The Bronze Lady
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$200

 Thanks to my friend T. K. Riddle, our group has a new and very interesting place to paint. We went to Chandor Gardens in T. K'.s town of Weatherford, just west of Fort Worth.These gardens were at the home of a well known portrait artist Douglas Chandor. He painted the wealthy including several U.S. presidents, Eleanor Roosevelt, and a coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth that hangs in the British embassy in Washington D.C. He and his wife lived half the time in New York and the other half of the time in Texas. While in Texas he spent a great deal of time designing and planting the gardens of his estate.

This was the view that inspired my painting.

Chandor was inspired by British and Asian gardens. The grounds have a bowling green, ornamental trees and flowers, pools with koi, one with a stone Chinese junk, a large waterfall, streams, bridges,  arbors, European boxwoods, cacti, fountains, ornamental stonework, etc... Chandor designed his gardens to be like outdoor rooms so that wherever you are there are interesting and beautiful views. These gardens are now maintained and owned by the town of Weatherford.

Arbors and flowers at the garden.

I had never been to these gardens, and in fact I knew very little about them. When I arrived it was almost overwhelming. There were so many views that were inspiring I had a hard time deciding what to paint. As many of you know I love working in my own gardens and was inspired to paint and plant.

An entrance to the house over an oriental bridge over a stream.

In the end my love of sculpture dictated my choice of a subject, a fountain with a beautiful sculpture of a lady. I loved all the greens of the background along with the blue greens of the sculptures patina. Also the temperatures were in the 100s and I had shade where I painted, that helped me make my choice too.

Another view of the house and grounds.

In addition to T. K. being there, Olivette Hubler, Joyce Thomas, and Leslie Talty were there painting. We ordered lunch and had it delivered, most of us had chicken salad sandwiches, chips, iced teas, and homemade cookies, from a place called Yesterdays. The food was great, and it was a beautiful place to eat.

Another view of the gardens.

After lunch we painted several more hours. Olivette, T. K., and I enjoyed painting there so much that we all joined the garden so we can paint there any time. The lady who ran the gift shop invited us to show and sell our work in the gift shop which I am sure we will do.
 It was a very nice day.


An interesting character statue in the garden.

Koi in one of the ponds,

The Chinese junk statue.

A beautiful blue green pool with the Chinese junk.

T.K. painting the ferns.

Olivette painting near the house, the north windows of Chandor's studio are behind her.

More paintings from the Plein Air North Texas Show at DFW

I wanted to share some more paintings fom the DFW show, it runs through March 2nd.

Another of my plein airs from the Botanical gardens.

One of Maryann Brummer's plein air paintings of the ruins of a  grist mill.

One of Linda Reedy's from the back roads of this part of the state.

One of my favorite paintings by Claudia Davis.

A great one by Jan Bateman.

A large spring landscape by Darnell Jones.

One of Ann Hardy's still lifes

A watercolor by Leslie Talty.

Two weekends of art.

Fall Roses
8 x 10
oil on canvas
$150

     I have to go back to last weekend to get caught up on my painting adventures. Last Saturday I painted in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens with a large group of my friends including Hai Chi Lee, Dan Spangler, Beatriz Welch, Cecilia Robertson, Blair Currin, George De Chiaro, Tom Kellie, and Leslie Talty.

The roses I painted.

     The garden is looking very nice after the  long dry summer we had. All of the blooming roses and other flowers make it look more like spring than fall.

Beatriz working on her second painting of the morning.

      My friend Beatriz has a wonderful painterly style and helped me work on loosening up when I painted my roses. She did two very nice rose paintings.

A hawk on a bat house in the gardens.

Cecilia in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens.

                                    

       We finished painting around one and then Beatriz, Tom, Cecilia, and I went to lunch at the Swiss Pastry Shop. Sunday I worked on sculpture.


       Friday night Beatriz ,who is a docent at the Kimble Art Museum, gave a group of us a tour of the Caravagio exhibit. Her tours are always incredible. As an artist herself she really is able to give talks that are especially interesting to artists. Caravagio's paintings are amazing. I especially liked his religious paintings of John the Baptist and Mary Magdaline and Martha.

