I am
always looking for another scene to paint as I drive around the country.
I have never been interested in working from photographs, but I take
many photos to remind myself of features in a scene that inspired me to
paint it.
When I return to my studio and place the new paintings around the room,
I am occasionally surprised by one of the quick drafts, and consider the
painting completed.
Friends
tell me that they are concerned about me when I spend so many days at my
ranch in the hill country alone. I need many hours of peace and quiet
away from the rush of life on the fast tract in order to create my art.
The hours spent on horseback are so satisfying as I ride around my ranch
that my mind is stimulated to create with new fervor.
I make
it a point to stop working on sculptures at 11 p.m. because when I work
later, starting the next day at 7 a.m. is more difficult as I get older.
I prefer painting and sculpting while listening to classical music. It
is a common occurrence for me to lose track of time when I am slinging
paint or hammering a chisel.
I am presently working on large garden sculptures in bronze. They are
all one of a kind, and I will add them to my website as each one
is completed.
I remember the day in 1953 when a sales rep dispensed tubes of the first
acrylic paint any of us had heard of in my painting class at UT. All of
the students complained about the fast drying time. Now whether I am
painting in my studio or in the field I have the opposite attitude
because the paint simply does not dry fast enough to suit me.
I have an advantage over most artists because I haven't used brushes for
oil or acrylic paintings for many years. I don't paint with a palette
knife because its purpose is to mix and blend paints. I use eighteen
painting knives which I have shaped and formed to meet my painting
needs.
When I am in the field, painting in plein-air, the acrylic paints are
superior when I am trying to depict the changing light. It is also
advantageous when the wind is carrying wisps of grass and leaves unless,
of course, you want a lot of texture on the canvas.
I was stumbling along in the studio painting classes until one of my
teachers, Kenneth Fisk, suggested that I might try plein-air painting. I
felt liberated because instead of spending three hours in the three
studio labs each week, I would spend all of my painting time in the
field during the week and then show up in class on Fridays with a group
of finished paintings. It was customary for me to start Monday morning
with a multitude of gessoed masonite sheets which I had cut and prepared
on Saturday and then proceed to paint all of them by Friday. It was the
perfect solution for my personality, and it still works for me except
that now I can afford to paint on linen.
I worked my way through college and was fortunate to win many tuition
scholarships each semester. I was also fortunate that my paintings and
sculptures were being purchased by collectors even though I wasn't
showing in galleries.
Some days I feel like painting and on others I feel like sculpting. I
prefer using natural daylight for all of my paintings and save finishing
work on sculptures for after dark. Art has been my life for over fifty
years, and it has been a truly fulfilling career with many more peaks
than valleys. |