Saturday at Art in the Park, Kennedale, Texas

Art in the Park

Tripp’s Art Booth

I will be out of the studio for three days, but no complaints.  The weather has been perfect for Art in the Park in Kennedale, Texas.  Crowds have been steady as well as the sales.  I’m pleased to have sold four original watercolors already (I rarely sell originals at festivals, only prints and greeting cards).  The live music has been splendid, and I have met many new friends that I feel will be in my life for years to come.  Festivals are also a great time to renew old friendships, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a number of former colleagues I haven’t seen since their retirement.

I wish there was more time to blog, but fortunately, there are plenty of patrons continually entering my booth.  So I’ll say Good-Bye now, and thanks so much for reading, for keeping up with me.

I paint to remember.

I journal because I am alone.

I blog to remind myself that I am not alone.

 

An Unseasonably Cold Outdoor Art Festival

Art on the Greene, Richard Green Linear Park, Arlington, Texas

B-r-r-r-r-r-r!!!  Temperatures Friday afternoon have already dropped to 48 degrees, and the arctic wind is cutting us to pieces!  I pulled off my gloves long enough to take this picture, and type a few words.  Texas had been enjoying temperatures in the 80′s only a few days ago.  Too bad an outdoor festival had to draw this kind of weather lottery–seems a cruel practical joke.

I’m enjoying my Hemingway biography, and hoping some crowds will pick up eventually.  Frankly, I cannot blame anyone for choosing to stay indoors today rather than stroll the park.  But the artwork out here is magnificent–80 artists represented this time.

More later.  Got to pull my gloves back on!

Thanks for reading.

My Participation in Art on the Greene (Arlington, Texas Art Festival)

After school today, I will leave for Richard Greene Linear Park, between Cowboys Stadium and Ranger Stadium.  I set up my tent yesterday afternoon in gale-like winds.  I thought we were going to blow away.  I hope I won’t arrive today to find my tent has sailed down the creek that runs behind it.

This will be a three-day event, and I hope to do some blogging onsite.  I have posted an image of my booth from last year’s festival.  I am confident that I will have a better presentation this year, as I spent a good portion of Spring Break last week plotting out a different look.

You can check out the official festival website at www.artonthegreene.com

The festival was reported in our local newspaper this morning: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/03/21/4720626/art-on-the-greene-gives-collectors.html

Thanks for reading.

An Artful DayThrough the Eyes of a Child

After a week of making art, I was given a luxurious opportunity today to leave the studio and enjoy someone else’s art for a change.  A former student of mine invited me to join her family and view art work from the hand of her first-grade daughter, on display in a public venue.  I have had the privilege over the last couple of years to witness this young girl’s artistic explorations, by way of digital images sent to me.  But today I actually beheld her work in the original, along with a host of elementary school pieces in the display.  The freshness and originality of vision just took my breath away.  I had experienced joy before, seeing photos of her creating art work in her home on Saturday mornings, or during inclement weather.  But I was not prepared for what I saw today, and was touched deeply by the flicker of pride lighting her countenance, as she saw her work displayed prominently.

The entire display was magnificent.  Funding for the visual arts in Texas public schools is very slim, and given grudgingly, unlike funding for sports or performing arts.  But these restricted funds have not been able to amputate the spirit, or truncate the effectiveness of dedicated public school elementary art teachers.  Though often relegated to pushing an art cart up and down the corridors, from classroom to classroom, restricting students to once-a-week art sessions, the history and culture of the visual arts is still poured into these young spirits, and it manifests itself in these public displays.  I am a teacher of art history in a public high school, and I know it was no fluke to witness echoes of Matisse, Van Gogh, Warhol, Monet and Kahlo seething on the surfaces of these drawings, paintings and mixed-media endeavors.  These young spirits have been given the opportunity to know firsthand the  fullness and felicity of a well-rounded life that the visual arts make possible.

When I was a boy, I didn’t quite understand the motto carved over one of the portals of the Saint Louis Art Museum:

ART STILL HAS TRVTH

SEEK REFVGE THERE

Now, in my later years, I feel it more than ever before, and this young artistic spirit today renewed that sentiment.  Hats off to her teacher, the other elementary art teachers and willing students of that school district.  May others capture your vision.

Thank you for reading.

Setting up a Mock Booth for the Next Art Festival

Garage mock up of Festival Booth

A major benefit of this Spring Break has been the leisure to make decisions on my booth setup for a major art festival coming up at the end of next week (Art on the Greene–http://www.artonthegreene.com/).  I set up the 10 x 10″ framework of my Trimline Canopy tent so I could know the exact dimensions of my space, and set up the doors and furniture the way I generally do. Then I spent the day making decisions on which framed paintings to include in the display, where to place them, etc.  I have plenty of matting and packaging to do still, and am glad that I have a week to get that done.  The show promises to be a great one, last year was a spectacular premiere.  I’m honored to be included.

Thanks for reading.

Sunday Afternoon in the Gallery

Show at Burson Gallery, March 3, 2013

It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon in Hillsboro, Texas.  I am managing Burson Gallery today, where I am part of a group show that will close this evening.  I have posted a photo of six of my original watercolors hanging, along with a footlocker overflowing with limited edition prints.

