Gallery wrapped canvas. Sunset over the flint hills.

An aerial photo showing the breath of life in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

Nightime prairie burn, Flying W Ranch, Chase county, KS

Prairie Grass burn at the Flying W Ranch, Chase County, KS

Other photographic sizes available

Other photographic sizes available

An aerial photo showing the Flint Hills of Kansas surrounding Tuttle Creek Lake

Sun Setting on Prairie, abstract depiction in Fused Glass.

In the Flint Hills of Kansas sits a most picturesque town of Cottonwood Falls. In this town was an orange antique shop with 3 bicycles on top and a ramshackle lavender grey house across the street.

While I stayed in Cottonwood Falls, KS, I did many pen with watercolor 4" x 6" pieces with a splash of pastel. I would just find a spot on a gravel road that I liked and sat in the hatch of my SUV and worked away.

Path to the school at the top of the hill. B/W-sepia toned printed on fiber paper. Chase County KS

I have been trying to photograph a moving herd of Bison for several years. Finally, I was in the right spot at the right time. Nice to see herds returning to the Flint Hills.

A magnificent view of the sunrise from the Konza Prairie.

View of the rolling Flint Hills with cows in the distance, their shadows elongated by the sun.

The green hills turn golden in summer heat. Wabaunsee County in Kansas in the heart of the beautiful Flint Hills region.

The sun sets over the Flint Hills of Kansas in mid-summer. Thunderclouds form in the sky above. Original oil painting.

Sumac turns red in early fall in the Flint Hills region of Kansas. Original oil painting.

I knew this spot would have a nice view of the sunset, but I wasn't sure if the clouds were going completely block out the setting sun or not. Lucky for me, the clouds moved enough to create an opening for the sun to break through just before it sank below the horizon.

I love the way early evening light lays across the prairie.

I've always liked the perspective that roads convey in a photograph. The sense of distance, maybe some mystery wondering where the road goes as well as the meaning that a road can convey. This scene was at a moment when the light was shining through the clouds perfectly. I took this photo at the end of a difficult year, and I think to me it represented the way forward through a new year, new challenges, and new opportunities.

Beatitude - supreme blessedness or happiness - is envisioned here in the light and depth of color of the prairie, immediately before sunrise on a late summer morning. I hope this image gives you what it gives me - a sense of peace.

There is a certain area on the Konza Prairie Biological Station where the Common Milkweed grows down into the valley of a secluded watershed. Here, the prairie butterflies thrive - out of the wind and with plentiful food, this is truly their happiest place on Earth.

Indiangrass is arguably the loveliest of the prairie tallgrasses. With its golden plumed seed-head and statuesque height, it creates a gorgeous tableau for the autumn prairie. Here we see the sun rising while we look through the Indiangrass on the tallgrass prairie.

Tatoo seen at the Cowboy Way Ranch, Chase County, Kansas

Colorful landscape of the Flint Hills.

Flint Hills 2024

Flowers of the Flint Hills 2024

Native redbud and plum joyfully announce that spring has indeed arrived, even before the grasses are green.

The title is from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. I began the series with the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve north of Strong City, Kansas, in mind. But that has led me to a more expansive meditation on grass, which, at first glance, appears so simple but (as Whitman was aware) is anything but. As I continue to create pieces for this series, I find myself looking at the "leaves" but also at the vast living system that is the prairie, focusing on lines moving in response to a variety of factors (wind speed, wind direction, season, time of day, water and its absence) that function as chance operations and on color fields that overlap and blend (with each other and with the lines) in fascinating ways. The spectrum of little blue stem, for example, ranges from greens and blues through yellows and ochres and rusts and reds and browns and tufts of white. On the National Park Service website, the preserve is described as "the last stand of the tallgrass prairie." A remnant, perhaps, but I like to think of it as a living resistance, still standing – and that is what I celebrate in these works. watercolor and acrylic on bamboo paper

The title is from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. I began the series with the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve north of Strong City, Kansas, in mind. But that has led me to a more expansive meditation on grass, which, at first glance, appears so simple but (as Whitman was aware) is anything but. As I continue to create pieces for this series, I find myself looking at the "leaves" but also at the vast living system that is the prairie, focusing on lines moving in response to a variety of factors (wind speed, wind direction, season, time of day, water and its absence) that function as chance operations and on color fields that overlap and blend (with each other and with the lines) in fascinating ways. The spectrum of little blue stem, for example, ranges from greens and blues through yellows and ochres and rusts and reds and browns and tufts of white. On the National Park Service website, the preserve is described as "the last stand of the tallgrass prairie." A remnant, perhaps, but I like to think of it as a living resistance, still standing – and that is what I celebrate in these works. watercolor and acrylic on birch panel

These beautiful birds, once plentiful, can still occasionally be found in Kansas.

