A Merry Christmas and a Grand Art Show

My Labrador Scout and me in my den.

 Christmas 2012 has come and it has been a terrific one. Christmas Eve we had dinner at my sisters and it was delicious, complete with Christmas crackers, and paper crowns. Then we drove around to look at Christmas  lights. At 11:00 I went to midnight mass at All Saints. Then back to my sister's house to spend the night. My nephews woke me up around 6:00 in the morning to see the presents.

My Mom and Dad's house on Christmas Day. 

After having breakfast I went home for a while. It was raining and then the rain turned to sleet and very quickly to big flakes of snow.  This was our second white Christmas in three years, and only our third in almost 70 years.

My sister and some  of my nephews in my parent's backyard on Christmas Day.

I went out to help my Mom and Dad get ready for Christmas dinner. That evening my sister, brother inlaw, my four nephews , and my brother inlaw's dad came for dinner. The boys brought their sleds and headed for the hill in the backyard. It was bitter cold but the sledding was good and even I made a few  runs. We had another great dinner and then we all headed home before the roads were too icy.

My house on Christmas Night.

 That night I had a fire in the fireplace lit my tree and slept on the sofa. It was a pleasant way to top off the day.

Me in the large gallery space at the downtown library where my friends and I have a show.

 Today was a very enjoyable day. On the 21st a large group of my friends, about 30 of us, hung a show in the Fort Worth Central Library. The show is called Texas and the West. It is very diverse, oils, acrylics, watercolors, photography and for the reception even a few of my bronzes.

My five paintings in the show.

 I really can't say enough good things about the quality of the work in the show. I would love to have any of the pieces in my home. Today was our reception. We had lots of delicious food that the artists all brought and we had piano music thanks to my friend Emilia Hernandez. Many of my friends from work, church, other art groups and some of my relatives came. I wish all the artists in the show great success.

The banner for our show with some of my paintings on it and one by my friend Sheri Jones.

Texas Speed Bump- my new armadillo sculpture

Texas Speed Bump
edition of 30
$675
bronze on granite

It has been a really busy and productive fall. So my posts have been few and far between. I've had several shows and have several more coming up.
Starting this Friday there will be a group of 30 of us in a show at the Fort Worth Central Library called Texas and the West. More about it later.
This newest sculpture is one of my favorites. I call it Texas Speed Bump. It is an armadillo. I tried to capture the essence of the animal with a bit of  personality too. They don't see well and if you are quiet will walk right up on you. Then if they hear you they will take off running. They are very primitive looking and my mom could tell you, they can really mess up a lawn and flower beds with their digging.

A Golden Fall

First to Turn
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$75

We have had a very beautiful fall so far, perhaps not as great as we had hoped but much nicer than last year. The yellow golds are brilliant. I have been very busy with shows and events but have been able to get out and paint some too while the color lasts. Today was a super day. We had a large group turn out. Olivette Hubler, Jeff Ott, Linnea McKinney, Dan Spangler, George De Chiaro, Ann Hardy, Debob Jacob, Cecilia Robertson, Claudia Davis, Maryann Brummer, Sara Ward, Janice Weaver, T.K. Riddle and I made up today's group. We met at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. It started out pretty chilly but did warm up. Some artists painted the roses which are really nice, but most chose to paint the foliage.

The Pecan Pickers
11 x 14
oil on canvas
$200

 We went to lunch at the Kimble Art Museum. It is always a great place to eat. Then we went to see the new show at the Amon Carter Museum. We had a docent led tour of this exhibit which is from the Phillips collection. Wow, it was really great! Paintings by Whistler, Homer, Eakins, and many other great American artists but I have to say one of my favorites was a painting by Grandma Moses. It was the first painting I ever saw of hers in person. It was a very pleasant  painting, a snow scene.

November Path
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$75

   That was today. Earlier in the week I painted out as well and last weekend too. Some other things I have done recently were participating in Campfire's an Artists' Christmas where my donation was one of the three top selling pieces of art in the silent auction. I also participated in the creation of a video for the Sid Richardson Museum in which I am working on a sculpture and talking about a painting with one of my former students. It should be on their website later this month. I had a small piece in the small works section of the November Issue of the Western Art Collector magazine. I've got several shows coming up in December but more about those later.

Paint the Cowtown Art Show

Invitation to our show.

       This Thursday is the reception for the Paint the Cowtown Art Show at the Fort Worth Central Library in beautiful downtown Fort Worth on 500 West Third Street. This show features the plein air paintings from 12 North Texas artists - Robbie Clemmer,Tosca Engisch, Sabine Higgins, Olivette Hubler, Sheri Jones, Steve Miller, Linda Popple, T.K. Riddle, Dan Spangler, Sara Ward, Beatriz Welch, and myself. Our reception is from 6:00 to 8:00. I hope you will be able to join us.
Doug

My Work Is On Display at the Modern Art Museum With Lucian Freud.

