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.

Sculpting and Painting in the New Year

Coyote sculpture in progress at the zoo.
 

   One of my newest projects is a small coyote sculpture. Last weekend I went out to the Fort Worth Zoo and worked on it. When I'm finished I'll cast it in bronze. It was fairly cold but I enjoyed working from life. We have two coyotes. They are brothers. They are housed between the jaguars and bobcats in the Texas Wild section. I think they can't be very happy with their choice of neighbors.


Coyote in the Fort Worth Zoo

   I also went out to Cedar Hill State Park south of Dallas to paint out. There was a group of about seven of us including my friends Tina Bohlman and Olivette Hubler.There is an old farm on the property complete with buildings and farm machinery. I didn't finish my painting that I was working on of one of the outbuildings. One of the things I can say about it is that I'm still working on my values, especially the darks.
    I also had some very exciting news, my gallery in Fredericksburg asked me to do a sculpture demo for their Texas Masters Show. This is truly an incredible honor for me. Some of the artists who have done demos there recently include Scott Christianson, Quang Ho, and Jill Carver. The show opens March 1st and my demo will be Saturday morning, March 2nd.

The farm in Cedar Hill State Park

Prix de West

Me, my sculpture and my friend Connie, the model for this piece.

I finished my sculpture workshop today with John Coleman at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. I have learned so much. It has really been an incredible learning experience. To day I worked on my sculpture of our model Connie, a Seminole/Pawnee. It still needs work but I am pleased with how it is progressing.

My sculpture and the model.

I said that this is a sculpture of Connie, but it really is not a sculpture of him, it is a sculpture that I used him as a reference for. I have made him as a Pueblo Indian with a bandanna and buffalo skin robe.Of course I made him look older and like he has had a harder life than the model.

John Coleman telling our class about one of his sculptures.

 We toured the Prix de West Show today. It is really incredible. John has three sculptures and a sketch in the show. The show overall is one of the best ones that I have seen in several years. I will try to come up here and see it again before it ends.

John telling our class about another of his sculptures

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.

Two Man Show With Ann Hardy

   This is the invitation to the show that my friend Ann Hardy and I are having at Southwestern Adventist University. .I'd love for all my friends who can to come. The show will be in the Meadows Gallery in the Chan Shun Centennial Library.. The opening is Feb. 9th, 6:00 - 8:00. The show runs February 9th - 23rd. The address is 101 W. Magnolia, Keene, TX 76059.
    Ann Hardy is an amazing painter ( I have two of her paintings in my art collection ) and  I am very honored to be doing this show with her. I am really looking forward to seeing the oil paintings she brings. She paints a wide variety of subjects including still lifes, landscapes, and figurative works. I will have fourteen of my bronze sculptures in the show ranging in price from $300 to $2,700. They are all animals, except for a crucifix. I will also bring a sculpture in clay, that I will be sculpting as a demo.
     Last year I did this show with my friend Sheri Jones. We were both honored to have the University purchase our works for their permanent collection.They bought one of Sheri's beautiful floral paintings and my large  longhorn steer, Native Texan.

Grand Champion Limousin Bull

Two and a half hours work on a sculpture

 After Church today, which lasted longer because our annual parish meeting followed the service, I went back to the Stock Show to sculpt.  There is only one more week left of the show. I have sculpted several longhorns but I wanted to sculpt a different breed of cattle. I walked around the cattle barns for a bit and right away, one bull stood out. It was a large black limousin bulll. He was magnificent looking.

 I came in today with nothing but a blob of clay and a wire armature from a previous sculpture. It didn't take long before I realized that I did not have nearly enough clay. I decided that I would try to sculpt half of the bull  in profile so I could capture as much of the important information as I could.

Xyloid, the Grand Champion Limousin Bull

 The bull I sculpted is from the Magness Land and Cattle Company in Colorado. His nickname is Bob ( I think his registered name is Xyloid ) I found out that he was selected as the Grand Champion Bull. I guess I know my cattle, because this one actually stood out as being special without knowing beforehand that he had won anything. (My cousins did  raise and show hereford cattle and I had a pet angus cross calf that I raised when I was about seven or eight.)

