Sketch of the Day, September 22, 2010.

This was blowin' in the wind as I walked toward my gallery this afternoon, though I don't think it's the answer, my friend. At first I assumed another pedestrian had been hit by one of downtown Rapid's countless reckless drivers (five have been hit since I moved down here three ye...ars ago). However, I discovered it was merely a styrofoam replica and brought it into the gallery.

Sketch of the Day, August 31, 2010.

"Ponderosa Pine" The Black Hills National Forest consists mostly of ponderosa pines. Sorry, but I think they are rather ugly trees, at least until they get to be a couple of hundred years old, and they're almost always harvested before that. Go, pine beetles.

Sketch of the Day, August 30, 2010.

"First Day of School" I didn't get very far with this sketch of a mom in a giant SUV waiting to pick up her kid. Hey, I'm not criticizing anyone for driving these behemoths--you should see the size of the kids...

New Painting!

Finally! After days of preparing the panel, I'm ready to start the new painting. I hope my arms are long enough.

Sketch of the Day, August 25, 2010.

My Dad stopped in at the gallery today. This wouldn't be particularly amazing except for the fact that he's ninety-six and he walked here from the dermatologist's office four blocks away. Go Dad!

Sketch of the Day, August 19, 2010.

"My hat." I wear it with the bill forward, like an old guy. The backwards ball-cap thing was one of the world's great examples of lemming behavior. They don't really do any good when they're backwards.

Sketch of the Day, August 14, 2010.

"Matt's Cases." The man can pick. Believe me.

Sketch of the Day, August 13, 2010.

"Another Motorcycle."

Sketch of the Day, August 12, 2010.

"Motorcycle." It's the week of the world famous Sturgis Rally in the Black Hills. Once described by me as "500,000 nonconformists in black t-shirts." It's probably the most powerful manifestation of corporate worship in the world, but hey, underneath it all they're just folks trying ...to have a good time. I say, "Welcome bikers! Have a good time and then go back home."

Sketch of the Day, August 11, 2010

"Street Preacher" I got so buried in work that I had too give up my "Sketch of the Day" for a couple of months. I'm still buried, but by golly, I'm going to draw or die. This is the street-preacher who works the downtown crowd on Thursday nights. He gets relentlessly (and deservedly) heckled by high school kids, but he seems to enjoy it.

Sketch of the day, June 5, 2010.

This lovely Model A was parked in front of the gallery for a few minutes. Wish it had stayed longer.

Sketch of the Day, May 20, 2010.

Walmart scene. I suppose there's no point in denying I was there...

Sketch of the Day, May 19, 2010.

Man in a waiting room. I draw a lot of these.

Sketch of the Day, May 14, 2010.

West and Southwest Middle School orchestra concert. They did an awesome version of Led Zep's "Kashmir."

Sketch of the Day, May 13, 2010.

Callan playing guitar.

Concert preview #2

Concert Preview #2. "Badlands Breeze" A few seconds of a duet I wrote about 25 years ago. There's a classic teenage eye-roll at the begining, which is actually more entertaining than the music.

Music a la Mode, May 6th

Concert preview #1. "The Rights of Man" A traditional Irish hornpipe. Callan, Cole, and I will be playing at the Gallery on May 6th at 8:00 p.m. Admission $10 for adults and $5 dollars for high school age and under, price includes coffee and dessert.

Music a la Mode, May 6th

Sketch of the Day, April 20, 2010.

At the DMV. A boon for Kafka fans everywhere.

Sketch of the Day, April 17, 2010.

Pete Roth singing in front of the gallery.

Sketch of the Day, April 15, 2010

Dog tired. He just finished his taxes.

Sketch of the Day, April 14, 2010.

Mom and Dad's hallway.

Sketch of the Day, April 12, 2010.

A large plant at the mall. A little tropical moment here in arctic south Dakota. Cole's theater group is doing a play at the mall this week-end. A revival of "Free to Be-You and Me."

Sketch of the Day, April 11, 2010.

Salt shaker. Cole and I had breakfast at the Colonial House on Sunday morning. I had a caramel roll. Sometimes you have to.

Sketch of the Day, April 10, 2010.

In line at Qdoba.

Sketch of the Day, April 9, 2010.

View of Rapid City from my mom and dad's house. I was running around this neighborhood 50 years ago. Strange to think I'm still here.

Sketch of the Day, April 8, 2010.

Walmart parking lot. Walmart is always an interesting experience, to put it mildly.

Sketch of the Day, April 7 2010.

An old woman having breakfast at McDonald's. There's a major community of senior citizens who hang out at McDonald's every morning. I'll be joining them soon.

Sketch of the Day, April 4, 2010.

Actually, it's the sketch of three days ago but I've been too busy to post anything. J.D. Fiedler and Chuck Thomas did a great jazz show at the Gallery on Thursday night and I did this quick sketch of J.D.

Sketch of the Day, March 21, 2010.

