The Story
On my way back from a wedding in Denver my fiancee and I drove across northwestern Kansas I saw several oil wells. They’ve become part of the landscape, and their movement reminds me of cattle grazing in the fields. I snapped a photo, and brought it back to my studio to begin the painting. The entire tiny portrait of the oil pump was done alla prima, wet on wet. Which means I didn’t do a sketch, I just put the paint down.