 Bob was very docile as he was lead outside to wait to be loaded into  his trailer. I took a lot of photographs, so hopefully I will have enough reference material to finish sculpting him.

Me sculpting next to Bob and some of the other cattle from the Magness Land and Cattle Company.

 While he was tied up outside I pulled up a stool and sat down beside him to sculpt. I had a lot of people come up to talk to me as I sculpted, and I never mind that. It was a warm day and a pleasant way to spend several hours creating art. I've got a long way to go before I am finished, but I do feel I got a good start today and met some very nice people while I worked.

Me sculpting outside.

More from Fort Worth

Fort Worth Livestock Exchange
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$350

 On Sunday I went to the Stock Yards to paint with my friend Olivette Hubler. It was a very nice day, sometimes cloudy but wonderful for January. I began by painting the Fort worth Livestock Exchange building.

My painting and the subject.

 There were many tourists as usual. People come from all over the world to Texas to see and experience the Old West and this is one of the best places I know of to experience remnants of that period of history which is gone but not forgotten.

Me, painting on Exchange Street.

The livestock exchange is one of the most beautiful buildings in the stock yards. Once it was a great place of business and commerce. Now I think a museum is in it and some offices. During the summer various demonstrations and events (like armadillo races) are held on its lawn.

Stage coach on Exchange Street

Every weekend there are stage coach rides, cattle drives and other events. It is an experience meant to be a pleasure for the entire family. I truly enjoy painting here and although this is my home always feel like a bit of a tourist myself while I am here.

The colors of Winter
8 x 10
oil on panel
$300

 After painting on Exchange Street, Olivette and I had lunch at Riskys and then walked over a street to a totally different view. This is an area near the train tracks for the steam locomotive that comes into the stock yards. There is an old house, windmill, and great clumps of sage and cactus.

Olivette on the other side of the tracks.

 These photos were taken when the sky was clearer and there was more color. But while I painted my painting it was very overcast and everything was shades of gray and pale blue greens, except for the winter grasses which were a bright and beautiful green.

The old house and cacti.

 I had driven by this site many times and always desired to paint it. I am very glad that we painted here today. This is a small site but it has the feel and look of being far from the city. I will be sure to come back again and perhaps try painting a scene of the house and windmill as Olivette did.

A young longhorn cow with her first calf.

On Tuesday evening I went to the Fort Worth Stock Show. I've always enjoyed this from my childhood when I used to go and watch my cousins show their Hereford cattle.This event lasts several weeks. Every few days new breeds of animals are brought  to the show. The longhorns were going out today so I made a point of going to work on my longhorn sculpture while they were still there. The great thing about sculpting at the stock show was being able to work right up close to the animals. I was able to make some very important changes to my sculpture. I may go back and sculpt a Hereford  or Angus before the show ends. (I had a pet Angus calf that my grandmother bought me when I was about eight.)

Me sculpting, using a  young longhorn as my model.

Fort Worth - Where The West Begins

My painting that was accepted into the Plein Air Southwestern Salon.

First I have some great news. I entered the Outdoor Painters Society's Plein Air Southwestern Salon Show and I had the above painting accepted into it. This painting is a view of the rose garden's fountain in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. This is a tough show to get into. This year the juror and judge is John Budicin. I cannot even express how honored I am to have a painting in the Salon. The show will be in April in  Dallas at the Southwest Gallery.

Fort Worth Mayor, Betsy Price

This morning I got up and did a bit of painting and then went to one of Fort Worth's great Western traditions, the annual Stock Show and Rodeo Parade. I think this is the largest all horse and horse drawn vehicle parade in the world. After almost two hours of horses, mules, donkeys, and burros, you start to wonder if any equines are left in Texas, the surrounding states and Mexico..

The Six Flags of Texas

It really is a very colorful and interesting event. The mayor,city council, and other state and local officials all participate as do many of our wealthiest and most prominent citizens. Our mounted Fort Worth Police officers and many of the surrounding sheriff's posses ride in the event.


