Excellent Sale just in time for Christmas!

"4 at Rest" (pastel 32x32 inches) just SOLD! Who hoo!!

This work has an Honorable Mention in the Artist's Magazine Annual Art Competition this year and was published this month (Dec 2009) in the magazine!

I knew it wouldn't last long after that!

The progress on my latest large cow painting

Here's the latest Longhorn composition, which was my second demo piece this year.
This (left) was the "in-between" status after the Art Guild of Central Texas demo (in Waco) and before the Wimberley Valley Art League demo.

Below is the newspaper photo (taken during the demo at the Highland Arts Guild) that went with the terrific article in the Marble Falls Daily Tribune written by Raymond Whelan (who also did the article last spring about my win in the Plein Aire competiton!) (Thanks Raymond!)












Here at left is the finished work, just in time to be my showpiece for my solo exhibit this month!
"The Long and The Short of It" pastel, 32x32 inches.

Preparing for my solo show, and how the cows outsold the chicks.

As some of you may know, I just did 2 very fine Fine Art Fairs in a row: The Bayou City Art Fest Oct 10-11 and the Georgetown Art in The Square Oct 17-18.
In this economy, small works are selling best, and so my favorite size has quickly become the 5x7. Since I was OUT of 5x7 paintings after these 2 fine fairs, I decide to refresh my inventory, starting with these 4 new landscapes, since the only frames I had left were ones I had determined would look best on landscapes (I tend to buy my frames first, then paint for the frames. Many artists do this.)

Here are (at left) are "Texas Hills 4"



"Texas Hills 5"







"Texas Hills 6"




and "West Texas 4"

These are the first of many small works to be the main "fillers" for my solo show in New Braunfels, Nov 6-30, 2009


So the cows outsold the chicks, you wonder? That was an amusing thought I had after the Art in The Square last weekend, when all the rest of my 5x7 cows sold out, and all I was left with (of the 5x7's) was one lonely painting of some chicks.

I decide to post them all here, even though all these cows have sold, I think they're all cute enough to put on record.

Here is "Terrence"




and "Ollie"






"Harriet"






"Granger" and "Buddy"








"Arlan"




and "Alda"







Here, by the way, are the chicks that no one wanted (yet!) titled "From a Chick's Viewpoint" (5x7)
These cuties will be able to be in my solo show with all my new stuff!



More postings to come soon!

Some new work

Well, I'm at it again with the little cows!


This one, "Bailey," (pastel 7x5) will be included in the "Art Heist" (a new twist on the silent aution) during the Bayou City Art Festival October 10-11, 2009 in Houston, TX. More info on the Art Heist HERE!


Here are three more 7x5 little cows I completed this week...

"Lucy"


"Bo"









and "Banjo"


These will be in Houston with me for the Bayou City Art Fest.

IAPS Web Show now online!

Hi All,
Check out my painting "The Note" on the IAPS website here:
(It didn't win anything, but hey, it's IN THE SHOW!! Look 6 rows down under "Accepted Entries")
http://www.pastelinternational.com/COMPETITIONS/fourteenth/fourteenthjuried.html

Then check out the rest of the show - it's awesome!!

Newest Addition to Cow Series, "Secrets"

Here it is... done and scanned and ready to take to my printer for the giclee adjustments.

"Secrets" pastel, 24x24 inches

Tomorrow I give a demo for the Art Guild of Central Texas in Waco, and have prepared a 32x32 board for my next cow painting. I'll post the progress!

New (old) Cows in Progress

Well, I've been wondering it myself... Is my (larger) cow series trickling to a halt? My artist's eye has caught the small figurative/themed portrait bug and is full of several new ideas for more 8x6 paintings like "The Note" and "Renaissance Youth".
However! -- Here lies a lonely old demo project recently unearthed, and as part of my preparation for another upcoming demo (Art Guild of Central Texas, Sep 13) I've commanded myself to FINISH this one! (It's already 5 months old.)

Setting it up in my workspace and letting it settle in again has worked up just enough creative flow to get me excited about the NEXT demo piece (a 32x32 with an adult and a calf... more on that later) and even better - this one's title came to me in a flash last night, "Secrets." Perfect, I think. It should flow better now.

Ok that's my self-pep-talk -- now to work!

Just got a call! "Renaissance Youth" (pastel, 8x6) has won the Salmagundi Club Award at the Pastel Society of America exhibit! The show is at the National Arts Club, New York, NY, Sept 8-27.

"The Note" will be in the 14th IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies) Web Show. The Show will be on the IAPS Website early October. There were only 63 accepted entries out of over 400!
IAPS Site: http://www.pastelinternational.com/

...And it won First!

...And "The Violinist" won First Place in the Seguin Oakwood Art League's Magic of Music Show. Thank you to Jerry Weers for judging, and to all the talented artists who put the show together!

The Violinist

Here's "The Violinist" completed, pastel, 8x6.

This was created for the Seguin Oakwood Art League's "The Magic of Music" show and competition, August 2009.
Reception: Sunday, August 2, 2-4pm. Silver center, 510 Court Street, Seguin, TX

This Week's Work: Wood Ducks and Renaissance

Here's a piece I just finished ("Wood Ducks" 12x12) for the first art show at Frisch Auf! Valley Country Club in La Grange, TX.
The club is having a “Bird Shooter’s Ball” on August 29, so the exhibit will reflect the theme.
The show will hang August 10, with an artists' Reception on September 12, 2009 at 7:00 PM.

