Ready To Pick Up

Ready To Pick Up, 10x8

SOLD

Furey Motors, an auto repair garage opened by my Uncle Louis Furey, has been in Malvern, Ohio for a very long time. Since it predates me, I never even thought to ask just how long. To me, it's been there forever. My cousin Tom now owns the garage and while the car designs have changed, everything else looks virtually unchanged from the way I remember it during our family visits of my childhood. 

The garage was a special place. One reason was that Uncle Louis always made sure I had a clean mechanic's rag ready for my back pocket when I showed up for "work." That was cool. Even cooler, however, was that Uncle Louis had one of those old bottle-dispensing Coke machines at the garage AND the keys to go with it. To me this meant the Cokes were free, not just for me, but for Uncle Louis, as well. This being my perception, at even the slightest twinge of thirst, I would hit up my very patient elder for one frosty beverage after another. 

In hindsight, I don't know how Uncle Louis weathered this brazen tendency toward self-gratification so magnanimously, but he always did.  Louis and my Aunt Alta both passed away several years ago, now. But their seven children, and the two generations that follow them are remarkably similar in their kindness.

Home for Dinner

Home For Dinner, 8 x 6

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My recent visit to the small town of Malvern, Ohio and the surrounding area was very nostalgic. We used to visit relatives there in the summers and spend time on the family farm about twenty five miles away. The afternoon before returning home, I had a chance to drive around and get plenty of reference photography of Malvern and some of the surrounding farms. I was amazed how much things have stayed the same there. The residents have done a great job maintaining the old homes and buildings. This back porch in the warm afternoon light is emblematic of the comfortable and friendly nature of this place and its people. I'll be posting more new art in the coming weeks, recalling this trip.

San Marcos Gazebo

Veramendi Plaza Gazebo, 6 x 8

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Saturday morning Plein Air Austin met at Rio Vista Park in San Marcos. I was glad to find the solitude of this gazebo a few hundred yards upstream from the park's waterfront recreation area. With the river up and the summer heat on the rise, the park was crowded by 9:00 a.m. with locals ready to cool off in the San Marcos River's spring-fed waters.

St. Philip Neri Church

St. Philip Neri Church, 12 x 9
NFS

Last week I accompanied my mother to eastern Ohio to visit relatives and the area near the farm on which she grew up. At eighty-eight years old, she was glad to be able to make the trip and had a wonderful time. The church above is special to my mother. She, along with most of her direct American-born ancestors, on both sides of her family, were baptized in this church. She attended the church, built in 1849 in the village of Dungannon, until she left the area to become a Navy nurse during World War II, where she met my father. The painting is a gift to my mother, Ruth Wernet Parker.

Minnows Anybody?

Minnows Anybody? 5 x 7

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This was painted from a photo I took at Stony Brook Harbor on the North Shore of Long Island over Labor Day weekend, 2008. Typical of kids this age, this brother and sister were excited to be the owners of a big bucket of minnows. As young entrepreneurs, I think they were even more excited about the prospect of turning a tidy profit off their sale.

Bungalow with Blue Trim

Bungalow with Blue Trim, 8 x 10

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I passed by this bungalow while in Marble Falls in April. There was nothing really unusual about it, other than I found everything about it inviting. I always loved the porches common to houses of this era.

Staying Put

Staying Put, 6 x 6

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This spring, Plein Air Austin had a paintout at the Michaelis Rance, south of Austin. On this particular day, feeding the cattle and mowing a pasture were enough to keep the hands busy. Happily, that meant this aging trailer was around to be admired, photographed, and finally today, painted.

Cotton Warehouse

 

Cotton Dock, 8 x 10

SOLD

This dock once was the loading point for the cotton grown on the historic Boone Hall plantation in South Carolina. Barges transported the cotton from here down the tidal Wando River to Charleston Harbor for export.

Power In Repose

Power in Repose, 6x8
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This is one of four bengal tigers at the Austin Zoo. When the first two walked out from their shelter, I was amazed at their size. Then this one appeared and it was huge, in comparison. It was obvious by the size difference that this was a male, which was confirmed. He weighs nearly 400 lbs.

Having never painted at a zoo, I wondered from the outset whether it would even be worth trying. I eventually tried quick pencil sketches of a couple goats nearby, but the exercise was less than satisfying.  Then this magnificent cat climbed up on a rock to sun himself after taking a swim. I came over and was able to get a quick sketch of him in this pose, which was very fortunate. I took a couple pictures later but none had as good a head position. With a sketch I liked, I spent the remaining time mapping the composition on my panel and blocking in main color, before heading home. I used the photos back in the studio to reference accurate color and shading.

Overall, I found painting at the zoo a little nerve-racking. But in the end, the one pencil sketch made the trip worthwhile. I managed to get the pose I wanted from probably the most beautiful animal I've ever seen.

