Mr. Rich and I enjoyed an early morning on the bay fishing. 
The local scavenger birds are ever present, waiting for an opportunity to score, and
one such opportunist decided that our bait tank was the hot ticket for a free lunch.



But once he got in there, he couldn't get out, and the whole 'there is no free lunch' thing started
to sink in big time!
Mr. Rich finally got a good hold and released the bird, with no damage to anything except his ego....

Oh, the humiliation!

Once we got the feathered friend removed from the bait tank it was off to hunt for big buts, Halibut that is!
The local flat fish are a tasty little prize, and I always look to "Captain Limit" as Mr. Rich has
been dubbed, to take the lead, and take the lead he did, reeling in the most unusual catch of the day right
away.


This is clearly not the right flavor, however I know that he is only doing this to make me feel good!
I do love that man of mine.  Anything for the team!
Then I got my line stuck, and my hero the Captain came to my rescue,  freed my line and
I returned to my hunt for the mighty Halibut, only to loose one abruptly while reeling in.
Captain asked (somewhat accusingly I might add) if I had tightened
the drag, of course I don't know how so that wasn't an option, then he said,
"Oh, maybe I tightened it when I got you unstuck."   Hmmm, might have?  Oh well.

Was it a big fish?  I don't know, but it sure did some damage to the bait!

There's something terribly wrong with that picture.

The end of the day we did catch about five Halibut, one keeper (thank you Capn)
Until next time, now tomorrow back to the easel!

I've often said that even as I grow old, as long as someone can wheel me up to an easel I'll be painting.

I know the passion for what I do will always be there, right to the end.  I was reminded of that again while witnessing another artist, recording artist Leon Russell, performing live at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, CA last Wednesday night.

Mr. Rich and I went to see the legendary Leon Russell perform.  Although at age 68 he doesn't seem to be getting around too well, he sat at the piano and pretty much moving only his hands and lips gave a great performance!
I was amused when he had reached the end of the set, stood up and said something like,
"This is where we are supposed to leave, then come back unexpectedly and start playing again, we're not going to do that...." sat back down and presented the encore .  Clearly he isn't moving like he once could in younger years and has difficulty just getting to the piano now, so the game before the encore isn't an option anymore, but he's still performing.  I just figure he feels the same way I do, as long as someone can wheel him up to a piano I suspect he will continue to play and sing, I hope so. 
Here's a video of Leon in younger days, singing one of my favorites, A Song For You.

One of the places I've always seen my work is Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  A few weeks ago I received a call from
Terry Kennedy of Vertical Peaks Fine Art, he was impressed with my work and invited me to show in
his new gallery.  The gallery is open and my works are on their way, scheduled to arrive on Friday.




I'll be posting a photo of my work hanging once it arrives.
If you are in Jackson Hole, be sure to include Vertical Peaks in your fine art gallery tour,
Vertical Peaks Fine Art
165 North Center Street

I was moved to turn on the studio cam yesterday while putting in some detail on a recent commission.
This painting is for a client in Norway, of his farm and Highland cattle.  I've always loved the hair on these
cows, hope someday I'm commissioned to do a close up and detailed portrait, but for now am really enjoying
painting these girls and the farm they live on.

Online video chat by Ustream

Push the little play button, not the big one in the middle of the screen, and you can skip ahead
by clicking ahead on the timeline bar.

I love the baldy face, and the black with the golden grasses background, but I especially love to show the interactions between the cows and this one certainly tells a story.  I'm kicking around a few different titles for this piece, but since everyone doesn't see the same thing when they view a painting I don't think I want the title to say too much, giving it some thought.  If you have a great suggestion let me know.

It really made me feel so good when the winner of my last contest said this.  It was a random drawing, and I had no idea what I would find at the other end of that slip of paper when it was drawn out of the bowl.

I called her to inform her of winning.  She had forgotten entering, having come to my website by way of Real California Milk, voting for her favorite Happy Cow Kirsten in the California Milk Advisory boards recent and highly entertaining campaign!

I was able to jog her memory and next thing I know I'm painting her precious rescue Pekingese dog Gracie. 
Erika says of Gracie:
"I am 61 years old and I live alone with my Peke "Amazing Grace".  I got her from a Pekingese Rescue and first fostered her and then I could not let her go because she was the most precious thing in the world."

Here is the finished painting:


Erika's comments after I emailed a photo of the finished piece:

:Gracie's painting is beautiful and it looks just like her.  I forwarded it to my daughter also and she loved it too.  It will be something to cherish for a long time to come. Best wishes to you both Erika and Gracie!

