"South Texas Flight" 30" x 36" oil/board Solo Show Brush with Nature -InSight Gallery
The time flew by in preparation for this show, Brush with Nature. I focused on the light. Capturing light was an early pursuit, and I wanted it to be the core element of the show.
The Longhorn painting "Blessed with Good Rain' is about soft light and tranquility. It also touches on the importance of the water, historically a concern for the West. The first paintings tended to focus on shadows and soft light. "South Texas Flight" bobwhite quail burst into full light, as did the elk painting "Gentle Persuasion". The title is a play on words about the bull's assertive persistence. I always start with the landscape, but wildlife is the driving force. "Brush Country Formal" was a treat to paint. I thought of the tom turkey in all his regalia and his supporting cast as if they were in a western barn dance of time gone by. The show was Insightful. I wish I had another month or year to get to some of the other paintings, but I'm thankful for the deadlines and the opportunity! Hope to see you at the show! Brush with Nature - InSight Gallery - April 5 
"Rio Seco Rise" continues my journey to capture in paint prime whitetail in some of the most inhospitable land in the country. The nature of this terrain is rugged, yet there is beauty. The buck was hesitant to leave the cover of brush but the does were worthy lures. The banks of the Rio Seco were lush from recent rains. Although this was from reference gathered two years ago, the memory was vivid. Reference pictures acted to fill in the blanks- the rise in the land, the tweaks of anatomy. A joy to paint!
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 "Rise & Shine"©2022 oil/board 20" x 37" InSight Gallery Texas Masters In 2012, we traded the upkeep of a 1907 house in Fredericksburg to move to East Texas for work privacy. The seclusion was great, but after five years, we missed Fredericksburg. We began searching for properties in a competitive market. When we stumbled on this house online, we thought, "You're kidding, right?" The house was a widow's ramshackle. However, it had one attribute above the other homes we toured—studio space. This house had bones. It took two years for workers to remove the grime and update the home to meet our needs in both design and aesthetics. I am happy with the outcome of the remodel. My studio was once a gunsmith's trophy room. The north wall was opened with large picture windows. No more dark studios in pole barns! I have light and it surrounds me. So now I begin my next group of paintings. I continue to double down. As I finish a painting, there is more I want to explore and infuse. I've always been one to take the long road, but now there is no time to meander. Inspiration demands my deadline. I have to put it down in paint before a new inspiration takes hold. I want paint seen, and examined, not grainy in appearance or with notes of hesitation, but with good, strong sureness, regardless if the stroke is soft or strong. Bury me with my brush in hand, as I am sure I want this journey to continue. Hesitations are pushed aside, and dues are paid. From my perspective, art should transcend. Much can be forgiven and adjusted. If the bones are good, then it is good, but if it breathes and has soul then it can stand the test of time. I hope to make mine such.
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On the farm, I couldn't escape nature. The seasons of plenty and times of thrift were yearly if not daily reminders of the rhythm of life. The weather was watched with appreciation of sunshine and often with prayers for a good rain. My family took me west on trips and I fell for Terlingua, Big Bend, and the Texas Brush Country. Travel outside the state was to escape Texas' heat. Summers we left for the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. I owe much to my sister Margaret, who also purchased my first art books. To this day she exhibits an adventurous spirit not seen since our ancestors left Germany for Galveston.  "Top Brass" © 19" x 38" InSight Gallery Fall Showcase Fall Showcase@ InSight Gallery marks my 5th anniversary with the gallery! I'm pleased to be with a great team of art lovers in Fredericksburg, TX! -Sept 2 2022- Nature is over the top. The ebb and flow from the mundane to the grand is captivating. All work in a concerted effort to draw us in. I seek to meld the ebb and flow of nature. If I succeed in getting my hand and eye to deliver I come close this place imagined. That is the journey and I hope others come along for the adventure! Available@ InSight Gallery Categories All 
I'm nostalgic. Flat-out nostalgic. I enjoy steam engine locomotives, old classic cars, and chicken dinner at Ma Grimm's house on Sundays. I really miss those Sundays. That translates to my paintings. My wife recently told me I had a reoccurring theme in my paintings of an animal looking back. I never looked at it that way, but I guess it could be true. When I'm designing a painting, I think as if I'm one of the subjects. Animals interact in all different and sometimes hilarious manners. They are curious. After a long dry spell, our whitetail will frolic in a puddle just to splash or chase each other as if they were playing tag. They often look back. Some look for familiar changes due to poor eyesight, among other reasons. As I'm at the drawing board, I question what the animal I'm about to paint hears, thinks, and feels. At times on the prowl, or overtaken by hormones and age-old impulses, or sometimes simply grazing.
