ROOSTER THOUGHT HE WAS A PEACOCK

"Big Red" 11" x 14" oil/linen

My grandmother, Mi-Mi, raised peacocks, so as a young boy growing up in central Texas one of my fondest memories is Mi-Mi's barnyard which was full of peacocks and chickens. Mi-Mi's home was once a stagecoach stop outside of San Antonio. It was large with her upstairs art studio, my grandad's workshop where he made me, my brothers and my cousins toy guns and very large oak trees where the peacocks would roost.

One spring snakes got into the hen house and ate some of the eggs so when the hatch took place one of the hens had no chicks. She would chase all the other hens around the barnyard trying to take away their chicks. Now the barnyard was a mess and Mi-Mi's solution was to stick an egg in the lonely hen's nest to see if she could hatch it. Sure enough out pops a rooster and now there was peace in the barnyard.

Problem was this rooster grew up thinking he was a peacock. So when the peacocks would roost in the trees at night that's where he would roost. When planes flew overhead and all of the peacocks would start yelling "Help, help, help" this rooster could be heard chiming in with his "cockle doodle do". The big problem came the following spring when mating season took place. The three large male peacocks would prance proudly with their plums of beautiful feathers spread out trying to impress the ladies. This poor rooster, thinking he was a peacock, would also stand erect and spread out his tail feathers and march back and forth in front of the hens and sadly he had no takers. All I remember is one Sunday afternoon Mi-Mi served fried chicken for lunch and when I went outside to play, the rooster was gone. It was one of life's earliest lessons.

WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES

In the last month two of my galleries have closed. I have been having increasing success at each gallery so it was really tough to see them go. I will miss Riverbend Fine Art in Marble Falls and Port A Gallery in Port Aransas very much.

Almost simultaneously I was asked to join Mountainsong Gallery in Carmel, California. I had the good fortune of being in this year's American Impressionists Society show which was hosted by Mountainsong. When the show came down they asked me to join the gallery and I am pleased to have accepted the invitation. Being in Mountainsong brings its own set of challenges in that it is going to force me to into a whole new genre of painting. California is well known for its long history with plein air painters and many of my favorite artists working today make their home there. Oh heck...I may just have to go to Carmel every year to paint. Oh well somebody's gotta do it.
















"Big Sur" 12" x 16" oil/linen

Here's my first California Coast painting. This scene is along Highway 1 along the coastal highway. I am hoping to make a trip to California soon to gather some on location painting time and photo reference.

You hear artists say all the time that "you have to find your own voice". I guess I get to see if the voice I developed by painting plein air in the Texas Hill Country will translate to the California landscape.

ARTISTS AGAINST CANCER FUND RAISER

"Mt. Moran Morning" 9" x 12' oil/canvas

I am pleased to be donating this painting to the
"Artists Against Cancer" fund raiser event this weekend in Austin. Artists Against Cancer is a non-profit organization that strives to help meet the financial expenses of working artists battling cancer. The organization also provides a community of artists in all forms of creative expression including painters, sculptures, dancers, game developers, designers, TV and film. The organization hosts events, auctions and fund raisers to help artists in their time of need.

I am so thankful for my health and the ability to stand on the banks of the Snake River to paint Mt. Moran as the sun is breaking through and burning off the mist of the morning. I hope in some small way my painting will raise money for a worthy cause. For more information on Artists Against Cancer or to make a donation go to http://www.artistsagainstcancer.org

"Seiko" 8" x 10" oil/linen

I'm back after taking a short break from it all after a grueling two months of shows, workshops and commissions. The next month will be spent painting for my galleries with the intent of getting new work to each gallery. The painting above is for a charity fund raiser being held this weekend at Southwest Gallery. The event will raise money for the Greyhound Adoption League of Texas. GALT finds adoptive homes for retired and lost greyhounds. The gallery asked me to do something for the event, so me and several other artists have donated works of art to be raffled off. The event is this coming Saturday night from 6-9 pm at Southwest Gallery. To view the art catalog go to http://swgallery.com/GALT.aspx

I named the painting "Seiko" because greyhounds are bred for running like finely tuned watches. I don't paint many animals and do not do dog portraits, so this was a nice exercise that put me outside my box.
Feels good to be back blogging again.

COLLECTORS COVEY MINIATURE SHOW

This past weekend was the annual miniature show at Collectors Covey here in Dallas. The show is primarily a sporting art show with plenty of elk, pronghorn sheep, quail and various other game animals and hunting dogs depicted in paint and bronze by some of the best in the business including Ken Carlson, Luke Frazier, Herb Booth, Thomas Aquinas Daly, Brian Grimm, Jim Morgan, Kyle Sims and Julie Jeppson.

Of course my main interest is in the landscape paintings. No slouches here either with paintings by Clyde Aspevig, Matt Smith, Len Chimel, Chuck Rawle, Tracy Avant, Kenny McKenna, Frank Serrano, Mark Hayworth and many others of note. Many of the artists are in attendance so it makes for a very special gathering of art and artists.




















"Autumn Float" 9" x 12" oil/linen

Collectors view the show and place there name in a little box hanging by each piece if they are interested in purchasing the painting or sculpture. They have an hour and half to view the show and make their choices, then the gallery staff goes from piece to piece pulling names from the boxes. It is a little nerve wracking as they open your box. Luckily my painting sold so I had a good night and from what I could tell it looked like a good night for the gallery with many paintings selling.




















Me next to my painting




















Me and Chuck Rawle

WIMBERLEY WORKSHOP

"Bradshaw's Point" 9" x 12" oil/plein air

This is one my demos from this week's workshop in Wimberley. I had a full class of enthusiastic and focused students. Everyone came prepared to work hard and we did for four full days. Of course we made time for BBQ and there might have been a glass or two of some of the Hill Country's finest wine, but hey...workshops are about art for sure, but the "getting to know ya" is part of it as well.

The point depicted in the painting is not really named "Bradshaw's Point", but I named it so because my friend, Bob Bradshaw, was courteous enough to allow my class onto his property for a day to paint. I'll post additional pictures from the class tomorrow and you will see what I mean.

I will have to make it a point to go back and paint because as you know most workshop classes end at 4:00 or thereabouts, and that's when the light is just getting good. Thanks to Bob, I got to do a killer demo, the class had great subject matter to paint and we had a very pleasant afternoon on the river.

NEW ON EBAY

"Rockport Shrimper" 8" x 10" plein air

click to bid

Just got back from teaching a four-day workshop in Wimberley, Texas. I will post pictures and paintings from the workshop later. Right now I have to do a couple of paintings for the 6 x 6 show for the Randy Higbee Gallery. In the meantime, I have posted a new painting on Ebay. This is from one of my trips to the Texas coast. Rockport is a fishing slash resort community just east (or is it north?) of Port Aransas where I usually hang out. This shrimper could be one of thousands found in Texas.

I have painted many since this painting and will do many more just because they represent the subject I am most drawn to which is the hard working, scratch-out-a-living subject. I think that's why old barns, hay balers, shrimp boats and the open landscape attract my attention. Anyway, gotta go paint...talk with you later.