Some pretty good art

I just finished my 2nd painting trip to Big Bend, and had another opportunity to paint with Bill Zaner and David Caton. There were a total of 6 artists and 1 photographer on the trip. We ate, drank, and painted. At night we partied, told a lot of stories, and laughed. I got to watch the sunset, sunrise, and moonrise every day. I did 5 paintings there, and completed 3 more when I got home. I am still painting... I wanted to post these, even though I think some of them still need finishing touches in the studio.

Big Bend has been a rewarding and educational experience for me. I could never pay enough to have the opportunity to sit with 2 of the finest artists I know, and learn what I do just being on site painting with them. It is a bit intimidating at first, but after the first few colors go on the surface, things just flow. I did some of the best art I've ever done, and learned some valuable things there. I got to see a part of the world that few people ever see, since it is so remote. And spending 4 days out there is just not enough. I look forward to our next trip in October - fall is a wonderful time to be there.

Ocotillo #1, Oil on canvas, 4" x 5"

Ocotillo with Santa Elena in the background, oil on panel, 4" x 6"

Pulliam Bluff, oil on board, 4" x 11"

Pullium Bluff, oil on board, 9" x 12"

Pullium Bluff, oil on canvas, 4" x 5"

Christmas Mountains, oil on board, 8" x 10"

Ocotillo #2, oil on canvas, 4" x 5"

Reasons I love to paint

There are so many reasons I love to paint, but one of the main reasons is to give something of myself to someone else. For many years, I didn't want to sell my art because it is just so personal, and each painting has meaning, emotion, and part of my soul. It wasn't until this year I actually wanted to sell anything I did. Before that if I wanted someone to have my art, I would just give it to them. I still do a bit of that, because I can think of nothing else that I could give to someone that is a more tangible part of me. I really dig it when someone likes something enough to actually PAY me for it. Sure, it takes some work, time, and skill; but I enjoy painting and drawing so much, that it always blows my mind that someone would actually pay me for something I had so much fun doing.
But my greatest joy is when I paint something especially for someone I care about, just to give it away. I painted this because my daughter loves butterflies, and I love my daughter. And I guess I love to paint butterflies. This was a quick painting I did when she was here last weekend. I guess I'll share it with you. Thanks for coming by today...

"Light Landing" Acrylic on canvas, 4" x 5" - yep, I gave it away

Aw, nuts

Linda loves pecans. I watched her pick these up - along with a rather large bag-full, and she's been shelling them every night. That girl is all country, and I sure love her for it. Anyway, I thought they would make nice subject matter. Here's a little watercolor, and a little oil still life.  - "Pocket Paintings"

Fredericksburg Pecans, Watercolor on cold press paper. 2.5" x 3" NFS

Fredericksburg Pecans, Oil on panel, 2.5" x 3.5" NFS

More WInter Field scenes

I really enjoy painting the same scene several times in different sizes. These 2 are of the "Winter Field..." series, and each has its own character. Some of my favorite paintings are the tiny ones I do with the leftover paint. I keep several small canvases on hand expressly for that purpose, and I have one collector that loves them. He always jokes that he has a small collection of my paintings.
These are the last two from that series.

Winter Field Along the Cibolo #3, Oil on canvas, 8"x10" $200, framed

Winter Field Along the Cibolo #4, Oil on Canvas, 1 1/2" x 2" NFS

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

More Red Oaks

Here is another painting of the little Red Oak grove on the back road home. This is what a stressful day creates. Yesterday was probably the worst day I have had in a long time. I was totally unmotivated and burnt out at work, and I pretty much did nothing except have a pity party all day. It was bad, and I just waited out my time there, waiting to get home. I don't like that Linda works so much, and there is about a 3 hour period between when I get home and when she does. I took advantage of that time to attack a canvas I had prepared. An hour painting always just melts away the stress, and passes quickly. Before I knew it, those 3 hours went by, and I realized 100% of my issues were between my ears. I had nothing to feel bad about, and I decided in that time to change my attitude.
Painting connects me to the beauty within me, and helps me see things in a different light, instead of worrying or feeling sorry for myself. Somehow all that  is wrong is forgotten, and all that is right comes out. Everything I need for peace and a harmonious life is within me, and comes out with the colors of my palette, placed carefully on a surface that becomes my interpretation of what I see.
The music in the background takes effect to relax me, and put me in a different state of mind and space. There is no need for anything else but the quiet and somehow it transcends my circumstances and my pain. In an instant, all is well and right.
So here is the prepared canvas:

Here is the first layer:

 
And finally, the end product - most of which I did "pleine aire" on site.

Red Oaks Grove, Boerne, Oil on canvas, 9" x 12"

I have one more to do in this series - a 14" x 18" with more detail. I am really liking the progression and the colors.

Hill Country Red Oaks

My weekend was pretty full - in a good way. I had a lot of opportunity to connect with friends and family, eat some good food, watch the Christmas Parade in Boerne, and even complete a couple of oils. I still have a canvas that I took time to prepare earlier, but I didn't work on because I wanted to do a couple of smaller ones first.
Out of all of them, I think I still like the simplicity of the watercolor the best. And, the two I did are done with a knife, so the texture and the look is going to be different. I think the bigger one will involve some brush work as well, if not mostly.
Anyway, here are the paintings. This is the first one.

Hill Country Red Oaks, Late Fall, 6" x 8", Oil on canvas

 The second one is on a small board using the leftover paint on the palette.

Hill Country Red Oaks 2, Oil on panel, 2.5" x 3"

And finally, here are the 3 together, along with the watercolor sketch.