on canvas. I have enjoyed painting memories and photos of the Southwest. This was a visualization of a mesa somewhere in Utah. Memories are etched in artists minds sometimes so well they are easy to paint. This piece came pretty easy. 

 To the current shows today please come to the Melvin Gallery tonight at 6PM to enjoy the Annual Lakeland Art Guild Juried show at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. There is great art from all over the Central Florida area to enjoy and meet many of the artists. I have 3 pieces showing and am very humbled by that. This show will be up during the month of May.  Also RPFunding Center(Lakeland Convention Cent) Has a show running until June of current art by the Lakeland art guild. If you are in the area stop by and check it out. 

 Have a blessed day and a great Mothers Day also. See ya!




Good Morning: Last blog for April. Lot of art shows coming up so will go over this small piece I did for the Melvin Show in May. This painting "After the Storm" 6x6 Acrylic will be sold on the night of the reception for the Melvin Art Show at Florida Southern College on May 10th, 2019. All of the 6x6 art will be sold for only $20 so first come first serve with any pieces that someone might want to purchase. Other Shows of interest will be the new Show at RPFunding Center in Lakeland. This show will be up two months starting next week so take a opportunity to see it. Currently running at the Ridge Art Association Gallery in Winter Haven Florida is the Miniature and Small works show. Lots of art in the area with many great central Florida artists showing the work.  I have art in all of these shows so take some time and support your artists. Have a great week and see ya!





Study Acrylic


Study watercolor



Good morning. Just finished a walk and a daily study so wanted to talk a bit. Arroyo is the latest 6x6 I did for the miniature and small works show starting next week at the Ridge Art Gallery in Winter Haven Florida. I found that small works are really a good way to test your patience and give a lot of satisfaction in a short amount of time. 
 The studies  were done the last two days and studies are really a good way to get to the brush and paper daily. They are studies so they aren't your best work always but they can be. I think to , as I walked the lake today I thought of the need to paint daily has really grabbed me. Not all day but a few hours or more keeps your head clear you relax and you enjoy the love  of paint and brush.. Artists realy have to stick with it to keep a level  that they want and not just a few hours a week. Thats my opinion only.

 Ok lots of shows coming up.  The Melvin Gallery show is starting in May. It is juried. The miniature and small works is in Winter Haven starting next week at the Ridge Gallery which is also juried. RP Funding current has a juried  show and it will be up till April 23 and then will be replaced with another juried show. So if you like art or are a artist lots of shows to enter and enjoy. Get out there and support the art community. 

 Have a blessed week and see ya!




Good afternoon:  Well it is warming up and a great weekend here in the 80's and no rain in the forcast. I have been working on this piece for the week so wanted to share with you what it is about. 

 Growing up in West Texas, specifically EL Paso, New Mexico was always a short drive for us as a family. The mountains near Los Cruces are sone of the prettiest around. As a kid we would spend time with picnics in the desert yes that was done and a few times exploring the mountains in the Boy Scounts camping there. I enjoy now thinking and painting these mountains again. Since January I have been doing alot of Western landscapes. some from photos, some from memories but all places and spaces I can remember as a special part of Western US I love so much. Tough doing Western Art in Florida but somebody has got to do it. Anyway this piece is finished and hope to enter in a future show. This is titled simply enough" Organ Mountains New Mexico" 10x20x1.5 Acrylic Framed. Have a great week and if you live in Lakeland check out the Art Show tomorrow at the First Presbyterian Church on Lake Hollingsworth.  It runs from 9-4 and it should be simple awesome. Have a blessed weekend and see ya!




Good afternoon and it is a rainy day here in Lakeland. Wanted to give some info on this painting that is not in any shows right now.

 I started a series of highway paintings this year. Places i have been and highways traveled. This painting was from a highway US-76 in South Carolina.

It was winter and naturally the season for farming crops is more in the Spring and Fall. I enjoy working with the shapes and angles that you see in farm land from the distance or in a airplane. Hope to show this later in the year. it is a acrylic and size is 24x36 Framed. 

Have a great day and see you again soon. See ya!




Good afternoon. Thought I put one of my latest pieces up on my blog and give some information on it. Painting is titled "US24-Colorado." 

I have been painting as of late area's that I remember traveling and seeing

during my life time. This painting is about the open West. Simple shapes and pale colors that absorb the outdoors and makes the viewer think about the place and time. Sky and sand make great western paintings.  Influences in my  art style could be directed to Ed Mell, Georgia O'Keefe, Maynard Dixon. Truly influence nothing more. They are the artist's that paint the Western landscape the best in my opinion over the last 100 years. 

   As a side note RP Funding Center in Lakeland will be again exhbiting the Lakeland Art Guild Art. First show open to artists will be in February 2019. Take some time and see some great art by great artists in the Central Florida area. Have a great week. See ya!








Good Morning: Enjoying some cool weather today here in Lakeland. Nice change this week from it seems our constant summer here in Florida. Thought I would talk about this new piece and how it evolved. 

  "Paint Samples" is a piece of wood that I used all last winter to test paint for my wood assemblages . I always test paints both acrylics and watercolors on wood to see how the paint looks and adheres to the wood. 

Last month a artist friend dropped by my studio and saw this piece of wood sitting in the corner. He liked it a bunch and said why don't you use it for a upcoming show. I said hey you are right so now it  is ready for a show next month in Winter Haven Florida. It is 5x20 inch wood assemblage so hope it does well. All for the week. Have a blessed weekend and see ya!