Apples, peaches, pears, plums...

North Texas Blue
11 x 14
oil on canvas

    Spring is a busy time in the  gardener  and the outdoor painter. There is never enough time to do everything. But I have always remembered the words of a preacher that I saw on television. He said that we always have time for what we put first. I try to follow this and group my priorities where they should be . One of the things I always give time to in the spring is painting the bluebonnets. The smell alone is worth going out to a big field to experience. But the pleasure of being outdoors painting with friends in great weather (or even not) is the best part of it. This spring we have painted in the Corp of Engineers Parks around Benbrook Lake on weekends and after work.

Scout in front of one of the rose bushes.

     The other demand of my time, this time of year, is my yard and garden.  We had a hard winter and some of my shrubbery is still looking very grim, but the roses have been incredible. I have so many colors and different sizes and they have all put on a show. The peonies were really nice also.

Roses and peonies in the background.

    Every spring my garden tempts me to get out and paint in it but the pull of the country and the wild flowers always wins out. I do take plenty of photos for later use.


A bloom on one of my yellow roses.

    We had some VERY late freezes and frosts this year. They took there toll on the plums. But, the apples, peaches, and pears are covered with fruit as are the grapes and raspberries. The trick will be to keep the squirrels and birds away later in the spring.

Apples on one of my two apple trees.

     I don't think of apples as doing really well around here but my great grandmother had a tree that produced large crops of green apples. So with that in mind two years ago I purchased two trees and they have grown well. This year they have lots of apples on them.



Belle Of Georgia Peaches

     The peach trees, I have two, are Belle of Georgias. They are covered with peaches this year. This is a white peach and one of the varieties my grandmother grew. They are covered with peaches.

One of the pears on my tree.

 

      I have one pear tree. It was planted two years ago and has several pears on it. There are three plum trees but they have  no plums left on them.


Part of my vegetable garden - tomatoes, peppers, beans , squash, pumpkins, and raspberries

   Besides the fruit trees, I have vegetables and herbs planted in a couple of different places. It takes a lot of watering and weeding to keep it all going.

Happy Easter!

Texas Blues
8 x 10
oil on canvas
SOLD

     Today was Easter and a very beautiful day. I woke up early and went out to Dutch Branch Park to paint the bluebonnets. I didn't see any turkeys this morning but I did see lots of deer, ducks, buzzards, and song birds. The bluebonnets are Getting prettier every day and the other flowers are coming along too. I finished this painting and worked on two others. I didn't paint long but I enjoyed it.



Bluebonnets (and light bluebonnets)

      I worked in my yard and then went over to my sister's for Easter lunch with our family. We had a very good dinner, played some games and watched some sports. Then I came back home and did a bit more in my garden before the rains started.

Painting In Heritage Village in Dallas

The Renner School House
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$175

 This morning I went to Heritage Village in Dallas to paint with my friends T.K., Kent, Olivette, and  Jeff. We got there early and had the park to ourselves as well as super temperatures, and plenty of shade.

The Renner School House

 I chose to paint the old Renner school building. This is a two story building, The younger children were taught on the lower floor and the older students were taught on the second floor. I liked the combination of the old building with the Dallas skyline in the background.

Kent painting

 Kent and Jeff both painted the same building. T.K. painted a vegetable garden . Olivette painted two very nice paintings. One was of a house with a buckboard wagon. The other was an old church.

The Millermore Plantation

 There are many really interesting buildings in the park. One of the neatest ones is the Millermore plantation home. It was built in 1855 by the Miller family and their slaves. (The chairs are set up in front of it for a wedding later in the evening.)

The Parlor at Millermore

  This house was fully furnished. It also had its barn, outhouse and other out buildings as well as a herb garden.

Log Cabin

 There were also several log cabins on the property. This one had two rooms downstairs and a loft upstairs. It had only one window.

Interior of the log cabin.

 Inside the cabin it was fairly dark with very little in the way of furniture.