I spent yesterday in the gallery as well.  During some of the quiet afternoon hours, I gleaned the following while reading the Journals of Henry David Thoreau:

Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings.  The reality will make any sincere record respectable. No day will have been wholly misspent, if one sincere, thoughtful page has been written.  Let the daily tide leave some deposit on these pages, as it leaves sand and shells on the shore.  So much increase of terra firma.  This may be a calendar of the ebbs and flows of the soul; and on these sheets as a beach, the waves may cast up pearls and seaweed.

Hemingway was content if he composed at least one true sentence after a day spent, Thoreau expresses appreciation for a “thoughtful page.”  I feel good if I have written at least a page or two in my journal, read a good section of worthy literature, or kicked out at least a watercolor sketch.  Today I am going for the trifecta.  I am beginning a watercolor sketch in the gallery, having carved out a small working space.  I already have done the journaling and reading.

I hate it when my blog languishes for as long as it has recently.  It took quite a while for my sickness to subside, and then I had to catch up on school work and gather my work for this gallery show.  I did enjoy giving a watercolor workshop last Thursday evening for art teachers in the Arlington School District.  We had plenty of fun, but alas, I forgot to take pictures of our activities, so I didn’t blog that event.

Thanks for reading.  More to follow . . .

Art and the Sweetness of Aging

Watercolor at the Opening of my Burleson Gallery Show

The artist should not worry over the loss of his early bloom.  People were not peaches.  Like guns and saddles, they were all the better for becoming slightly worn.

Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story, by Carlos Baker

By the time I was pushing thirty, I was already wondering about diminished capacities in my then profession.  I wondered at that age if there were certain pursuits that did not wane with a person’s age.  I am delighted to know that I am doing my best watercolor work at age 58, and am still capable of learning new things, turning new corners, encountering, with surprise, new vistas.  I know that I am frequently paid as a professional instructor (incidentally, I am teaching plein air watercolor for my fourth consecutive summer, at Eureka Springs School of the Arts, June 17-21), but I still feel that I am a student of this subject.  And I often wonder how it would be to work on an MFA in watercolor at this stage of my life.  Nevertheless, I have a day job as a teacher of academic subjects, and hope that I am taking full advantage of what I can learn from the masters of art history

 

Saturday night was the opening of my latest show at the Burson Gallery in Hillsboro, Texas.  Five artists opened the night, and I was proud to be displayed along with them.  I had to take my photos from an angle, to keep as much glare as possible off the glass.  I apologize for the distortion.

Thanks for reading.

Watercolor at the Opening of my Burson Gallery show

Now Open for Business–Final Summer Craft Show

“Stop the Shots” Juvenile Diabetes Craft Show

This will be my final summer Craft Show this year.  Fortunately it is inside and the air conditioning is heavenly.  We are located at St. Stephen United Methodist Church, 1800 W. Randol Mill Rd., Arlington, Texas from 9:00-3:00 today.  I have brought out my latest watercolors–many small originals for sale–as well as limited edition prints and greeting cards.

If you have time today, stop by and say Hello.  I am in the church parlor, there are lovely sofas and armchairs arranged here for a comfortable sit-down and chat, and plenty of art on display for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks for reading.

Preparing for Friday Night, Piccolo Mondo Restaurant and Bar

Piccolo Mondo Restaurant, Arlington, Texas

I just completed my second consecutive night in the sweaty, 97-degree man cave, gathering and packing my inventory for Friday night.  Five local artists will be displaying and selling art out of the Piccolo Mondo Restaurant in north Arlington Friday from 5:30-11:30.  This will be the first time I have set up inside an elegant restaurant and bar.  The Friday night clientele has been described as a good audience for an art show, so I guess we are about to find out.   At any rate, it will be nice to hang out with my friends in a lovely setting.  We will set up our exhibits at 3:00 and the establishment opens for dinner at 5:30.  We have been told that reservations are the wise choice for a Friday night, but walk-ins are accommodated as well.  Our display area is one of the dining rooms clearly visible from the waiting and bar area.  The French doors will all be opened, and the art work will be visible to anyone entering the establishment.  I’m getting excited as the time nears.

Tomorrow will end my summer school for the week–it’s so nice not to teach on Fridays.  I had hoped to paint tonight, but ran out of time.  The hour is getting late and 6:00 will come all-too-quickly for me, again.  But I have every hope of painting tomorrow after school, as the weekend officially begins.

For any of you in the area, I would love to see you Friday evening.  For all the rest of you, I pledge to be painting and blogging again tomorrow.  Thanks for reading.  I’m not sure if this virtual tour of the restaurant is going to work, but here is the link:

http://tours.digispin.com/?sid=52159

Studio Walk-Through Tour at Eureka Springs School of the Arts

Thursday Evening Eureka Springs sketch

Rain drove us inside today, so we did all of our painting inside the studio at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts.  Our studio walk-through tour was from 4:00-5:30 and quite a number of people came out to the show.  I was gratified to see my students’ work arranged throughout the studio.  Some of them put out as many as three-four paintings a day, and then returned in the late afternoons/early evenings to paint.  Once the tour was over, six of us returned to the historic district and painted until the evening light faded.  All of us were tired, and talked considerably less, but nevertheless we worked.  Here is the one I cranked out this evening.  Below I am posting pictures of my easel on location, followed by each of my students holding his/her favorite piece from the week.  I’m really going to miss these people, they have been so inspiring to me, and affirming of me as an instructor.

These are the kinds of creative spirits and friends I wish could drift into my Man Cave every evening.  What a wonderful neighborhood that would make!  Tomorrow will be our last day together, and already I feel “heavy” about having to say Good-bye.  We’ve had a wonderful week together.