My art booth at Artscape 2021 . . . some kind of rearrangement or sorting-out process often occurs within the mind which brings with it a sense of peace; a sense that the depths of the well of truth have really been reached. Anthony Storr, Solitude: A Return to the Self Sandi and I have suffered a long slog for over a month. She has been very ill, and we’re happy to see her finally recovering some strength and getting back to some of what she used to do before this affliction. This finds me returning to the studio and catching up on work that has piled up. With Artscape less than two weeks aw ..read more

Bright & Early Coffee. Framed Watercolor in Gallery at Redlands. 22.5h x 23.5w” Missing was the thing Jim had found in Marx and Veblen and Adam Smith and Darwin–the dignified sound of a great, calm bell tolling the morning of a new age . . instead, the slow complaining of a door loose on its hinges. William Carlos Williams, Paterson I laughed out loud when I read the above passage this morning. I’ve been working my way through WCW’s epic poem and have only put ninety-six pages behind me so far. But the words posted above resonated with me because they paint in bold relief what I feel abou ..read more

We had to rise at 5:00 this morning if we hoped to be showered, dressed, fed, and arrive at our Palestine gallery by 9:00. Fortunately for me, I managed to squeeze out a little time to read and settle down before commencing our two-hour road trip. Seated at my drafting table, I peered out the window into a dark, pre-dawn suburban landscape and decided to open a couple of books for some quiet, leisurely reading. How amazing, the conversation springing up between these two disparate authors . . . The twenty-first century is full of people who are full of themselves. A half-hour’s trawl through t ..read more

My 16 x 20″ watercolor done on Good Friday “What if” and “if only” are poison for any artist. Julia Cameron, Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance February 23 was my last blog post. I’m not sure if I’ve ever before gone for over a month without sending out a word. I won’t go into detail. When I feel I have nothing to contribute, I don’t blog. It’s been an unusually long dry season. Looking up from my drafting table now I drink in the beautiful light, color, and repose of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” (my description of the idyllic view across my suburb), and I feel some of that creative eros ..read more

Sunday Morning with Randy Ozark Court (no longer there). Route 66 west of St. Clair, Missouri Sunday morning rays of sunshine lanced through the slits in the closed blinds of Room 18 at the Ozark Court Motel. Randy lay with his eyes closed. It took a few moments before he realized where he was and what day it was. Hitchhiking had not fared well the day before. Driving rains soaked him to the skin and no one was pulling over on Route 66 to offer him a ride. Why would they? No doubt he carried all the charm of a drowned city sewer rat as he trudged along the muddy shoulder, his knapsack beginn ..read more

Saturday in The Gallery at Redlands, I’m pleased to announce that our gallery, finally, is listed in Google Business, including the hours and complete profile, so people inquiring can find out all about us and how to get here (and even write reviews!). I am attaching a pair of Turvey’s Corner stories from the book I’m writing. About fifty years separates the setting for the pair, but there is an important link that made me feel I should present them together. I hope you enjoy them: So Great a Cloud of Witnesses Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses ..read more

Good morning from The Gallery at Redlands inside The Redlands Hotel. I have a watercolor lesson coming up soon, but wanted to toss out another new story I’ve finished for my growing manuscript of Turvey’s Corner. Oregon Memories Within the ramshackle Missouri farmhouse, an aged, graying man sat near his wood-burning stove, squinting out the window into the early dawn of his Neely’s Landing farm. As shafts of light glanced off the curvature of his celadon green stoneware mug, he slowly and delicately sipped his strong coffee, delighting in the aroma. What was that familiar, inviting smell? Of ..read more

The world’s darkening never reaches to the light of Being. Martin Heidegger, “The Thinker as Poet” After languishing a few years, the book I began writing and illustrating has begun to breathe again. Over the past few days, I’ve written and illustrated several stories about three fictional characters I’ve drafted as they come of age. I’m attaching one of them below. Thanks for reading. Seated outside the South Fort Worth Rail Market, Randy sipped fresh coffee from a ceramic mug & saucer. The LanAzza, an Italian Coffee Company, was nearing closing time behind him. Management told him it w ..read more

Late Friday Evening in The Gallery at Redlands There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual–become clairvoyant. We reach then into reality. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. Robert Henri, The Art Spirit I’m writing with a glad heart this evening as we near the close of another boisterous day. In the past week I’ve taught a total of five watercolor classes. Every encounter is fresh with enthusiasm from students, and I always feed off their energy. I can hardly wait for tomorrow aftern ..read more

Sitting at my Rolltop Desk . . . of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Ecclesiastes 12:12 Gratefully retired, I receive this gift of an entire day with only one afternoon appointment. Seated at my desk, I look up at this row of magnificent literary geniuses from yesterday, and wish I could absorb the contents of these volumes in the brief hours of this one day. For tomorrow, I’ll depart early for Palestine and spend the weekend in our Gallery at Redlands. I find difficulty in explaining my feelings right now. For decades, I knew so well the Ecclesia ..read more