You could be my next winner, but only if you enter! Find the Fast Track to entering my latest contest here.

I am amazed and amused with the people who occasionally write or call me thinking they are contacting 'the other Denise Rich', ex wife of billionaire Marc Rich of Clinton pardoning fame.  I wonder what makes sense about a full time professional fine artist who both photographs and paints her subjects as well as accepts commissions from client photos, having time to throw lavish parties, fly around the world appearing with Howard Stern, showing off her Yacht on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, attending charity events etc.  It does seem a little obvious to me that I wouldn't have time for that kind of frivality, yet I continue to receive emails such as the following one that came in yesterday:

"Hey there Denise Rich! This is a shout out to you from Joey the Ice Man at Ice Fantasies! We worked together on the Angel Ball and your great private parties - including that one with the female hood ornaments at your home with Ashford and Simpson. Since then I've won an Emmy and done amazing ice art. Would love to make your ice fantasies come true again - www.icefantasies.com Shout me back! Peace and love, Joey the Ice man"

I had to write Joey the 'Ice Man' back and let him know that although he did reach Denise Rich, since I have no
recollection of 'female hood ornaments' at any of my parties, anything about an Angel Ball nor working with someone called "Joey the Ice Man", thank you very much for the 'shout' but I was certain it was a case of mistaken identity.

This was on the heels of an email from a woman who said she looked me up 'because I saw you last night on Housewives of New York". 

I'm a current resident and native of San Diego County, I'm either in the field collecting reference,  in my studio working most every day of the week, the only time I travel is for an art show.  How does it make any sense that I would be on the Housewives of New York?  Now if she said she looked me up because she saw me with a camera stalking cattle near Julian, that would make sense!

The close of entries for my first 'Win a painting' contest came with the last day of March.
All of the names were put into a bowl on tiny slips of paper,


one was drawn by my Sister who was visiting at the time, and the winner is
Erika J. McDermott of Teaneck, New Jersey.
Erika came to my site from the link on the Happy Cows website, while voting for her favorite
(and apparently everyone's favorite) Happy Cow audition by Kirsten, the eventual winner of the contest.
Fortunately for Erika, she also entered my contest that day.

I gave Erika a choice of a Happy Cow painting or a custom painting from a photograph, and she
chose to have a painting done of the current little light in her life, her rescue Pekingese "Amazing Grace".
This is what Erika has to say about Grace, " I got her from a Pekingese Rescue and first fostered her and then I could not let her go because she was the most precious thing in the world."

I'm very pleased to be able to give Erika an original oil painting of her precious Grace, watch for
it in future blog posts.

Meanwhile I have a new contest started, if you have a photograph that you think would make a great painting, enter it.  I will be choosing one that I like the best for a painting, and the winner will receive a painting
of their photo.  You can enter here on the website by filling out the 'Win a painting' form, then email a photo to me at richartist@cox.net, or through my Denise Rich Art Facebook Page Here.  Just post your photo on the wall and it will be entered!  If you have any questions please contact me directly, and good luck!

You may recall some time back a blog post about a commission I received to paint
some Holstein cows on the beach.  There is a very specific vision in my client's mind for
this painting, and I've been working for almost a year to get the perfect bovine reference.  Unfortunately,
my efforts alone have proved to fall short of the goal, so I had to enlist the assistance of the owner
of the local dairy, Van Ommering's. 

My mission, to photograph two cows, mostly white with splotches of black, looking as if they had
been having a conversation and were taken by surprise.  Now you wouldn't think with as many trips
to the dairy as I've taken to accomplish this that it would be so very challenging, but it was.
Here's Dave Van Ommering, taking time out of his busy day to help me corral three cows of
the desired coloring. 
 
The cows were not impressed.  All they wanted was to get to the cows on the other side.

That was not the view I was after!

So Dave graciously helped me, got them to move around, and kept them in one area long enough for
me to take about 75 pictures of various configurations. Thank you so much for your help Dave!!

You really have to be on your toes to get that perfect shot, no time to watch your step as you run
across the stall to head off a potential escapee.  Well, whatever it takes, it's all in the line of doody!

I'm not fond of doing shows in person, but who can turn down an invitation to show in spring, in the heart
of wine country!  The drive up the 5 freeway was stunning from the Grapevine onward, only reaching it's climax
in the last hour as we pulled into Paso Robles. 
I only wish there had been more time, and more places that were easy to pull over and take pictures, but I did get a sampling of the patchwork of wildflowers that were erupting on the hillsides.


