Cow Art and More seeking new artists

Are you a cow artist looking for a targeted customer base to market your work?  Cow Art and More, the art gallery where 'art and agriculture' meet, is looking for quality artists in any media that portrays agriculture and cows in a beautiful art form.  Cow Art and More will be attending World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, this fall, along with plans to attend the NCBA conference in February 2013.

Interested artists should submit by email the following:

A few pictures representative of your work along with descriptions
Retail prices
Availability (originals, prints, etc)

Information must be submitted by Saturday, July 14 to info@cowartandmore.com for consideration.  Incomplete submissions will not be considered.  Questions may be directed to the same email address or gallery owner Kathy Swift on twitter @cowartandmore
 

Two new painters join Cow Art and More

I am excited to introduce two new painters to the Cow Art and More portfolio of artists:

Laura Carey has lived in Canada all her life. She new painting would be an important part of her life, but had no idea that dairy farming would be as important as well. The dairy cattle on the farm she operates with her husband serve as the inspiration for her paintings.










Narrie Toole hails from New Mexico. While she no longer has cattle of her own, she managed her own herd of beef cattle for many years and exhibited the cattle nationally. Narrie's loose impressionistic style of oil painting captures the attention of collectors worldwide.

You can find the complete collection of both artists work in the painting category along with the new products section through the end of the month.

The Summer Art of Robert Duncan

Did you know that in addition to his beautiful cattle paintings, Robert Duncan does portraits of people as well? Enjoy a slide show of some of his cow artwork along with his paintings of people enjoying the outdoors.

Watercolor artist Victoria Whorley

Watercolor painter Victoria Whorley was the featured artist for June 2010 at Cow Art and More. Victoria enjoys painting beef and dairy cattle as a way to capture the beauty of her home area of southern Virginia. She mostly paints from pictures she takes on her travels around the rural countryside. Victoria's painting Heads or Tails was also featured on the April 15, 2010, issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Why do you paint?

Painting fulfills the creative side of me. The feeling of accomplishment when an animal is accurately portrayed is a great motivator.

How did you get started?

My dad bought me art sets and pastels when I was really small. We used to watch art instruction television shows together in the 60s, and he would explain the techniques as we watched.

What is your technique?

I am a realistic watercolor artist. Each painting is layered from the lightest of colors, working toward darker layers.

Where did you learn your technique?

I learned my technique from a very knowledgeable teacher and from art instruction books.

Where do you get your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from the life and animals around me. I love driving the back roads of Virginia looking for that inspiration.

How long, on average, does it take you to get a finished painting?

Time spent on a painting is based on the size of the painting as well as the amount of detail involved. Several hours are spent on what would seem the simplest of paintings.

How do you decide what to paint?

I look through my multitude of photographs. Several photos will 'jump' out at me and I choose one to paint from those photos.

How did you get interested in creating art of farm animals?

Having grown up with dogs, cats, chickens, ponies, goats, a cow and ducks, I have always loved all types of animals . . . as an artist, painting them just seems the natural thing to do.

Do you ever have goof-ups or work you don't like?

Goof-ups are a normal part of painting. Some can be fixed easily; some not so easily. Other paintings just aren't liked for any of several reasons; usually because I feel I didn't portray enough detail.

What else do you do besides your art?

I love to drive back roads taking lots of photographs; am also a scrapbooker and a collector of rocks and gemstones, colored glass bottles, and antiques.

What would you like to do more of in the future?

Paint more animals and birds.

What advice do you have for aspiring artists?

Paint what you love and don't be afraid to try new techniques.

Painter and pastel artist Gary Sauder

The December 2009 featured Cow Art and More artist was pastel drawing and painter Gary Sauder. Gary grew up on a small farm in Sonoma County, California showing registered Jersey cows in the local 4-H club. Gary attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, for two years. After college, Gary took a position caring for and exhibiting the show cattle for then, Meadow Glen Farms of Orland, California. About that time he was introduced to colored pencils. Having always been an avid artist with a pencil, this produced an exciting jump into the realm of painting for Gary.

How did you get started?

I had always been drawing as long as I can remember and had been more or less apprehensive about painting because I didn’t quite know how. I had grown bored with drawing in graphite and hadn’t done it for a long time. Then one evening I saw a movie about a sketch artist for the police and he was using colored pencils and I decided to find out more about them. I got some books on the medium and I conquered my fear of color and shortly there after I graduated to pastel and even water color and oils. I enjoy them all but I prefer to paint in pastel.

Why do you paint?

I paint because of the unbelievable sense of accomplishment and expression that it gives me. I think that it gives me a chance to express how I view the world and the beauty of it. And I think that it gives me a chance to show other people the things that I find interesting.

Where do you get your inspiration?

I get my inspiration from my own experiences and my love of the natural world. I think that every day that I get to paint is a good day and a day that I learn something about myself. I hope when you see one of my paints that you can feel my inspiration.

What is your technique?

I suppose my technique mostly depends on the surface that I paint on. I generally work from very loose to very tight by and by working darks to mid tones to light to highlights and follow that progression about four to five times until I feel that the painting is finished. And I suppose that you would call the technique would be called realism or super realism.

Where did you learn your technique?

For the most part I am self taught, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything from other artists. I have taken workshops from other notable artists and have done several lessons in technique from master artist’s publications. And have viewed and studied the techniques of the artists that I admire the most. I also have taken to not hanging my own work on my walls at home and hang other artists work for me to see so that I don’t become too enamored with my own work.

How long does it take you to get an average painting?

For the most part I can do a painting in a week but I have done and average size (14 X 19) in a day it just depends on the subject and the complexity of the painting. I have also taken as long as three weeks to complete a painting.

Do you ever have goof ups or work you don’t like?

I have made many goof ups and have done more than a few paintings that I don’t like. I also find that as the years go by some of the paintings I did ten years ago that I liked back then, I don’t like as much now and the opposite is also true.

What would you like to do more of in the future?

I would like to do more of the same, but I would like to travel more and do more field work in many different places.

What else do you do besides painting?

Right now I distribute an amazing nutritional beverage called Mona Vie. It is a product that has wonderful health benefits.

What advice to you have for aspiring painters?

The only advice that I can give to aspiring painters is to paint often and treat it like a profession. I have found the more that I paint the better that I get at it and the more professional the result.

Q & A with Victoria Whorley: Part 2

How did you get started?

My dad bought me art sets and pastels when I was really small. We used to watch art instruction television shows together in the 60s, and he would explain the techniques as we watched.

Picture credit: "Heads or Tails", watercolor on paper

Click here to learn more about this Holstein dairy cow painting

This month's featured artist: Victoria Whorley

Watercolor painter Victoria Whorley is the featured artist for June at Cow Art and More. Victoria enjoys painting pictures of beef and dairy cattle as a way to capture the beauty of her home area of southwestern Virginia. She mostly paints from pictures she takes on her travels around the rural countryside. Enjoy reading a series of questions and answers all month on this blog as Victoria describes her work, inspirations and processes.

Victoria's work is featured all month in the Cow Art and More specials section. Enjoy free shipping on her art from now until June 30.