A Beautiful Winter Day

The farm in Winter
8 x 10
oil on canvas

    Today was a beautiful day and much appreciated after this cold and dreary week. Ten of us headed back to Five Points to paint outdoors. I chose to go back to the old farm and hay field on Anderson Road. I went out a few hours earlier today and the light was a bit different.

Steve Miller painting with an audience at the cotton gin.

   Several of the group went back to the cotton gin to paint the gin, old store, and the sheep. The son of the owner took us to see inside the gin and the old cotton office and scale. A pair of barn owls live in the gin but vacated the building when it was invaded by artists. This site appeared in the movie Places in the Heart.

Barn on the Hill
8 x 10
oil on canvas

   After doing our first paintings five of us went to another farm on a hill on Anderson Road. The house was over 150 years old. I painted one of the barns on the hill.  It was interesting how different all five paintings turned out. We started painting around 10:30 and stayed until after 4:00. It was a beautiful day and all of us had a very good time.
    A day like this, spent out doors with friends,  is always a good day!

Some of our cars parked on Anderson Road

A Merry Christmas and a Fitting End of 2013 and Start of 2014




My dog Scout and I

    This has been a very good year. My family has been blessed with health and happiness. The end of the year came and went very quickly. We had an ice storm that kept our roads frozen for days. The roads were so bad that I had to miss the opening of the Christmas small works show at the Insight Gallery. I wasn't able to get my car out of my driveway for four days, but I did get some nice photos of the Christmas lights with all the snow and ice. on the lawns and trees. Christmas was wonderful. Christmas Eve we were at my sisters and Christmas Day at my parents. We had delicious meals and played games and enjoyed each others company.


Round Bales in Winter
8 x 10
oil on canvas

     After Christmas the weather has been somewhat erratic with warm and cold days but my friends and I have made good use of our time. Last Friday, Dec.27th a group of six of us went down near Waxahachie at a place near an area called 5 Points. It was a beautiful day. There were so many interesting things to paint including an old cotton gin, farmhouses, out buildings, and barns with rusted tin roofs, round bales of hay, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and chickens. On this day I began a couple of paintings and finished the one above.


Texas Farm and Field
8 x 10
oil on canvas

 On the next day Saturday even more of us, around 10 or so, converged on this small community. The locals were intrigued to find artists painting their farms and livestock. They were all very welcoming and hospitable. We received invitations to paint on peoples ranches and even had an offer to cook hamburgers for us. I painted a hay field with the farmhouse in the background. The following Sunday was going to be cold and windy , so no painting, but a group of us used this day to go to Dallas to see the Sorolla exhibit at the Meadows Museum. This is an incredible exhibit. I can not say enough good things about it.


Winter Sun
8 x 10
oil on canvas

    On Monday it was a little cool again, no painting. I had lunch with my parents, two of my nephews, and some cousins. Then in the evening we went to my sisters to watch the Alamo Bowl.
    Tuesday it was still somewhat cool, but it was New Years Eve and I wanted to get one last painting in during 2013, so I went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. The scene I painted is one that I have painted before .  I like it because when almost all the leaves are gone, this tree still has glowing orange leaves.


Winter Greens
8 x 10
oil on canvas 

    Today on January 1st, 2014, I wanted to get the year off to a good start. I went back to the 5 Points area with my friend Kent Brewer. We were joined by our friends Tina, and Mary. We were painting an old barn beside the road when the owner showed up. She unlocked the gate and invited us to park and paint on the property. She was on the way to another ranch and just told us we could close the gate and put the lock on when we left. The hospitality of the people of rural Texas is so amazing. It was a very nice day for being outdoors and painting.

Two Weeks of Bluebonnets

Blue Sky and Bluebonnets
oil on canvas

    Last Sunday, Kent Brewer and I went down to Ennis to look for bluebonnets to paint and to scout for a place to paint this weekend. We drove around quite a bit looking for a place. They are really thick along the roads and highways, but finding a place where you can safely pull over and get some distance from them was not so easy.

Kent painting on Liska Rd.

     We finally found a place along Liska Road. I reworked the painting from Glen Rose since the scene had the same elements of cedar trees and bluebonnets. Then started a second painting. I've still got to rework it before posting.

Me painting on Liska Rd

     It was a really pleasant place to paint. After we finished we continued looking for a place for our group to paint out, as nice as this place was there wasn't enough room for a large group. We found a Corp of Engineers Park on Lake Bardwell called Love Park. It had wildflowers, places to park, and clean restrooms. We decided this place would work well. So we headed to our houses. Later during the week I started calling, texting and emailing my friends to come paint there on Saturday.

Part of my gardens.

     The bluebonnets have been really pretty this year as are the flowers in my garden. I always am thinking that I'll have to paint my garden but I never get around to it. So I took more photos and today, Saturday, we all went down to Ennis to paint.

 

The view I chose to paint.

    It was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm with a pleasant breeze. I had a nice drive down, a little over an hour from my home, until I stopped for an iced tea and realized  that I'd left my wallet  with all my money, driver's license, and credit cards at home. Luckily I brought my lunch.

 

Some of my friends painting.

     We had a really good group today of about 20 including my friends Kent Brewer, Candy Clynch, T.K. Riddle, Olivette Hubler, Hai Chi Lee, David Trip, Chris Toplyn, Dan Spangler and his wife, Sheri Jones and her husband, Nancy Bozeman, Trish Wise, Tina Bohlman, and artists from the Trinity Arts Guild, Texas Artists Coalition, and the Ellis County Art Association.

Some more of my friends painting

 There were two large fields of bluebonnets that most of us painted near. Some of our group used watercolors, some used oils, some used pastels, and others used acrylics. Many of the artists finished more than one painting. We were there from around 9:00 to 4:30, so a full day.


David and Chris, two of our watercolorists.

 

 Sheri and her husband B.J. drove their antique truck down for the group to paint. Some really great paintings were created of the  truck surrounded by wildflowers and mesquite trees.



Sheri and her husband brought down his restored old truck for our group to paint.

 After we had had enough painting, many of us  went to dinner in Waxahachie at the Tuscan Slice. It was a super day, spending it outside with friends and then going to dinner together. Special thanks to my friends Kent and T.K.,  who loaned me money for dinner and for gas to make it home.


Kent and Olivette painting.