"Welcome to Iowa"

"Welcome to Iowa"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

It seems appropriate to tackle an Iowa painting a week before the Iowa caucus.

This is the week after Thanksgiving.  The snow was falling.

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Porter Sculpture Park, SD

"Porter Sculpture Park"

Montrose, South Dakota

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

Huge horned head, Giant hammer???

This is the strangest thing along the highway in South Dakota.

It is visible for many miles.

Below is a photo of the park from further west.

The Sculpture Park has a web site.  It looks pretty cool.  

I will definitely stop next time I travel cross country.

http://portersculpturepark.com/

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Crossing the Missouri River in South Dakota

"Crossing the Missouri River"

South Dakota

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

Here was my view out the passenger side of the car.  

 You can see the water edge is frozen. 

Oacoma is on the western bank of the river.

The far side is Chamberlain, SD.

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"Badlands in Snow"

"The Badlands in Snow"

South Dakota

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

It was snowing so hard we couldn't stop at the Badlands National Park.

Here is a little sample of what the edge of it looks like.

I tried to get a snapshot from the car.  

We will have to return in the summer to see all the sights.

This is my reference photo for the painting above. 

We love those Wall Drug signs!

I must say there was very little traffic on the interstate.

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"Five Cent Coffee !"

"Five Cent Coffee"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

Get 5 cent coffee at Wall Drug in Wall, SD.  

Don't forget they also have free ice water.

There are many many billboards leading to Wall, South Dakota.

I remember the Wall Drug signs from heading west years ago.  

Each one is unique and campy. 

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"Quiet Crossing in South Dakota"

"Quiet Crossing in South Dakota"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

We drove east from Broadus, MT.  

We passed through the northeast corner of Wyoming and into South Dakota. 

 It was snowing heavily when we spotted the deer crossing the highway.

They were in no hurry and the last one seemed to linger on the road.  

Luckily the traffic was extremely light.
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"Nearing Broadus" Montana

"Nearing Broadus", Montana

Near the Powder River

Glenn Gay Ranch

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

We are approaching Broadus Montana.  

This view was along the road as we neared town and a paved road.

I liked the shapes of the distant hills. 

"Snowy Cattle" Powder River, MT

"Snowy Cattle" 

Near the Powder River, Montana

Glenn Gay Ranch

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

We are leaving the ranch now in a snow storm.  It is only 45 minutes to a paved road. 

There were cattle, deer, and rabbits sharing the road with us. 

We are finally heading back home to Pennsylvania.

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"Sharp-tail Quail"

"Sharp-tail Quail"

Glenn Gay Ranch, Powder River, MT

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

We saw lots of 'Sharpies' on our tour of the ranch. 

This one was ride next to the road.  

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"Out the Back Door", Glenn Gay Ranch, MT

"Out the Back Door"

Gay Ranch, Powder River, MT

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x8" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Pentallic Aqua Journal

I painted this standing by the back door of the ranch house.
It was 11 degrees Fahrenheit outside. BRRRR!

It is in my favorite Pentallic Aqua Journal.

"Waking Up at a Powder River Ranch" Montana

"Waking Up at the Ranch"

Powder River Montana

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

7"x5" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

This is the Glenn Gay ranch on the Powder River in southeastern Montana.

It was a beautiful clear morning.  The temperature was in the single digits.

We were nice and warm inside with a fire in the stove. 

We drove the last hour on unpaved roads to get here in the dark. 

This is my first glimpse of the ranch.

Thank you Art and Deb for bringing us along.
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Warm Welcome at Little Bighorn, Montana

"Warm Welcome at Little Bighorn"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

7"x5" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

The Battlefield was not open, but we could see the monument in the distance.

We may have been too late in the day, but this is the day after Thanksgiving.

There was a beautiful sunset.  

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Sunset Near Little Bighorn

"Sunset Near Little Bighorn", Montana

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

7"x5" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

The sun was setting when we got close to the Little Bighorn Monument.  

The sky was really orange to the west.  It was lavender to the east. 

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"Eastern Montana"

"Eastern Montana"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

7"x5" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

This is somewhere between Billings and Hardin Montana.

The mountains are changing into badlands.  

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"Mountain Aspens"

"Mountain Aspens" Montana

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

7"x5" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

Love to see the light on the aspen trees in Montana.

The shadows are getting longer and we have hours to go 

before arriving at the ranch outside of Broadus, Montana.

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"East of Bozeman" Montana

"East of Bozeman, Montana"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

7"x5" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

The day after Thanksgiving, Katie and I followed 

my brother-in-law and his wife to a ranch on the Powder River.

This watercolor is from photographs I took along the way. 

It was a five hour drive.  The last hour and a half was on unpaved roads. 

This image is not far from Bozeman along the interstate. 

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Katie Walking Maggie, Bozeman MT

"Katie Walking Maggie", Bozeman Montana

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

7"x5" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

 I went for a walk with Katie and Maggie after Thanksgiving dinner. 

In spite of the beautiful sunshine,  it was so cold we only went a few blocks. 

So much for walking off all the calories. 

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Snowy Montana Highway

"Snowy Montana Highway"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Arches Bright white

There were some patches of snow on the highway as we went through this pass.  

We missed a snow squall here because we were cleaning off the windshield.

It was very cold causing windshield washer fluid line to freeze. :(

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"On the Way to Bozeman Montana"

"On the Way to Bozeman"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Fabriano Artistico

This is east of Missoula MT and still west of Butte.

The sun was setting and the shadows were stretching across the land.

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"Clark Fork River", Missoula Montana

"Clark Fork River"

Montana Thanksgiving 2015

5"x7" original watercolor

140 lbs. cold pressed paper

Fabriano Artistico

This is from the South Higgins Avenue bridge above Brennen's Wave.  

It was very cold out and snow had fallen the day before.  

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