A New Look in the Gallery this Weekend

The Gallery at Redlands, 400 N. Queen St., Palestine, Texas

The Gallery at Redlands has readied itself for a new look this weekend, with a large framed watercolor added to the right side of the window display, featuring Angel’s Nest, a lovely Victorian home in Weatherford, Texas.  There will also be newly editioned prints coming out, featuring equestrian and hunting scenes and an iconic Coca-Cola sign hanging on a garden gate. These are all new pieces showing up for the first time in public.

I am looking forward to returning to a watercolor I started last weekend, setting up my plein air easel with a broad view out the display window facing the highway. From here I can see the railroad trackage beyond Highway 287, and enjoy the trains rolling through as the weekend unfolds.

Watercolor in progress of the building across the street from the gallery

I have been so delighted with all the news coverage this show has gotten, and the recognition this new gallery is experiencing. The Historic Inn of Redlands is a magnificent building, erected in 1914, with beautiful suites for rent. Last weekend as well as this weekend, my friends made the trip here and enjoyed the overnight accommodations. Among these friends I have enjoyed, two of them are graduates of my high school whom I hadn’t seen since 1973. What a reunion! Amazing to find out that friends I knew in the greater St. Louis area relocated in my vicinity. Facebook has made many such reunions possible, and the social media has done an excellent job marketing this show. One of my friends from Tennessee whom I last saw in the 1980’s followed this show and made his purchase this morning online. I never thought such things possible until now. I feel that I am living a lifelong dream, pursuing the arts and renewing friendships.

The community of Palestine has also been so welcoming. In addition to the owners of this hotel and patrons of this gallery, I’ve made the acquaintances of a number of city officials and citizens wishing us well. I also want to extend a special shout-out to Mary Raum, from the Visitors Bureau who has used social media to heighten the awareness of this show, and personally directed a truck driver arriving from out-of-town who inquired where this gallery was located.  He had been following the show on social media.  Hats off as well to the Palestine Herald-Press who feaured our show on the front page of last weekend’s edition, thus steering many of the tourists arriving for the Dogwood Trails Celebration to this site.

The experience here in Palestine has been rewarding, and I would love to meet any of you reading this who may be close enough to come out and visit.  I will be here Friday afternoon as well as Saturday and Sunday this weekend. We close next weekend.

Thanks for reading.

I paint in order to discover.

I journal when I feel alone.

I blog to remind myself I am not alone.

Advertisement

Another Limited Edition for the Weekend Show

Christmas at Spencer’s Grill

And finally, I’m bringing this limited edition back out for the weekend show at The Gallery at Redlands, 400 N. Queen St., Palestine, Texas.  It is priced at $80.

Spencer’s Grill is located on Kirkwood Road (old Route 66) in St. Louis, Missouri. The business has been there since 1947, and the colorful billboard that advertised the place caught my eye since the days I was too young yet to read. Nearly every time I visit my family in St. Louis, I go to this establishment for an old-fashioned breakfast, seated at a counter stool, feeling that I have entered Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks. I guess I will always be a painter of memories.

Thanks for reading.

I paint in order to discover.

I journal when I feel alone.

I blog to remind myself I am not alone.

New Work for the Weekend Show

The Splendor of a Morning Ride

Surveying the Results

As my show continues through the next two weekends at The Gallery at Redlands, 400 N. Queen St., Palestine, Texas, I am bringing out more work not on display before. The original watercolors featured above have already sold. I have on hand two limited editions of the equestrian subject, and one of the pheasant hunt. The equestrian limited edition sells for $100 and the pheasant for $80.

These subjects I used to paint quite often in my past, but I’ve gotten away from them recently. Once this show is over, I intend to return to some of my earlier subjects, particularly railroad themes and Victorian homes. I haven’t gotten to paint seriously in several weeks as I’ve been busy getting ready for this show.

Thanks for reading. I have at least one more image I hope to post later today.

