Brushstrokes

Dance Door Geraniums

My husband and I moved our two children to Edmond, Oklahoma, so that Steve would become a corporate Sonic Restaurant, Inc. person to help guide the company. During his tenure in Oklahoma, the husband went to work and the children went to school. This afforded me...

The Story Behind The Art: Dance Door Geraniums
Brushstrokes

The Mysterious Red Roach Motel

We spend much of the summer months at our home on the Lake of the Ozarks in mid-southern Missouri. Just off the main Highway 54 is a very small hamlet of Roach, Missouri. Who ever named it had it in for the roaches there! During the 1940's and 1950's, people...

Brushstrokes

Once Upon A Prayer

I met Lucille Blessing Earle through her purchase of my 'Evening Water Tulip,' which I reviewed earlier. Lucille introduced me to the fabulous handmade Nampeyo pottery. http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/exhibits/nampeyo/gallery.shtml Lucille had several of her...

Brushstrokes

Cat Woman Lady In The Mirror

During my journey through college art, I would get professors who liked to mix things up. During my final winter term at Central Missouri State College, Warrensburg, Missouri, I took one of my last studio art classes, Advanced Drawing. Off hand, I bet it was Dr. Ed...

Cat Woman Lady in the Mirror
Brushstrokes

Pots and Jars

On April 1, 1987 my family and I left Sonic corporate for the franchisee world. We had the opportunity to buy the remaining six corporate Sonic Drive-Ins in Arizona. The Arizona drive-ins had not done well with the Midwest Sonic name identification and were...

Brushstrokes

Skylight Iris

Faced with many Oklahoma days of being alone while my children went to school and my husband being at work in and out of town, I found that painting spring flowers made me feel like myself. I found a small picture in a magazine of a Dutch iris. I was a serious...

Skylight Iris - The Story Behind The Art
Brushstrokes

Good Morning, Hello!

At this time, 1986, we were living in Edmond, Oklahoma. I love gardening and flowers. I planted a beautiful pink geranium in an older terracotta pot, and placed it on the ledge above the main sink in the kitchen. This wonderful plant greeted me every morning with...

Morning Hello! by Shirley Kleppe
Brushstrokes

One O’Clock Jump

At sometime during your early professional life one is presented with certain photo compositions that one did not create. This composition photo belonged to a student of mine. I offered to buy the photo, but the student willingly gave her full permission for me to...

One O'Clock Jump: The Story Behind The Art
Brushstrokes

Evening Water Tulip

Ahem... as part of my disclosure and honesty of writing, I will pull a George Washington-type confession in what exactly is the history of this painting (I did not cut down a cherry tree, as George confessed to his father). So here's the truth: the time was 1982, I...

Brushstrokes

Twilight Tulips

  This painting was painted at the beginning of my best period of working. I was still experimenting with the red outlining. The photograph came from the same group of photographs from 'The Pink Waterlily' of the lily pond at the Missouri State Fair. What a...

Brushstrokes

Freehand Fireworks

My painting Freehand Fireworks takes inspiration from the beautiful area of Tlaquepaque in Sedona, Arizona. I knew this was going to be a great place for me to explore the many compositions from this unique place. I look for beautiful compositions, colors, and...

The Story Behind The Art: Freehand Fireworks
Brushstrokes

Spring Sigh

After having such a successful painting with First Sign of Spring, I decided to do another version. I needed a strong painting for a win! Since the paper I selected was hot pressed, or very smooth, the detail had to be more accurate. The first exhibition Spring...

Spring Sigh - The Story Behind The Art
Brushstrokes

Electric Blue Vibrations

I am very fond of floral compositions. During a spring in Phoenix, Arizona, I saw the wonderful orchid trees in full bloom at the Biltmore Fashion Park Shopping Center. I took several close-up shots of these gorgeous blossoms against the blue skies. Later, I...

Brushstrokes

White Christmas, Sedalia, 1949

There are things I remember from my early childhood that have stayed with me all my life. One of these memories comes from an early Sunday Christmas morning in my hometown of Sedalia, Missouri in 1949. My Grandmother Klein lived alone in a huge upstairs five room...

Brushstrokes

First Sign of Spring

I was now beginning to understand what particular technique and composition made a painting a show winner. Although we lived in Oklahoma, my heart was still in Arizona. I had banked many photo shots from my favorite area in Sedona, Arizona, 'Tlaquepaque'. That was...

The Story Behind The Art: First Sign of Spring

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