Me sculpting a bison from a Charles Russell painting.

I am horribly behind in posting. I have had so much going on that I've let that slide, but I'll at least write about today. Today, I did a sculpture demonstration at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Of all our fine museums in Fort Worth  this is one I never  expected  to have my work in. Currently there is a large Lucian Freud exhibit, only being shown here and in London. But for today, visitors to the museum could see my sculptures and the portraits of Lucien Freud in the same venue.

Me blocking in my sculpture in the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum

 I was actually here as a guest of the Sid Richardson Museum. This Is our  Educators Evening in Fort Worth. all the  museums are free  to educators today and they have special exhibits to show what all they have to offer. The Sid Richardson is in down town quite a distance from the museum district, so they had a setup here in the Modern.

 

 The Sid Richardson is having a sculpture exhibit on the works of Remington and as part of this  they asked me to do the sculpture demo.They asked me to choose a painting from their collection and do a sculpture based on it . I selected a Russell painting, The Wounded Buffalo is the title I think. I decided to do a bison from the painting.

 

One of my works in clay, one in wax, and a finished piece.

 I brought a sculpture of a bison in clay, a wax copy of one of my bison sculptures, and a bronze, in addition to the materials  to create a new  sculpture.
 There were hundreds of people here and I saw  many that I  knew. It was a really fun evening.


Me explaining my sculpture process.

So as I said, for  one day at least,  my art  was in the  same  museum as  Lucien Freud, Andy Warhol, and many other modern artists.

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Dedication of the Phyllis Tilley Memorial Bridge

Phyllis Tilley Memorial Bridge
8 x 10
oil on canvas
SOLD
 

This morning I, along with four other artists, went down to Trinity Park for the dedication of the Phyllis Tilley Memorial Bridge.   This is the first bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists to  have to cross the river. The other artists present were Carol Ivey, Cecilia Robertson, Blair Currin, and Linda Reedy. Almost as soon as I arrived it began to rain. So we found places to paint out of the weather and then enjoyed the cool temps and soft light.

The view of the bridge I chose to paint.



My painting on the easel with the view in the background.

Me painting my first painting of the day.

Me sitting under a tent painting.
 

The rain softened the light and colors and made it really a fun view to paint. Deborah Ferguson from channel 5 news  was the master of ceremonies of the event. Fort Worth's  mayor, Betsy Price, The engineers, architects, and many of the council men were present. They gathered on the far side of the Trinity River to begin the dedication ceremony.

Linda  Reedy in the red hat and Cecilia Robertson in the light colored hat.



The mayor's party  crossing the bridge to the sound of  "When The Saints Go Marching In".



Mayor Betsy Price making a speech.

Then while we  continued to paint, the crowd on our side gathered at the end of the bridge to greet the mayor's party as they crossed the bridge for the ribbon cutting. When they reached the end the crowd released blue and green balloons into the air. Then the mayor and other members of the delegation spoke, including the family of Phyllis Tilley, the Woman the Bridge was named for. Phyllis had been a real promoter of the land along the Trinity River. After the speeches we turned in our paintings. Linda and I both sold ours. Mine was purchased by Phyllis's daughter.

My second painting of the day after the light changed.
Opening Day of the Phyllis Tilley Bridge
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$250

My friends left after that, but I stayed and painted a second painting in the sunlight. There were air boat rides, craft booths, and catered lunches to be eaten under the tents while a variety of musical groups performed. I finished my second painting as the event ended. Streams and Valleys the group that sponsored the event will be selling the unsold paintings on their website. I think my second painting was sold also, but I am not positive.

A group from the Fort Worth rowing club.

Two air boats that were giving rides on the Trinity River

Horned Toad with Football , One of my Dad's Paintings, and Two Outings.

Horned Football
Bronze
$400
Edition of 75

 This is my newest sculpture. It is a horned toad with a football. My college mascot at TCU was the Horned Frog and it is time for college football. Go Frogs!

One of my Dad's Landscapes

 In my last post I showed some of my dad's portraits. As I said he is a landscape painter. This is a painting that he did from a photograph I took of an old house between Marble Falls and Burnett. What I like about this house is that you can tell how it has been added on to over the years. Of course nothing says Texas landscape like bluebonnets.

Lesly painting in the gardens

On Sunday some of us went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens to paint. Our group consisted of Cecelia Robertson, Hai Chi Lee, Tosca Engish, Lesly Talty, and Linnea. We have been blessed with great weather recently. It was nice and cool while we painted. I did not finish my painting, but I got A good start.

The Rose of Sharron we got cuttings from.

There were lots of interesting blooms in the garden as well as rare plants. One of the gardeners gave us some cuttings to root of  an  unusual Rose of Sharron and a hardy hibiscus. The Rose of Sharron had white and pale green foliage and pale pink blooms. The hibiscus had kind of variegated purple flowers.  I've got mine in water and hope that roots will grow.