Bringing out New Work for the Show

Durango-Silverton Train, limited edition giclee print

Throughout today, I intend to post new images of work to be added to this weekend’s one-man-show at The Gallery at Redlands, 400 N. Queen St., Palestine, Texas.  The above image is a limited edition giclee print of the Durango-Silverton Railroad that I painted in watercolor, years ago. The original has long since found a home, but the prints have been quite popular, and last weekend I sold out of the gallery the last one in stock. I managed to place a new order Monday for six that will be ready for pick up before I return to the gallery this weekend. These images are $70 and are preserved shrinkwrapped against a foamboard backing.

Several more giclee prints are forthcoming, and i will post images of them later today when I have a break in my schedule.

Thanks for reading.

Unveiling a New Addition to the Show this Weekend

“Angel’s Nest” Weatherford, Texas

This striving after imitative expression, which one meets every where, is significant of the aim of nature, but is mere stenography.  There are higher degrees, and nature has more splendid endowments for those whom she elects to a superior office; for the class of scholars or writers, who see connection where the multitude see fragments, and who are impelled to exhibit the facts in order, and so to supply the axis on which the frame of things turns.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Goethe; or, the Writer”

Returning to a day job after an exciting weekend of art-related activities could be compared to diving into a warm pond after a sauna.  It is only Wednesday, but the week has been comparatively tepid. The watercolor posted above is on a full-sized sheet of 300# D’Arches paper. The original frame was damaged, so I’ve decided to re-frame it and bring it to hang in my show this weekend. It has been out of the public eye for about three years now, and the time is long past due to make repairs and bring it back out.

I have returned to reading Goethe during this week, and decided to pick up Emeson’s essay on that marvelous sage, probably the Shakespeare of Gemany. On Monday evening, feeling a bit hungover from the weekend show, I drove out to a beautiful green belt on the east side of Arlington, found a park bench, and read this essay until dark.  I cannot describe the feelings that washed over me, but the passage I’ve cited above gripped me the most.  With Emerson and Hemingway, I have frequently translated the theories of writing to the visual arts, and here is another example.  Emerson contrasts the stenographer with the poetic writer, and I always feel the conflict between the illustrator and the fine artist when I attempt to paint.  When I decided to tackle this magnificent Victorian house in Weatherford, Texas (where I stayed during my 60th birthday), I knew that I wanted to go beyond mere description of that intriguing structure, to transcend the architect’s rendering of the subject. That is the main reason I kept the subject small on the paper and devoted the greatest expanse to the sprawling lawn in the foreground. I am wishing to paint this subject again, because I’m not satisfied with every aspect of it and would love to have another run at it. I have always loved Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” and have always wished to render a house atop a hill with that expansive sense of space surrounding it.

Thanks for reading. I can’t wait to return the The Gallery at Redlands for the weekend.

I paint in order to learn.

I journal when I feel alone.

I blog to remind myself I am not alone.

(Personal) Review of my One-Man-Show

For years, I have enjoyed writing concise reviews of one-man-shows. Since none has been published of mine that opened last weekend and runs through April 9, I have decided to write my own!

Turvey’s Corner

Country Blues

The Gallery at Redlands, 400 N. Queen St., Palestine, Texas, opened its doors for the first time with a one-man-show featuring David Tripp’s watercolors and drawings. In this single naturally lighted chamber, 104 original pieces weave a tapestry of experiences and sensations spanning this artist’s life sojourn from a trolley train leaning into an urban curve to a guitar-picking bluesman perched on the shaded porch of a desolate farm house. All of these scenes depict a disappearing America that thrived in the 1950’s but today leaves only the shells of buildings and vehicles, mere shadows of once vital homes and communities.

David Tripp has been absorbed with the contributions of Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper, with their urban and country watercolors depicting settings of loneliness and isolation. Viewers who enjoy these works feel a connection with the scenes of our passing yet enduring America, and understand this dual sentiment of loss and presence–loss because something that once thrived in the setting is no longer living, presence because some kind of footprint remains, and we can still sense it as we linger in that space.

The artist wishes to thank all those who expressed well wishes and made purchases this past weekend.  Rebekah Joy Plett has shared the following:

When you buy something from an artist you’re buying more than an object.

You’re buying hundreds of hours of errors and experimentation.

You’re buying years of frustration and moments of pure joy.

