Pintura Fresca

I love that I live in the Texas Hill Country, and even more so, that I am in Boerne, and one only has to drive a short distance to have a decent place to paint. My favorite place by far is the Cibolo Nature Center. It's always quiet and peaceful, and gives me a great place to go paint. Mornings are especially nice, because even in the summer, one can find a cool, shady place.

I went out to one of my favorite spots, where two branches of the Cibolo Creek converge. There is a steady stream of water over the rocks, and the banks are lined with some very old, very tall cypress trees. Few people make it out there, but occasionally, a wandering couple will come by and spend a moment watching or talking to me. I can spend a few hours out there, and create some pretty nice art.

I just completed this in the studio this morning - the paint is still fresh and wet. I'll have it framed as soon as it's ready.

"Twin Sentinels on the Cibolo" Oil on Canvas Panel, 8" x 10"

Wette Painte

Just finished a 2-day, 2-event art display. Yesterday I participated in the Best of BoerneFest Art show, which was well attended, and I had a great time meeting folks and getting my name out. Today I did the first ever Boerne Art Waddle - an event that highlighted some of the artist who live in the "Flats" and several other artists that were hosted in different homes. It was a blast - I finished 1 painting Saturday, and completed 2 on Sunday. I took my easel to both events and painted and talked to people.

I am coming to understand art is a lot about joy. It brings me joy ( and satisfaction, peace, and relaxation) to paint. I enjoy it, other people enjoy it, and sometimes they buy it. I was able to let a few people take the pallet knife, and contribute to my painting. Whenever someone asks how difficult it is to paint with a knife, I hand them the knife and let them put paint on the surface...it's that easy, and I get to show someone they can do it too.

I'm happy, they're happy - Er-body's happy.

Here's my unsigned paintings from the weekend - still drying...

Oak on a hill, Oil on board, 8" x 8"

Spring Verbena, oil on canvas board, 8" x 10"

Spring Verbena #2, oil on canvas, 4" x 5"

Winter days

I can think of nowhere better to live than where I am in the Texas Hill country, and I can think of no better place to spend a winter either. While the Springtime yields the bursts of colors from the many wildflowers, and summer gives us the cobalt blue skies...and Autumn brings forth the reds, yellows, and purples of the many trees, Winter is truly filled with something new each day.
A typical winter week in Texas can have below-freezing weather on Monday with gray overcast skies, and by Wednesday it can be sunny and 70 degrees. And with each day, colors change, moods shift, and the sky is always a different canvas. As an artist who paints, I always have new opportunities, even with the same scene, on different days. I tried to capture a cold, overcast day in this painting. The field full of winter grass was contrasted by the always-green live oaks and the backdrop of the naked cypress trees along the Cibolo creek that runs along the bluffs of the hills in the background.
I waited for some cloudy days to compose this work. a couple of drawings, followed by a watercolor sketch, helped me capture the cool grass being blown by a north wind, and the winter treeline along the creek. The day I was doing the watercolor, I saw a herd of whitetail deer moving along the trees, including a very nice 10-point buck. I was maybe 225-250 yards from the treeline, and the wind would have been blowing my smell away from them. They never acted like I was even there.
So, I will post the watercolor and the completed painting  - well, I think it's complete, although I haven't signed it yet. Since I have today off, I might make some more tweaks to it - or maybe not. Nevertheless, today's a good day to start a new painting, so I'll go exploring to see what kind of trouble I can get into.

Study for "Winter Field along the Cibolo" watercolor on paper, 9" x 12"

"Winter Field along the Cibolo" oil on panel, 18" x 24" $860, unframed

Happy Moo year

2013. Beginning of yet another year. The funny thing about time is that, perceptually, it seems to go by faster the older we get. Realistically, though, we have the same 31,536,000 seconds in each year (31,722,400 in a leap year), and they go by at the same rate of speed, no matter how old we get. tick, tick tick tick....
What we choose to do with that time is up to each one of us individually. We each have the same 86,400 seconds in each day, no matter who we are. How many of us, though, choose to use the time to our advantage? We can pass 14,400 seconds a night (or more) watching TV - be it sports, news, or other things of no consequence. We can easily blow 7200 seconds a day on Facebook, or sending text messages. If we are lucky, we get 28,800 seconds of sleep, and most of us work another 28,800 seconds a day. That leaves roughly 7200 seconds to important, consequential, and other momentous pursuits. Most people, though, tend to use those precious seconds doing nothing, or worrying, fretting, complaining, gossiping, or being stupid. And we wonder how time gets away from us so quickly...especially as we get older.
Some of us have decided life is too short - or too long, depending on your point of view - to merely waste our seconds on trivial pursuits. I've made a decision to spend more time pursuing my passions - writing, painting, drawing, practicing my art, drinking fine wine, loving those around me, and making the rest of my life mean something more than ordinary. I don't want to reach the end of my life and realize I wasted it in front of the TV or Facebook. I, like everyone else, only have 86,400 seconds each day to be extraordinary. And when it's all said and done, I want to know it was well done.
Here are what paintings look like in the beginning.

Happy Moo Year - a pencil study for a larger painting. These little longhorns belong to a dear friend, Lora, who let me come and get them to pose for me one day. Pencil on cotton paper, 9" x 11".

