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.

Demos, Plein Air, and Things to Come




Sheri and I at the Dutch Art Gallery

   Last Saturday, May 11th, Sheri Jones and I both did demos for the Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas. It was a very nice day. I sculpted a bison and Sheri painted a large landscape.
   Yesterday, Saturday, May 18th, I went to the Paint the Glen  paint out in Glen Rose. I didn't paint for any length of time because one of my nephews received a baseball award and I wanted to go to the ceremony. My friends Olivete Hubbler, and Sheri Jones both won awards.



Westridge Roses
8 x 10
oil on canvas

   Today, I participated in Historic Fort Worth's Hidden Gardens tour. I along with eight of my friends, Kent Brewer, Carol Ivey, Olivete Hubbler, David Tripp, Sheri Jones, Sharon Chastain, Steve Miller, and Leslie Talty painted in four gardens in my neighborhood, Ridglea Hills. We had a great day with wonderful weather and nice breezes.

   




View in the garden.

 Kent, Carol, and I painted in a 5 acre garden at 4900 Westridge Road. This garden belonged to 12 Spanish style homes of white brick and orange tile roofs. There were multiple ponds, pools, streams, and fountains with swans and ducks.


A swan by one of the ponds.

 The garden felt like a resort full of masses of roses and other flowers and greenery with paths and walkways winding throughout. This had once been the home and sculpture garden of a Texas oil man. He had an incredible collection including works by Modigliani and other artists. The art is gone and there are twelve houses instead of one but it is still a magnificent place.



Chandor Koi
trio- 5 x 5
oil on canvas
SOLD

 I painted from 12:00 to 6:00. I also brought some other paintings. I sold the three 5 x 5 koi paintings above that I painted at Chandor Gardens a few weeks ago.


Fountains in the Garden

 

  The day passed quickly, as days in beautiful places do. I painted one painting (Westridge Roses) and started a second, which I have not finished yet. This was a busy weekend but I enjoyed it all.
   Paint Historic Waxahachie is coming up soon and in July I will have a two artist show with Ann Hardy at the Palace Arts Center in Grapevine Texas. The show will feature new works by both of us. I have a lot of painting to do to get ready for this.

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.

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.

Last painting from the paintout.

Small Town America
8 x 10
oil on linen panel

I finally got around to painting one of the houses from the gingerbread tour of homes. This one was across the street from my friend Kent Brewer's house. He was already painting it when I drove up. It was a lot more fun having someone to paint with, plus it was great being able to watch someone else paint the same scene. (Kent won the top award in the paintout this year, Best of Show.) I'm really not finished with this one yet, hopefully I'll have time to make a few changes in the next day or so.

Paint Historic Waxahachie

Round Bales
8 x 10
oil on canvas



View of the courthouse and  down town from the parking garage.

    This is another painting I did at the paintout. It looks like a stable, but it really is the old train station by the feedstore, thus the bales of hay. This has been a great paintout. There are so many things to paint and so many great artists to paint with. Olivette Hubler and I both painted this building, but from opposite ends,
she got a great painting.

Place of Peace

Place of Peace
8 x 10
oil on canvas

I painted in the cemetery today at Waxahachie. It is a beautiful and old place. Many of the graves in the older parts belong to people born in the early 1800s. I think old graveyards are very interesting and beautiful places. There is so much history connected with them and often the graves themselves are works of art. The graves are often testaments of faith of the departed and their families.

Farm Fresh

The Saturday farmers' market at Waxahachie, on the side
of the county courthouse, a great place to buy fresh
produce, delicious bakery goods and home made soaps.

Farm Fresh
8 x 10
oil on canvas

I did this painting yesterday at the quick draw at Waxahachie. It was so windy and I just wasn't in the mood to paint buildings so I bought a bundle of red onions, a container of yellow squash, and one of patty pan squash at the farmers market and set up a still life to paint. It was a nice change. My friend Sheri Jones bought some fresh flowers and carrots and created a very colorful still life also.

Spring Meadow

Spring Meadow
8 x 10
oil on canvas
SOLD

I spent most of the day at the Paint Historic Waxahachie paintout today. It was a very enjoyable day, but hot, 100, and windy. I did one painting  at the quick draw but I need to rephotograph it so I'll post it tomorrow. I had lunch with Steve Miller and Ted Clement and their wives and Olivet Hubler. Then we all went off to find locations to paint for the afternoon. This was my second painting of the day. Most of my friends did paintings of buildings or homes but I wanted to do a landscape so I found this field on the edge of town by the bike trails. I found some shade and went to work.