To Be Continued

Winter Path
8 x 10
Oil on Canvas

 Here are two works in progress. The first is a painting that I began in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens in plein air. It looked like one of my regular paintings. Then my friend Beatriz encouraged me to really loosen it up. I like the result a lot although it looks nothing like my regular work. I'll do a bit more with it but probably not much.

Black Bear
Clay

The second wip, (work in progress) is my plein air black  bear sculpture. I've been working on her at the Fort Worth Zoo. I read a book about Rodin recently. He often had his models pace or walk around his studio as he sketched or sculpted them. If it was good enough for Rodin it is good enough for me and the bear. Of course he had the advantage of being able to ask his models to stop or hold a pose so I am using some of my photographic reference material as I refine the sculpture. It has been a fun process and I look forward to casting it in bronze.

Starting two new sculptures.

American Black Bear in Clay

  I'm loving my Christmas Vacation. Wednesday I met my friend Dan Spangler at the Fort Worth Zoo. He sketched  and I began a small sculpture of a mountain lion. It is not finished but I felt like I got a good start on it. Our weather has been great so the zoo was packed but the crowds were not a problem.  On Thursday I went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and started a small  8 x 10 painting. Anne from the David Dike Gallery in Dallas met me there while I was working on it to pick up five of my sculptures for the gallery. They have done very well selling my bronzes. In fact David is placing an add in the 360 West magazine with one of my longhorn bronzes in it. After I was done painting I went to the Kimble Museum to see the Caravaggio exhibit one last time. The museum was packed too but unlike the zoo it was hard to enjoy because of the crowds.

Today was another beautiful day. I went back to the zoo and began a small sculpture of an American black bear. When I got there the bears were pacing the enclosure but naturally once I started working on it the bears lay down and went to sleep. Neither of these two sculptures is finished, they are sort of like sketches in clay, but I think I have two pieces that I can develop later into finished sculptures. I'll go back again this weekend and either work some more on these or start something new.

I wish all my friends a very Happy New Year full of lots of wonderful art experiences and opportunities.