Lower Spring Creek Road, oil on canvas 8x10. It warmed up yesterday and I decided to go out and paint even though there were a million other things I needed to be doing. Obviously the Hills are not yet alive--with the sound of music or anything else--but I've grown to love the ochres and grays of the prairie winter.

Sketch of the Day, March 20, 2010.

Jim Hatzell listening to Ronn Barany. I went across the street to Paddy's Pub last night. Jim was listening to his old art school friend, Ronn, who was singing, and Jim was drawing, as always. It's very intimidating to sit down and do a sketch of Jim because he's probably South Dakota...'s greatest virtuouso with pencil, pen and ink. It's like sitting down with Eric Clapton and getting your guitar out. Art is all about overcoming fear though, so I made myself do it. It's not a great likeness of Jim, but it's a start.

Sketch of the Day, March 19, 2010.

Dylan Fleming listening to the Jolly Llamas.

Sketch of the Day, March 18, 2010.

The beautiful Sara Carstensen dropped in today and kindly sat for ten minutes so I could do a sketch. She's renting the newly finished back room of my gallery for a couple of weeks to do a photography exhibit called "A Duet of One." It opens tomorrow evening (Friday). The Jolly Llamas... and others will be performing. Stop by and join the party!See More The beautiful Sara Carstensen dropped in today and kindly sat for ten minutes so I could do a sketch. She's renting the newly finished back room of my gallery for a couple of weeks to do a photography exhibit called "A Duet of One." It opens tomorrow evening (Friday). The Jolly Llamas... and others will be performing. Stop by and join the party!

Sketch of the Day, March 15, 2010

More kids playing violins.

Sketch of the Day, March 13, 2010.

At the nursing home.

Cleaning the new gallery

People sometimes ask me what it's like to be a gallery owner. In a word: "glamorous."

Moving

Moving the big painting through Art Alley to the new gallery.

Good-bye to Seventh Street

The last concert at the old gallery. Scott Grote, Greg Howard, James Van Nuys, and Bob Morgret.

Sketch of the Day, March 12, 2010.

Sketch of the Day, March 12, 2010. Curious George puzzle box.

Sketch of the Day, March 8, 2010.

Cole sleeping through the Oscars. I think he made it through "Best Animated Short" before he dozed off. Can't blame him. There's a limit to how much you can watch people loving themselves.

Sketch of the Day, March 8, 2010.

Cole watching the Oscars. He looked at this sketch and said he looks like the mom in "Precious." Everyone's a critic.

Sketch of the Day, March 7, 2010.

Dad. I took him to visit Mom at the nursing home she was sent to after she fell last week. She'll be back home in a week or two.

Sketch of the Day, March 7 2010.

Women at a bar. Girls night out, I guess. I was playing music with Randy McAllister.

Music a la Mode with Hank and Kenny

Hank Harris and Kenny Putnam put on a superb show last night. The gallery was packed, the desserts were fabulous, and the sound quality was pristine. Thanks to Hank and Kenny and everyone who helped put on the show. Also thanks to Paschal Karl, who photographed the whole event--check out his web site: www.karlcreations.com.

Sketch of the Day, March 4, 2010

Daniel Long Soldier stopped in at the gallery today. I had never met him before, though I've long enjoyed his work. Great painter, great story-teller, great sense of humor--what a pleasure to meet him.

The Name Goes On...

I got the sign up at the new location a few days ago. Now all I have to do is clean up the huge mess inside.

Sketch of the Day, February 21, 2010.

Cats looking out a window. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

Sketch of the Day, February 8, 2010.

Coat Thrown Over a Chair. It's supposed to drop to 8 below tonight. I'm thankful we got so much gallery moving done over the weekend.

Sketch of the Day, February 7, 2010

Light Bulb. Light bulbs used to be much easier to draw. Are these things really "green?" I mean, they have mercury in them--is anyone really going to dispose of them properly? I have a pile of dead ones I need to throw out. What am I supposed to do? I can't sleep for worrying about them. The claims made as to their longevity are complete fabrications.

Sketch of the Day, February 6, 2010

An empty corner. We had the hired muscle in today and they moved an astounding number of large heavy objects over to the new gallery space. It's always an ambiguous feeling when you move out of a place where you've lived or worked--strange to see the rooms empty and no longer yours. My partners and I have had so much fun here, so many good parties, so much good music, so many interesting characters coming in. I've never been one for living in the past but it will be a bit sad to lock the door for the last time.But onward to Sixth Street. It's so alive over there, even on a grey slushy day like today. I'm looking forward to it and I love the new building!

Sketch of the Day, February 2, 2010

Greg Howard practicing for the upcoming Music a la Mode concert this Thursday. Greg, Scott, and company sounded great in rehearsal tonight.

Sketch of the Day, February 1, 2010

A guy reading.

Sketch of the Day, January 12, 2010

On the interstate. It hard to draw in a car; your pen keeps bouncing around. Makes it lively though.