Moody Sky

10x8 watercolor using Daniel Smith pigments on Canson 117 lb cold press paper, done last week of April. In this colorful imaginary landscape I have tried to show the beauty of the land and the sky. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2026

Midway Old Grocery

8.5x11 watercolor using Daniel Smith pigments on Arches 140 lb cold press paper, done March 25 on last day of Tim Oliver's landscape workshop at Midland Palette Club. Ref courtesy of instructor. This one I really enjoyed as we have driven past this spot many times. Old country grocery stores such as this one located on farm to market road are a gentle reminder of times past. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2026

Clouds over Signal Mountain

8x12 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper done last week in my landscape series. This one features our own Signal Mountain, an imaginary cloud filled sky and interesting terrain with some water present. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

West Texas Cactus

12x12 acrylics on wrapped canvas, a prickly pear cactus landscape of the rugged west Texas, a piece done Saturday during the class taught by Crystal Goodman of San Angelo, TX. (Ref courtesy of CG) COP0YRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Pumpjack Stormy Skies

11x15 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb cold press rough paper completed over the weekend, a west Texas landscape at dusk with a pumpjack working hard. Stormy skies are overhead and nighttime is approaching in this dramatic oilfield from one of my petroleum photos. COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Jean's Sunset

7.5x11 watercolor of a vivid west Texas sunset, photo courtesy Jean Money, another in our Big Spring Art Association summer series.  This one is number 6 of 8, and the remaining two finished today.  We will bring our works to the September 19th meeting along with printed images of the references used, courtesy Red Barn Studios/Bruce Schooler.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

Vintage Vealmoor TX Mailbox

15x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper finished today.  From my photo taken where Vealmoor, Texas highway intersects with caliche road to my mother's, this rusty rural route holder of mail now houses only birdnests.  Three or more other mailboxes in better condition are to its right.  Precariously bolted to wood on top of metal piping, this vintage victim of time and weather is full of interesting texture.  As this weekend's drawing event host on WetCanvas, I posted the photograph along with 15 others, and so far I'm the only one who painted it.  Across the highway looking east is pasture for cattle grazing and cotton farming.  To the south the highway connects to US 87 to Big Spring, the crossroads of west Texas.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Purple Prickly Pear Cactus

12x15 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press completed today after about 3 days' work.  These cactus blooms caught my eye as they bloom in May here in west Texas, and the purple coloration set off the orange yellows. A patch of sthe spiky succulent plants was growing near to the big spring for which our town is named.  I used two opaques together, American Journey's  Mint Julep and Blue Bice, for most of the softer green areas, with a lot of water.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Mexican Bird of Paradise

15x22 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper of blooms on what we call Mexican bird of paradise bushes.  These brilliant colored gold, hot pink, and red flowers are vividly seen in the Texas and Arizona landscape which I have made up in the background. At my studio there are several of these small specimens growing in the backyard.  This work is SOLD!

Red Mesa and Buffalo

12x24 watercolor on Arches 140 lb cold press paper, painted wet in wet today.  Signal Peak mountain is east of our town of Big Spring in west Texas and is part of the Great Plains where the Cherokees roamed.  In this imaginary scene I ignored local color and made the terrain red and red orange while the animals are pale gold with cool highlights.

White Barns

7.5x11 watercolor landscape rural scene of barn and outbuildings all painted white.  Landscapes are not my forte but every now and again enjoy painting one, especially country farms that truly show our American roots.

Old O'Donnell Shack

15x22 wet in wet watercolor on Saunders 140 lb cold press paper of this old rundown abandoned shack.  It sits by highway 87 in O'Donnell, TX and I have painted its weary boards before but never tire of giving it one more life in the west Texas landscape. What was odd was the gigantic yucca at the corner rising tall as if to guard its former home from strangers and artists with cameras.

Buffalo Gap

11x15 watercolor on handmade paper, 140 lb cold press, an imaginary landscape called Buffalo Gap. Seriously, there is a town/area by that name and I was just there last weekend. It is by Abilene, TX. This scene was entered into an online challenge this week.