High Hills

High Hills

This painting is one of my favorites, I have done of the Sandhills. It is an actual view on my parents former ranch. I love this painting because if you study it abit, you can really sense the topography of the sandhills. There are few level valleys in the high hills, and the valley floors usually rise or descend, but rarely still level. 

Douglas Polk

Dante's Descent

Dante's Descent

This painting for whatever reason in my tortured mind, at one time reminded me of Dante's Inferno. I am not sure why, looking at the painting now. But I do remember thinking the gray path was the pathway descending into hell, and somehow they represented the different levels of hell. Not sure about all that now, but I still do like this painting.

Douglas Polk

The Stampede

The Stampede

This painting has also been featured in a magazine. The painting is entitled 'Stampede' because I had earlier in the week painted a painting of a buffalo, and I wondered how I would paint an abstract of a  buffalo. This is what my abstract painting evolved into . . .I thought it looked like lots of motion and dust, so decided to entitle it the stampede.

Douglas Polk

Autumn Trees

Autumn Trees

This painting is one of mine that has been featured in magazines. (I have had 33 paintings featured in different magazines,) This painting was inspired by a trip out to a little lake we have here by Kearney.  It is a park, called Cottonwood Park. I was fortunate enough to get away one day and get out there when the leaves and grass were turning colors. The blue is Cottonwood Lake.

Douglas Polk

Circus Patches

Circus Patches

This painting is one of my favorites also. I don't know why it reminds me of the circus, but it does. I was really pleased with the colors, and lines of the painting. It is one of my go-to paintings to view during the hard days, the depressed days. I am not sure why it works for me, but it does, and I guess that is the most important thing.

Douglas Polk

Opening Day and Sneak Attack

Opening Day

This is a painting of my son Ben, (done from a photo) . It was the opening day of the major league baseball season. Ben didn't like having his picture taken, and so I think I told him, our baseball season, we played in our front yard, couldn't officially open until Ben had his picture taken. So this is  Ben ready for the first pitch of baseball season.

Sneak Attack

This is a painting of my oldest son Ethan, (done from a photo). This photo was the day after opening day. We had a big snow storm, so this was Ethan trying to sneak up and get me with a snowball. He saw the painting I had done of Ben, and wondered why I hadn't done one of him. So I painted this painting to maintain the peace in the household. We had some special special times in that old house, and I have some wonderful memories of my boys when I view these paintings,

Douglas Polk

White Water

White Water

This is one of my few attempts of painting with oils. It has a totally different feel to painting with watercolors. Watercolors were what I had as a child, and I just love painting with watercolors. Though at my last exhibit in Lincoln, one of the people viewing the exhibit wanted  to argue with me whether my paintings were watercolor or oil. After the first time I ever exhibited, some of the other artists told me they thought I had some talent, but I needed to study with someone, and one of them, it seems to me,  even offered to teach me (at a retreat) to paint. But I was afraid I would lose what painting gives me, if I began thinking of it in a different way. I mainly paint to cope, otherwise I feel like I could lose my sanity. Painting is praying, and it is like being in a different state of awareness. It always amazes me, I start a painting, and think minutes have passed, and it is four hours later. 

Douglas Polk