The small town of Zell lies in Ste. Genevieve Missouri. It is a town of farms, rolling hills and a charm of the distant 'good old days'. I painted this from a photo I took in the early morning mist. This painting may look calm, but just before I took the picture my friend Mike D. and I were just rushed by a huge hog. I ran for cover to my car. Zell Catholic church is in the background. 
There is nothing like the first day of spring, especially after a long winter. It is a soothing experience to feel that gentle cool breeze and the sun's warmth after its been absent for so long. Well, this was one of those days. I painted this from a photograph in Ste. Genevieve County. Here, a young girl explores the edge of the pond with a stick. That day, I thought about how nice it would be if I was a kid again with not much to do or think about except what I'm gonna eat or where I'm gonna play. 
I came across these two cedar trees in Ste. Genevieve County. Immediately, they reminded me of Vangogh's Cypresses. So, I walked around them, positioned the barn in view and snapped the photo in a vertical format to include more of that incredible sky. Later, while I was painting it, I couldn't help exaggerate the form of the Cedar trees to mimick that of the Cypress. 
This is taking the still life outdoors. There are many things happening in this painting: the stylistic movement of the green daubed background, a vase of flowers outside on a tree stump that seems to be on fire, and the cool pattern of blue daubs that make up the shadow. Oh yeah, not to mention a white mouse enjoying his acorn. Definitely one of the most colorful, unusual, decorative paintings I have done. 
Sometimes I let a painting take me somewhere new. I have painted so far six mouse paintings. This happens to be my latest one. We have a some what large mouse collection displayed in our downstairs bathroom. There are realistic mouse holes painted on the baseboards, an all mouse themed book collection, many mouse figurines, and original mouse oil paintings and other paintings as well. The walls are painted in the color orange and Red. One person described it as 'Walt Disney meets the Impressionists.'