Blair, T.K., and Robbie sitting around the table where we had lunch.

The Saturday before, several of  us went to Mr McWatters in Weatherford to buy frames. He has nice frames at great prices. I bought several for my paintings that will be in the Preservation is the Art of the City Show. After that T.K. Riddle, Blair Currin, and Robbie Clemmer went out to Chandor Gardens in Weatherford. The weather was just great, nice and cool, until it started to rain.

Another beautiful view in the garden.

Some Of My Dads Paintings and Other Stuff

Scout, Marksman , and I - painted by my dad - Charles Clark III

 My Dad is a self  trained artist. He is really a landscape painter, but I am showing some of his portrait paintings today.He never painted more than a handful of these, and decades apart. One is from about eight years ago. It is a portrait he did of me with my two labs, Scout and Marksman. My Dad painted lots of paintings as I grew up and when he retired, he planned on painting a lot more, playing golf and traveling with my mom. Then his Parkinson's quickly got worse and sadly those things have not been able to happen as much as we hoped. This portrait is one of his last paintings and thus one of my greatest treasures.

These are the three photos my dad used for the painting. Me (at least 15 years ago), the great  Marksman (who passed a few years ago and will always be greatly missed), and  Scout who has come into her own as a great dog.

My grandfather, Charles Clark II, painted by my dad in the 1960s

My grandmother, Grace Clark, painted by my dad in the 1960s.

These two paintings are the oldest paintings I have from my dad. They are some of his earliest paintings. They are portraits of my grandparents. They were in my closet because one of them had a rip in it. I decided to repair it and find a place to hang them up. I will post some of  his landscapes later to show what he was really capable of.



Work in Progress
oil based clay

 I shared these portraits because portrait and figurative art has been very important in our art circles here in Fort Worth this past week. On Thursday a group us went to the Kimbell Museum for lunch and then 14 of us went on a docent led tour of the Lucien Freud exhibit across the street at the Modern Art Museum. This show will only be shown  here in Fort Worth and in London. I can not say that I am a huge Lucien Freud fan but I truly enjoyed the tour and seeing the art. The last painting is unfinished, it is the painting he was working on when he died.
 The evening after our tour a group of us met at the community art center to sculpt, paint, and draw from a model. I am working on the figure above. We had a good group and the session went well.

Our group painting a model in the Fort Worth botanical gardens

 Then Friday morning at 7:30 (to avoid the oppressive heat) some of our group met in the botanical gardens to paint a model. We had a good group Linnea, Tosca, Olivett, Dan, Leslie, some new artists to our group, Jeff Ott, and Julie Wende, and visiting from Santa Fe Cecelia Robertson. I was not thrilled with my painting but I enjoyed the experience.

Our model, a high school dance student.

After painting we decided to go back to the Kimbell Museum for lunch, but had some time to kill so we went over to the Japanese Gardens to walk around.

The Entrance to the Japanese Gardens

 The Japanese Gardens are one of the most beautiful parts of the gardens, but you cant paint in them, so I haven't shown many photos from it. But  it is very deserving.

A Little Green Heron Fishing in the Gardens.

 The Japanese Gardens are a great place to look for wild life. While we were there we saw a little green heron, a great blue heron, wild ducks, turtles and of course the koi.

The Koi

A Pair of Mallard  Ducks

A Peaceful Garden View

An Interesting Structure in the Gardens

 After walking through the gardens and being inspired to come back and sketch, we headed over to the Kimbell Museum for lunch. This was my third time that week it was great as always. That concludes the week. More adventures tomorrow.

My Paintings for the Preservation is the Art of the City Show

 My paintings are finally ready for Historic Fort Worth's Preservation is the Art Of the City Show.  I had a bit of trouble with my photography, meaning I think they look better in person than here on the computer. I will have one painting in the Stories from the City category, that is the painting above. Heading for the Shade- Fort Worth Nature Center. I have really enjoyed the nature center this summer. I hope my painting at the show will introduce and encourage new people to visit and become interested in the nature center. I think it is a real hidden gem in fort Worth.

 I have three other  large paintings all based on my photography and sketches from trips to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. I have been there several times  and love it but I am so pleased that we have our own bison herd right here in Fort Worth at the nature center.

 I have five smaller paintings in the show most of which are plein air. Four of them are 8 x 10s and one is a 6 x 8. The first is a painting of Belted Galloways from Fredericksburg, down in the Texas Hill Country. Two others are fall paintings from Aledo and Granbury, two towns near here.The fourth is from our Botanical Gardens right  here in Fort Worth. The last painting is the 6 x 8. It is a painting of a sunset in New Mexico, just outside Santa Fe. I guess what my paintings have in common is that they are all  landscapes from some of my favorite places in Texas and the Western United States