This brings me back to, well, looking forward. I have opportunities to revisit wildlife that I've not painted recently and explore new ones. As nostalgic as I may be, I am thoroughly fired up about what's ahead. It is now. Like classic cars, traditional, wildlife art is timeless. Not much time to look back these days. Let's look forward! "Canyon Quiet" InSight Gallery "Territorial View" Legacy Gallery 7/1/2022 update, "Canyon Quiet" will be the cover of Texas Outdoors Journal, Aug 2022 issue. Categories All 
I'm deeply grateful to the good folks at Texas Outdoors Journal for honoring my painting, "Points of Interest" with their October cover. This publication is THE resource for outdoors Texas and can be found on newsstands across the state. TOJ Outdoor News Show is celebrating their 29th year on the radio. "Points of Interest" available thru InSight Gallery More info: Texas Outdoors Journal Oct. 2021 Categories All I live with a painting before it's sent off, the longer the better. I turn it away from view to later return to it, flip it upside down, study, review, only to live with it a week or two more. The last review before delivery usually loops through a process of me pondering a myriad of what-ifs. I intensely study ways to unjumble thoughts and impulses. Simply saying what one wants to say is a baffling pursuit. With paint, it can be a rabbit hole.  Early last summer we noticed a particular fawn. Short-legged, a little gawky, she seemed to prefer us to her peers. If we sat on the porch to enjoy the evening, "Lil Bit", as my wife named her, came to visit. Her mother's grunts were useless as "Lil Bit" scampered up unabashedly. With no other deer in-sight, she disregarded chainsaw activity, and burning brush to graze alongside us during chores. When we took to a hotel during our February ice storm, we left a supplement of corn nearby for the wildlife. Two does and a variety of birds were lost, but Lil Bit appeared unscathed. If this little doe has anything, she has moxie. Although she is becoming more doe-like and visits less frequently, her trailblazing style is infectious.
Available: InSight Gallery Categories All The great people at Sporting Classics were kind enough to include my painting "Gillespie Gold" in the January/February issue. The painting is featured in the short story by Robert Ellis, "Sermon from the Mount".
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"Heads Up" could well be the theme for 2020. Much maligned, the year will go down in the history books as a heck of a tough year to get through. However, when things go awry, opportunities are born! I won't sit and cry in my oatmeal, it's time for work and as my wife says, "At least we don't have a skunk in the attic". Well said. These thoughts stem from a commission destroyed in freight shipping. Other artists told me it would happen eventually. Yep, Murphy's law caught up to me. I had to adjust plans, create a painting to surpass the original, order a new frame, and negotiate reimbursement for the original with the shipper. I'm one to believe that no experience is without a reason and I'm stubborn enough to not allow this experience to eat at me. Let's keep our heads up, get out there and get after it! In response to the change of schedule I painted "Heads Up" for The Museum of Western Art, Round Up Show and Sale. Always wary this buck has raised his head from a quick graze. I hope it is a scene many can relate to! The 37th Annual Roundup at The Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, TX will be held Sept 26 -Oct 31. Categories All
Back in early 2019 in planning paintings for the 2020 show at InSight Gallery, I decided I wanted to paint a moonlit longhorn scene. I got inspired after seeing such a scene after a long day of reference gathering.  Studio windows are installed, but finish work postponed to not interfere with show schedule. I waited for well lit nights to do some plein air color studies. As I designed the piece I realized the size needed to be substantial. With my sketch on paper, I begin sketching on the gessoed board with paint. Diagonal lines in pencil make it easier to scale.  After the initial sketch is in place, I pay closer attention to anatomy. I continue to refine.  Now I begin to put a wash down. This will give a warm undertone.  Jumping forward I begin to refine in color. I continue this process until completion. Although the scene is serene, I wanted a shimmer and movement in the light. Western history and cattle lore often centered around the night watch. The stars are bright on this night, but the longhorns take center stage.
