True Texan

True Texan
7 x 5 x 5.5
bronze on granite
$650

This is another of the sculptures that I have at the Insight Gallery. The first few were on wood, but now I always have them mounted on granite. I sculpted this one down in the Fort Worth Stock Yards. The longhorns there have got to be the most plump longhorns in all of Texas. So, I slimmed him down quite a bit to make him look like he has been living out on the open range.

New Mexican Sunset

New Mexico Sunset
6 x 8
oil on canvas on board

Whenever I see a beautiful sunrise or sunset I always think of it as a painting by God, and I feel blessed to see it. This sunset came from photographs I took on my trip to New Mexico last summer.We have really beautiful sunsets in Texas but it seems like they are ALWAYS beautiful in the Santa Fe area. I was inspired to paint a sunset by the paintings of my friends Randy Saffle and Sheri Jones.

Repose

Repose
6x4x4
Bronze on Granite
Edition of 100
$600

My dad had surgery this week and all is going great, thanks to God and great medical care. However, I didn't have much of a chance to paint the last few days so I'm showing one of my sculptures that I have at the Insight Gallery where I will be part of the Texas Stampede show next week. I'll be painting today, so I should have something new to add later today or tomorrow.

Historic Stock Yards # 6

Historic Stock Yards # 6
8 x 10
oil on canvas

As soon as I looked at the photo of this painting I realized that the yellow ochre building  in the background is leaning a bit. As soon as I finish this blog I'm going to fix that. I painted this one on Sunday in the Fort Worth Stock Yards with a great group of artists from this region including Sheri Jones, Jill Randal, Margie Whittington, Linda Popple, Blair Currin, Sabine Higgins, Tina Bohlman, Olivette Hubler, Cece Turner, and several other talented artists. The weather was great although by the time I was working on this one it was very cloudy. This is the corner of Finchers on Exchange Street. It was a lot of fun painting with this group and we had a great lunch at Risckys in between paintings. I'm looking forward to many more great outings.

Hanging Out With Dad

Hanging Out With Dad
8 x 10
Oil on Linen on Board

    Whenever I go up to Yellowstone one of my favorite activities is watching the bison. This scene is a peaceful one, but a short time later there was more action. A small herd of cows, calves, and an old bull were resting near the road. A second bull approached the herd. The old bull got up and went out to face him. The new bull turned tail and began circleing the herd, trying to join. Whenever  he got too close the old bull would start out to face him and the younger bull would trot off. He finally gave up and the old bull went back to graze among his herd.
Bison are such fun to depict. I've got several other paintings  from our paintout  in the stock yards that I need to finish. But I felt like painting bison, so I dug out my photos and thats just what I did.

The Road Home

The Road Home
8 x 10
oil on board

Worked on this one tonight. I started it in the fall when I went painting with my friend Blair Currin in Aledo. It was a beautiful day with some nice fall color and a pretty light blue sky. I finished up the trees and fixed the sky where something stuck to it while we were painting in plein aire. I also worked on two new paintings tonight that aren't ready to post yet. I hope to have at least one of them ready to post on Saturday.

Horned Frog Sculpture, Horned Pride

Horned Pride
9 x 4 x 3.5 ( not including the base)
Bronze on Granite
Edition of 100
$800

This is one of the sculptures that I will have in my shows. It's also one of my newest pieces. I'd started it several years ago. I was inspired to create it for several reasons. First, because the horned toad or"horned frog" is the mascot of TCU where I graduated in 1988, second, it is the state reptile of Texas, and finally when I was a kid I had one as a pet but sadly they are very rare today. It just seemed like this was the time to finish it, and sure enough TCU went undefeated and went on to win the Rosebowl.

Historic Stock Yards #5

Historic Stock Yards #5
8 x 10
oil on canvas

I had a chance to go back to the stock yards to paint on Sunday with a group of very gifted artists. It was a beautiful day for being outdoors painting, especially after all of our snow and ice. We had a small group this time, Cecelia Robertson, Cecy Turner, and Leslie Talty but they produced some very nice paintings. I decided to paint a portion of the old  Fort Worth Livestock Exchange. This is one of my favorite buildings in the city. I love the arches and red tile roof. It trully reflects the southwestern culture of Fort Worth.

A Busy March

Colonel Goodnight's Bison, Old Sikes
Bronze on Granite
8.5 x 6 x 7.5
Edition of 50

   March is going to be a very busy month. I have three shows, beginning March 2nd, I will be participating in the Texas Stampede at the Insight Gallery in Fredericksburg. I am really looking forward to this show as it will be my first year to participate in this event.  Many great artists from across the state will be in this show.  Next I will be participating in Art Reach at Christ Chapel for the fourth time on March 13th. This is a really nice local show. Finally, near the end of the month, starting on March 24th, I will be in a two man show with my very good friend and truly great artist Sheri Jones at the Meadows Gallery at the Southwestern Adventist University. I'm really looking forward to seeing Sheri's paintings. I especially admire the texture and beautiful colors in her work. You can check out her work at sheriart.blogspot.com.
   The sculpture above is one of the pieces from that show. This sculpture is inspired by Col. Charles Goodnight who in addition to being instrumental in the cattle industry was important in preserving the American bison from extinction. This sculpture represents Old Sikes,a sire of Colonel Goodnight's bison herd.

