I am happy to say that I will have three paintings in the Albuquerque Museum Miniatures & More exhibition and sale this year. The Gala will be held on October 26, 2013, and the paintings will be sold by fixed price draw.
This is another painting based on a pond near my home and studio and painted from observation and memory.
I am happy to say I have been invited to exhibit at the Western Visions Show & Sale at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY in September. This small oil will be part of the fixed price sale, while the drawing will be in the "Sketch" silent auction.
This small painting was started as a demo in my workshop in Telluride last summer. I just got round to finishing it, and it will be available at Galerie Kornye West in Ft Worth next week. A bit late and out of season, but it can be any season in the studio- or several! This week as I was finishing this up I was also working on a snow scene of Lennox Woods!
I am back to work in earnest for my solo show next year, Lennox Woods- The Ancient Forest. I will have news about that soon. Stay tuned!
I am a word person. Or, at least, I am told that. I do love words and finding ways to use them. That influences my work. There is a notion out there that visual ideas and other kinds of ideas are two separate things and that when deciding on your concept or idea for your painting, you should think only in terms of visual ideas. But, our brains don't work that way. Everything we think and see comes together to form the sensations and thoughts we have. So, why should we try to paint that way? Why deny the rich and layered meaning of words and pictures?
Friday, August 6, 2010
September Evening
24 x 30 Available at Heritage Auction Gallery, Dallas
My work is included in a beautiful new book called Texas Traditions, which contains essays and images of historic Texas artists as well as living contemporary ones. The publication is being kicked off on August 21 with an exhibition and sale at Heritage Auction Gallery in Dallas, and includes a barbecue (this is Texas, after all) book signing and an artist's discussion panel which I have been asked to participate in. If you are in the Metro area, please come by and say hello!
Our big cumulus clouds have created some big storms this summer and also some lovely evening light the last few weeks. I am working on ten good sized pieces for fall shows and to restock galleries with new work. This is the first to be completed.
I am happy to say I have an article in the April issue of Southwest Art Magazine! The painting which is featured in the article, Autumn Light, will be part of the Spring Gallery Night show at Galerie Kornye West, opening this Saturday, March 27 from 5-8 PM.
(Click to enlarge)
Here is another new piece I'll have in the show. I'll be in Ft Worth for the opening so if you are in the area come by and see me!
Evening Pool 18x 24 Available at Galerie Kornye West
Sold
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Myakka Evening 18 x 24 Available at M Gallery of Fine Art
It's been a long, cold, wet winter here in northeast Texas. Today feels a bit like spring even though its only 45 degrees out. But, the sun is shining and the dogs are out sunning themselves in the yard. Spring can't be far away, can it?
I have just a few spots left in my upcoming online classes. Painting the Luminous Landscape - 3 spots left The Painted Sky- 4 spots left
Showers Offshore 9 x 18 Available at M Gallery of Fine Art
I'm leaving early tomorrow for Florida but I wanted to post a few more paintings from the show. The opening reception at M Gallery of Fine Art in Sarasota is Friday, February 5 from 6-9PM. If you are in the area, please stop in!
Moon Over Myakka 18 x 24
I also wanted to mention that I have two online classes coming up- Painting the Luminous Landscape and The Painted Sky. Info and registration is here.
As I've written here and here, for many years I painted all over the West and routinely sought inspiration in the big views it affords from the Rockies, to the high desert of New Mexico , to the splendor of Big Sur in California. When we moved to northeast Texas in May 2007, the landscape here felt comfortable, much like the north Florida and Georgia landscapes where I spent my early years. What I never expected was to be so utterly and completely captivated by its ordinary charms. As I've described before, this part of Texas is where the prairies of north central Texas meet the piney woods of the South. Its also a very rural, agricultural area which was once dominated by cotton and logging, now by a variety of crops and ranching. There are wide expanses of ranch land, cultivated fields, woods full of pines and oaks, streams and ponds- scattered around gently rolling hills, all in a distinct four season climate. While there is nothing dramatic or majestic about any of it, it is a constant source of inspiration for my work.
