Robert Saueressig - Painting farm animals

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

For a farm kid that couldn’t wait to get off the farm, I am amazed at the number of requests I get for animal paintings. Many times I have heard comments such as “It shows that you know the kind of animals you paint”. My family raised Black Angus and wheat; we had milk cows and chickens. As a freshman in high school – through the FFA – I received 10 bred ewes to be paid for within 2 years. All through high school I sold wool and lambs. By the time I graduated I had 40 head of sheep, 3 purebred Holstein milk cows, and rented 60 acres of cropland with grain in the bin. I sold it all, and the proceeds paid for my first 2 years of art school.

Monday's agricultural website: American Humane Certified

Today's agricultural website to share with readers is for The Humane Touch. I didn't know much about the group until I had the chance to interact with them on twitter last week in our weekly #agchat conversation. (The group can be found @humanetouch.) The Humane Touch was formed in 1877, with a mission to raise the awareness and importance of ensuring the welfare of both children and animals, becoming the first national organization in America to champion the cause. Today, they offer the American Humane certification program, a science-based farm animal welfare program built around a comprehensive set of standards and audits. A part of the program is encouraging consumers to learn more about the animal welfare measures taken by farmers in raising, handling and selling food.

What I was most satisfied to learn about the organization is that it does not take a "one size fits all approach". Each farm is individually assessed and scored based upon their resources and management. They also make a point to continually evaluate producers as to give consumers confidence that a passing evaluation was not a single point event.

Cow Art and More painter on magazine cover

Cow Art and More watercolor artist Victoria Whorley has her painting, "Heads or Tails" on the cover of the April 15, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The magazine is the official bimonthly publication for the 78,000 veterinary members of the American Veterinary Medical Association and contains current events, case studies, and research articles. The editorial staff of the magazine selects a different original artwork to grace almost every cover of the magazine. Victoria's unique painting of these Holstein cows caught the eyes of the editors, and they found it worthy of a magazine cover. Cow Art and More is proud to represent Victoria and her watercolor paintings of both beef and dairy cattle.

Photo credit: "Heads or Tails"

Click here to learn more about this cattle painting

April's featured artist: Meg Birnbaum

Cow Art and More is excited to showcase photographer Meg Birnbaum for April. Meg enjoys capturing the American pastoral as a way to catalog rural American history. Meg recently returned from Japan, where some of the images from her "Corn Dogs and Blue Ribbons" collection were featured. Enjoy the question and answer sessions all month with Meg on this blog as she details her thoughts and processes. Her photography will be featured in the Cow Art and More specials section. Purchase any of her photography this month and receive free shipping.

A conversation with Shannon Grissom: Part 8

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

About a month, since I'm working on more than one at a time. Having that many in progress keeps up my productivity. I'm always in the mood for one of them.

Photo credit: "Vern", oil on canvas

Click here to learn more about this beef bull painting

Monday's agriculture website of interest: AG - IT'S NOT JUST A JOB, IT'S AN ADVENTURE!

Today's agriculture themed website of interest to followers is "Life on a Cattle Ranch", written by Kansas beef rancher, Debbie Lyons-Blythe. Debbie and her husband Duane Blythe are raising five teenagers and 500 head of cattle on a ranch in Kansas. Debbie posts to her blog weekly to share with people around the world what life is like in rural Kansas and how her family works every day to ensure a safe, nutritious supply of beef to consumers.

A conversation with Carla Christina Contreras: Part 7

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

Click – done. Are you talking about the total process of picking something that I will want to actually reprint? Then I would say it could take several hours. I recently was taking photographs of a piece of my photography art… it took me three hours to get four pictures I liked.

Photo credit: "Rooster"

Click here to learn more about this poultry art image

Monday's agriculture website of interest: DAIRY GODDESS BLOG

Monday's agricultural themed website of interest is the Dairy Goddess's blog, written by Barbara Martin, a third generation California Dairy farmer. She married a 3rd generation dairy farmer 26 years ago, and together, they have a dairy farm located in Central California. She is the very proud mother of 2 great college kids.

On a personal note, I believe Barbara does a great job putting a face on "where your milk comes from." It is obvious that Barbara has a passion for what she does and doesn't mind sharing it with her readers. My favorite updates are about Barbara's favorite heifer "Chica." Meet Chica and Barbara in their video.

A conversation with Julia Swartz: Part 11

What else do you do besides painting?

Not much, laughing out loud. I love to play with my grand kids and spend time with my kids. I love to ride motorcycle with my husband, always taking my camera along. I love to take care of my flower gardens and decorate my house and redecorate and redecorate.

"Rooster and Hen", watercolor on paper

Click here to learn more about this chicken art watercolor painting