"Last Year on the Farm" Paintings

I'm so glad they put this on YouTube so we all can watch her paint on her farm. Check it out. This is happening in so many places, farms are lost and houses, all in a row, crammed together, are put up.

And it's great to see her paint! We were so priviledged to have her come to Calvert a couple of times.

Winecups at Sunset

Winecups at Sunset

6" x 8"

oil

My e-mail got hung up yesterday, so I tried many different ways to send out my blog. Nothing seems to have worked right. I finally figured out today that, perhaps, one e-mail file I was trying to send was too large and it wouldn't go. I deleted it all, and everything seemed to start to work again.

I apologize if you got my blog more than once, of if you didn't get it at all.

Please be sure to scroll down and read Wednesday's post, if you didn't get yesterday's blog.

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A mail box beside a country road. Winecups blooming in the grass beside the base of the box. Sunset driving long shadows from a house across an open field. A nice time of day. A nice time of year. Spring in Texas.

The little painting above is done with oil paint on stretched canvas.

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Please let me know if you see anything of interest to you.

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The Circus arrived at Reed Arena yesterday! Much excitement!

This isn't the full three ring circus, but is a new concept that Ringling Bros. is using, with just one ring. There are still elephants, big cats, and all kinds of acts and clowns to delight all ages.

It ends Saturday.

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One more day to Sketch Crawl! Saturday April 11, 2009

http://www.sketchcrawl.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrazosValley_Sketchers

Join us!

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If you are in the Brazos Valley area, meet at Mud Creek Pottery on Main Street in Calvert about 8:30 a.m. or the LaSalle Hotel in downtown Bryan, also about 8:30 a.m. Meet in the courtyard or the coffee shop. After 10:00 a.m, in Bryan, register at the Frame Gallery, 216 N. Bryan Ave.

Once we meet, we can see if we have a group, where we want to sketch, and if we want to work alone or with someone else.

Just bring yourself, paper and pencil or pen, or whatever sketching, painting, or journaling materials that you prefer. Also bring any personal items you need like a hat, sunglasses, folding chair or stool, or camera. Of course, you should bring any money that you want to spend.

The Sketch Crawl is FREE, but you might want to buy something to eat, drink, etc.

The weather forecast is calling for possible thunderstorms starting to move in on Saturday. That should not affect us. The stores will be open so we could find a place to work indoors. I'm thinking of several possibilities.

In Calvert, you have all those great show windows to look through at Mud Creek Pottery, if you need to work inside for a while.

Of course, there are always restaurants where it would be nice to spend some time and enjoy something to eat or drink.

It really is a nice day for anyone who likes to sketch, draw, journal, or doodle.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I'm anxious to see what everyone does, as well as to participate myself!

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Have you watched the storks, yet? Look for links to stork webcams in my sidebar under Stork Sites. They are fascinating!

Evening Primroses

Evening Primroses

6" x 8"

oil

I've gotten some comments in the past few days, that are advertisements or spam. The link that one gave doesn't even go to a website. So, I've done something that I really hate having to do myself. I went in and changed my settings so that people have to complete those security letters before they can post a comment.

I hope that doesn't prevent you from making legitimate comments on my blog. Hopefully, this will stop some of those annoying spam things and, maybe, one day, we will be able to have our blogs without that type of thing happening. I noticed that so many people have added this feature. I hate to do those because they are so hard for me to figure out, usually! (I dislike puzzles as much as I dislike math!) But, hopefully, this will help avoid nuisance ads or worse.

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The little 6"x8" oil painting above is a country scene in spring, complete with mailbox and dainty pink evening primroses. They are in bloom here, now. Some people call them buttercups, but buttercups are yellow. They are a really delicate looking flower.

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Only 2 more days until the 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl starts.

I looked at the Forum on the Sketch Crawl website, http://www.sketchcrawl.com, to see where people will be participating on Saturday. It looks like there are 55 foreign countries, and 47 different locations in the U.S.A. that have registered on the website, so far. There are 8 locations in Texas. That's over 100 places where people will be out sketching, drawing, painting, or journaling their surroundings on Saturday. I think that is exciting, and I can't wait to see what everyone does.

Here in Bryan/College Station, plans are for us to meet about 8:30 a.m. at the LaSalle Hotel in the courtyard, or the coffee shop. After 10 a.m., we can register at the Frame Gallery, just so that we will have some idea of who is participating and where they are working.

In Calvert, meet at Mud Creek Pottery on Main Street, about 8:30 a.m.

People in other communities can form their own groups, or they are welcome to join us in Calvert or Bryan. Or wherever you might be.

After we meet, we can see if we have a group, and if people want to work together or spread out on their own. And we can decide on where we want to work.

We will spend the day recording our surroundings with art. Those who wish to have lunch together might do that.

Participants can work all day, or for a few minutes, if their time is limited.

If there is bad weather, we can always go indoors to work. There are plenty of restaurants and shops with seating, even the library, that would be a nice place to sit and draw. Rain should not keep us from participating on Saturday. The weatherman said there might be thunderstorms on Saturday, but it is supposed to be worse on Sunday.

Easter decorations and traditions would be interesting to look at as subjects, possibly.

Please help to spread the word.

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These are some of the places that have registered for the Sketch Crawl. Maybe you can find one in your own area to join, if you aren't local to Bryan/College Station.

In Texas, North Texas, Austin, Houston, Waxahachie, Georgetown, Port Lavaca, Bryan/College Station, and Calvert. There is also an active group in Dallas, but I don't see them listed this time. They were listed in previous crawls.

In the Unitd States, Oklahoma; Ithaca, NY; Tttumwa, Iowa; Baltimore, MD; Manchester, CA; Corvalis, OR; San Jose, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Portland, OR; Savannah, GA; St. Joseph, MO; Taos, NM; Placer & Nevada counties, Northern, CA; Lansing, MI; Cambrige, Mass.; Rocherster, NY; Griffin, GA; Owosso, MI; Northern Indiana; Bozeman, MT; Atlanta, GA; Honolulu, Hawaii; Phoenix, AR; Albany, NY; LaGrande, OR; Washington, DC; Las Vegas, NV; Mobile, AL.

Also, NYC; Greenville, SC; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Moscow, ID; New York City; New Orleans, LA; Chicago, IL; Salem, OR; Tucson, AR; Seattle, WA; and Phoenix, AR.

In other countries, Ipswich, Australia; Frankfurt or Mainz, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Singapore; Anwerp or Bruges, Belgium; Seoul, Korea; Oxford, UK; Brussels, Belgium; