Field of Blue

I just completed this little landscape earlier in the week. This barn is located in the northern part of Kansas City out near where some friends of ours live. I was quite taken by the blue wildflowers and quickly crawled out of the car to snap several pictures before meeting our friends for lunch. The pictures were taken earlier in the year of course.
This painting is planned for one of the shows I'm working on for next year, however, I'm willing to let it go if you're interested.
"Field of Blue" 11"x14" Oil/Canvas ($180 Unframed, includes S/H in USA)

Happy, Merry, Joyful

I know this isn't a normal entry for me but I couldn't resist sharing this with you. If you're a little confused about what the world is celebrating this time of year this should clear that right up for you. =^)

Give a big warm round of applause for two friends: Jaime Oppenheimer and Carter Green and have a Happy, Merry, Joyful Holiday...whatever that might be.

(Click on the picture to go to Scruffins Multimedia Blog and listen to the song.)

Skeet.

Round Bales of Hay

There's something about big round bales of hay that grab my attention when I'm traveling down the highway at 70 miles an hour...ok, maybe a little faster than that. Perhaps it's because when you live in Kansas they tend to help break up an otherwise monotonous landscape.

This post is of my most recent painting. I actually haven't done a landscape for a while so it felt good to try my hand at atmospheric perspective. Enjoy.

Summer Rolls - oil on panel 12"x24"

Contact me if you are interested in this painting: www.skeetsirmons.com

Painting of St. Nicholas

I thoroughly enjoyed painting this little painting of St. Nicholas. My wife collects Father Christmas figures and she asked me to do a small painting for a wreath she was putting together for a charity auction at our church. The wreath was beautiful and my little painting added a little more spice to the mix. The sold at auction, but now she wants me to paint a couple of more, one for her, and one for you. I might just do that.

St. Nicholas, 5x5" Oil on Panel SOLD.

Visit me on the web: http://www.skeetsirmons.com/

Play Me A Memory

I have been working on this painting off and on for months and I finally have brought it to a finish, at least I thing so anyway. I'll put it this way, I signed it. The painting is of a friend of mine, Greg Ewing. He and I play in a old-time gospel band called Zebedee's Blunder but I wanted a painting of him playing the piano. The title comes from an old Billy Joel song "Piano Man" which came to mind about half way through the painting. I like naming paintings after songs or with a song in mind, perhaps that is an attempt to connect my paintings to the music side of me.

There was originally a lot of stuff in the background but I wanted to give the feeling of Greg playing the piano on stage. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results, that is as happy as I ever am with my paintings. It'll probably be in a few shows this year so perhaps you'll see it hanging somewhere along your life's journey.

Art Presentation - Art is about Relationships

This past Tuesday night I did a program for a group of very gracious ladies. They asked me to do a program on the arts so I gathered a few paintings together along with the little 5"x7" painting that I have included here. We did a drawing for this painting and the lady that won it was delighted. The program was basically about how art at it's basic level is about relationships. Relationships between God and man, man and man, man and the earth, etc. I then talked about relationships within the art itself which was basically dealing with composition, values, edges and color. This was the first time I have ever done a presentation on art and, although I talked way to long, they all seemed to have a good time and they were full of questions. I hope I have more opportunities to do this in the future, I had a blast. >Skeet.

Small Portrait after Sorolla

I know, everyone probably thinks I dropped off the face of the earth and has probably removed my blog from their notifier by now. I apologize, September was a crazy, crazy month. I hardly had time to pick up a brush but I'm back now and it feels good to be painting again. I have a large piece I've been working on and I'm 90% done however that last 10% is always a killer. I think that's why I love doing these small paintings because they take just a couple of hours at the most to do and for some reason I paint much looser on the small ones than I do the larger pieces. Does anyone else have that same problem? This painting is a 7x5" painting I did of Sorolla after his self-portrait. He is one of my favorite painters and I enjoyed doing this painting.

If you are interested in this painting please let me know:

"After Sorolla" Oil 7"x5" unframed $70 postage paid in the USA.

visit me on the web: http://www.skeetsirmons.com/

On The Sax at Willow Creek

A small group of us from church attended the Arts Conference this past June at Willow Creek up around Chicago. One of the treats for those of us attending were street musicians that played during the break. This is one of those musicians. He was a wonderful sax player and I enjoyed listening to him share his gift of music.

Just a word or two about the Arts Conference. It was a wonderful praise filled experience that I would do again in a minute. God has bless the world with artists and he truly intends for us to use those gifts to make the world a better place.

If you are interested in this painting please contact me.

"On The Sax At Willow Creek" (oil/panel 7x5) $70 includes S/H inside the USA

www.skeetsirmons.com

A dear lady from church recently brought me a box of painting supplies. She said she no longer painted but didn't want to through them out so she thought I might want them. I eagerly accepted the box and carted it home. For some reason I have always had this thing about digging through boxes of "junk"--perhaps that's why I work for an auction firm.

The box was filled with all kinds of treasures: paint brushes, tubes of oil paint, medium, old sketch pads, books and more. I had to through some of it out but most of it I kept. I loved digging through the box and I loved doing this little painting of some of those supplies.

This small painting is of three tubes of yellow paint. I don't have any idea how old they are I just know they had such character that I had to paint them. Thank you Dora for a wonderful gift. And just so everyone knows, I'm always willing to accept paint supplies.

Let me know if you're interested in this painting.

"Old Yeller" (oil/panel 5"x7") $70 unframed, includes S/H in the USA.

http://www.skeetsirmons.com/

Elements

It's been a little while since I've posted. I've been working on a larger painting so I really haven't had anything to post. Today I do have a small painting that I finished a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to let it dry a bit before photographing it.

This is a little 5" x 7" piece called "Elements". It's basically a Eucharist painting with the elements of communion. I actually love painting this subject because, for me, it is so much a part remembering who I am as Christian. The wine and the bread are really the only two symbols Christ gave us to remember him. So much of our focus is on the cross but that is a symbol we have associated with Christ rather than something he gave us as a means of remembrance. So, the next time you sit down with a glass of wine to break bread with one another, either casually or formally, take a moment and thank God for the greatest gift he's ever given. S

Let me know if you are interested in this painting sirmons@sutv.com

"Elements" Oil/Canvas Panel (5"x7") Unframed - $70

Visit me on the web: http://www.skeetsirmons.com/

Up for Auction

Hi everyone -

I haven't blogged for a while. It's been crazy busy is the only excuse I can come up with. I wanted to let you know that I have a few paintings on eBay right now for auction. They are small oil paintings either 5x7 or 6x8 so go out and take a look if you're interested in picking up a small unframed painting to give as a gift or just to frame and hang in your own abode. The painting I have pictured above, "Grandpa's Pipe" is one of the paintings that is currently out there.

I've been busy with the band lately. Zebedee's Blunder, which is an old time gospel bluegrass band, has been at work with a couple of gigs. We are actually scheduled to play tomorrow evening in Wellington, KS for the the Wheat Festival street dance. The show starts at 9:00pm and we are the first on followed by a rock and roll band called Smuggling YoYos. It should be a lot of fun. Zebedee will have our two CDs for sale around their somewhere. Come out and join us if you get a chance.

All for now.

Last Night's Exibit at Mead Street Gallery

Thanks to all who braved the deluge of rain last night and came out to the show. Attendance overall was low for a Final Friday because of the rain. The show is up until July 24th so if you didn't get a chance to get out last night you can still stop by the gallery.

I want to thank the folks at Mead Street for allowing me to use their gallery to showcase my work. They are so nice to work with and I look forward to shows in the future.

On another note, I have started putting some of my small pieces on eBay again. So if you're interested in picking up a small painting check out work on eBay.

You're always welcome to stop by my website and look around http://www.skeetsirmons.com/

Mead Street Gallery Exhibit

Hi everyone -

I'm excited about the show this coming Friday; Mead Street Gallery is a nice space and what a great location in the heart of Old Town. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you there and I hope you'll take the time to visit some of the other galleries on the tour. It's a lot of fun.

This painting, Puerta de Santa Fe, (24x12", oil/panel) is one of my most recent and it's a part of the show. Talk to the folks at Mead Street Gallery if you are interested. S

Mead Street Gallery Show - June 29th

I'm in the process of gathering up paintings for a show at Mead Street Gallery in Wichita, KS on the 29th of this month. The artist reception is that evening beginning at 6:30-10:00pm. The show is called Inside and Out basically because it's a group of still-life paintings and landscapes. If you miss the reception no problem the exhibit will be there at the gallery until July 24th. Hope to see everyone there. The gallery is located at 121 N Mead Street in Wichita's Old Town district. S

Yes, it's true. I'm a banjo player. I tried to keep it a secret from the general public but I couldn't keep living that way. Now that I'm out of the closet (that's were I keep my banjo) I feel much better.

The painting above is a self-portrait I did quite a while back and overall I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It's going to be a part of the Kansas Academy of Oil Painters group show at the Wichita Center for the Arts beginning June 29th.

I'd love to hear your comments on this painting and as always your welcome to stop by my website and browse around http://www.skeetsirmons.com/

Grandpa's Pipe

This is a small painting (5x7") I did last week. It's my grandpa's pipe. My grandfather has been gone for several year now but I think about him often. He was actually my step-grandfather but he was the only one I ever knew so to me he was Grandpa Volen.

He lived his whole life under the hot sun of the Texas panhandle and I remember many evenings sitting on the porch swing with the smell of pipe tobacco and a story filling the air. It occured to me as I was painting his pipe that this is the only thing besides those memories that I have of him. I sniff the bowl and the smell of tobacco is still there and it triggers a memory of him and me on a porch swing on a hot Texas evening long ago. S

A Quiet Place

When I'm out in the countryside I am always amazed at how quiet it is. Often the only thing I can hear are the birds chirping and my own footsteps swooshing through the grasses. Definitely different from living in town with all sorts of noises to distract you. This was definitely a quiet place.

This 7 x 5 inch unframed oil painting is available for $80 plus S/H by contacting me

Visit me on the web: www.skeetsirmons.com

Just Getting Started

Hello all -

I'm just getting this blog up and going so come back soon! In the mean time go out and take a look at me website: www.skeetsirmons.com