There were many more examples, it doesn't show up as well in the photos as it did in person,
just the most beautiful California wildflower scenery, everyone was talking about it. 

Of course there were cows too, happy cows indeed!  Just look at this beautiful landscape:


Last stop, after the show was closed, a few winery tours.  My favorite winery in Paso Robles, and
our last stop, was Eberle.  If you are fond of red wine, don't miss it if you visit the area!
Not only is their wine great, check out the view off their back porch



I hope you enjoyed the photos from my trip to Paso Robles, now I am off to finish this
Jersey calf oil painting.  It was being displayed at the art show on an easel with the reference photo, as
a painting in progress so people could see an example of how I work from photographs,
and turned out to be quite the attention grabber and was purchased the first night of the show.
I'll have it finished and shipped to the new owner by early next week.

One of the three paintings of delivery trucks for the three Employees
who were celebrating 30 years of service with IBA. 

My small collector base isn't due to fewer collectors, on the contrary the number has grown nicely in recent months, it's got to do with the age of my most recent collector. 

Meet Emma,  a sophisticated appreciator of original art, at the young age of seven!  My little Holstein calf painting that has been on the home page for a while caught Emma and her Father's eye, and they have decided to make it a part of their home.
Emma is excited about her new acquisition, and I'm so pleased that she and her family will be enjoying it in person soon.

Here's Emma looking at her new painting on the laptop, anxious to see the real thing.

I don't know whether or not Emma will be taking this with her when she leaves for college, but one of the great things about an original oil painting is it will bring enjoyment in a family for generations, someday she may be passing it on to her grandchildren.  Congratulations Emma, I hope you love it!

There are a lot of ups and downs to being a professional artist.  One of the best parts is the way the art brings a connection with the viewers who see the same thing that I do in my subjects.  To me, cows as a subject for paintings are not just generic objects, they are personalities with feelings and attitude.

I receive a lot of wonderful comments, and I'd like to express my deep appreciation to those who take the time
to let me know how my artwork makes them feel so I'm going to start posting a few of my favorites as they come in. 

This comment just came in last night, from "Jessica"

:	I am a farmer and I have always loved paintings of cattle. Your paintings are the best that I have seen. I love the expression that you catch in each of your paintings. I look at cattle everyday and your paintings are so..."real". "That Look", you nail it every time.

"That Look" being exactly what I'm after, what could be better to read than a comment like this?
Thank you Jessica for making my day!

What's the best way to collect photo reference of Texas Longhorns?  Take a hayride through the middle of their pasture, of course!  That's exactly what we had the opportunity to do last Sunday at the ranch.


I was, as usual, positioned at the edge of the pasture, hanging my camera over the fence when ranch caretaker Carlos pulled up on a tractor trailer with a bale of hay, and graciously asked me if I would like him to take us inside with the animals.

No need to give that any thought, yes!  We immediately jumped on the trailer, sat on the bale and enjoyed a ride around the property.  I can tell you that the best way to capture the attention of the animals is to sit on top of a bale of alfalfa, they will follow you anywhere.

Perched safely on the bale of hay, we became instantly popular!  The only problem was one or two of those racks get in your way, and you can't get the photo you are after, even though you're right in the middle of them.



In spite of the horny interference I was able from this great vantage point to collect a good number
of reference photos for future Texas Longhorn oil paintings, thanks to Carlos!
On the way out of the Longhorn area, this gal wants to know exactly where we are going with the
snack truck.

We went for a quick drive through the dairy cows, and it appears that Joe was a big hit with the ladies!

Of course, I can understand why. 
Taking my reference photos has always been one of the greatest joys of my work, and the hayride
was a fun surprise.  Many thanks, Carlos, for helping me get such great photos of your beautiful Texas Longhorns! 

Here is a recent painting of Texas Longhorns, the reference in this case was from a previous trip to the same ranch.  This original oil painting of a Texas Longhorn Mama and her calf is 16"x20".

What did the coyote say to the Buffalo?
Please post your best guess in the comments section!

This amazing wildlife snow scene was not created from a set of photos in photoshop, it's from a single reference photograph, and was painted exactly as seen.  Thanks to Jim and Gail for having me paint this unique slice of nature, quite a fun and welcome departure from my favorite cow faces, including the opportunity to break out the number 1 round sable brushes for the detail on the coyote!

If you can think of a caption for the piece, do leave a comment.