This is my next in the renaissance series: "The Violinist", 8x6, still in progress here. (Reference photo on left) This is how far I got with her today. I should finish tomorrow and will post the end result!
This one is for the Seguin Oakwood Art League's "The Magic of Music" show and competition in August.

Awards in June/July '09

I've had a successful 2 months at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery. This month's Special Show "Texas" brought me Fist Place in Pastel (below) for "Longhorn Rider" (pastel, 12x12) AND the first Annual Corporate Sponsor Award for "Not Long Yet" (pastel, 36x24)
Here I am with the other First Place winners (from left to right) Patsy Strode (oil), myself, Carolyn Croft (pottery) and Jolene Oyer (photography.)









Here I am receiving the Sponsor's Choice Award ribbon from Sandy Wright Kibbe of Wright Distributing Company and Chad Lewton representing Heineken Premium Light Beer, the New Braunfels Art League "Texas" Show Corporate Sponsor.

In June, I also won First Place in Pastel with my painting "The Note" (8x6, at right). I so enjoyed painting this one, I'm sure it will be the first in a series of renaissance figuratives.
To underline the sucess of this piece, I had big competition plans for it, and had sent a slide to the Pastel Society of America 2 days before the end of this exhibit. Well, the next day, on the last day of the exhibit, it sold (in spite of the high price I'd put on it!) and so I had to call the PSA and remove it from the jury for the PSA 37th Annual "Pastels Only" Exhibition.
Well, one has to find something to complain about, right?

So now I'm working on another in this series, to be titled "The Violinist" for inclusion in the Seguin Oakwood Art League's "The Magic of Music" Show and Competition for next month. It's coming along nicely -Will post soon!

More small paintings

I recently bought several frames from a local vendor who comes around to the art leagues and associations with a truckload! For whatever reason (perhaps because the frames are gorgeous!) I've been in a creative streak this week, and I decided to post a few results of the last 2 days. Here are "Park Road 9", "Old Barn" and "Ranch Road 14", all 6x8 inches. I did these on Saturday.

Today I did "Renaissance Youth" and "The Note". Both are 8x6 inches.

New fascination - miniature cow portraits!

After finishing several large cow paintings in my current "cow" series, I was inspired to go in the other direction and work small. (I often go through these phases, as do many artists; it tends to keep at bay the bordom and insanity.... well, mostly!)
Thanks to a client of mine, who has very little wall space left, I was motivated to do a small painting of a Hereford (or Herefords). The result is here, above, "Two Young Herefords", 6x8, proudly held in reserve for said client. (Thanks, Kathy!)


This was followed up by "Two Black Mottleface" (I had to research the name of these, as I have no cow-knowledge, but I've been learning a lot as I go) and "Springtime in Texas."
Both of these 6x8's sold last weekend in Kerrville at the Texas State Arts & Crafts Fair.


With the success of those little gems, I was excited to work on these during the Fair Sunday and Monday. I had some 4x6 frames I needed to use up, so I thought "How can I fit a cow on a 4x6?" Of course, as a portrait artist, I reverted to my portrait "mode" and came in close for single head-shots with simple backgrounds.

This black cow was first, and had a buyer before it was finished!



I continued with "Brown Calf" and
"Black Mottleface"







"Brown Cow" (below) I did on Monday. (I could use a better title for this - anyone know what kind of cow this is?)




These last three are still available and will come with me to Dallas for the City-Arts Festival June 12-14, 2009.


I love working small. I like that it's quick (relatively.) I like that it can be priced accordingly (aka: affordable!) It's a quick way to get a better understanding of a subject without using up a lot of materials. But mostly I like it because I can satisfy my natural urge to work tight and realistic, but the painting still looks wonderfully loose if it's blown up. I believe this kind of small work has helped me achieve a looser impressionism in my (later) larger works than I would normally have. Plus it's just plain fun and the perfect antidote to large-work burnout!

Right now I'm hoping this fascination lasts long enough to do several more. I have enough cow photos for at least 3 or 4 .... hundred!

My lucky weekend in Marble Falls, TX

This past weekend I participated (for the 3rd year) in the "Paint The Town" plein air painting competition which is a part of the annual Bluebonnet Music and Fine Arts Festival in Marble Falls, Texas.

They had informed me a few weeks earlier that they wanted to use my painting "A Gray Morning on Main Street" (from last year's competition) on the T-shirt this year. I was thrilled!
Here's my son modeling the T-shirt!

When I heard about the T-shirt, I knew I wanted to do another panoramic scene of main street this year, and was hoping for sunny weather this time...

The day started out cloudy again, so I decided to paint from the other end of Main Street, to have a different view. But luck was with me as well... the clouds cleared off after all and the sun came out just as I started on the buildings!

A reporter (Raymond Whelan) from The River Cities Daily Tribune was covering the event, and he caught me half way through my painting "A Sunny Morning on Main Street." This one got in the paper! (Thanks Raymond!)

My luck didn't end there however -- I had a leisurely dinner on Saturday before the reception, and arrived to heaps of congratulations. --I had won First Place! Wow!

"A Sunny Morning on Main Street" pastel, 6x18 inches

The event is organized by the Historic Main Street Association. More than 40 artists participated in the weekend event, painting around Marble Falls Friday and Saturday. Paintings were turned in Saturday by 5 p.m. and the silent auction ended at 3 p.m. Sunday. Except for the cold front blowing through on Saturday, it was loads of fun! I'm looking forward to next year.

Here are the other small paintings I did the rest of the weekend:
These are all about 5x5 inches

"Shadow Lace" sold

"Eye Candy" available $100

"Salt n' Pepper" sold

"Coffee n' Cream" available $150