Categories All A strong fall cold front arrived bringing an early freeze. Ideal weather for our whitetail, they appeared oblivious to the frigid temperatures. Our kids visited with their blue heelers and the deer made quick game of these two porch dogs. The does came to taunt each morning casually bounding over the fence when time arose. This went on each morning until a buck interrupted with more pressing issues. The bucks made fast haste of the cold snap. The rattling of tines were heard most evenings echoing across the valley. It's the timeless, sweet music of nature that feeds the soul. I'm reminded of what fuels me. The new windows overlooking our valley have made the studio a joy to work in and I'm eager to get painting with each sunrise. Much like the blue heelers, I have never been one to let go of a chase.  "Stickers & Stones" 24" x 32" oil, InSight Gallery Show April 2020 Art collecting has similar sensibilities. A collector may chase the piece that got away, the one that sold out from underneath them or engage in a marathon hunt for that perfect piece of art. That too is part of the sport of life and I'm told it is thoroughly enjoyable. "Stickers & Stones" will be included in a two man show I'm having along with artist David Griffin, April 2020 at InSight Gallery. I'll select 6 - 10 paintings for the show. I'll have more on the remodel, which has been a great journey, and what's on the easel. Stay tuned! Categories All  "Rio Grande Casanovas" 24" x 36"
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"Spanish Dagger" 24" x 40" Briscoe Western Art Museum Auction 2019 I aimed to muster up the best of the Texas brush in "Spanish Dagger". Each year the lure of the whitetail increases with each passing day as fall nears. Bucks can be monsters in the brush and this guy was a brute. It is all about the buck and the yucca, both of which are aptly nicknamed "Spanish Dagger". In South Texas, seasonal colors vary from year to year depending on temperatures. I've been there when barely a sprig of green is evident and then other years, like the one in the painting, summer hugs winter allowing for extended growing season creating a thick yet airy lushness as rain allows. "Spanish Dagger will be at the Briscoe Museum of Western Art, live auction March 29. "Horns at Honey Creek" is reminiscent of scenes throughout Texas, however, this is set west of San Antonio. Love of family and land kept this second painting close to home. My grandparents arrived as children in Galveston, TX from Germany in the 1880s. They met, married and purchased 239 acres, not 10 miles from where I grew up in Central Texas. We all have stayed in Texas since. Longhorns captured my imagination early on. Self-reliant, rugged and the mascot for the University of Texas in nearby Austin, longhorns dotted the landscapes of ranches throughout Texas and were accessible subjects for me to paint. "Horns at Honey Creek" is in the Hill Country. I'm unsure if the creek got its name from the color or the taste, but I imagine it's probably a little of both. The dappled light of the shade play on the pattern of the longhorns. Summer is ending with cooler days on the way.