You’re not buying just one thing, you are buying a piece of a heart, a piece of a soul . . . a small piece of someone else’s life.

The Gallery at Redlands

400 N. Queen St., Palestine, Texas

Thanks for reading.

I make art in order to discover.

I journal when I feel alone.

I blog to remind myself that I am not alone.

Quality Reflection

In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The weekend euphoria has pursued me into Monday morning, back at work. While in the halls, I was stopped by two students requesting a brief interview to be videotaped cold. I was told that I would respond to a “deep” question. The video began, and I was asked: “If you could repeat any day of your past, what would you do differently?”

That stumped me, and the camera rolled for awhile in silence. I was told afterward that four teachers could not offer any response. Finally, I knew what I wanted to say:

“If I could repeat my day of declaring a major for my Ph.D., I would choose to major in Philosophy rather than New Testament.”

“Why?”

“As a New Testament major, I memorized an ocean of facts, and entertained no thoughts. And I got away with it. Philosophy majors were challenged to think independently, critically, to question authorities and sources. They thought creatively, analytically, synthetically. They thought ouside the box. As an artist, I regard myself as a creative person, visually. As a philosopher, I feel I could have been more creative, intellectually.”

I told the two students afterward that I deeply appreciated being challenged to think that one through. I believe it was Hawthorne who gave up teaching, claiming that a teenager could not challenge an adult teacher to grow intellectually. I’m not sure where he was coming from, but I have always disagreed. As teachers, we have been poked and prodded throughout my decades of experience to challenge the students to “higher order thinking skills”, yet I always wondered why “teacher training” (and there have been myriad hours of that) almost never pushed me to the edge of the envelope. Yet, my students in class, with their honest questions, have repeatedly called me to task, inciting me to back up, look at the data again, re-think the arrangement of the arguments, and often revise my positions. The classroom has been the arena for intellectual challenge and growth.

Thanks to a pair of students in the hall, this Monday has proved to be better than most.

Thank you for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

Satisfying Late Afternoon Thoughts

Resuming Work on the Watercolor while the Light is Good

What deep in our breast was thus inspired,

What shy lips babbled in a quiet hour,

Clumsy perhaps, and rarely as desired,

Is swallowed by a savage moment’s power.

And years may pass before it has acquired

Its perfect form and opens like a flower.

Glitter is coined to meet the moment’s rage;

The genuine lives on from age to age.

Goethe, Faust

Sunday in The Gallery at Redlands has been quieter than the previous two days, though I’m pleased that there were still sales.  The streets of Palestine are quiet, but patrons have still come to purchase and converse.  The day has been lovely, and my spirits are soothed as closing time draws near.

Awhile back, while spending a restful weekend in the old country store that I love, I managed to read Faust for the first time. During this weekend of the gallery show, I’ve had the chance to return to this amazing text. The passage above prompts me to think of my efforts over the years to express my feelings artfully, efforts often characterized as “clumsy” and “savage.”  And I think of how many years it takes for a quality piece of work to open “like a flower.” Repeatedly this weekend I’ve been asked: “How long have you been doing watercolor?” It’s difficult to answer that question adequately.  The oldest piece in this show was created in 1999. My first “decent” watercolor was created in 1988.  My degree was completed in 1976.  The year I decided I wanted to master watercolor was 1971. So, how long have I worked on this craft?  To be precise, I have only addressed the medium of watercolor, rather than the broader aspect of making “art.”  In thinking over the latter, I realize that my training goes far beyond training in the artist’s craft. My ideas have grown from literature, art, philosophy, history, travel and personal experience. So I guess my truthful answer is that I have been training nearly sixty-three years to do a decent watercolor. And it has been a wonderful sixty-three years.

Right now, as the late afternoon sun slants through these gallery windows and onto my easel, I am filled with deep appreciation that I have been allowed to live long enough to enjoy the things I do now. This has been a rewarding weekend, and I look forward now to the next two. A special thanks to all my loving friends who made the long trek to come out here this weekend and make a good life even better.  The conversations were so affirming and I cannot express the depths of my appreciation.

