Back to the Fort Worth Stockyards

Bill Pickett Sculpture
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$100

Saturday my friends and I returned to the Fort Worth Stockyards to paint. We had  a great group. including Chase Almond, Olivette Hubler, Sabine Higgins, Steve Miller, Hai Chi Lee, Janice Weaver, Trish Davidson Wise, George De Chiara, Margie Whittington and her friend Connie (I don't remember Connie's last name.) The weather was great for being outdoors and some great art was created by my friends. I began two paintings and finished neither of them although I'm going ahead and posting one of them. The one I'm posting is a life sized, or larger, sculpture of the famous African American Cowboy, Bill Pickett. It needs some more work still but there are some things that I like about it anyway. I  went back today to work on it some more and instead I started a third painting. (As if I needed more paintings to work on.)

One of the cowboys and horses  that I may use as the model for my sculpture.

One of the things that we like about the Stockyards is that there is so much to paint. There are cowboys and cowgirls in authentic 1800s gear performing twice daily cattle drives at 11:30  and 4:00. During the cattle drive the street is cleared and the cattle are hearded down Exchange Street as tourists from around the world watch and take photos.

The very orderly cattle drive.

The longhorns know the routine and walk placidly down the middle of the street. There are some really great looking steers in the herd. I've sculpted and sketched them many times. However  after talking to the cowboys about their gear I'm kind of thinking I may try to sculpt a mounted cowboy. I've never sculpted a horse so this will probably be a long slow process.

View of Exchange Street

The architecture is really interesting in the Stockyards. Some of the most distinctive architecture in the city is found in this area. There are lots of great colors and shapes. It is a lot of fun seeing how different artists interpret it.

Fort Worth Livestock Exchange

One of the most beautiful buildings is the livestock exchange with its Spanish arches, red tile, and cupola. It has a nice green lawn with shade trees in front where everything from armadillo races to pony rides occur.

In addition to watching the cattle drive, visitors can sit on a longhorn for a photo.. And of course nothing says Texas more than a Cadilac with leather seats and longhorns on the front!

True Texan

True Texan
7 x 5 x 5.5
bronze on granite
$650

This is another of the sculptures that I have at the Insight Gallery. The first few were on wood, but now I always have them mounted on granite. I sculpted this one down in the Fort Worth Stock Yards. The longhorns there have got to be the most plump longhorns in all of Texas. So, I slimmed him down quite a bit to make him look like he has been living out on the open range.

Historic Stock Yards # 6

Historic Stock Yards # 6
8 x 10
oil on canvas

As soon as I looked at the photo of this painting I realized that the yellow ochre building  in the background is leaning a bit. As soon as I finish this blog I'm going to fix that. I painted this one on Sunday in the Fort Worth Stock Yards with a great group of artists from this region including Sheri Jones, Jill Randal, Margie Whittington, Linda Popple, Blair Currin, Sabine Higgins, Tina Bohlman, Olivette Hubler, Cece Turner, and several other talented artists. The weather was great although by the time I was working on this one it was very cloudy. This is the corner of Finchers on Exchange Street. It was a lot of fun painting with this group and we had a great lunch at Risckys in between paintings. I'm looking forward to many more great outings.

Historic Stock Yards #5

Historic Stock Yards #5
8 x 10
oil on canvas

I had a chance to go back to the stock yards to paint on Sunday with a group of very gifted artists. It was a beautiful day for being outdoors painting, especially after all of our snow and ice. We had a small group this time, Cecelia Robertson, Cecy Turner, and Leslie Talty but they produced some very nice paintings. I decided to paint a portion of the old  Fort Worth Livestock Exchange. This is one of my favorite buildings in the city. I love the arches and red tile roof. It trully reflects the southwestern culture of Fort Worth.

Historic Stock Yards #4

Historic Stock Yards #4
8 x 10
Oil on Canvas

This is the last of my paintings that I had to finish from my plein aire trips to Fort Worth's historic North Side and stock yards area. It is the sign for Leddy's Boots on the corner of North Main and Exchange Street.. This was from another fun day painting with Sheri Jones, Sabine Higgins, and Olivette Hubler. It was a hot day but we painted in the shade and then went to lunch together. I can't wait for nice weather to be able to paint out again

Historic Stock Yards # 3

                                                              Historic Stock Yards # 3
                                                                           8 x 10
Here is another of my stock yards paintings, This was another one started in September  in the Fort Worth stock yards and just finished tonight in my studio. It was a great day when I began this painting. I met several other artists in the stock yards at 8:00 in the morning including Sheri Jones and Sabine Higgins. We had a great morning painting and then barbeque for lunch. It was a great day.

Historic Stock Yards #1

                                                              Historic Stock Yards # 1
                                                                         8 x 10
This is one of my first paintings from the Fort Worth stock yards. This was one started in September in the stock yards and was finished tonight in my studio. The stock yards is such a great place to paint. There is always a lot of activity and so much to see that I plan on going back to paint as soon as the weather warms up enough. In the mean time I have plenty of paintings to finish and each one brings back great memories of times spent creating art with friends.

Historic Stock Yards # 2

                                                            Historic Stock  Yards #2
                                                                         8 x 10
This is a painting that I started in September. I painted down in the Fort Worth stock yards with a large group of painters from the Outdoor Painters' Society including Sheri Jones, Sabine Higgins, Olivette Hubler, Darnell Jones, Randy Saffle and many others. The stock yards were a great place to paint. We went back several  weekends in a row and I started five paintings without quite finishig any of them. I did take photos, so now that it is not so nice to paint out I'm finishig them up.