"Horns at Honey Creek" 24" x 32" Briscoe Western Art Museum, Night of Artists 2019 Categories All
Our whitetail bucks have chased the does relentlessly. We have a very confident non-typical buck that is a great looking up and comer. He will give the big guy a run for top status next year. Neighborhood foxes are emblazoned in their finest coats, and all of our wildlife, coyotes to bobcats seem to be enjoying the cooler weather. It is my favorite time of the year. With such seasonal abundance, I decided to paint a Rio Grande turkey. I admit a fondness for these birds. I think I have mentioned this before, but what characters! Their mannerisms range from fierce to comical and they always prove to be great subjects. Hope this finds you as excited about the season as I am. Although I want to be gathering reference, today, the easel is calling and I have some things I want to accomplish. The larger painting I am working on is flowing nicely and I look forward to sharing. Stay tuned! Categories All  "Western Winds" 24" x 36" Just doing their thing. That is strength. That is the feeling I had when watching these bison. Blustery weather arises. Grit can blow and wind can sweep, yet they carry on. I aimed to capture their genuine strength.
The internet and social media are hurdles. I'm only on Linkedin not because I'm not social; I don't do my best work when I see too much of the same content. I have also found a need to limit technology in the studio. I have internet, I stream music, but I limit browsing. I've heard it argued that artists from the past would have used the tools of modern technology if available. Maybe so, but would their art be better for it? Probably not. Others have differing viewpoints, but this is what works for me. I'm not a technophobe, I just believe it can homogenize and sterilize, like synthesizers in music. The quirks of the human hand bring warmth and soul. I really don't like talking much about it. The art should say it. Proof should be in the painting. Looking forward! Gearing up for some Texas whitetail! Our bucks are the best yet. Almost all have rubbed off their velvet and are beginning to bulk up. Can't wait for the show! Categories All  "Afternoon Social" 18" x 24" InSight Gallery  I had this bobwhite quail painting in the works for some time. I toyed with the design, changed their positions, gestures, lighting, etc. until my vision was set. I thumbed through my reference to back up what I had in mind and found I lacked the exact "look" for the hens. Several restless nights were spent thinking about this painting. I did not want to render. Their patterns are intricate yet I wanted the impression, the air, the light, the mood. Each bird needed their own gesture and personality. I wanted to be sure of hand. I had to do right by this painting. Time to put on the boots and get the proper reference! Next morning at breakfast I noticed a cardinal landing in the backyard. In its flight path a small object moved. I thought perhaps a squirrel, but recognized a quail hen. Perfect! I also finished this Rio Grande Turkey painting. I had a blast with this painting. The two toms came out as hoped. That is especially true in their personalities. One is completely full of himself, the other seems more pensive. I picture some cocky, lanky dude belting out "What's up girls?". The sometimes humorous ritual of guys approaching ladies seemed to stick with me. The title, "Rio Grande Casanovas" said it all. Summer months are usually busy in preparation for fall shows. This is especially true this year. Time to get to it. Back to the easel! Stay tuned!
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 The two toms are attempting to entice the hens. The one tom is almost in full strut and is anchored along with the other tom by the yucca in the background. My goal was to paint a strutting tom without the "Thanksgiving" look. I really wanted to have the tall yucca but not have it overpower the birds. I went through a myriad of designs. By trial and error, I found that anchoring the strutting tom with the yucca negated each from becoming too much a focal point. The tom with his head high demands attention, creating a natural eye flow. That's the idea. It will head to InSight Gallery in Fredericksburg on completion. Sharing my attention is a grizzly painting for Legacy Gallery, Jackson Hole. It's cooking so to speak. It's coming along as hoped and planned. I've made a real effort to get back to creating natural and honest paintings. You go out and learn all the tricks only to strip it back down and go acoustic. I think this is true in most of life. Plan to post it soon. Stay tuned! Categories All Texas Masters Show at InSight Gallery, March 2, 2018  "La Gran Sombra" (The Big Shadow) 22" x 28" oil/board InSight Gallery - Texas Masters Show This painting is of a South Texas whitetail from a friend's ranch near Cotulla, TX. Two items set this painting into motion, the whitetail buck and the large acacia tree, (Huisache) he is emerging from behind. The largest of these bucks instinctively hug the shadows of very early morning or late day, when the shadows become great. The thick expanse of brush south of San Antonio offer ample cover. I really enjoy the raw beauty of the Brush Country. There is a peace that comes over me sitting in the stand and yet when an animal emerges my heart races with excitement. The camera captures the details and my paint records in sketch, the energy and emotion of the moment. I can't tell you how many times I revised the drawing for this buck. I took it to different easels, different rooms, in the frame and without. After a break, I'd go back to wipe him clean and begin again. I was determined not to begin painting until I was fully satisfied. One slight shift of the leg and he was too tense. After much tweaking, I was ready to paint! 
