SHARING WITH FRIENDS What is it about rocking chairs that make friends want to visit for hours? Hollee has 8 rocking chairs on her front porch facing the garden which is the perfect place to share memories, wisdom, and love. Through the years, at one time or another, the Painting class has gathered on that porch to contemplate Life, Art, Beauty, Sickness, and of course, Loss. Rocking is soothing, like being rocked as a baby or child with a scraped knee. As a human being, we all crave love and community. What better place to gather all these things than i ..read more

LONG-LASTING ART FRIENDS Long-lasting Friendships are one of the gifts of getting older. Hollee has invited the Painting Class to her family's farm every Spring for at least 20 years. She started taking art lessons with me when her youngest went off to college. Both girls are now accomplished women with big careers, married, and with children. The old farmhouse had a major renovation recently but it still retains all the charm of its owner. In other words, it's Delightful! Normally in April, the fields are covered in Bluebonnets but this year the bluebon ..read more

ONE DAY LANDSCAPE WORKSHOP The Workshop yesterday, sponsored by HAS, was about "How to tackle a landscape from start to finish". So, Here Goes! First, you need to decide where the main value shapes will be placed on your canvas. In other words, is the horizon line High or Low? Is the painting about the sky or the land? Where is the focal point and how do you determine what that is? In the Demo above and below, the horizon line was high and the trees were blocked in using 2 simple dark values. The focal was the light between the trees (Strong light next t ..read more

REWORKING PAINTINGS The original plein air below was painted with my Painting Class in March of 2020 at the Bayou Club. It had just dawned on us, the danger of the Pandemic, when our classes indoors had to the canceled. I wanted to honor my commitment to the class by finishing the semester painting outside. However; I think this painting reflected those dark times. Therefore, here is another example of how to hopefully rescue a "Sows Ear". First, while still preserving the idea of cool shadows looking out on the light, I introduced more dappled light in ..read more

WITH WATER-MIXABLE OILS On Monday morning, March 18th at 10;00 am, I will do a Demo on Color Mixing using Water-mixable oil paints at Memorial Church of Christ, 900 Eco Lane for the Houston Art Society. These solvent-free oil paints have been around for a long time but in 2010 Royal Talens introduced their version which I find superior. When traveling, this is what I take for all plein air work. This is truly oil paint but they use linseed oil with a modified emulsifier which acts as a stabilizer to keep the oil and water from separating. I sometimes use ..read more

GLORIOUS LIGHT My sisters and I grew up living on a hill with a forest below. Ft. Worth was still a small town and the suburbs had not creped into "our" forest. This time of year was my favorite because the trees were bare but the grass beneath them was bright green. The skeleton shapes the branches made on the ground was dark and stark against that bright spring grass. This is also the season of Lent in the Christian tradition. A time of darkness, sorrow, and loss. And yet it is also a time of reflection with the hope of resurrection. In Painting, as in ..read more

REEVES GALLERY, HOUSTON, FEB. 9 Two Openings 6 days apart; What a Week! Just got back from Fredericksburg at The Good Art Company Show where my first big painting sold before the show opened! The "15 Anniversary" party was so much fun but no time to bask in that glory as Reeves Gallery is hanging Kathy Love's and my art today. This is a huge show for both of us. They have chosen work from 30 years of painting. When did I get so OLD? Above is a plein air I did recently and below is a still Life I did 20 years ago. I hope everyone will come this Friday, Fe ..read more

FREDICKSBURG OPENING FEBRUARY 3 The Good Art Company Gallery will celebrate its 15 Anniversary with a Gallery Opening in Fredricksburg on Saturday, February 3, from 5:00 to 7:00. I will display many of my Texas Landscapes inspired by the ranches surrounding the Hill Country. The newest painting above was painted from a plein air I did one Fall evening at Broken Arrow Ranch in Ingram. I have been painting there for about 40 years and still find the light that plays over the land mesmerizing! However; "The Gallery" has a large inventory featuring many arti ..read more

THE FIGURE IN A COMPOSITION Many of my students paint their children or Grandchildren at the beach or on a family vacation. Although I don't paint many studio paintings with a figure I have tips on integrating a figure into your composition. It's just a matter of scale and the same lighting. If you have often thought you would like to learn how to paint your family It is not "Rocket Science" and any time is the right time to learn. Drawing uses lines, but painting uses shapes. The lines must be accurate while shapes can be approximate. Therefore teaching ..read more

REEVES GALLERY ON TAFT I have a new Gallery displaying my work in Houston! Reeves Art and Design Gallery is the largest gallery in Houston with all styles of work from Contemporary to Traditional. They are giving me a large show in February but have some of my paintings in their showroom now. I hope you can stop by 2415 Taft during the Holidays and see all the exciting work by local and international artists. They have all types of works on view, not just my Texas Landscapes but my Still Lives, Pleinair, and Drapery paintings as well. I pray you all have ..read more