One of the stage coaches.

  As I said there are no motorized vehicles but there are many stage coaches, wagons, carriages, and buggies.The big draft horses are some of my favorites. This year there were several large groups from Mexico. The women wore beautiful local costumes and rode sidesaddle, The men wore the traditional clothing of the vaquero including large sombreros.

TCU's marching band

 My university, TCU's marching band participated as did many local high school bands, Scottish pipers, and a band from Zacatecas, Mexico. They were all on foot, but the Texas Girls' Choir rode in wagons. (They rode along singing.)

U.S. cavalry

A Christian riding group.

Confederate Cavalry

 There are a wide variety of clubs and groups that ride in the event including churches and historical groups and reenactors. There are cowboys, vaqueros, U.S. Cavalry, Buffalo Soldiers, and Confederate Cavalry but I only saw one Indian and he was riding in a wagon.

Beverly riding in the parade.

 My very dear friend Beverly Fletcher rode in the parade with a group from the Benbrook riding stable. She used to ride a great deal and I believe she was a barrel racer. I think it is terrific that she is riding again.

Me sculpting in front of the mountain lions enclosure.

 After the parade I went to the Fort Worth Zoo to work on my mountain lion. The mountain llon, or panther, is one of the symbols of Fort Worth and one of Fort Worth's nicknames was Panther City. In the 1800's a panther was spotted in Fort Worth. Dallas, always the rival of Fort Worth, quickly printed in their city's newspaper that Fort Worth was such a sleepy place that a panther was  asleep in one of its streets. Fort Worth accepted this with good humor and the fire department adopted two panther cubs as their mascots. Today the fire department and I think the police department have it on their badges.

The male mountain lion.

The mountain lions were sleeping in the sun most of the time so they were not much help to me. I did spend a while talking to their keeper. I always enjoy learning new things and I learned so much from him about the mountain lions and other big cats in the zoo.

My mountain lion in clay.

I am not quite finished with my mountain lion sculpture but I think I am pretty close. I've about reached the point where I am ready to be done with it and take it to the foundry.

Jaguar Sculpture

Me working on my sculpture of a jaguar in the Fort Worth Zoo.

 Last Sunday I went to go sculpt in the Fort Worth Zoo with my friend John Davis. He worked on the mountain lion and I started a jaguar sculpture. The weather was a bit cool but I like that because the animals tend to be up and more active and there are not that many people there.

The female jaguar.

 The zoo has two jaguars a male and female. Only one is out at a time, as the female is still too young to breed. (My photos are of the female,) I think she is around three years years old. Their enclosure is in the Texas exhibit. We no longer have jaguars in the wild in Texas but at one time they lived in south Texas

Another photo of the female jaguar.

I have really learned a lot about the anatomy of jaguars and mountain lions. Mountain lions have small heads, long, thick tails and powerful hind quarters. Jaguars have larger heads, shorter tails, and longer bodies. 

My sculpture in clay, of the male jaguar.

I went back briefly to the zoo again yesterday and today the male was out today and I'm really basing my sculpture on him. Of course I have lots of work to do, especially on the legs and feet before I am ready to have it cast in bronze, but I am having a lot of fun working on it.

Starting two new sculptures.

American Black Bear in Clay

  I'm loving my Christmas Vacation. Wednesday I met my friend Dan Spangler at the Fort Worth Zoo. He sketched  and I began a small sculpture of a mountain lion. It is not finished but I felt like I got a good start on it. Our weather has been great so the zoo was packed but the crowds were not a problem.  On Thursday I went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and started a small  8 x 10 painting. Anne from the David Dike Gallery in Dallas met me there while I was working on it to pick up five of my sculptures for the gallery. They have done very well selling my bronzes. In fact David is placing an add in the 360 West magazine with one of my longhorn bronzes in it. After I was done painting I went to the Kimble Museum to see the Caravaggio exhibit one last time. The museum was packed too but unlike the zoo it was hard to enjoy because of the crowds.