These birds were “Boomers” even before the 1950s.

The Western Meadowlark is the Kansas State Bird. I saw particular one in the Flint Hills of Morris County.

A storm cloud can be beautiful!

Silk that has had dye and wax applied in multiple layers. The wax was applied with a wax melter pen.

watercolor/ pen and ink

watercolor/ pen and ink

Graphite, acrylic, gouache, oil pastel on yupo paper

Watercolor, gouache and pencil on paper

A stunning view of the hills in the tall grass prairie, high lighted by the contrasting dark violet palette of the Blue Wild Indigo flowers.

Cold and snow never seem to bother the bison, as their thick hides protect them from the elements. A bison bull seems content and chill in spite of the chill.

The intense November blue skies provide a nice contrast to the golden glow of Indian grass and other tall grass prairie species.

Butterfly Milkweed blossoms were abundunt and amazing this spring at the Konza along with a variety of other wildflowers.

The State Grass of Kansas portrayed in watercolor.

Impressionistic and colorful! Loose but descriptive!

Impressionistic, and expressive. Moooooo

Impressionistic. Colorful...Inviting? LOL

Image influenced by a visit to the tall grass prairie national preserve and a plein air tonal study of a wildflower meadow

Studio Work from personal observations and plein air studies. Soft pastel on treated canvas paper

Soft pastel on treated canvas paper. Studio work from plein air and photo references.

Large oil on canvas, thick sides, original from photo in the Flint Hills

Historic Clements Arch Bridge in Chase County, KS

Dilapidated building in Elmdale, KS, in Chase County.

Bison herd on a small creek in the Flint Hills

Hay Bales catching the sunlight in the Flint Hills

Bison herd in the Flint Hills

This sculpture is created using all repurposed carbon steel. In the exposed torso is a fabrication of a piece by Pablo Picasso's, titled Guitar, painted and sculpted. The piece is coated with a clear polyurethane.

10 X 10 inch oil painting on high profile wood panel

23.25 X 13 inch oil painting on high profile wood panel.

Watercolor of crock of sunflowers

Landscape watercolor

Yarn Basket

10 miles West of Cottonwood Falls looking North.

10 Miles West of Cottonwood Falls

In this painting, I was able to combine two of my favorite subjects, capturing the special light from the night sky in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

Framed 16x20 oil on canvas of a sunset in the Flint Hills.

Fall Prairie grass at sunset

Pond on Green Prairie and rolling summer clouds

contemporary painting of the Flint Hills and Sunset

Oil and cold wax on cradled panel board.

Oil and cold wax with mixed media elements on cradled birch panel board.

Oil and cold wax on cradled birch panel board

Modern Impressionism acrylic painting of Flint Hills before the break of dawn. Created with wet into wet palette knife and brush strokes.

Symphony In The Flint Hills. 12x18 print museum grade mounted, 6 ply white mat, 21x25 black wood frame.

The Flying W hosts a spring burn each year. It's a great event and gives "city folk" a chance to connect with the culture and spirit of the Flint Hills.

An old barn in the Flint Hills

Plains Bison

Pastel over ink.

fall colors of the Flint Hills

he sunflowers are kilncasted then kilnformed into a shape including a hump in the center organic bowl shape. The green dragonfly has dichroic glass in the wings for extra sparkle. The dragonfly, butterfly, bee and ladybug are kilncasted Large Sunflower dimensions: 8.5" dia. Medium Sunflower dimensions: 6.5" dia. The stands are acrylic and are included.

Glass Art Sculpture. Inspiration: The wonderful large fields of sunflowers as well as sunflowers in my friend;s backyard. Artistic Process: The sunflowers were casted separately. A background of 2 layers of swirling green transparent glass was fired separately. A third firing in the kiln to fuse the sunflowers to the background glass. It is installed in a black round frame on a stand. Dimensions 9.5" wide x 10.5" tall x 3.25" deep

Wire wrapped necklace embellished with natural stones and iridescent glass gemstones

I stitched my memories of the tall grass prairie into this piece. The bright blue sky, the waving grasses, the soft, rolling hills, and the blowing wind.

This Bison is enjoying the peacefulness of the Flinthills

Mixed Media, Porcelain, wood, deer antler

Mixed media, (image #1) Porcelain inlaid envelope vase, elk antler shed, rawhide, found metal.

This is a plein air oil that I painted while exploring the prairies around Wabaunsee County earlier this spring. It was not far from the Symphony in the Flint Hills site this year.

Porcelain inlaid clay tray

This oil painting on linen panel invites the viewer to ride across the prairie for a midnight ride and listen to the sounds of the night.