In the Still of the Night (framed watercolor) $900

This remains my favorite “doorknob” painting to date.  I began it late at night in the “store” where I love to retreat on free weekends.  I put a spotlight on the knob, positioned a desk lamp over my easel, turned out the house lights, and worked late into the night on it.  I had to come back a few more times before I actually finished it.  Funny thing–the “selfie” I painted that I title “Heidegger’s Hut” was painted from a photo I took, using the ten-second timer. Across my lap is the painting of this doorknob in progress.

Heidegger’s Hut (framed watercolor) $900.  Limited editions available for $100

Trinidad, Colorado (framed watercolor) $1100

This summer I will journey to Colorado again for fly fishing and plein air painting.  I always pass through Trinidad on my way to my vacation site.  A few years back, I stopped and photographed this Savoy Hotel and Cafe with its ghost sign, and completed a large watercolor that won Best of Show at an annual show in Desoto, Texas. I am happy with the painting because I think I could title it Anywhere, U.S.A.

Time to wind this up and send it out.  Thanks always for reading, and for your gracious comments of encouragement.

I paint in order to discover.

I journal when I feel alone.

I blog, reminding myself I am not alone.

Sun Setting on the Second Day of the Gallery

Late afternoon sun flooding The Gallery at Redlands

What you don’t feel, you will not grasp by art,

Unless it wells out of your soul

And with sheer pleasure takes control.

Goethe,  Faust

The opening days of The Gallery at Redlands have been unbelievable as I have met countless new friends and renewed acquaintances with old ones.  I’m exhausted to the bone, but thrilled to share that three of my original pieces have found a new home.  I cannot thank my patrons enough for their interest.  And the day has been filled with the loving presence of friends of mine who have journeyed for hours to spend a day with me, even though I was covered up most of the time in the gallery.

Sold this evening

Sold this afternoon

Thank you for reading.  I’m exhausted after a 10-hour day in the gallery, but very happy tonight . . .

New Gallery Opening in Palestine, Texas

Beginning of a Painting of the View across the Street from Inside the Gallery

The Gallery at Redlands in Palestine, Texas opened like a whirlwind this morning, and remained strong till the rainstorms arrived. Now I have a quiet space in which I can attempt to blog.  I set up my plein air easel inside the gallery and began drafting the building across the street. By the time I finished drawing and was ready to flood the page with water and pigment, the sky darkened and the rain began to pour.  I don’t feel like painting a dull scene, so I am taking my chances on a sunwashed scene tomorrow. Meanwhile I have a stack of books to read and a blog to resume . . .

Today’s Newspaper and Supplement

Andy Warhol checked the New York Times and New York Daily News, reportedly every day, and when his name wasn’t mentioned somewhere, he sunk into depression. This morning, we were too busy to think about such, but when the newspaper and supplement arrived, we were happily stunned to see we made the front page and center page adjacent to the Dogwood Trails Celebration map. We could not have asked for better publicity!

A Sublime Start to the Day

I set the alarm to wake at first light, so I could take my coffee out to the balcony and watch the town come to life. The time spent sketching and journaling was soothing to my soul, as I retired to bed a tad uptight about how the first day would unfold.  Anticipation for this show had been building for quite some time.

“Catholic Contemplation”

This show marks the first time that this painting has gone on public view.  I completed if a few years back, and it’s on a full sheet of 300# D’Arches watercolor paper.  I just had it framed a few days ago, and we installed it in the gallery yesterday afternoon.  I have it priced at $1150.

 “First Night in Waterford”

This is a watercolor I completed some years ago as a commission for the cover of a fiction novel. The book was published and the author purchased the first edition giclee print, but I have retained the original which I had framed and has stayed in my home.  I have put it in this show and priced it at $550.

“No Longer Home”

This is a watercolor of my grandparents’ farm home in rural Jackson, Missouri, where I spent my summers as a child.  The top bedroom window marks the area where I slept on those summer nights. This one has been priced at $500.

Despite the storms chasing away potential patrons, plenty of people have strolled in and some sales were made, so we can say it’s been a good first day. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

I paint in order to learn.

I journal when I feel alone.

I blog to remind myself I am not alone.