Evening Gathering

 

Evening Gathering, 8x10

SOLD

Here is a piece I started last Friday on our trip to Bryan. It required some tweaking, which I wasn't able to get to until today. Summerville Lake is a slight detour to the south from the route between Austin and Bryan, about halfway between Caldwell and Brenham, Texas. The picturesque scenery, ample shade and a nice breeze made for a nice opportunity to paint.

Save The Queen

Save The Queen, 10 x 8

SOLD

Hello, everybody. My postings have been few and far between the last several weeks, but they will be back on a more regular schedule beginning with this post. This piece was done in Bryan on Saturday, as part of Plein Air Austin's participation in a promotional paintout put on by the Forsythe Gallery. The Forsythe is presently exhibiting the work of PAA members through July 31 and they invited us down to join in with locals interested in trying their hand at painting en plein air. The turnout was good and we all enjoyed the trip. Bryan is undergoing a renaissance of its downtown area and they are fortunate to have many wonderful old buildings to work with. The Queen theater is one of its most unique and one most in need of repair. I was happy to hear the city has recently secured funding for the restoration of this magnificent structure.

2010 Plein Air Austin Show at Forsythe Gallery

FYI, from now through July 31, the work of Plein Air Austin members will be on display at the Forsythe Gallery in Bryan-College Station, Texas. For anyone interested in attending the opening, it will be this Friday evening from 6:00 - 8:00. The address is 110 N. Main Street in Bryan.

If you're unable to make it out to the Brazos Valley for the exhibit, you can view a web album of the accepted entries here. Click the "slideshow" button near the top left corner of the page.

Front Gate

 Front Gate, 22 x 28

available

Here is a large studio version of a plein air study I painted last summer at Laguna Gloria. The original 6 x 8 study is posted below.

 

Light Traffic

Light Traffic, 6 x 6

SOLD

This morning I painted at a street corner in the Riata mixed-use neighborhood in north Austin. It's a place full of beautiful little landscapes, all within walking distance of my apartment.

Purple Door

Purple Door, 9 x 12

A group from Laurel Daniel's last plein air class has been meeting for Wednesday paintouts over the last several weeks. This morning we were invited to paint at a beautiful old German farmhouse in central Austin, built in the 1800s. The couple who owns it has, over the years, created a unique setting with an amazing variety of flora, stone walkways and large antique artifacts arranged throughout the property. As the weather in central Texas continues to warm, the lush shade here makes it all the more attractive to plein air painters.

By the way, today I painted from the center out, ala Richard Schmid. Hence, the large unfinished areas around the edges. The reason for doing it this way is that there was so much going on visually at this site,  this offered a way to isolate an area of interest.

San Gabriel Park

San Gabriel Park, 6 x 8

SOLD

PAA painted in Georgetown this morning, at the town park along the San Gabriel River. Though there were plenty of picnickers, the slow moving river and overcast skies kept the feeling very low key.

Enough Time To Play

Complements To Bull Creek, 6 x 8

This morning, a group of us met to paint along Bull Creek. Knowing I wouldn't have as much time as usual today, I decided to bring a small board and some pallet knives and just have fun.

I like the abstract quality of pallet knife paintings, and in this case I added to the abstraction by painting the simplified forms in the complements of their actual color. (Actually, here I used split complements, which gives you more colors to choose from, and theoretically still allows the colors to work in harmony.)

 
I found this a fun way to try something a little different.

Holding Back

Holding Back, 9 x 12

click to purchase

This painting was a long time in completing. The subject is from our last Plein Air Austin paintout of April, at Mansfield Dam. I blocked in the main shapes and colors and not much more while on site and hadn't gotten back to it until today. I think I knew I had a big challenge ahead of me to make this complex structure both believable and compelling. Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out and something close to elated to have it behind me.

Silent Path

Silent Path, 6 x 6
SOLD

Plein Air Austin had its paintout this morning at a place called Wizard Academy in Driftwood. An unusual name, as is the place itself. It is a marketing academy, but the grounds are very Zen-like, lots of quiet, beautiful surroundings. It seemed more designed for spiritual retreats, complete with an open-air chapel, but apparently that's not the case. In any event, they were very happy to have us out, and that included my dog, Major, which we both appreciated very much.

Old Driftwood

Old Station Driftwood Texas, 8 x 10
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This morning, Plein Air Austin met in Driftwood, about twenty miles southwest of Austin. This gas station is one I recently drove by, so I was glad PAA had a paintout scheduled here. While painting today, a former local, who was attending a church fair on the property I was painting from, came up to chat. It turned out he was a third generation Driftwood resident who knew all about this Texaco station. To him, this was once a johnny-come-lately. He remembered that, as a boy, before it was an old gas station, it was Driftwood's post office. Learning this might explain the sign overhanging the front steps, which reads,"Driftwood Elev. 1045. " Signs like this were typical identifiers at old postal stops. On the other hand, it might be that as gasoline was first becoming available to rural America, some old post offices in the narrowest of wide spots in the road might have taken on double duty for some time. I wonder if this was one of them.