Plein air, and art shows - fall 2013

Autumn Path
8 x 10
oil on canvas

 This has been a beautiful fall here in north Texas. Last weekend a group of us went to paint at the Acton Nature Center near Granbury. We painted in the morning and early afternoon. Then we went to lunch down the road at Maryann's ranch beside the pond.


Morning Light
8 x 10
oil on canvas

 On November 9th, I was invited to participate in the Art on the Paluxy Show. It was neat. Almost all of the invited artists were friends of mine including, Sheri Jones, Nancy Bozeman, Tina Bohlman, and Geni Bosco.

 On November 2nd, I participated in the Artists of Texas Show at the Dutch Art Gallery. This was a nice show. I did a sculpture demo and worked on my deer sculpture. .

Red Dots, Painting, and More Painting

My Historic Stock Yards paintings, 5 red dots.

I haven't posted in a while but I haven't neglected art. Saturday will be the final day of two shows at the Fort Worth Community Art Center that I participated in. The first show is one I put together for my friends and I called Worth Painting, Plein Air Paintings of Fort Worth.   This is a show of about 15 artists and around 50 paintings. I sold 6 paintings in this show including the five pictured above from the Fort Worth Stock Yards.

Me at the Preservation Show with five of my small paintings, two with red dots.

 The second show is the Preservation is the Art of the City Show which benefits Historic Fort Worth. This is always a great show. I sold two paintings in this show, One of a horned toad and a small bluebonnet painting.

My good friend Kent Brewer with 5 of his paintings.

 Several of my friends were in this show including Kent Brewer who was one of the top sellers, T.K. Riddle who won one of the awards, and other top artists including Beatriz Welch, Carol Ivey, Steve Miller and Dan Spangler. This was a really diverse show although most of our group showed landscapes.

Round Bales, Round Buildings
8 x 10 oil on canvas
$150

 Then last week was the Outdoor Painters Society's paintout in Glen Rose. About 12 of us painted there and enjoyed a great lunch at the Green Pickle, I painted near the old feed store.

Old Bales and New
8 x 10 oil on canvas
$150

 I painted two paintings of the bales of hay and two round tin buildings. Five of us painted in that area. This was a really great day for painting out, there was a real feeling of fall in the air which in Texas is always appreciated after a hot summer.

Waxahachie Morning
8 x 10, oil on panel
$100

 Something new I have started  is painting a thirty minute painting each day. I got this idea from my friend Travis who has been doing it. I have been going through my photo albums to select my subjects.

Wheeler Peak Rains
8 x 10, oil on panel
$100

 I  am painting 8 x 10s. I'm trying to paint them like they are plein airs. I'm using brushes larger than I usually do and obviously working faster.

Arizona Desert
8 x 10, oil on panel
$100

 I have thousands of vacation photos from all over the western United States. Many of them are from the National Parks and a lot of them have wildlife in them. I really feel like I am learning so much from these. I plan on doing these for quite a while. I am finding it really energizing to do one each day; knowing that I have only 30 minutes frees me to work fast and loose.

Rocky Mountain Elk
8 x 10, oil on panel
$100

Kachina still life paintings and one by Qiang Huang

The Crow Mother
12 x 16
oil on canvas

    Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I was very fortunate to take a workshop in Granbury Texas on still life painting with my friend Qiang Huang. I have known Qiang for several years from several events we were both involved in with Camp Fire USA and from the Insight Gallery where we both show and I have  always admired his talent as a painter and I can honestly say that he is an amazing teacher. Being gifted at painting and able to teach it do not always go hand in hand. but when they do you are in for a treat. Qiang is a very organized and thoughtful painter and teacher.



Grandmother Kachina
12 x 16
oil on canvas

   One of the things that excited me about the class was that we were able to bring our own objects to paint. I gathered some indian corn I'd grown, picked some peppers from my garden and then raided my collection of Hopi kachinas and pueblo pottery. Being able to select what I wanted to paint really created a lot more interest in painting for me. Several of my good friends from the area were in the class also. The first day I went out to lunch but after that I was too busy painting to go out for lunch. Friday night we did all go out to dinner as a group which was very fun.


painting by Qiang Huang
9 x12
oil on canvas

   On the last day of class I traded Qiang one of my small bronzes for his first demo. I have pieces of art from many of my friends and I'm always eager to add more, I just wish I could add more wall space

American Cutting Horse Association's Summer Spectacular, Prix de West, Fort Worth Nature Center, Fort Worth Zoo ,Dallas Heritage Village

Some of my sketches.

    I have not posted in a few weeks. I should have because I have created art in a lot of super places and at some really wonderful events. For the last few  weeks I have been sketching at the American Cutting Horse Association's Summer spectacular at Will Rogers Coliseum. These sketches are just for my own use and reference as I observe how the horses and cattle move.

