A Beautiful Winter Day

The farm in Winter
8 x 10
oil on canvas

    Today was a beautiful day and much appreciated after this cold and dreary week. Ten of us headed back to Five Points to paint outdoors. I chose to go back to the old farm and hay field on Anderson Road. I went out a few hours earlier today and the light was a bit different.

Steve Miller painting with an audience at the cotton gin.

   Several of the group went back to the cotton gin to paint the gin, old store, and the sheep. The son of the owner took us to see inside the gin and the old cotton office and scale. A pair of barn owls live in the gin but vacated the building when it was invaded by artists. This site appeared in the movie Places in the Heart.

Barn on the Hill
8 x 10
oil on canvas

   After doing our first paintings five of us went to another farm on a hill on Anderson Road. The house was over 150 years old. I painted one of the barns on the hill.  It was interesting how different all five paintings turned out. We started painting around 10:30 and stayed until after 4:00. It was a beautiful day and all of us had a very good time.
    A day like this, spent out doors with friends,  is always a good day!

Some of our cars parked on Anderson Road

Back to Five Points to Paint

The Pink Barn
8 x 10
oil on canvas
 

       Yesterday the temperatures were fairly pleasant. The winds however were only somewhat less than a small hurricane. If one drove down farm road 876 near Waxahachie he or she would have seen several vehicles parked along the edge of the road, and if one approached from the opposite direction he or she would have seen that at the side of each vehicle, crouched out of the wind, an artist was painting. The barn we painted was not one of my favorites, being small, narrow, and painted pink with tin structures on each side of it. However the greatest thing in its favor was there was room on the sides of the road near it to angle park our cars..



A barn. not the one I painted, in the area,

     Before deciding on this site my friend Kent Brewer and I drove around the area in search of things to paint. We found a lot of things that on other days will be great, but were not right for this day. We drove around until we both were almost out of gas, We were joined to paint by Olivette Hubbler and Nancy Bozeman. (Olivette came out despite having a cold.) Our friend Tina came by and visited and scouted around a bit herself but didn't paint. I took another way home and saw horses, donkeys, cattle, sheep, and even a herd of elk (behind a game fence.)
    



Some of the local cattle.

A Merry Christmas and a Fitting End of 2013 and Start of 2014




My dog Scout and I

    This has been a very good year. My family has been blessed with health and happiness. The end of the year came and went very quickly. We had an ice storm that kept our roads frozen for days. The roads were so bad that I had to miss the opening of the Christmas small works show at the Insight Gallery. I wasn't able to get my car out of my driveway for four days, but I did get some nice photos of the Christmas lights with all the snow and ice. on the lawns and trees. Christmas was wonderful. Christmas Eve we were at my sisters and Christmas Day at my parents. We had delicious meals and played games and enjoyed each others company.


Round Bales in Winter
8 x 10
oil on canvas

     After Christmas the weather has been somewhat erratic with warm and cold days but my friends and I have made good use of our time. Last Friday, Dec.27th a group of six of us went down near Waxahachie at a place near an area called 5 Points. It was a beautiful day. There were so many interesting things to paint including an old cotton gin, farmhouses, out buildings, and barns with rusted tin roofs, round bales of hay, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and chickens. On this day I began a couple of paintings and finished the one above.


Texas Farm and Field
8 x 10
oil on canvas

 On the next day Saturday even more of us, around 10 or so, converged on this small community. The locals were intrigued to find artists painting their farms and livestock. They were all very welcoming and hospitable. We received invitations to paint on peoples ranches and even had an offer to cook hamburgers for us. I painted a hay field with the farmhouse in the background. The following Sunday was going to be cold and windy , so no painting, but a group of us used this day to go to Dallas to see the Sorolla exhibit at the Meadows Museum. This is an incredible exhibit. I can not say enough good things about it.


Winter Sun
8 x 10
oil on canvas

    On Monday it was a little cool again, no painting. I had lunch with my parents, two of my nephews, and some cousins. Then in the evening we went to my sisters to watch the Alamo Bowl.
    Tuesday it was still somewhat cool, but it was New Years Eve and I wanted to get one last painting in during 2013, so I went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. The scene I painted is one that I have painted before .  I like it because when almost all the leaves are gone, this tree still has glowing orange leaves.


Winter Greens
8 x 10
oil on canvas 

    Today on January 1st, 2014, I wanted to get the year off to a good start. I went back to the 5 Points area with my friend Kent Brewer. We were joined by our friends Tina, and Mary. We were painting an old barn beside the road when the owner showed up. She unlocked the gate and invited us to park and paint on the property. She was on the way to another ranch and just told us we could close the gate and put the lock on when we left. The hospitality of the people of rural Texas is so amazing. It was a very nice day for being outdoors and painting.