Woodland Spode

Two For My Tea
8 x 10
oil on board

This is my first, last, and only tea cup painting. I decided to try it since so many of my friends have been painting them and creating very nice paintings, but they aren't my cup of tea. I picked two of my meyer lemons for this one. I think I'll enjoy using them more than I did painting them. I went out painting in the stockyards today and enjoyed that experience far more. I'll be posting that painting later.

Autumn Gold

Autumn Gold
8 x 10
oil on board

 Here is another painting that I just finished from last fall. This was from an outing with a large group of artists to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. I was very close to finished with it on site but had never done the last touches to it until this week. Now that we have warm weather predicted for this week, I'm planning on starting some new paintings.

Red Amaryllis

Red Amaryllis
8 x 10
Oil on Canvas

After seeing the beautiful floral paintings of Linda Hunt, Linda Popple, and Sheri Jones and being very tired of these dreary winter days, I decided to try painting a flower last night. This is one I actually have growing in my kitchen window. It probably will be a while before I try this again, but I did enjoy it.

Historic Stock Yards #4

Historic Stock Yards #4
8 x 10
Oil on Canvas

This is the last of my paintings that I had to finish from my plein aire trips to Fort Worth's historic North Side and stock yards area. It is the sign for Leddy's Boots on the corner of North Main and Exchange Street.. This was from another fun day painting with Sheri Jones, Sabine Higgins, and Olivette Hubler. It was a hot day but we painted in the shade and then went to lunch together. I can't wait for nice weather to be able to paint out again

For Georgia

Ranchos de Taos Church
8 x 10
Oil on Canvas

Here's another New Mexico painting that I've been working on, the St. Francis church at Ranchos de Taos. This of course is a view of the back of the church made famous by Georgia Okeeffe. It is a view that I've photographed and sketched many times. I usually do not enjoy painting buildings, but the adobe buildings of New Mexico with their warm colors and organic shapes are the exception for me. I'm hoping for warmer weather so I can resume painting outdoors  but for now I stilll have plenty of paintings that I want to finish.

Yellowstone Bison

Yellowstone Bison
11 x 14
Oil on Canvas

Here is another painting that I put the finishing touches on today. Yellowstone National Park is one of my favorite places. I've been there many times. During the summer it is a great place to go to get away fom the heat. In fact, one July I woke up to find a coating of snow on my tent. My favorite thing about the park is the wildlife. My favorite animals are bison and bears. I've taken rolls of film, as well as many digital images, and have albums and boxes full of their photos. I've done a lot of sketching at the various lodges and campgrounds as well as along the roads and trails. I completed. this painting from my photographs. I have more reference material for bison than any other subject.

Camping at Lake Granbury

Camping at Lake Granbury
8 x 10

   I started this one last summer when I went down to paint with Sheri Jones and Joyce Thomas at Granbury. It was a very hot day. As usual, by the time I got there, they were both about finished so I wanted something simple and what I found was this tent and the ducks . The campers were already out on the lake but the ducks were very friendly and surrounded me as I painted. My friends were of course finished before me, so I left without finishing.
 I've had most of this week off to paint due to all the ice and snow so it has really given me a chance to finish many paintings that I started during the past year.                

Canyon Road Casa



Canyon Road Casa
8 x 10

Here today's painting is. I started this one two years ago but brought it out to finish up. If I was starting it today I'd probably paint it looser, but I finished it in the same style I started it. This is one of my favorite houses in Santa Fe, it's just off Canyon Road.                                               

"Rosted" Pinon

"Rosted Pinon"
8 x 10

                                                                                                                                  
This one is just for fun. It's another of my paintings from along the High Road to Taos. I took this photo at Chimayo a small Spanish village founded at the end of the 17th century. Chimayo is famous for its church commonly called El Santuario de Chimayo. It is a beautiful church and has the reputation of being the site of miraculous healings. Many thousands of pilgrims visit every year from Mexico and across the Southwest. Vendors also sell all varieties of locally produced items, especially green and red chilis. A great place to eat is Leona's Restaurant located near the church. I took the photo for this painting near the parking lot for the visitors. I almost decided to correct the spelling on the sign but in the end I painted it as it was because I thought it added to its charm.  Likewise, the donkey was spotted and kind of a dirty color, and I didn't change her either.

Las trampas Church

                                                             The Church at Las Trampas
                                                                           11 x 14
I'm just about finished now, I may still do a bit more, but really I'm pretty happy with this one. I've noticed that the colors look different in each of my photos, I think the light has been different each time I've photographed it. I took this one outside against the snow. It may be a bit bright but I think the color is pretty accurate. I've been iced in since Tuesday morning but it has been very nice having the time to work on it. I've also been working on an 8 x 10 from another photo I took on the High Road to Taos. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it and post it later today. I also need to straighten up my studio too. If this cold front lasts I may accomplish a lot.

Texas Stampede Invitational Show and Sale

Native Texan



Gone Fishing

Here are the two sculptures that I am going to put in the Insight Gallery's Texas Stampede show. I was going to mail them today, but thanks to our snow and sleet that is probably not going to happen. The show's reception is on March 4th in Fredericksburg in the gallery's new location, just down the block from the old location.

                                                                                                                         



Las Trampas, work in progress #3

                                                              Church at Las Trampas
                                                                  11X 14
I got the snow day that I wanted so I've been painting. Here's what I've done today. Mostly just worked on values and color. I still need to work on it more but ready to take a break for a bit. Hopefully next time I post this one it will be finished.