Archive

SOLD -through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2008. This painting was accepted into the 2008 Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, AR. Please visit AAC to view the painting in person. Click here to see a picture from the opening reception held October 3. The exhibit runs through November 16.	The End of the World 12 x 48 inches, acrylic on panel 2008 Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD -through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2008.	Breakin' Up 9 x 32 inches acrylic on panel 2008 I’ve been working on this three-bay shed for about a year. My first thought was to put some generic thunderheads in the background. But, on a recent drive to Greenville, Mississippi, I snapped some storm clouds with the camera. With some small alterations I felt that the clouds would “fit”. Weather is a pretty big part of the Delta as far as I am concerned and I try to include weather…not just clouds, in each painting. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD -through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2007.	Valley Methodist Church, 10 x 20 inches, acrylic on panel Several years ago I took some photographs of various places around Drew County that interested me as either paintings or pen and inks. I was especially interested in old churches and the one that really caught my eye was of Valley Methodist Church in the southwestern part of the county. I have it as it looked until recently, before its original siding was covered with a modern surface. But what was so interesting to me was the line of tables for “dinner on the ground”. I have yet to see another construction like this and so I had to include it in my painting. This is the way it was. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD -through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2008.	Mt. Zion, 18x36 inches, acrylic on panel Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church is a landmark as you drive north on Highway 425 from Monticello, Arkansas. The building is situated on the east side of the highway just north of the Drew County line in Lincoln County . Mt. Zion is on the National Historical Register; this building was erected in 1925 but the congregation was organized in 1858. I have done several commissions of this fine old site but this painting is my own personal painting of a favorite place from my home area. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD -through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2005.	Red, White and Blues 11x26 inches acrylic on panel For a few years I taught Art at Dermott High School and since I was the yearbook advisor, I carried my camera with me a lot of the time. On one drive north of Dermott , Arkansas I pulled over and snapped this shot of these youngsters in front of this “used church”. I don’t think this church was in the possession of its original owner and it’s possible that that owner took the stained glass window with them. I had drawn this scene several times but nothing really worked until I cropped the steeple. Then the various elements around the church worked with the children and the painting proceeded. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2005.	South of Pine Bluff 16x42 inches acrylic on panel One spring as I was headed back to Dermott a storm loomed over this old store south of Pine Bluff, Arkansas on highway 65. I took a photo quickly (for obvious reasons) but did nothing with it except to occasionally glance at it. After about twenty years of this I sketched out a rough idea and then did a detailed drawing of the building which I transferred to a masonite panel and got started. Even with a black and white photo at hand it took a year to bring this painting to its finished state. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2005.	The Milk Barn 5x7 inches 2005 acrylic on panel At some point after my grandparents had passed away I took a lot of snapshots of various things on the Haney place. This dilapidated milk barn was one of them. It had fallen in to disrepair by then. I have some vague memories of this structure when it was in use buy mostly it's only a ghost since its long since been torn down. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2005.	Higgins Gro. & Serv. Sta. 10x22 inches 2005 acrylic on panel Many years ago I was commissioned by the Union Bank & Trust Co. to do a series of paintings depicting the history of Monticello and Drew County. My uncle, Werner Haney, and I went around taking photos of the "high points" in Monticello "and environs." Uncle Werner had a better camera than I did, so he helped me out. One of the photos he took was of Higgins "store" as it was sometimes called by us locals. It was on what was then the highway heading south out of Monticello. It would be hard to find a better icon of the forties and fifties and I've always come back to it over the years. This version is far more successful since I've included more of the highway and the scrub pine forest. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2006.	Drew County Sale Barn 8x24 inches acrylic on panel I have painted a lot of "places" around Monticello and Brown Calhoun's Store is one of them. The store is at the left and the Sale Barn, obviously, is to the right. For some reason I took a "panoramic" view and then I taped the photos together. As often happens with me, the photos lay in an envelope in a box for several years before I looked at them again and felt the need to work it up into a suitable composition. This is an excellent version of what this place would have looked like from the fifties until the early eighties. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2006.	Fading Away 8x22 inches acrylic on panel This house was “fading away” when I took a snapshot of it in the early eighties. It was a type of house that we call a “shotgun shack”. The word “shack” is not derogatory; it’s the alliteration that calls for its use. To me, most generic “shotgun shacks” were taller and slightly less wide. The roof would have had a steeper pitch as well. Anyway, this one used to be near Arkansas City and the vine covered “garage” was something else that caught my eye. I like the gaps that showed how it was constructed and also the bent boards that curve away from the walls. The cotton field and telephone pole are invented to match the feeling the place invoked. No doubt this “place” has faded away completely by this point in time. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2006.	John Deere out by Andy's Field acrylic 8x27 inches 2006 This tractor was in the children’s part of the Little Rock Zoo. I took a snapshot and figured I could use it in a painting at some point. The shape of the tractor and its tires interested me a lot. So I “moved” it from the zoo to the Delta. You can tell by its tires that this Deere has been retired. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2006.	Highway 425 north of Yorktown acrylic 5x24 inches 2006 I have traveled this stretch of highway many times and for some reason this particular straight stretch is interesting to me. I like the way the highway aims northward. It is enjoyable to me how the layers of forests (or woods, as we would normally say) drop back into space. The “telephone poles” defining the highway perk my interest up a bit too. The clouds are morning clouds and the sun hasn’t been up long. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2007.	Delta Cathedral 12 x 16 inches; acrylic on panel; 2007 I know that barns are more favored by most folks, but I like these sheds that protect the farm machinery from the elements. And, if I can find one that interests me, I like to paint them. This is somewhere between Pine Bluff and Little Rock on the eastern side of the river. The three bays can be seen as religious symbolism…hence the name Delta Cathedral. Click here to enlarge.
SOLD - through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2007.	Falling Apart 5 x 24 inches; acrylic on panel; 2007 On our way from England to Little Rock last year, I saw this and shot it real quick. To me there is a feeling of a church speeding into the past. I’ve seen similar scenes many times in my life but this one didn’t get away. Click here to enlarge.