...anyone can play the piano!
In just a week or so it will be Memorial Weekend. For the last 11 years, I have been out of the studio and showing at Kerrville's Texas Art & Crafts Festival. It was always a fun and successful event for me....it has been moved to October now! SO I will be in the studio with the gallery open and am planning a reception debuting several new paintings, Giclee prints and some new photography! I'll be serving beverages throughout the weekend....with batches of Margaritas each day! So come on by for a visit and watch how the artwork starts to look pretty good after a couple of my famous Ritas....lol!
MEMORIAL WEEKEND RECEPTION HOURS-Beverages served
May 22nd, Thursday 5-7pm
May 23-24th, Friday and Saturday...all day 10-7pm!!
I'll have several new watercolors in my expressive style to show and will be offering a SHOW SPECIAL! Basically you can pick out a Free Giclee Print or Photograph on Canvas (of a lessor value), with any Art, Print or Photo purchase! The gallery is very full with a huge selection and some of the Canvas Prints available are as much as $750, (the Canvas prints start at around $60 to $600, framed as much as $750).....so come on by and help find new homes for my work, pick one out as well as a gift and add both to your collection!
Here are a couple of my newest paintings:
Also special for this weekend I have ordered 50 small signed Giclee prints of my Favorite Bison Watercolor called, BORN IN THE USA! The 8x10 prints(value $50), will be free to my visitors until they run out! Also I will be debuting the print for the first time on Canvas. It will be framed 24x18 $300. See BORN IN THE USA, below.
Recently, in Early May....a friend and art acquaintance came by the studio for a visit. He commented on my new photography that is printed on canvas and showcased in the front Gallery. I really only show local subjects, landscapes from around our area with the photographs. He asked me what new things that I was planning....and I said, "I'm after a challenge and really would like to photograph the Milky Way, here at home...in the Texas Hill Country. Somewhere around or near Kerrville. I explained it's challenging to get a good image here in our area at night, because so many things have to be just right to get a good capture. Such as a clear night with no Moon....no clouds of course...a good view of the Southern sky.....calm winds, so dust is limited and I have to be far enough out of town to eliminate the light pollution eminating from town....hhmmm! My friend, Wayne asked, "well have you tried it yet"? And I said, "no, not yet....you see if that is not complicated enough....I also envision something 'Iconic', something 'Texan' in the photo....I want to photograph the Milky Way over a Wind Mill!
Well, Wayne who lives nearby just a few miles away calmly states, "well...I have Wind Mill"! Sooooooo...
HA! that afternoon I went for a visit....and later that night in the early hours before dawn I was photographing it! But as you may guess, as luck has it....it was calm, but Clouds moved in to the South....blocking my view of the milky way. It cleared though for awhile, enough to capture an interesting photo, but I knew it could only get better? So two days later after a cool front....things were looking really good as the humidity dropped to the floor....winds were dead calm....and shortly after the crescent Moon fell in the horizon...the beautiful and magical Spirit trail of our Milky Way began to march across the Southern Sky! It was around 3:30am that I captured this photo below:
The warm glow in these photos in the lower left is the light from home, nearby Kerrville and Ingram. I wasn't finished though....it was very dark, but special, the night sky was spectacular, vivid and clear as if I was in New Mexico....and there were more locations, I wished to have a try at photographing the Milky Way along the nearby Guadalupe River. As it turned out....I simply had my most remarkable day of shooting photographs to date, it just so happen to come at night...from 3-6 am, when all were a sleep except for me, the crickets and some Coyotes! Here are a couple more from along the river in Hunt, TX:
Soon In the Gallery I will be showcasing some of these Milky Way photos....please come on by when ever you are out this way. And try to make it next week over Memorial weekend for a visit, a Rita and at a minimum plan to pick up a free print of BORN IN THE USA!
I'll close with a final thought, story of sorts! There is a new restaurant now open next to my Studio. The FORK AND KNIFE, and they have my work in there decorating their walls, which is really nice! Now as it is often after lunch, some locals come drifting in curious about my studio! All who drop by really appreciate my strong use of color and have plenty of questions about how I can achieve it by using watercolor!
One older gentleman, lingered for 20 minutes and just watched....until he finally asked, "is it hard to do a watercolor....I mean watching you now, it just seems so easy?" I thought for a brief moment, and replied, "well yes and no, you see watercolor....It's a lot like playing the piano! I mean, anyone can play the piano, but not everyone is going to make music"! tw