This painting depicts the grandeur of the night sky over the tall grass prairie, showing just how small and insignificant we feel as we ponder the wonder of it all.

A summer view of a hayfield off of Sharpes Creek Road and 120 Road near Kansas state highway 177.

Rusted 100% cotton with watercolor washes are the base for this hand embroidered “sketch”. The milkweed pods are formed using the bouillon stitch and backstitching suggests leaves and stems.

Rusted 100% cotton with overlays of watercolor provide the base for this “sketch”. An improvisation of the lazy daisy embroidery stitch is used to make seed pods and small running stitches, on the stems and leaves, create the airy feeling of switch grass.

It is a tradition on my birthday to run on the Konza Prairie. June is always so vivid green -- this particular day had blue grey skies and stark shadows stretching over the hills. I snap photos for reference to later paint on paper with acrylic and watercolor.

Bichet Stone schoolhouse near Florence, KS

Sunset over the art installation near Matfield Green, KS 12x18 print in 18x24 frame.

The history of the Flint Hills includes humankind's use of the ubiquitous native rocks for fences and structures. But that's can't keep the native plants down. Native sunflowers spring up in every crack and crevice. 3D fabric flower set on a background of patchwork rocks.

Cloudless Sulphur butterflies flit above the Kansas prairie - where "the skies are not cloudy all day."

Home on the range where you can see across the vistas for miles and the skies are (mostly) not cloudy all day. Fabric patchwork & felting with a touch of machine embroidery & and a sprinkling of beads.

Watercolor and Ink on 140# Hot Press

Wide open field and sky. This “Crossing Kansas…” pastel series was created to capture the simple beauty of the Flint Hills and Kansas prairie, your surroundings for miles along Interstate 70.

Inspired by a Friend’s garden and painted while sitting on their deck, overlooking the backyard. All the flowers and vegetables were in full bloom, having recently enjoyed several days of rain. This is my first time painting acrylic on board/panel. And I chose the more abstract approach of flattening the design, with focus on color and the cloudless blue sky we were under. Outlines were completed with acrylic paint pens.

Framed photograph of a golden Flint Hills sunset with blue shadows.

Framed photograph of a strong storm in the Flint Hills at sunset.

Framed photograph of a horse and her rider get a refreshing drink on a hot Flint Hills day.

Framed photograph of the Flint Hills in the depth of winter.

Watercolor on paper. Framed.

A sight too often seen in Kansas

Here is a wonderful scene I had to capture and recreate. A family member suggested a title for the piece, which I thought was perfect. it is one of those one of a lifetime benchmark scenes which encapsulates heart, mind, spirit and soul. These are the scenes that provide impetus and expressive movement by the artisans hand and brush. What a awesome task to co-create or reinterpret, (hearing the language as it were) with and what God has made wonderful. This scene is in the Flint Hills at Hwy 99 and Low Water South Road. This piece resonated with me profoundly in that I lived and worked on a farm as a teenager, and experienced the loading of bailed hay unto flatbeds and into barns. So my life experiences in this work played a vital role from the beginning to the wrapping up the musical coda in the thing. I am deeply connected with the piece. It is my prayer that others might finish their side of the narrative in a beautiful way as they relate with this story.

Cattle around a windmill and water tank with blowing snow.

Sunset creating an orange glow over the landscape. A much traveled road exposes rock in the tracks.

Dyed, screen-printed, & stitched canvas and silk

Dyed, screen-printed, & stitched canvas and silk

View across hills of Chase County

Sun peeking through the trees just after sunrise outside of Alma in the Flint Hills.

Setting sun on Boot Hill Road.

Cowboy Thomas Coirier and nephew take time out from spring branding.

Watercolor and Acrylic on Canvas

Gouache painting. 12 x 12" framed.

Gouache painting. 12 x 12" framed. Reference photo courtesy of Lisa Klein.

Watercolor, ink, and gouache on 140 lb paper.

Watercolor on paper.

Ink and watercolor plein air painting native wildflowers and bee on handmade paper.

Ink and watercolor plein air painting of two Herefords in a pasture on handmade paper.

Ink and watercolor plein air painting of an inquisitive Hereford cow in winter on handmade paper.

Ink and watercolor painting of a native sunflower on handmade paper

Imaage was taken at the Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful day but we were worried about the heavy cloud cover but it cleared enough that we had a gorgeous sunset to silhouette the bison.

A group of bison at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City, Kansas.

Fall in the Flint Hills just before the leaves begin to turn.

A prairie storm was brewing in the Flint Hills west of Emporia, and I had infra-red film loaded in the camera with an IR filter. The combination of weather, film and filter created a stark vision of the ancient hills.

Oil on panel

Acrylic on board.

Oil on board.