One of the docents with the two donkeys Nip and Tuck

 One of the docents washed the parks two donkeys Nip and Tuck so they could pull the carriage for the wedding party in the evening. The donkeys were half  brothers, around 14 years old, and very gentle.


Dog Trot Cabin

Another neat building was the dog trot cabin. It had a lot of out buildings, a vegetable garden, and also a blacksmith's shop.

Sheep behind the dog trot cabin.
 

There were sheep behind the dog trot as well as chickens. Several of the houses had hen houses behind them with chickens. In fact the morning was filled with the crowing of roosters and the braying of the donkeys.

The old train station.

 Besides the houses and their outbuildings there is an old town with brick streets.

The old bank.

 The bank is one of the  nicest looking buildings in the park. There are several other old buildings on the main street of town including a general store. There was also a  livery stable, church , and the Worth Hotel.

The Worth Hotel

After we painted we went to  eat lunch  at the Angry Dog in Deep Ellum and then went to the Dallas Farmers' Market. I bought two cacti for  my garden there

Thanks to the Chapman Family

Blue Sky and Bluebonnets
11 x 14
oil on canvas
$250

 

 

First let me share a plein air painting from a few weeks ago that I reworked a bit in the studio this afternoon. I worked on the values overall, and did a bit more to the bluebonnets. I believe it is a stronger painting now.

Chuck wagons and cowboy cooks.

 Today is one of the days that will live in my memory forever. The Chapman brothers open up their Squaw Creek Ranch, just west of Fort Worth, once a year in the spring for their cattle branding. This is an incredible taste of Texas history, Texas hospitality, and Texas cuisine.

One of two cooking areas.

 Last year about 400 people from the area came and I'm sure at least that many were there this year. From early in the morning the cooks are busy preparing breakfast for everyone who shows up. Breakfast included, cowboy biscuits, coffee, sausage, bacon, and gravy. (Best biscuits ever!)

One of the two chuck wagons.

 Everything is cooked just like it would have been cooked on the old ranches and cattle drives of the past.

The cowboys from the Chapman ranch as well as those from the surrounding ranches and counties show up to ride in the cattle drive and to lend a hand with the branding.

The cattle drive on Bear Creek Road.

 The cattle are driven in groups from the surrounding pastures and taken to the branding pens. It was  amazing watching the drive and must have been really incredible to ride in as well. I am so thankful that families like the Chapmans are preserving a way of life that was once the norm and is now almost gone.

The cattle and cowboys on Bear Creek Road.

 After the cattle drive the cows and calves are driven into pens where a few mounted cowboys work to separate the cows from the calves. I've been to cutting horse events many times but this was much more interesting seeing it done on a ranch.

Cowboys working on a calf.

Today on most ranches the cattle would be driven into chutes where they could be given their shots, etc.... But here it was done as it has historically been done in Texas. The calves were roped, put down on the ground, branded, tagged, and given shots.

Cowboys at work.

Many of my artist friends were here taking photos for reference material including Sabine Higgins,T. K. Riddle, Olivette Hubler, Janice Weaver, B. J. and Sheri Jones, Georgia Clarke, Linnea Mckinnie and her husband , and Leslie Talty and her husband. My friend Alonso Zamago and his wife also came out. Between us I believe we took thousands of photos.

Mr. John Chapman

 Many families with children were there. It was just an incredible opportunity for everyone to witness first hand our Texas heritage. Two of the things that I would say surprised me were how much it smoked when the cattle were branded, and how little the branding seemed to phase them. Many of them bawled when they were roped and thrown down, and some when they were given their shots, but I didn't notice any when they were branded.

Cowboys branding a calf.

 I guess I also was surprised at how hard the work actually was just to get the calf down. One mounted cowboy would rope the calf around the neck and another around the hind legs. Then other cowboys on foot would try to grab its legs to bring it down. This usually took three or more cowboys. Then the rope was taken off the neck and while the calf was held down other cowboys and cowgirls did their work tagging, branding, banding and injecting. Then the calves were sent back to their mamas. Several cowboys were knocked down, dragged, and kicked.

Cowboy with a lasso.