A cowboy and his cutting horse approaching the herd.

    I have been there almost every day. It is really entertaining watching the horses work the cattle. Once the calf is separated from the herd the rider turns everything over to the horse. A really well trained horse is a pleasure to watch. I have done page after page of gesture drawings. I have met many people in the cutting business and have made plans to go to some of the local ranches to work on a new sculpture I'm starting of a quarter horse.

My button quail chicks a few hours after hatching.

   This morning I had a bit of a late start as my button quail began to hatch. One of the females was sitting on some eggs and unexpectedly died a few days ago. I got the eggs and put them in an incubator. They began to hatch this morning. They are about the size of a quarter.

The End of the Trail statue in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

   Yesterday, July 24th, I took my parents up to Oklahoma City to the Prix de West show at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. We had lunch at the museum and enjoyed the art. Then we stopped off at my gallery in Oklahoma City, The John B Strong Gallery, where I dropped off one of my bronze longhorn sculptures. It is a beautiful gallery. I am very proud to have my art in it.

Morning Bison
work in progress
8 x 10
oil on canvas

    On Saturday, July 20th, about ten of us went to the Fort Worth Nature Center to paint the bison. The temperature was fairly pleasant. The bison came right up to the fence to model for us.

My friends lined up to paint the bison.

   We lined up on one side of the fence and the bison lined up on the other. I think they were smarter than us because they were the first ones to decide that enough was enough and head for the shade.

The white buffalo cow and calf.

   Every time I go it is with the hope of painting the white buffalo cow and calf. However, they always seem to be the farthest away of all the bison. I will have to paint her in my studio. After painting we left for lunch at an Italian restaurant just out of the gates.

The new baby elephant calf and its mother.

   On Wednesday, July 17th, my Friend and fellow artist Linnea and I went to the Fort Worth Zoo to see the new baby Asian elephant and to sketch. It was only 10 days old and very cute. We did more looking than drawing, but it was hot anyway.

Cowboy at the cutting horse show.

   On Sunday, July 14th, I went to the cutting horse show with Janice and Linnea and we sketched and took photos at the cutting horse show. This was the first week of what is a three week event. It is a great place for anyone who likes to be around horses, cowboys and cowgirls, and millionaires. Ha ha. Participants come from all over the world including Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, France, Canada, and Brazil. Of course, many of the best riders come from right here!


Shotgun House
8 x10
oil on canvas

    On Saturday, July 13th, a group of us went to Dallas to paint at Heritage Village. There were about six of us there this day, Kent, Olivette, Jeff, Mary, Claudia, and myself. I painted a shotgun house. After we painted most of us went to lunch at The Dancing Marlin. Eating out after a morning or afternoon of creating art is always a good way to finish the outing.

New coyote sculpture, sculpture demo and painting at the Fort Worth Nature Center and in the Cultural District.

Western Singer
bronze on granite
7 x 5 x 6.5
$675
 

    Last Wednesday I went to the foundry and picked up several sculptures including my newest one of a coyote called Western Singer. Then on Saturday I went down to Glen Rose to the White Buffalo Gallery where I did a sculpture demo and my friend Mary Rabien did an oil demo. I worked on a sculpture of a longhorn and Mary, who does beautiful bird paintings, painted a rooster.


The Fort worth Nature Center's white buffalo and calf.

   On Sunday my friends Sabine Higgins, Linnea McKinney, and Nancy Bozeman went to the Fort Worth Nature Center to paint the bison.. I got a good start on my painting, but it isn't ready to post
yet. The others all did really nice paintings. One of the coolest things was seeing the  white buffalo cow and calf.


Bison cow and calf.

     There were lots of bison cows and calves. They were pretty cooperative and lay and stood around in front of us before eventually heading to the trees for shade. We were ready for shade too so we drove around in the air conditioning and explored the park.


Water lilies near Greer island.

I saw lots of deer, turkey buzzards, ducks, and egrets. One of the prettiest things were the water lilies near Greer Island. The water was almost gone but the lilies were so lush and green,  and their blossoms were large and fragrant.



My painting on the easel in front of the Will Roger's Coliseum.

 This morning I went painting in the Fort Worth Cultural District with my friends Linnea McKinney, and Janice Weaver. They painted a view of Fort Worth's skyline from the steps of the Amon Carter Museum.


Will Rogers (work in progress)
8 x 10
oil on canvas

     I walked over to the front of the Will Rogers Coliseum  and painted the statue of Will Rogers that sits in front of it in a bed of cacti and other western plants. This is a very nice equestrian statue that was sculpted by the late Fort Worth sculptress and socialite Electra Wagner.