Me with my paintings at Dutch Art.

     Then Saturday morning I went to an estate sale at the home/studio of the Gentling brothers. They were twin brothers and incredible artists. It was very intersting seeing their home and art collection. I bought five books from their huge library of art books and picture framing hardware. Then I drove to Dallas for an art show at the Dutch Art Gallery. This show featured works by The Artists of Texas Group. I have four paintings in the show. Several of my friends also have paintings in this show including Sheri Jones, Joyce Thomas, George De Chiaro  Linda Popple, Cece Turner, and Tina Bohlman. The show looked great and will hang through January.

Joyce Thomas and her paintings at Dutch Art.

Sheri Jones with some of her paintings.

The painting I started in Tandy Hills.
9 x 12
oil on panel

 Then on Sunday morning I went back to paint in the gardens. This morning Hai Chi, Cecilia, George and Dan joined me as well as Chris Toplyn, Claudia Davis, and Janice Weaver. It was a very overcast day. Claudia, Janice, Cecelia, Dan and I went to McKinley's for lunch. Then Cecelia and I went to Tandy Hills Park to paint some more. We stayed until almost sunset.  I didn't finish the one from the Botanical Gardens or the one from Tandy Hills but I'm posting the Tandy Hills painting anyway.

Fall foliage in Tandy Hills.

Cecilia heading to her car after a full day of painting.

Another trip to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens.

The view I chose to paint today.

Cecilia Robertson, Tom Kellie, and I painting near the large pond.

Cecilia, Tom, and Leslie Talty painting.

The painting I began today on my patio, where I worked on it some more this evening.

My finches on the patio. I like to hear them sing as I paint.

My pet dove on the  patio.

Today was a great day for painting. I went to the Botanical Gardens to paint at about 7:15 and was joined by 12 friends, Allen Riddell, David Tripp, Chris Toplyn, Cecilia Robertson, Tom Kellie, Leslie Talty, Chase Almond, Candy Clynch, Blair Curren, Ted Clemens, Tosca Engish, and Hai Chi. The temperature was great, we had shade and a great breeze. Most of us painted until 11:00. Several finished their paintings but I didn't even get halfway on mine. After we finished many of us went out to eat lunch at the Swiss Pastry Shop. We had their famous Black Forest Cake for dessert.
I worked on my painting on my patio a bit more this evening. I really enjoy the light when I work outside. I have some finches and a dove that I keep on my patio and I really enjoy hearing them sing and coo as I work. The environment I work in is very important to me.

A Great Morning in the Botanical Gardens

This is the painting I began today.
8 x 10
oil on canvas

I didn't finish my painting yet but I decided to post it anyway since I had several others photos to post today.

A blue heron in one of the natural areas at the botanical gardens.

 Cecilia Robertson painting in the botanical gardens.

Me painting in the botanical gardens.

Me and Cecilia with the painting Cecilia did of me.

The portrait Cecilia did of me.

Today was a very enjoyable day even though the temperature was 101. I was in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens by 7:15. My friends and fellow artists, Allen Riddell  and Olivette Hubler, were already there. We were eventually joined by Leslie Talty, George De Chiaro, Cecilia Robertson, Tom Kellie, Margie Whittington, Tosca Engish,and  Chris Toplyn. We found shady areas and were able to stay cool enough until after 10:00. Some of our group used watercolors but most used oils. My friend Cecilia painted opposite of  Leslie, and me. She wound up doing a portrait of me. I think she was drawn to the complementary colors  of my shirt and cap as well as the way I sometimes paint holding my canvas. She gave me the painting at the end of our outing. I'm so proud to add my first "Robertson" to my art collection. I really love the painterly approach she took to it. After we finished painting seven of us went to brunch at the Swiss Pastry Shop. The food is always good there but today the air conditioning was even better. Then four of them came back over to my house for dessert and to see my studio and art collection. I had a couple of new sculptures that I'm working on as well as some new art books to show them.
A morning spent painting with friends is a great way to start the day.