Western Art Collector

My editorial in Western Art Collector

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year and things as usual have been really busy. First, I just had an editorial in the April Issue of Western art Collector, not that this kept me busy but I was pretty excited about it. In the first weekend of this month I participated in the Texas Masters Show at the Insight Gallery In Fredericksburg. I just had a show open last Saturday at Artspace 111 in Fort Worth. I did a sculpture demo for a few hours and it went really well. April 7th I am part of a group show at the Southwest Gallery with the Outdoor Painters Society. April 21st I have a show at David Dike's in Dallas.

My work in progress of a horse.

There are several plain air outings coming up and as usual I am working on several sculptures. The one I plan on finishing next is the horse shown above. I started it last Friday . Right now I am just sort of blocking it in. It will be an Arabian when it is done. I have been going out to the Benbrook stable sketching and taking photographs. Now I need to take the sculpture out there and work on it in front of the horses to really capture the anatomy

Some of my roses.

 One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to work in my yard and as I work in it I always see things that I'd like to paint and never have the time. The rains have been perfect this year and my roses and iris are really blooming well. The wildflowers are also really great this year especially the bluebonnets and I haven't even been out to photograph them. I'm really going to have to get busy and take advantage of the great spring weather we have had. There is no telling how hot it will be this summer or even in the late spring.




One of my rose bushes that I got from my grandmother's garden.

Plants along my back fence.





Oil and Water Do Mix

The Dallas Arboretum
8 x10
oil on canvas
$200

Me painting in the garden.

Today I went to the Dallas Arboretum with a group of oil and water color painters, hence the title.Sheri Jones, Joyce Thomas, Cecy Turner, David Tripp and Chris Toplyn were some of the painters there today. The day started out very cloudy and in fact some of my friends did not come because it was actually raining where they lived.

The view I painted.

However, those of us who made it were rewarded by a beautiful day of painting. The clouds went away and we were rewarded with blue skies and sunshine. The flowers were incredible.

My painting in front of the view I painted.

The only bad thing about the day were the crowds. I don't mind talking to people while working, but it was almost crazy how many people came up and asked to see what I was painting. I finished my first painting and started a second but I didn't finish it because by that time the interruptions were just too much. I actually had people bumping into my easel and me  in their efforts to see my canvas.

Clumps of spring flowers.

In spite of that I had a great day. It is such a beautiful place and I can not wait to go back.

Red and yellow tulips massed in huge beds.

Flowers around the big lawn.



Pastel Flowers



The Restaurant in the Garden

Beautiful Spring Flowers

This was the subject of my second painting, the one I didn't finish.

Painting in Waxahachie

Illinois Central Gulf Caboose
painting in progress

   This weekend I had a paintout down at Waxahachie. Of course it would be cold and raining. The paintout was at the old train depot which has been restored and looks great. Tina Bohlman organized the event and did a great job as always. Despite the rain we had areas to paint, but the result was we were under the awnings at the depot, so we had to paint what we could see, thus there were lots of caboose paintings.

Kent with a cup of coffee and my painting.

   I painted on the side of the depot next to my friend and Waxahachie  resident Kent Brewer. Steve Miller another friend of mine painted a bit further down, and Tina and some other artists painted in their vehicles. There were a lot of people at the depot to see the new caboose and the restored station, as well as attend a model train show.

Kent painting next to my easel.

   I enjoyed the day despite the weather. A lot of us walked up the hill in the rain to the Dove's Nest for lunch, (nobody wanted to lose their parking spot). If you go to Waxahachie that is one of the places you need to eat at. The food is great and so are the desserts. After lunch I came back and painted some more. My painting is not finished yet, and it is not my subject matter, but I enjoyed doing it.

The Caboose

Art Reach at Christ Chapel

One of my sculptures in the show.

     Today was my second show of the weekend, Art Reach at Christ Chapel .  Christ Chapel has many great events during the year but Art Reach is one of my favorite events. All of the art is made by members of the church, and there are some really talented artists here who work in all different mediums. The show is held every winter and a lot of the artists have participated for many years. One of my favorite things is seeing how the artists' styles have developed or changed over the year. Another thing I enjoy is that I stay at church most of the day from about 8:45 to around 7:00 so I wind up seeing so many people I know, people who I don't often see at other times.

Some of the art work and the crowd at Art Reach

       I think the over all quality of art increases every year. Some of the artists whose work I enjoyed this year are Ron Cheek, Pat Waymon, Peter Robbins, Kim Robbins, Martha Spurlock, Michael Livesay -Wright, Darla Lyon, Electra Burford, and Linda Henry.
       My next show will be during Fort Worth's Spring Gallery Night, I believe it is on March 24th. I will have my sculptures At Artspace111. More on that later.

Plein Air and the Texas Masters Show

Black and Green
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$250

   I had a terrific weekend at Fredericksburg on Texas Independence Day. I went down for the Texas Masters Show at the Insight Gallery yesterday. It was a beautiful drive down. It felt like a late spring or early summer day. The peach and plum trees were in bloom as were the first bluebonnets. And if you are wondering, this is usually way too early for these things to be blooming.

Two of my longhorn sculptures at the show.

   The show was great. I sold three sculptures, two last night and one sold before the opening. This show highlights the work created by artists living and working in Texas. Many great artists were in attendance including Jill Carver, Chuck Rawle, Gladys Roldan de Moras, William Kalwick, Jim Eppler and D. Larue Mahlke. The gallery was packed from six to eight and even after that more people were still coming in.

Four of my sculptures at the show.

   As always, everything was first rate from the art work to the food at the reception. In keeping with tradition wild game including quail, venison, and shrimp and margaritas were served.

Guests at the Gallery.

    The next morning after the show I went out painting. A cold front had arrived during the night and although the sky was a beautiful blue and the grass bright green it was cold and  windy. Still I was able to do a quick 8 x 10 of a field with some Angus cattle in it.

The scene i painted at fredericksburg.

   If the weather had been nicer I would have loved to have painted other animals I saw today along the road and at the Saurer Beckman  Farm..There were fields of sheep, goats, bison, and all breeds of cattle including Angus, jerseys, herefords, and longhorns..

A young ram at the farm.

   After I painted I went to the nursery in Fredereicksburg and bought a persimon tree and bought some tomato plants in a feed store. The nice weather we have been having makes me want to be out planting.

A field of goats.

   I stopped off at Salado at the old Stagecoach Inn. The inn was built in the early 1860s on the site of an old Indian village and became a crossroads of the Chisholm trail and the military roads. Many famous people stayed there including Sam Houston who gave a speach on its balcony against Texas Secession and General George Armstrong Custer. Lunch in Salado was a great way to top off my weekend trip. 
   Now one more show to get ready for tomorrow, so more on that later.