A Quick, 5 x 7″ Watercolor Sketch of a Vintage Fishing Lure

5 x 7″ Watercolor Sketch of Bomber

As I come to the close of a satisfying Easter holiday, I reflect on the festive atmosphere I was invited to share with some beautiful friends in north Arlington.  Marvelous friendships were formed, thanks to a remarkable student I was privileged to have in my class back in 1989, my second year of teaching.  How fulfilling to see her again, with her family, her parents, and a large circle of friends and colleagues.

Before returning to school in the morning, I wanted to try and finish this 5 x 7″ sketch I started this morning in the Cave before attending the north Arlington Easter brunch.

I like the watercolor effect of these vintage lures better on a dark background.  Until now, I had always placed them on a white field.  I think in the days ahead (before next weekend’s Art in the Park festival http://www.kennedaleartsfestival.com/) I may try a few more of these smaller watercolor compositions.

Thanks for reading.

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.

A New Line of Watercolor Greeting Cards Coming out Next Week

A New Greeting Card

I’m going to post a series of blogs of new greeting cards (5 x 7″) that I will be bringing out at next week’s art festival (Art on the Greene.  http://www.artonthegreene.com/).  I sell these for $5 each, or $20 for a set of five.  They are blank on the inside.  The cover is posted above.  The backside appears as below:

Thanks for reading.

One More Session in the Man Cave

Working on the Cattle Drive in the Man Cave

What a whirlwind of an afternoon and evening!  If you read my earlier post, you know that I got caught up in a drybrush rendering of an antique door knob and assembly.  That made for a pleasant afternoon of meditation.  Following supper and school preparations, I was surprised to find it only 9:30 p.m., so I decided to take my cattle drive watercolor out into the man cave and work on that left-hand foreground horse some more.  After an hour, I decided to call it a night.  6:00 a.m. comes rather quickly.

I have decided to post a few more pictures of this afternoon’s session (photos I meant to post then, but forgot).

Thanks for reading.  I cannot wait for tomorrow afternoon to arrive.  I’m ready to push these paintings a little farther down the road.

Andrew Wyeth Visits Tyler, Texas

Working on the Stockyards Late at Night

“A great truth is like a mountain that one walks around, and the changes of its contour as one moves his position only emphasize and revivify its majesty.”     (N. C. Wyeth’s last letter to Andrew, dated February 16, 1944).

I hardly know how to describe this Texas Saturday.  Rising at 7:00 a.m. to a 38-degree morning, I wasted no time in getting dressed and loading the Jeep to travel two hours east to Tyler Texas.  I learned two days ago that the Tyler Museum of Art was exhibiting “The Wyeths Across Texas,” a collection of N. C., Andrew and Jamie’s work from Texas private collections.  The two-hour drive may as well have been two days, as I could not seem to get there quickly enough.

I spent three hours in the midst of the exhibition that occupies three small galleries.  But I only knew that because I checked the time as I exited the building.  I was lost in the heart of eternity as I breathed in those magnificent pieces.  I also viewed a 60-minute documentary, Andrew Wyeth Self-Portrait: Snow Hill.  I could not help purchasing the DVD as it was impossible to glean all the wealth available in the presentation.  I am still vibrating from what I’ve taken in so far.

Here is another fragment of N. C.’s final letter to his son:

“Great painting is like Bach’s music, in texture closely woven, subdued like early tapestries, no emphasis, no climaxes, no beginnings or endings, merely resumptions and transitions, a design so sustained that there is no effort in starting and every casual statement is equally great.”

So, with that quote murmuring in my heart, I put on a CD of Bach’s Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, and resumed my Fort Worth cattle drive, reminding myself that the close, detailed study of one longhorn was no more or no less significant than the undulating background foliage or the foreground inlaid bricks in the street, or the fleeting shadows beneath the longhorns–just one more effortless, timeless series of threads embedded in this tapestry woven for several weeks now.  I no longer fret over the time spent, or the prospects stretching endlessly before me.  I just paint in the embrace of Bach’s music, and the grateful memories of a day spent in communion with Wyeth’s art work.

