I drove by this barn on my way to Shenandoah and stopped to draw it. Big greenish flies, like the ones you see gathered around the eyes of livestock, attacked my bare legs until I had to move inside the car and draw looking through the windshield.

Uptown Sidney, Iowa

As the smaller, family farms get gobbled up by the giants, this little town is shrinking. Tornadoes and the recent flooding of the Missouri River hit many of the nearby towns hard. Large houses sit empty for years. Most of the hangers-on are retired and have their homes paid off. They still live in a world of 'high tea socials', Sunday mass, and the local rodeo. 

I sat in the lawn at the courthouse and drew the Arbor Bank, the building where my family kept their money over fifty years ago. In the upstairs of the building at the far left, I take yoga twice a week to maintain what little flexibility I still have. The cost per one hour session is "Whatever you feel like dropping in the box."

Donna Ruth's place, Sidney, Iowa.

The Old Draper House in Sidney, Iowa

Watercolor

Ink wash

Line art

Sketching in the sun

Commission from John Deere

Loader

After seeing my drawing of a tractor in Mexico, my uncle,  the branch manager of a John Deere dealership in Kansas, asked me to draw these tractors for his new office. 

Grader 

More from Mexico.

Public restrooms.

Downtown.

Easter weekend carnival.

El Golfo Tractor

Few roads are paid in this tiny fishing village. This tractor is used to push around the drifting sand.

The gray ink wash before painting with watercolor.

The lighthouse at El Golfo, Sonora, Mexico.

A truck

A restaurant in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico

The Point

El Golfo RV Resort, Sonoma, Mexico.