Caught up as of today!

Mustang Spirit
bronze on granite

    March 7th was the Texas Masters Show at the Insight Gallery in Fredericksburg. As always it is a tremendous honor to be part of the show. This show features some of the very finest representational artists working in Texas. This year my newest sculpture in the show is a running mustang called Mustang Pride.
     One of the most enjoyable things about this time of the year has been the Sorolla exhibit at the Meadows museum in Dallas. This has to be my favorite show of any artist''s work I have seen. It really gives a complete view of the artist, his process, and his work. By the time the show ended this weekend I had seen it six times. Each time I went it was with  different groups of friends and each time I saw different things and in different ways. Some of the pieces were from private collections and so there was a certain feeling of sadness in thinking that I would never see some of them again.



Bison in Spring
8 x 10
oil on canvas

    I had two big events on March 29th. The first was a paintout with ten of my friends at the Fort Worth Nature Center .I painted one of the bison. These paintings will be auctioned off at a dinner and fundraiser on April 26th at the Nature Center. The show may be viewed online on their website.



Spring in Texas
8 x 10
oil on canvas

      The second event of the day was the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association's Spring Gallery Night.I had paintings and sculptures at a place called Portfolio on Camp Bowie. My friend Margaret did a sculpture demo and I did a painting Demo. I did a painting of bluebonnets and cattle. This one was started from photos and finished in plein air.



Dutch Branch Park

       The last two weeks I have discovered a new place to paint, Dutch Branch Park at Benbrook Lake only a couple of minutes from my house .It is a beautiful place with wildlife, hiking trails, horse trails, and nice views. ( I used to take my Labradors here to practice their retrieving in the lake.) Last Saturday a group of seven of us went out around sunrise and painted there. I started two paintings there and also worked on my painting from Gallery Night. I had to leave early to take some sculptures to David Dike Fine Art to replace several that had recently  sold there. Then I went back to the Meadows Museum to see Sorolla for one last time with some more friends. I ran into several other fellow artists there. I think almost every artist I know who saw it went more than once.
      Today I met my friend Linnea back at Dutch Branch Park to paint again. It was a beautiful day, not nearly as windy as last Saturday. We saw a flock of six wild turkeys and several deer. I worked on my two paintings from last Saturday, started a new one, and finished the one from Gallery Night. I would have liked to have painted longer but my nephews had baseball games today. In the evening I worked on several sculptures and watched a movie on Theo and Vincent Van Gogh.

Kachina still life paintings and one by Qiang Huang

The Crow Mother
12 x 16
oil on canvas

    Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I was very fortunate to take a workshop in Granbury Texas on still life painting with my friend Qiang Huang. I have known Qiang for several years from several events we were both involved in with Camp Fire USA and from the Insight Gallery where we both show and I have  always admired his talent as a painter and I can honestly say that he is an amazing teacher. Being gifted at painting and able to teach it do not always go hand in hand. but when they do you are in for a treat. Qiang is a very organized and thoughtful painter and teacher.



Grandmother Kachina
12 x 16
oil on canvas

   One of the things that excited me about the class was that we were able to bring our own objects to paint. I gathered some indian corn I'd grown, picked some peppers from my garden and then raided my collection of Hopi kachinas and pueblo pottery. Being able to select what I wanted to paint really created a lot more interest in painting for me. Several of my good friends from the area were in the class also. The first day I went out to lunch but after that I was too busy painting to go out for lunch. Friday night we did all go out to dinner as a group which was very fun.


painting by Qiang Huang
9 x12
oil on canvas

   On the last day of class I traded Qiang one of my small bronzes for his first demo. I have pieces of art from many of my friends and I'm always eager to add more, I just wish I could add more wall space

The Texas Masters Show

Me working on my demo at The Texas Masters Show at the Insight Gallery
 

     This weekend was one of the ones  I most  look forward to every year. It was the start of the Texas Masters Show at the Insight Gallery in Fredericksburg. This year I did a sculpture demo during the opening reception.  It was really great meeting some of my collectors. I was truly impressed by them.
   
      Another thing that I thoroughly enjoyed was visiting with the other artists. Because I was doing my demo I didn't get to talk with all of the great artists there, but  some of my favorite artists that  I visited with were Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, Jill Carver, D. Larue Mahlke, Bob Guelich, Mary Buchholz, George Halmark, and Chuck Rawle.


       The next morning after the show I drove around to enjoy the scenery and wildlife of the Hill Country and then went back to the Insight Gallery to watch painting demos by Cheri Christensen and Mark Haworth. It was a very interesting demo and a nice way to wrap up the weekend at Fredericksburg. This turned out to be a profitable and enjoyable weekend.

Two of my bronzes in the show.

 

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Three of my bronzes in the show.

Two more of my bronzes in the show.

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

Texas Masters Show

Mother and Child
bronze on granite

I  have two shows coming up this weekend.  The Texas Master's Show at the Insight Gallery in Fredericksburg and

Art  Reach at  Christ  Chapel. I will have my newest sculpture, Mother and Child in both shows as well as my sculpture of a crucifix in Art Reach. These will both be really enjoyable shows. I am looking forward to  seeing  many  of  my  good  friends  and  fellow  artists  at  both  shows.

