This pair of cowboys has stumbled upon a beautiful waterfall. Now they have to figure out a way around it. I love waterfalls and have taken my family on many long hikes to see one from North Carolina to Colorado. There is something very hypnotic about a waterfall.

Before I did this painting, I spent four days drawing running buffalo in every position I could think of. I ended up with about fifty sketches. I asked Cecil Miskin, a friend of mine who raises buffalo, to check the drawings to make sure they were anatomically correct. That's when I learned an interesting fact. Buffalo can't run very far before they have to stick their tongues out to breathe.

I don't know what grand adventure these two participated in today, but whatever it was, it tired them both out. After this short nap, they'll be ready for another one.

This painting is my fourth or fifth Spanish mission. I really enjoy painting them. I always wonder about the history of each one. I know they were cherished places for numerous families nearby.

Those of you who follow my work know how much I enjoy doing mirror reflections. What I like about this one is the contrast between the cowboy's white shirt and the dark background. If you want your painting to have punch, you must have as much contrast between light and dark as possible. This painting works from across the room because of this contrast.

It's sometimes difficult to catch your horse in the middle of the pasture, so a little bribe sometimes comes in handy. I taught my favorite horse to come when I whistled, because I saw Roy Rogers bring in Trigger that way. No matter how big the pasture was, if Judge could hear me, he'd come running.

This was originally going to be a long skinny vingete of running horses, but while I was still refining the sketch, Jeanne and I went to visit her uncle in Idaho. On the way, we stopped at Arches National Park where I did a plein-air painting and fell in love with the place. When we got home, I knew I had the perfect background for my running horses.

Normally, I don't care for paintings that feature the rear view of the horse or cowboy. This painting is an exception because I could not think of a better way to tell this story. This cowboy is thankful for the good year he's had, and I thought I needed to show his ranch and cattle in the background. This is an example of how the title helps tell the story. Had I given it a more generic name, like "End Of A Long Day" it would not have said what I wanted it to. Like the cowbo

This young boy is with his two best friends, his grandfather and his dog. I was very close to my paternal grandfather, and although I'm in my seventies now, I vividly remember the many adventures we had together. This painting was done for my first book I did for Harvest House, "Everything I Know I Learned From My Grandpa".

This painting combines two of the things I most like to paint, a herd of horses and Palo Duro Canyon. My dad always told me that when I paint a group of horses that I should make sure each one looks different, not just different colors, but different confirmations as well. He must have made a strong impression on me because every time I start to draw a group of horses, I remember what he said.