Today was another beautiful day. I went back to the zoo and began a small sculpture of an American black bear. When I got there the bears were pacing the enclosure but naturally once I started working on it the bears lay down and went to sleep. Neither of these two sculptures is finished, they are sort of like sketches in clay, but I think I have two pieces that I can develop later into finished sculptures. I'll go back again this weekend and either work some more on these or start something new.

I wish all my friends a very Happy New Year full of lots of wonderful art experiences and opportunities.

Christmas Blessings

Texas Spring
9 x 12
oil on panel
$250

   At this time of year I like to think of all my blessings, and they are so numerous. Of course here I write about art, and even my art blessings are greater than I can count,.but I am going to write about a few.
   Today I went on a tour with ten of my painting friends of the Caravaggio exhibit at the Kimble Art Museum. This was my second tour of this exhibit given by my friend Beatriz Welch. She truly is a gifted teacher in the way she shares her knowledge. It was a wonderful and inspiring tour. Afterwards we had lunch at the restaurant there, which is always a great treat.
   Something else that I need to write about are the Christmas cards I have received. Many of my painter friends have their paintings made into cards. Receiving these cards is  one of the things that I truly look forward to each year. This year I got an amazing card. My friend Sheri Jones actually sent out original acrylic paintings on paper. I appreciate Sheri's art and am so honored to have received her card which is in itself such a wonderful gift.
   Another blessing I had began a few months back. I was contacted by the editor of a local very upscale magazine called Indulge. She wanted images of my sculptures for their holiday gift guide. She included my large longhorn bronze sculpture, Native Texan, and the small horned toad bronze sculpture, Horned Pride (miniature). The magazine came out a two weeks ago, and almost immediately the sales started coming in.
   Finally my greatest blessings are having time to paint and sculpt and most importantly all the great friends I have met through art.
   The painting  I posted today is one that I began as a plein air painting in the spring of 2009 and just completed this week. It had yellow and red wildflowers in it but I got out my reference photos and covered them with bluebonnets. I really like the new painting much better.

A full weekend

               
                                     

My new sculpture
13 x  8 x 7

                                     
 I finally am back to creating art, working on both sculptures and paintings. One of the sculptures is the longhorn shown above. It is a much larger version of a small longhorn sculpture I did a few years ago. I'm also working on a small horned frog sculpture and a few landscape paintings.
I  went to the radiologist on Friday and got an all clear on my pneumonia and then left to go down to Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country.

A group of blackbuck antelopes.

 As I have said before I love the Texas Hill Country and go every chance I get. This time it was for the opening of the small works show at The Insight Gallery. I have three or four pieces in this show. I was kind of torn because I also had an opening right here in Fort Worth at a brand new gallery, The Gallery in the Alley with my friend Georgia Clarke. This is a two man show and I have a lot of art in it and so would have loved to have been there for it, but I'd already set my mind and heart on Fredericksburg.

The old German cemetery 

 I love the German influence of the region. The language and accent is heard across the town. This weekend there was a Christmas parade and the annual German Christmas Market with ice skating, German foods and gifts.

Deer on a ranch

 The other thing I like about this part of the state is the wildlife. In addition to our native animals like deer and coyotes, there are animals from around the world living here. The most common are deer and antelope from Europe, Africa and Asia. They were originally imported to the large ranches of the region but over time many escaped and have managed to thrive in this area.

Part of the Insight Gallery

 The town was packed as were the galleries, due to all the weekend activities. The Insight was looking great and had large steady crowds all night. They  served egg nog and all sorts of Christmas treats. As always everything was perfect!

Art in the Insight, the smaller bronze sculpture is mine.

 The Insight is in one of the restored stone buildings on Main Street. The building is amazing and really showcases the art well.

One of the floats

 The parade began after 6:00 and consisted of lots of vehicles and floats decorated with Christmas lights, marching bands, representatives of the military, horses, llamas with Christmas lights, and of course Santa Clause. The weather was dreary with light rain but it didn't dampen the spirits of the crowd.

Part of the parade

 The rain lasted through the night and all the next day as I drove back to Fort Worth on Saturday. I did a bit more sculpture on Sunday and it is still raining but after our drought we really need all the rain we can get.