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

Botanic Gardens and Views West of Fort Worth

 

  Yesterday, Monday I painted in the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. I finished the painting shown above and started another. T. K. Riddle, and Tosca and Allen Engish were in the gardens this morning too. The temperature was great starting out, but it was getting hot by the time we left.

   In the afternoon I drove out to Graham to the Old Post Office Museum to pick up some sculptures that I had in a show there as well as some paintings for my friends Sheri Jones and Blair Currin. I passed through some really beautiful country. There were several areas that I think will make great places to paint in the future. It really is pretty neat how varied this region is just a short drive to the west.

Today I went to life drawing at the Fort Worth Community Art Center in the morning. We had a great model. After drawing seven of us walked to the Kimble Art Museum for lunch. The Kimble is one of my favorite places to have lunch and after lunch I bought a few art  books in the gift shop at 80% off.

Cool Morning in Chandor Gardens

Foo Dog
oil on canvas
 8 x 10
$100



   Yesterday several of my friends and I went back to Weatherford to paint in the Chandor Gardens. The artists who came to paint were Olivette Hubler, T. K. Riddle, Tosca Engish, and Sars Ward. The Gardens do not open until 9:00 so we were not able to get an early start to the day.
 


The front door of Douglas Chandor's house.

The temperature reached over 100 but in the lush gardens we were never hot. The trees and water really make a tremendous difference. I decided to finish a painting I had already started of one of two foo dogs guarding the path to a beautiful fountain. I had shade and a breeze.

Path to the fountain.

 T. K. went and picked up lunch for us, most of us had chicken salad sandwiches and iced teas. We ate at a table on one of the patios and again we had shade and a wonderful cool breeze. Eventually after eating we went back to painting.


One of the most beautiful fountains in the gardens.

 The gardens were busier than usual with many families having their photos taken. This is such a beautiful and amazing place. It is no wonder it is so popular for weddings and other events.

One of the many interesting spots in the garden.

 I finished my painting and got ready to leave. It was almost one o'clock and I had not been hot at all. Then I went to the parking lot to put my stuff in the car. It was HOT there.



Parker County Court House in Weatherford

 I took a photo of the Parker county court house. It is a really beautiful building. Most mornings I pass by there are prisoners in orange and white stripes tending the grounds. I've never seen a guard, someone must be inside in the air conditioning watching them.


Some of my peppers

 When I came home I looked at my poor gardens for inspiration. I water everyday. My plants are alive but most of them don't look great. My citrus are doing really well, I'm still getting lots of okra, some peppers and a few tomatoes. But, many of the other plants are struggling. We could really use some rain. Even a small rain greens things up a great deal more than watering with sprinklers

Mini oranges

Some of my cacti and succulents.