Tonight is the Art Auction at the Fox Theater in McCook, this painting will be on auction with no reserve.
Living in a small town I know one of my friends will buy it which is a comforting feeling because I was asked by several friends if they could purchase it and I didn’t want to pick who would get it so the auction was an easy out.
I took the original photo while riding with my friend Randy, we where riding our motorcycles south of McCook on the river road when I looked out to the west and there was this brilliant sunset with wispy clouds just starting to form into a late evening thunderstorm. I caught Randy’s attention and we pulled over, we both took a quick shot of it then proceeded on with our slow ride through the valley. When I got home I downloaded it and realized just how special it was so I promised myself I would paint it, two weeks later it was finished.
I do not consider myself a landscape artist, I usually do people, so this is a rare setting and a fine painting, in a recent art show i was told the judge could not find anything he would change about it, that it was an “excellent painting” funny it never received an award because he found ever other entry flawed in some way or sort. That’s the way it goes sometimes but who ever buys my painting will have a wonderful work of art the was born from a reactionary snap shot at an impulsive moment, a happy accident if you will and those are always the best moments to share.
I hope you all can make it to the theater to night for the auction, it is for a great cause, to remodel the classic old Fox theater back to its original grander! It is a great time too if you love art, like we do in southwest Nebraska!