Beginning of #3 of 3, "Winter Field on the Cibolo," oil on panel, 18" x 24," First painting of 2013. Not wasting any time.

If you are reading this, it means you're important to me. Give me a call or send me a note sometime this year. We only have seconds left in this life. Don't waste them.

Winter paintings - 1 revised

Color and perspective. Other people really help me see things I am missing. I revised one of the paintings below - the field was too bright, and the hills in the distance were too high. That's thee beauty of oil painting - things are easy to fix if you don't like it.
I think I will do a larger painting though, from a closer perspective. Especially now since I have a better idea of what I can do to it. Whatever, I just like sitting and putting paint on the surface. I have been out drawing too, so I have some new stuff inside.

Winter Hills near Boerne. Oil on panel, 8" x 10"

Winter hills near Boerne study, oil on panel 4" x 5"

Last paintings of this year - # 42 & 43.

Merry Christmas, and yes, I am still painting

Merry Christmas, to you, my friends, who take time to read what I am up to, and put up with my thoughts and words. And much thanks to those of you who comment every now and then, either on here, through email, or even those who call me on occasion.

This is not intended as one of those "Christmas letters" (thank God we got none of those this year - if I ever wanted to write one, I would have put all the bad things that happened in the letter just to make it real - anyway).  But I did want to mention some things that have happened this year that make 2012 a memorable and turning-point year for Linda and me.

I committed at the beginning of the year to learn about and paint with oils. In 2011, I told my friend, Johny Rosa (who has encouraged and inspired me to continue painting and get better with each one), that I had a goal of 10 paintings this year. I don't know quite how many I actually completed this year, but as I look around my little studio, I count 21 paintings either on the wall, on a shelf, or still drying on an easel. There are at least 4 more hanging in other rooms, I have sold at least 8 more, and given away no less than 7. So there are at least 40 paintings accounted for in 2012. Completed oil paintings....there are several more laying around in various stages of completion, some of which may never be finished because I just don't like the direction they were going, or my style has changed. And that doesn't include the watercolors!

I went from struggling with thin paint on canvas ( a penurious style, according to Bill Zaner), whose colors were slightly thin and dull, somewhat strained in their presentation, and a bit muddy at times - to some rather full, rich and colorful paintings, full of life and texture. My techniques have started to become more relaxed and confident, and I am seeing a new boldness in my use of paint, color, and depth. I spent several hours learning basics from Bill Scheidt, an artist I met through another gallery in town. Bill S. taught me several techniques to mix, apply, and glaze. Not knowing much of anything when I started, I needed to understand some of the basics and learn a few time-savers and tricks.

My trip to Big Bend, and the time I have spent watching, listening, and reading the works of Bill Zaner and David Caton has been the real turning point for my art. No doubt about it. Something changed, like night into day - almost like a sunrise, it happened that quick - the dim morning light in a short time becomes full daylight, and colors change with each second - and then the day exposes all of the full colors. From the evenings spent talking about spirituality and writing limericks, to the early morning watching the sunrise with a cup of coffee and bourbon, my life and painting "DNA" was changed. Bill promised/threatened I would never be the same, and he was indeed right on point. I learned in one morning a completely different way to apply my paint, how to create depth and space, and how to feel the morning and express it on a surface.

I spent time reading Zaner's book on Texas landscapes, and understanding his passion to capture the Texas landscape and preserve its beauty for the next generation to enjoy. The landscape....not a lot of artists portray realistic landscapes any more, so I have a lot of respect for those who can do it well. Bill Zaner and David Caton are two of those people - and I count it a privilege to know them and call them friends.

So what's in store for the years to come? I am working on a 5 year plan to get out of debt, and be selling enough art to allow me to do that full time. Next year, I commit to 50 new pieces of fine Texas landscapes. And I commit to put my heart and soul into each one, to continue what was birthed in me this year.

Thank you again for listening and believing in me, and especially to those that have bought my art this year.

Hill Country Red Oaks #4 of 4, Oil on panel, 14" x 18", last of the series

Late Autumn in the Texas Hill Country

A grove of Red Oaks on the back road to Boerne, watercolor study on paper, 2.5" x 6.25"

There is always something to remind me why we chose to move here. Autumn and the foliage is one of those things. There is another level of peace that comes with taking a moment to enjoy the colors and express it with paint.

3 most useless things to discuss - part 2

I started with this yesterday -

3 most useless things to discuss

Politics
Sports
Religious doctrine

Neither of which, no matter how passionate we are, we have any control.
and my cyber-buddy, Kansas Bob, challenged me with the question, "What are the three most useful things to discuss?"

Nice one, Bob... so here is part 2

Most useful things to discuss (in no particular order of importance - pick one and start there)

Spirituality

Encouragement

Love 

Personal Growth

Relationship

Family

Beauty

Discovery

The journey of life

Our mortality

Our significance

Purpose

All of which, with passion, all of us have direct influence.

What have I missed? 

Speaking of beauty and our significance, today I heard, then saw some migrating Sand Hill cranes in formation. Such a wonder of nature, these birds fly to Texas all the way from Alaska, and have been doing so for centuries. It's believed that this is the oldest known annual migration of birds in history. What does that have to do with our significance? We get to witness this!

Afternoon Hill Country Autumn study, watercolor on paper