Two Shows in the Near Future

 I have two shows coming up. The first begins this Saturday Nov.5th from 11:00 til 4:00 at the Dutch Art Gallery, in Dallas. I have four paintings in this show of work by artists in the Artists of Texas group. I haven't seen the show hung yet but I saw a lot of very nice art when I dropped off my four paintings, pictured below.

 My second show is the Small Works Show at the Insight Gallery in Fredericksburg. The opening is on Dec. 2nd from 6:00 til 8:00 P.M.  I have three bronzes in this show. The catalog for the show may be seen on the Insight Gallery's websight. The three sculptures below are in that show.,

Texas Hill Country

When Blue Skies Turn Gray
oil on canvas
8 x 10
$150

   I went down to the Texas Hill Country this weekend to take a sculpture down to the Insight Gallery for their Christmas show and to attend the opening of the two man show of Scott Christianson and Quang Ho. There is so much to see in this region and in addition to the activities in the gallery I intended to do a couple of paintings or studies but it began to rain almost as soon as I started and the rain was very persistent. But considering that we need it so badly I'm not going to complain at all. The one I started was of a field with some Angus cattle in it under cloudy skies. I worked on it until the rain became too much for me.

A small herd of bison.

One of the things I love about this area  is all of the wildlife. There are thousands of deer in the area as well as bison, longhorns, sheep, goats and exotic animals like zebra, black buck antelopes, camels, and other animals from around the world. These of course provide so much inspiration for wildlife and animal artists.


I found a bit of fall color but not much. Like the rest of the state most of the plants that were green and are not any more have changed color because they are dieing from the drought not because of cooler temperatures.

Fredericksburg house.

Another Fredericksburg House

Fredericksburg is such a great little town. It was founded long ago by German settlers. One of the interesting features of it is the architecture of the houses. Some of them are Sunday houses. These were small houses built by the farmers of the area  for their families to use on the weekends when they came into town for church. These are mostly built of stone and native timber and they were built to last.

An old barn at the Sauer Beckerman Living History Farm

Sheep on the farm

An old wagon at the farm.

So much of our state's history has been lovingly preserved in this area, much to the appreciation of artists from across Texas. There are old farm houses, barns, farm animals, wind mills, wagons, and views of great natural beauty everywhere one looks. As usual I came back with lots of reference photos. I have a lot to tell about events at the gallery but I will save that for another post.

The Texas Stampede Show

Me at the Insight Gallery's Texas Stampede Show

Friday night was the reception at the Insight Gallery, in Fredericksburg, for the Texas Stampede Show. The show was held in the galleries new building and it is a beautiful space, more like a museum than a gallery. There is  enough space to really step back and look at the art. In fact there are benches in between the walls so you can sit down and admire the work. There was a great turnout as well as many great artists in attendance.I sold a sculpture during the reception and one earlier in the week.
I met a really wonderful artist that I was unfamiliar with, Gladys Roldan-de-Moras. She took the photo of me above holding one of my sculptures. I would advise all of my friends to check her website. She had two paintings in the gallery and sold them both before the start of the show.My favorite painting of hers, was of her daughter and neice in traditional hispanic dresses picking roses. It was just amazing.

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.

Repose

Repose
6x4x4
Bronze on Granite
Edition of 100
$600

My dad had surgery this week and all is going great, thanks to God and great medical care. However, I didn't have much of a chance to paint the last few days so I'm showing one of my sculptures that I have at the Insight Gallery where I will be part of the Texas Stampede show next week. I'll be painting today, so I should have something new to add later today or tomorrow.

A Busy March

Colonel Goodnight's Bison, Old Sikes
Bronze on Granite
8.5 x 6 x 7.5
Edition of 50

   March is going to be a very busy month. I have three shows, beginning March 2nd, I will be participating in the Texas Stampede at the Insight Gallery in Fredericksburg. I am really looking forward to this show as it will be my first year to participate in this event.  Many great artists from across the state will be in this show.  Next I will be participating in Art Reach at Christ Chapel for the fourth time on March 13th. This is a really nice local show. Finally, near the end of the month, starting on March 24th, I will be in a two man show with my very good friend and truly great artist Sheri Jones at the Meadows Gallery at the Southwestern Adventist University. I'm really looking forward to seeing Sheri's paintings. I especially admire the texture and beautiful colors in her work. You can check out her work at sheriart.blogspot.com.
   The sculpture above is one of the pieces from that show. This sculpture is inspired by Col. Charles Goodnight who in addition to being instrumental in the cattle industry was important in preserving the American bison from extinction. This sculpture represents Old Sikes,a sire of Colonel Goodnight's bison herd.

Texas Stampede Invitational Show and Sale

Native Texan



Gone Fishing

Here are the two sculptures that I am going to put in the Insight Gallery's Texas Stampede show. I was going to mail them today, but thanks to our snow and sleet that is probably not going to happen. The show's reception is on March 4th in Fredericksburg in the gallery's new location, just down the block from the old location.