A beauty from the land of Iowa

Last August, we took a vacation to visit family and friends.  In the midst of visiting, I am always on the lookout for anything visually appealing.  I took a walk in one of my favorite places.  In Ohio, I love to visit Clifton Gorge.  I've taken lots of photos and wish I would have taken more, but alas I didn't.  Currently, I am working on painting from Clifton, but today, I wanted to post a beauty from Iowa.

While visiting friends and taking rides into the country, they were gracious enough when I said stop, turn around, did you see that?  To turn around, and let me take photos to my heart's content. 

There in the country, right outside of town, was a house converted into an antique shop with too much for the eye to take in, loaded with all sorts of eye candy to view...and an old, covered with rust vehicle! 

Bullet holes in the windshield, sitting on top of cement blocks, an old gangster looking car!  My mind went to prohibition days, I thought of Bonnie and Clyde, and moonshiners, and bank robbers, and just a cool old car waiting all these years for the owners to return and the adventures to continue.

I just had to paint this car!  Problem with trying to paint a vehile covered in rust is that it just looks like a red vehicle when you're done painting it.
I may go back into the paintings, and paint the vehicle a different color so that I can capture the idea of a rusted beauty.

Here are my attempts (I don't think that I am done with these)

I think that the paintings are almost cartoonish.  BUT...there was a humor about the vehicle.  An old rusting bed frame was placed on the front with a lock to keep the hood closed.  The car did have a smile on it's face.  Just daring someone to shoot more of the window.  I just purily fell in love with this vehicle!

I have more images of it...whether I will do another portrait of it or put in a different scenario or landscape...who knows, but I am sure that I will return to this little beauty!