Painting In Heritage Village in Dallas

The Renner School House
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$175

 This morning I went to Heritage Village in Dallas to paint with my friends T.K., Kent, Olivette, and  Jeff. We got there early and had the park to ourselves as well as super temperatures, and plenty of shade.

The Renner School House

 I chose to paint the old Renner school building. This is a two story building, The younger children were taught on the lower floor and the older students were taught on the second floor. I liked the combination of the old building with the Dallas skyline in the background.

Kent painting

 Kent and Jeff both painted the same building. T.K. painted a vegetable garden . Olivette painted two very nice paintings. One was of a house with a buckboard wagon. The other was an old church.

The Millermore Plantation

 There are many really interesting buildings in the park. One of the neatest ones is the Millermore plantation home. It was built in 1855 by the Miller family and their slaves. (The chairs are set up in front of it for a wedding later in the evening.)

The Parlor at Millermore

  This house was fully furnished. It also had its barn, outhouse and other out buildings as well as a herb garden.

Log Cabin

 There were also several log cabins on the property. This one had two rooms downstairs and a loft upstairs. It had only one window.

Interior of the log cabin.

 Inside the cabin it was fairly dark with very little in the way of furniture.

One of the docents with the two donkeys Nip and Tuck

 One of the docents washed the parks two donkeys Nip and Tuck so they could pull the carriage for the wedding party in the evening. The donkeys were half  brothers, around 14 years old, and very gentle.


Dog Trot Cabin

Another neat building was the dog trot cabin. It had a lot of out buildings, a vegetable garden, and also a blacksmith's shop.

Sheep behind the dog trot cabin.
 

There were sheep behind the dog trot as well as chickens. Several of the houses had hen houses behind them with chickens. In fact the morning was filled with the crowing of roosters and the braying of the donkeys.

The old train station.

 Besides the houses and their outbuildings there is an old town with brick streets.

The old bank.

 The bank is one of the  nicest looking buildings in the park. There are several other old buildings on the main street of town including a general store. There was also a  livery stable, church , and the Worth Hotel.

The Worth Hotel

After we painted we went to  eat lunch  at the Angry Dog in Deep Ellum and then went to the Dallas Farmers' Market. I bought two cacti for  my garden there

Stir Crazy

Texas Jack
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$175

   Last Thursday I had a minor surgery to reattach the muscles in my eyes to the upper eyelids. (To fix a hereditary condition.) The surgery went smoothly but I've had to spend the last several days applying ice packs to my eyes every 40 minutes or less. Therefore I've not had a lot of time or inclination to create art. Well that isn't really true, I have had the inclination, but maybe motivation or ability is what I lacked. My vision is not very clear even with my glasses, which I am not used to wearing and I can't wear my contacts yet.
   I have been blessed to have my family and friends, visit, call, text, email, send cards, and bring me delicious meals and desserts. So, I have a tremendous amount to be thankful for.

Bison Family
Work in progress
Oil based clay

   But despite all that, I've been sticking very close to home and getting rather bored with that. Today, some of my friends went to another friend's ranch to take photos of the ranch work and I had to miss out on that. However, I did a bit of painting here at home. I started a couple and am pretty happy with the jackrabbit. I also worked on the bison family sculpture I've been working on. I am done with the ice packs and hope to have plenty of time to create paintings and sculptures for the rest of the summer as I get back to feeling like myself.

Paint Historic Waxahachie 2013

Memorial Day
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$100

    This week was one of my favorite events of the year and one of the last big events before the heat of summer sets in. Last Saturday, May 25th, I painted in Waxahachie with several of my friends including Kent Brewer, David Tripp, Chris Toplyn, and Nancy Bozeman. We all started out near the square. It was fairly cloudy. I painted the statue of the Confederate soldier on the courthouse square.

Ellis County Courthouse, Waxahachie, Texas

    The court house is amazing to look at but I've never attempted more than a bit or piece of it in any one painting. Kent painted a super painting of a street scene. When I saw It, I told him it would be the winner of the show, and it was by the way. We had lunch at Leons barbeque, a block from the square. It was very good and a huge sandwich.


Indian Blankets and Bales
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$150

    Then we went to go paint near the bike trail behind the cemetery. There was a large field of Indian blanket flowers with round bales of hay in it. We started painting and it was going very well. As we painted the clouds rolled in.

Indian Blankets and Round Bales
11 x 14
oil on canvas
$250

 

    The thunder started and then the rain. I moved under the trees and Kent put up his umbrella. It wasn't long before my trees were leaking water as much as if I was standing in the rain and my paint box was filling with water. So I moved to my car to wait out the rain.

 

Kent painting in the rain.