Categories All I'm keeping several paintings under wrap. I'm doing this more lately...living with them. Getting to the point without forcing. Letting the painting slowly develop with careful editing. It's an easier thing to do now at forty-nine. "Gillespie Gold" was such a painting.  "Gillespie Gold" 22" x 35" Another example that I held on to before releasing was "Timber's Edge".  "Timbers Edge" 24"x36" I currently have three paintings I have been toggling. Not ready to show; they're months in the making. I rack myself making certain I won't later regret them leaving my hands. This is more than income. Art represents beauty, order, nature and all that is good. I deeply regret when I don't hold up my end in some small way. Comment and critique are for others to decide merit. I have to hold to the standards I set. To pull from a previous post, "run the good race". Inspiration comes from the strangest of places! Recently I found Valisa watching harness horse racing on one of those upper cable channels. It was unusual enough to stop me. In 14 years, I have never seen her do this. Valisa grew up in Florida and her dad liked visiting the racetracks and jai alai. She was caught in a nostalgic moment. These horses are incredible athletes with graceful long strides reaching speeds of 30mph. The race went the first lap without a break-away. The jockeys (called drivers) were obviously holding back. One name stuck out, Major Masterpiece. Very cool name! By the second lap, I found myself rooting for this horse on name alone. That is what we artist yearn for, Major Masterpiece! If we paint it all the better, but someone, step up! Paint, make it count! Lost in the moment I thought, "GO!"...Major Masterpiece was well behind but in a flash bolted to the lead. He was flying. The announcer was hyped with excitement as Major Masterpiece crossed to win. With the quintessential snap of a 1940's radio announcer, he proclaimed, "Major Masterpiece has fled the scene!" It all resonated so well! Such a springboard of inspiration from such an unlikely source. I remind myself, good things are worth waiting for. With fresh eyes and renewed spirit, I go back to the studio. Stay tuned! Categories All It all went well. I was satisfied where these pronghorn were leading me. At the design stage, I was toying with the idea of placing this solidly in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas. I decided to save that for another painting. The mood fixed itself straight away. No sense cluttering the message.  Categories All  Behind the bison, perhaps no animal quite represents the lore of the West like the pronghorn. A true American original, this amazing creature became a favorite subject matter of mine early on. This painting will be @ InSight Gallery for their Fall Show, September 1st. InSight Gallery  This is day two but reflects days of reference gathering, pléin air painting, research, and designing. The sketch may appear fairly vague. I'm working out some of the finer details on the board. I resisted from going too far on this sketch. This can be a tricky decision, at least for me it can be. If I'm too eager, I could miss a crucial aspect, revealing a flaw in the end, wasting days if not the painting entirely. But, if I go too in depth, churning endlessly on a design, the painting can have a calculated and non-atmospheric edge. This is just as unsuccessful. Here's the sketch...  I've taken thousands of pronghorn photographs in the field and have great reference. The numbers you see indicate my photo files. I tweaked gestures, eliminating some and checking those I'll use. I have a thorough understanding of the mood I want the painting to convey, atmosphere, palette. I am leaving room for happy discoveries, nuances that happen when you quit thinking. I use a similar process in each painting. I tend to continue to sketch and design until I fully grasp in my head what the painting will look like. I'll update once completed. Thanks, for reading!  Categories All "Gillespie Gold" was in many ways a return to my roots...  The Texas Hill Country has a rugged beauty that is ripe with wildlife. Although this could very well be anywhere in the Hill Country, this scene is west of Fredericksburg in Gillespie County before the Mason County line. |
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