Spring in the Botanic Gardens

The Garden Bench
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$100 unframed

I went to paint in the botanical gardens a few weeks ago with my friend Sabine Higgins. I did this one pretty fast. Then when I brought it home and looked at it, I decided to add yellow pansies into the empty flower bed and I lightened the bench to create more of a focal point. I went back to paint there the following week and all the blooms were gone from the tree but the wisteria was starting to bloom and the arbors were covered with it so I started a painting of it. One thing about spring, the colors and views change so fast that iif you want to paint something you had better do so because it may not be the same in a few days.



Work in Progress

longhorn cow and calf
work in progress in clay

I started work on this piece almost two years ago and started working on it again last night as my demo at the opening of my show at the Southwestern Adventist University. The light was not really that great for working on art but I think I'm pretty close if I put in some quality time working on it. I'm still working on simplifying the plants around the feet of the cattle. I try to have the most details around the faces of the animal and get looser the further away. This is basically the same principal as painting and having the sharpest edges around the center of interest.

Half Full or Half Empty

Tubes of Paint
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$100

I joined a group of artists called Some Texas Artists Like To Paint. Their challenge for March was Full / Empty. I was down at the lake when I decided to paint it, and the only thing I came up with were the tubes of paint themselves. They had some weird shadows so I decided to paint them.

Just three more days until my big show at the Southwestern Adventist University with Sheri Jones.She has some really spectacular large paintings in the show. They are larger than anything I've ever seen her paint before, although I know she does work large.

Don't Mess With Texas

Don't Mess With Texas
9  x 4.5 x 5.5
bronze on wood
$900

This is my newest longhorn sculpture, and one of the pieces that will be in my art show with my great friend Sheri Jones at the Southwestern Adventist University next week. I finally made it to her solo show at Granbury last week. It was a great show. She sold many of her paintings. She really is a master of color. I haven't posted  a painting since Monday. I've started three this week, but I've been out of town and also working on my taxes so I haven't had the time to do as much painting as I would like. Hopefully once I take care of my taxes I'll have more time.

Belted Galloways

Belted Galloways
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$150, unframed

 I did a sketch  and took photos of these cattle from my trip down to Fredericksburg.  I painted it yesterday and after taking it to a critique group at my friend Cecelia's, I edited out a road and house from the background and I think it's a stronger painting because of that. I really think Belted Galloways  are such an interesting looking breed of cattle. You don't see them often but when you do they sure stand out.

Kifaru, black rhino



Kifaru
15 x 5 x 7.5
bronze on granite
edition of 30

 I went to Dallas today to pick this sculpture up from the Beretta Gallery, for my show with Sheri Jones at the Southwestern Adventist University, only to find that it had just sold. That was a very great surprise. I will have another cast but not in time for the show at the University.
The title of this sculpture, Kifaru, is Swahili for black rhino. It was considered one of the Big 5, along with the elephant, cape buffalo, lion, and leopard. Compared to the white rhinoceros they are more aggressive. They are no longer hunted but still fall victim to poachers. I took a lot of photos and sketches of rhinos at different zoos for this sculpture. Our zoo here in Fort Worth has a great collection of rhinos having, black, white, and Indian rhinoceroses. Sadly all rhinos are endangered but at our zoo and at Fossil Rim Wildlife Park, near Glen Rose, they have been successful in breeding and raising rhinos. I think they are really a great animal to depict. What I like about them is that they look so prehistoric.

Cloudy Day Painting

Hay at the Feed Store
8 x 10
oil on canvas

 Here is a painting that I did down at Waxahachie at the Jill Carver workshop. I did this one on the first day. We painted at the feed store. I painted one of the grain silos with the hay in front of it. I really chose this scene because of the trees in it. It was a gray cloudy day and all the structures were gray. So, our assignment was to work on values. The second day of class we looked at photographs of our paintings and the scene we painted on the computer in black and white. What I needed to work on was the wrappings on the hay, I had them too dark. The lesson for me was that yellow can be darker than green or blue. So today I got this painting out and lightened the wrappers.

Hay at the Feed Store

Wrapped and Ready to Roll
5 x 7
oil on canvas panel

This was painted at the Waxahachie feed store. I don't think I have ever seen hay wrapped up like this or if I have I've never noticed it. The dark gray in the background is the base of a grain silo. This painting was done  as a study of values more than anything else.

Bad Hair Day

Bad Hair Day
8 x 10
oil on linen on board

Here's another of my bison paintings.These were up in Yellowstone National Park. The spring and early summer is such a beautiful time of year to visit Montana and Wyoming, but the animals are pretty rough looking until they finish losing their winter coats. I've got photos of some of the scruffiest looking bison, elk, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep from my trips up north.

The Texas Stampede Show

Me at the Insight Gallery's Texas Stampede Show

Friday night was the reception at the Insight Gallery, in Fredericksburg, for the Texas Stampede Show. The show was held in the galleries new building and it is a beautiful space, more like a museum than a gallery. There is  enough space to really step back and look at the art. In fact there are benches in between the walls so you can sit down and admire the work. There was a great turnout as well as many great artists in attendance.I sold a sculpture during the reception and one earlier in the week.
I met a really wonderful artist that I was unfamiliar with, Gladys Roldan-de-Moras. She took the photo of me above holding one of my sculptures. I would advise all of my friends to check her website. She had two paintings in the gallery and sold them both before the start of the show.My favorite painting of hers, was of her daughter and neice in traditional hispanic dresses picking roses. It was just amazing.

Cape Buffalo

Mbogo
12 x 4 x 7
bronze on granite
edition of 20

This is the first sculpture I ever sold. I will have one of them in the show at the Southwestern Adventist University at the end of the month. It was one of the most challenging pieces I've ever made. Usually I work from life or my own photos. To the best of my knowledge there aren't  any cape buffalos around here. My sister's neighbor, a big game hunter, had a head and some hooves that I used and I watched a lot of videos but I had a very hard time finding a back view. Thanks to the internet I finally found the images I needed. The neighbor really knew his cape buffalos and gave me great advice also. In the end I was pleased with the sculpture. The name Mbogo is the Swahili name for a cape buffalo.

Santa Fe Sunset

Santa Fe Sunset
8 x 10
oil on board

I said before that I wanted to start painting larger, so I repainted my  6 x 8 New Mexican Sunset at a giant 8 x 10 size. Maybe I'll make it to a 9 x 12 next time. I still will do a bit more but need something to post, so ready or not here it is. I'm really enjoying painting sunsets so I may have to try a different one next time and actually paint large. This one however is a combo of my reference photography from Santa Fe and Red River, two of my favorite places. I go to New Mexico every year and it is always fresh to me. I never tire of the scenery. New Mexico has it all except seascapes. I've said before I really am drawn to the architecture of the Southwest . Santa Fe is one of the best cities for spending a day or days walking around  looking at galleries, museums, and interesting people. Although I love our Texas Mexican food, New Mexico's Mexican food is not to be missed, especially lunch at the LaFonda in Santa Fe.