Perhaps most surprising of all is how close to home my favorite painting grounds are. In fact, the southwest corner of our property is my favorite place of all-particularly at this time of year. The sun has migrated far enough south that it streams through these trees in late afternoon. Every evening is different and often different minute to minute. I sometimes think I could paint this- just this- forever.
Evening Pines 24 x 20 Available at Galerie Kornye, Dallas
As I've mentioned before here, this part of Texas is called the Piney Woods. I think its one of the reasons the landscape here resonates with me. There is a pleasing combination of open fields and pastures, ponds and creeks and these tall, elegant pines.
This is one of the three smaller pieces I am exhibiting at the Albuquerque Museum Miniatures & More show. The gala opening is on October 24 and I am looking forward to a road trip over to New Mexico. I'll spend a few extra days in Santa Fe after the show.
Shortly after I started this blog over two years ago now, I did a series of small paintings called Rick's Pool. As I explained back then, the word "pool" is used in northeast Texas to describe a pond, which is mostly used to water livestock but often serves as a fishing hole as well. They are a constant source of inspiration for my work.
We had a spectacular early moonrise this evening ahead of Sunday's Harvest Moon. As a confirmed moon watcher, I'm looking forward to a weekend of moon gazing. Moon set should be terrific too. Must. Get. Up..for that!
BTW, I've three spots left in the online class and two spots left in the Workshop/Mini Mentorship. Info and registration is here.
Thanks to everyone who left comments and emailed me with suggestions for a title! I finally decided to use a title suggested by Brenda Boylan, but there were so many really good ones, I'm sure I'll be using many of them in the future. So here is newly named Evening Embers in its frame ready for delivery to Ft. Worth next week.
Continuing on with the Summer Skies project....last evening when the skies began to clear, there was still much evidence of the stormy weather we've had all week.
Hayfield Evening 30 x 40 Available at Hildt Galleries, Chicago
Our weeks of rain gave way to a few days of sunshine this week and the landscape responded by bursting forth in that sort of disheveled, frowzy way usually reserved for late July. The wrens that hatched in the shop have flown the nest. Crickets, and bees and mosquitoes have all come out in force. And, I ran into a huge box turtle on my way to the studio this morning. Hello, Summer.
I frequently tramped eight or ten miles to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines. ~Henry David Thoreau
This week has been a bit chaotic- house guests, a painting deadline for a show and other personal business to attend to. But, I didn't want too much time to pass before acknowledging all the interesting comments to my last post. I think many artists can identify with that feeling that a shift in the work is underway. Another point that was mentioned several times is the role of emotion in painting. I used to think that painting was mostly an intellectual exercise, in pursuit of an aesthetic concept. Now, I understand that it could not have held my interest and captivated my imagination so powerfully, if that was all it meant to me. George Inness, the great late 19th century American landscape painter, believed that the power of painting is in its appeal to the emotions. Edgar Payne, an early 20th century landscape master said "knowledge precedes execution." I think they were both right. Just as the poet selects a perfect word, phrase or form to reveal meaning, everything we can learn or understand about our craft, our materials, and our subject is brought to bear to convey our passion for the things we choose to paint and for painting itself. As artists, we need both our reason and our heart-I know I do.
"Painting is but another word for feeling." John Constable
East Texas is referred to as the Piney Woods. Tall, elegant stands of loblolly and long leaf pine can be found just about everywhere here. I am particularly fond of them, not only because they are visually interesting but because they remind me of north Florida (where I grew up) and south Georgia (where I spent some time in school and on horseback). I have in mind to do a number of larger paintings of pines and this little piece is a start on that project.
As I've written many times before, there is something very compelling about autumn to me. Visually, its a time that the landscape begins to strip itself bare, to uncover and expose the structure of things. The rhythm of life seems to slow, even to ebb. The sun which used to set directly behind my house, offering extravagant sunsets in summer, has migrated to the south and slips below the horizon, sending weak rays of light across the field behind my studio.