Thanks for reading.

Longhorn Cattle Drive, Fort Worth Stockyards

Fort Worth Cattle Drive

It was Thursday afternoon, August 9, 2012, at 2:46 p.m., with temperatures soaring over 100 degrees.  I sat on a bench beneath a tree on Fort Worth’s West Exchange Avenue and waited for the 4:00 cattle drive that would be coming down the street.  I wrote in my journal, read from a good book, made some preliminary sketches of the environment, and waited.  Finally, they rounded the corner and tramped straight in my direction as I snapped dozens of photos of this longhorn cattle drive that is a Fort Worth cultural tradition held twice daily.

My reason for waiting several months before attempting this is my reservation to paint longhorns for the first time.  I felt the same paralysis a few years back when I painted “Jennifer in the Hunt” (a fox hunt featuring hounds in the foreground which I painted for the first time).  I just feel so helpless when I face an unknown, unfamiliar subject.  Nevertheless, one longhorn has been rendered, and I feel that I am ready to approach the remaining ones.

This afternoon I spent more time working on that single longhorn, then turned my attention to the street, trying to render the textures and construction of the inlaid bricks.  I also deepened the shadows in the trees and re-worked the brick column in the background.  I feel that I am generating some momentum.

I have a festival fast approaching–Discover Historic Mansfield Art Music Festival will be Saturday and Sunday.  This will be my third straight weekend to participate in an art festival.  So far, they have been worthwhile, and I hope the trend continues this weekend.  This afternoon I replenished about fifty greeting cards that had been depleted during last weekend’s sales.

Thanks for reading.  It’s good to be painting again!

Finally Returning to the Watercolor Studio

Fort Worth Cattle Drive at the Stockyards

I have had a long absence from the studio, as well as the blog.  The festivals of the last two weekends were very enjoyable (and exhausting).  St. Louis was two weekends ago; Pantego was last weekend.  Today’s Columbus Day holiday and school closure was a welcome respite.  I managed to catch up on some lost sleep, tidy my home and studio and actually pick up the watercolor brush and work on my first longhorn ever, and add some shadows on the street in the foreground.

My biggest challenge with this longhorn was the mottled white patches all over his hide, which I managed with my modified “ugly” brush.  As to the colors, well that was what kept me from attacking this for weeks–I just didn’t know.  I mixed combinations of Cadmium Red, Winsor Violet, Transparent Yellow, Winsor Blue (Green Shade) and Winsor Green.  Had I attempted this four years ago, I would have reached for Burnt Sienna, Sepia, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber and Naples Yellow.  I am taking considerable satisfaction, experimenting with the colors of my more recent palette.  I still have a long way to go, but I am enjoying this new color science.

I need to turn my attention to tomorrow’s classes (Philosophy and Art History), so this will be it for tonight.  The watercolor is still soaked and drying.  Once I get back to the dry surface, I look forward to detailing the brick street that these longhorns are treading.

Thanks for reading.  And thanks for your patience, if you’ve waited for a new blog.  I did not have Internet access at the recent festivals, and the weeknights have been a nightmare, trying to punch up my inventory for the festival booth.  I’m glad to be back to the brush and the blog.

Finishing the Tarrant County Courthouse Cupola in Watercolor

Tarrant Country Courthouse Cupola

With my next art festival less than a week away, I find myself working late hours to stitch up the final details of works started last summer that were never completed.  This is a study of the Tarrant County Courthouse that I photographed during a beautiful sunset evening when the light glancing off the stone was enchanting to see.  I worked hard trying to find the right combination of yellows and purples to pick up the warm highlights and gathering cool shadows that captured my imagination that evening.  I keep hoping that I’ll return to this subject and explore it further.  I have spent some quality days recently in downtown Fort Worth, armed with camera and sketchbook, and would really like to capture more of the splendor of that city.  But, in the meantime, I have a festival coming up, so I continue with the matting, shrinkwrapping and finish-work on these lingering watercolor compositions.

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