Painting in Prison

Old  Outbuilding
8 x 10
oil on canvas panel
$50

Today I went down to paint in Waxahachie with my friends Kent Brewer, who lives there, and Olivette Hubler who lives in Dallas. We decided to go paint at the old Ellis County Prison Work Farm. In the old days, the prisoners were taken out to the farm to work and I believe they were housed there. Today the old buildings are in ruins. I know there is a big new jail in town where the prisoners have television, air conditioning, and basketball courts. I think working on the farm would probably be more of a deterrent for repeat offenders.

The building I painted from the cell.

After looking around I decided to set up in one of the cells looking out at one of the outbuildings. I don't know how long the buildings have been abandoned, most have only the foundations left. I think I would not have felt very comfortable being there, if I had been there by myself. It had the look of a place that horror movies could have been filmed in.

Me painting in the cell.

The good thing about painting where I was, was that I was in the shade, the thick walls had kept it fairly cool and the insects other than a few flies were not too bad.

Me painting in the cell, I thought it interesting that the windows were so large.

 Both Kent and Olivette painted outside views of the prison. Both created interesting paintings of the abandoned buildings.

Kent painting the prison.

More from Paint Historic Waxahachie

Past and Present
oil on canvas
8 x 10
$75

 The above painting is the one I started on Friday, the first day of the paintout with T. K. Riddle and Olivette Hubler. I finished it on the square on Sunday. Some of my other friends were also painting around the square including Allen Riddell, Chris Galvan, Debob Jacob, and Olivette Hubler. I liked the way the Confederate soldier seems to be looking at the United States flag.

The Rios Barber Shop
oil on canvas
8 x 10
$75

 This is the painting I did alongside my friend Kent Brewer. All of the unusual angles made this difficult to sketch for me. Eventually it was painted and I was fairly happy with it. I showed it to Kent and right away he saw that the shadow on the sign as well as the yellow building were too light in value. Once he pointed it out it was obvious, he was exactly right. I darkened them as seen in the painting above and it was a definite improvement, and I like it much better now. One of the best things one can do as an artist is have someone you respect look at your work and give you an honest critique.

Round Bales
oil on canvas
8 x 10
$200
 
      This was my sixth painting of the paintout. I liked that it had very limited colors. I used a bigger brush than I usually do and I found that I painted much faster. I finished this one in about an hour. It was really  hot so that was a good thing.

Paint Historic Waxahachie

Waxahachie Gold
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$200

This weekend was the start of a week that I look forward to all year., The Paint Historic Waxahachie Paint Out. It began last Friday and I went down after work to sign in and get started painting. I met T. K. Riddle and Olivette Hubler on the square painting. They finished two paintings and then  headed home.. I didn't finish mine but was at a stopping point so I quit and went to Oma's Jiffy Burger with my friend Kent Brewer who had been painting down near the feed store. ( One of the greatest things about this paintout is getting to hang out and paint with some really terrific artists.) I had always heard about Oma's and I have to say it was pretty good and the coconut cream pie was great.

Sunflowers outside town

Saturday morning I got up early and drove down for the quick draw event. This is where you have two hours to produce a painting. I saw  so many of  my friends there including Kent, Olivette, Sheri Jones, Allen Riddell, Steve Miller, Debob Jacob, Ted Clemens,Tina Bohlman, Betty King, Mary Rabien, and many others. We met at the Farmers Market and spread out in a several block area to paint. We started at 8:00 and had to turn them in at 10:00. I painted the statue of the Confederate soldier in front of the court house. A lot of great paintings were produced and I purchased three to add to my collection. I bought oil paintings from Ted and Olivette and a watercolor from Tina.

Me painting in the field where I painted with my friends Olivette, Debob, and Kent.

 Many of us went to Oma's for lunch and were joined by my friend and fellow artist Maryanne Brummer and her nephew Austin. Then Olivette, Debob and I drove out to a field of sunflowers that Debob had found. It was a really great place to paint. The temperature was not too hot and we had a great breeze. Kent drove out and joined us. Everyone  produced great paintings there. I painted two sunflower paintings and have to admit that I am pretty pleased with them. After painting we  had dinner at the Tuscan Slice, a great pizza restaurant. It was probably one of the best pizzas I ever had.