 

    The rain stopped so I got out to paint more. My canvas was soaked so I began a second painting. I got a second start and things were going well when the rain began again. I put up my umbrella and continued to paint until the thunder got too close. I went back to my car and Kent kept painting. When the rain stopped I painted a bit more and then called it a day and went home.

After the Rain
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$150

   On Sunday I went back down and painted on the square again where I ran into Kent and George De Chiaro.  I worked on my Confederate painting and then met Kent and George at the County Catfish restaurant in the old Rogers Hotel. Then George and I went to paint where Kent and I had painted. I finished the two I had started and did a third.

Oma's Jiffy Burger
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$95

    On Monday I painted at Oma's Jiffy Burger. I also finished the other painting from the field with hay bales. As I finished the painting the hay was being hauled off. After painting  I went and had dinner  with my friend Kent and his wife and son at a new Mexican food restaurant.

After the quick draw.

   On Thursday I came down and painted some paintings of the roosters at the feed store. It was a fairly hot day.  This was the day of the quick draw. In the evening the artists assembled at the College Street Pub. We had an hour and a half  to create a painting.

My Favorite Boots
8 X 10
oil on canvas
SOLD

    I was not inspired by the views so I pulled off my boots and placed them next to a building and painted in my socks. This was actually a fun painting to paint and one I will do again some time. After the time was up we set our easels up on the street with our paintings on them for a silent auction.

Rose Comb Rooster
8 x 10
oil on canvas
SOLD

    I was very pleased because my friend Olivette Hubler purchased mine. Other than artists buying paintings from other artists the sales were few indeed. At 8:00 after the sale was over we were hot, thirsty and hungry. Most of us went to the Pub for dinner and drinks. A band was playing inside so we had to sit outside on the patio under the ceiling fans. It wasn't too hot there. I had several iced teas and the fish and chips, which are a favorite of mine. I made it home  a bit after 10:00


Country Alarm Clock
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$95

   Friday, at the  I went down to the dinner and awards ceremony at the Chatauqua  Auditorium at Getzendaner Park. My friends did very well and I was so pleased for them. Kent, as I predicted won best of show, Ted Clemens won 1st, George De Chiaro won 2nd prize, Sheri Jones won 3rd. Olivette, Nancy, Debob, and David were some of the artists who won honorable mentions. There was a delicious barbeque dinner and a slide show of photos from previous years. It was a very nice evening.




Spring Chicken
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$95

   On Saturday morning I drove down early and stopped off at the Farmers Market. I bought a bag of plums and several baked goods from a group of  Mennonites who always have the best items, I left with a loaf of jalapeno cheese bread, a small loaf of pumpkin bread, peanut butter cookies, and pumpkin bread whoopee pies. I went back to the feed store and finished this rooster painting and painted two roses at the train depot across from the feed store. It was a nice morning I framed these and dropped them off . This made 11 paintings so far. I had lunch from Oma's .

Some of my paintings at the Chataqua.

   I hung around at the Chataqua. I sold one of my rooster paintings. In the evening I went to dinner with Kent and his family at the Catfish Plantation, the most haunted restaurant in America, according to cable tv. Several deaths occurred there in the past and according to the guest book several soap dishes falling off the bathroom sinks in the present time confirm the hauntings. Anyway the food was very good and the servers are terribly enthusiastic.
After dinner we returned to the Chataqua where they were showing Places in the Heart. This movie starring Sally Field and Danny Glover was filmed in Waxahachie and based on a true story there. The movie is full of scenes from town and local people. I really enjoyed it. The Chataqua is a neat place to see a movie, no air conditioning, but the doors raised up and ceiling fans and the Lions Club selling concessions.

The house where I painted on West Marvin

    Sunday morning I headed back down to Waxahachie. The Ginger Bread Tour was going on and I met Kent at one of the homes to paint in the garden, It was an amazing home. The man of the house had several antique Packard automobiles and the lady had beautiful gardens. The house was very interesting and full of art and antiques.

The tool shed in the garden.

    The gardens were very well taken care of . I decided to paint a sculpture of a chef pig in one of the herb gardens. It was a fun painting to do. This garden had many interesting things in it and many artists painted there including Sheri and Debob.

Me painting in the garden on West Marvin Street.

    After I finished my painting. I dropped it on the way back to my car and had to fix a few things after that. I went to the Chataqua and dropped it off. I hung around there for a while and then went and helped out at the Ellis County Art Associations booth in the park where children were invited to paint in Plein Air. This was a very  popular booth in the fair grounds.

 

The Garden Pig
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$95

 

   After 3:00 my friends all started showing up to pick up their paintings. It was great seeing everyone one last time at this event. It has been a super week, I painted 12 paintings.  I'm exhausted and it feels a bit like Christmas is over, but there will be  new events and activities to come.