After the first group of calves were finished it was time for lunch. The Chapmans provided an all you can eat fajita dinner for everyone present. They were the best fajitas I have ever had. The meat was so tender it was just incredible. I can not imagine the cost of feeding so many people, and I don't know of any where else in the state where you can just show up and be fed a delicious home cooked (pasture cooked) all you can eat breakfast and lunch.

One of the cowboys working on foot.

After lunch more cattle were driven over and the whole process continued, The only difference was these were larger calves and the work seemed more difficult. It was more entertaining to me than going to a rodeo because these cowboys were doing real work that had to be done, not doing it for a competition, like cutting or calf roping in a rodeo.

Two cowboys roping a calf.

 We stayed from about 8:00 to after 12:00 and all of us had a wonderful time. Beautiful scenery of pale green spring foliage with bright blue skies and perfect weather. In fact every thing conspired to make this a perfect day for all of us. Thank you to the Chapmans for creating great memories and teaching us all about our ranching heritage. Your hospitality and generosity are truly appreciated.


Roxie and Johnie



Two Projects Finished

Fort Worth Nature Center
oil on steel star
Donation for the North Texas Alzheimer's Association

      Here are two pieces of art I've been working on recently. The first is a painting that I've been working on for a while. It is a steel star that I painted for the North Texas Alzheimer's Association. I, along with several of my friends, decorated these stars and they will be auctioned off at a fund raiser at Ridglea Country Club early in the spring for the group. My painting is inspired by the landscape and animals of the Fort Worth Nature Center. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the others come up with.

Marine Creek Schoolhouse
20 x 24
oil on canvas

     The second is a painting of the Marine Creek schoolhouse, Fort Worth's first school. This school was originally in Fort Worth's Northside and now sits in Log Cabin Village.It was built as a school for the 20 or so school age children in Fort Worth at that time.
      Today Fort Worth has beautiful trees everywhere but in the oldest photos of the city there are very few trees. I imagine most of the first trees were cut down to build the early structures in the city and also as fuel for heating and cooking. I wanted to capture that empty feel but decided to add a few bare trees for the purpose of the composition.
       

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, and Home.

Where the Path Takes You
8 x 10
Oil on Canvas
$175

This morning I woke up at six and watered my gardens before heading to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens to paint. I painted today with Tosca Engish, T. K. Riddle, and Robbie Clemmer. We found shady places to paint and even though it was very hot today it was not too hot where we were.

The inspiration for my painting.

There was shade, a breeze and thanks to the water sprinklers, a little extra coolness in the air. Tosca, T. K., and I painted in the same area. It was nice being able to visit as we painted the morning away. Around noon we were ready for lunch so we decided to go to the Swiss Pastry Shop for lunch, ( and air conditioning.)

Tosca painting with watercolors.

Tosca's husband John, and two other painters Dan Spangler and Hai Chi Lee joined us for lunch. It is always nice to have lunch and visit with fellow artists. You can learn so much from the experiences of your friends.

T. K. painting in oils.

After lunch I came home. I am inspired to paint in my own gardens but it is not nearly as fun as painting with others. I water it every morning and evening and still things look too dry.Besides, I'm actually working on a painting of some bison that  I began at the Fort Worth Nature Center for the Preservation is the Art of the City show. When I finish this, I hope I will have time to finally paint some at home, and hopefully there will be green things left to paint.

One of my roses.

Sunflowers near my cucumbers.

Some of my Roma tomatoes. Next to Porters, they are my favorites

Right now there is a lot of color from the flowers, fruits and vegetables in my gardens. My biggest problems are the squirrels. They eat everything and are especially destructive  to the sunflowers which they love, and show that love by shredding to the ground. I have a live trap and have relocated so many of them and put nets over my trees and grapes, but it feels like a losing battle. In the mean time though I have lots of photos I can paint from if I choose to, but of course that is not the same thing at all, is it?.

My Bell of Georgia Peaches.

My doves

Some of my miniature oranges, I also have full sized oranges, lemons and limes.

A coneflower.

Some of my succulents, cacti, and an owl statue.