Waxahachie Gold #2
oil on canvas
8 x 10
$200

    Today, Sunday, I went back down to Waxahachie around 1:00 to paint. I met Olivette and we both turned in some paintings we had finished and framed, then we went to the square to paint. I saw Allen there and Chris Galvan, another Artist friend. We all painted around the square. They did new paintings and I finished mine from the first day. Then I went over a block and painted the Rios Barber Shop. Kent painted it too. It is always very cool seeing how different artists paint the same thing, and with 30+ artists painting in a fairly small area there are a lot of paintings of the same subjects. Another great thing about painting with others is being able to get instant input and critiques on ones art. It really makes a difference.When we finished painting Kent gave me a sketch that he drew last year of me painting in front of one of the houses on The Gingerbread Home Tour. So, I have another great  piece of art to add to my collection.
     The paintout will continue this week and end with a sale of the art next weekend.

Plein Air Weekend

Blue Adobe
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$200

 I had a very fun weekend of painting outdoors last weekend. First on Saturday I went down to Glen Rose to participate in the Paint the Glen paint out. Glen Rose is one of my favorite small towns in Texas. Several of my friends and fellow painters participatedincluding Sheri Jones, Olivette Hubler, Dan Spangler, and Joyce Thomas. the judge was my good friend Debob Jacob. Olivette won first place.

Me painting in Glen Rose

There are lots of  great places to paint including the river, the town square, the old mill,  and the historic old buildings and houses. I t looks like I am in an alley but I am actually painting a small garden on the edge of the town square. It was a nice place to paint, and I had shade most of the time .

Sunlit Fountain
8x10
oil on canvas
sold

 On Sunday I painted in one of the gardens in Historic Fort Worth's Hidden Garden's tour. Four of my friends painted in the other four gardens including Beatriz Welch, Kent Brewer, Carol Ivey, and T.K. Riddel. I was in a very beautiful garden of a large home built in 1918 in Ryan Place. It was a very peaceful and shady  garden, but it was hard to find a good focal point because I couldn't paint anywhere where I would be blocking foot traffic. It was good practice painting all the greens.

Green Corner
8x10
oil on canvas
sold

Painting in Waxahachie

Illinois Central Gulf Caboose
painting in progress

   This weekend I had a paintout down at Waxahachie. Of course it would be cold and raining. The paintout was at the old train depot which has been restored and looks great. Tina Bohlman organized the event and did a great job as always. Despite the rain we had areas to paint, but the result was we were under the awnings at the depot, so we had to paint what we could see, thus there were lots of caboose paintings.

Kent with a cup of coffee and my painting.

   I painted on the side of the depot next to my friend and Waxahachie  resident Kent Brewer. Steve Miller another friend of mine painted a bit further down, and Tina and some other artists painted in their vehicles. There were a lot of people at the depot to see the new caboose and the restored station, as well as attend a model train show.

Kent painting next to my easel.

   I enjoyed the day despite the weather. A lot of us walked up the hill in the rain to the Dove's Nest for lunch, (nobody wanted to lose their parking spot). If you go to Waxahachie that is one of the places you need to eat at. The food is great and so are the desserts. After lunch I came back and painted some more. My painting is not finished yet, and it is not my subject matter, but I enjoyed doing it.

The Caboose

Western Road Trip

Western Road Trip
11 x 14
Watercolor
Not For Sale

   After painting with my friend Kent Brewer at the Waxahachie paint out I have a renewed interest in watercolors. ( He won the best of show award in the paint out. You can check out his work at kentcbrewer.blogspot.com.)
   I haven't painted with watercolors in a very long time but this is still my favorite one I ever painted. I did it back in 93 after a three week long camping trip across Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.
I tried to include scenes from the major places I visited. Technically this is not a good painting but I love it because of the memories attached to it of visiting places like Mesa Verde National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park among others.
   I've still got my watercolors. Maybe I'll dig them out and give them a try again.