This project almost didn’t get off the ground. I had received notice of the competition when it was announced, and even printed off all the rules. Vacation came and the ‘Art Panels’ shuffled to the bottom of the pile on my desk. Like so many good intentions, I almost...
Sometimes the story behind a painting is more important than the art itself. This painting had a long journey. It all began when a friend and I went to see an installation of Dale Chihuly’s glass. I had never seen it up close, but when I did, I became thoroughly...
Spring has sprung, the grass is ris, I wonder where the birdies is The bird is on the wing, But that’s absurd From what I heard The wing is on the bird! – Anonymous Spring Jubilee Silver Willows and Bubbling Waters There are times when I really need to...
Have you ever wondered how you got to where you are today? I was pondering this question of the high school art years after my last high school class reunion. I was enrolled in the six week Kansas University Summer Art Program for high school students my year before a...
A year after painting the very successful “Pots and Jars”, I decided move into high color. I changed my signature from “Kleppe” to “Outrageous Red,” although I sometimes use “Kleppe”. I was taking a Graduate Watercolor class at Arizona State University in Tempe,...
Unfinished Business Somewhere after 1997 and 1998, my father was moved to Sylvia Thompson’s Assisted Living in Sedalia, Missouri with Alzheimer’s Disease. When Dad no longer knew me, a part of my life died. I had been actively painting and was represented...
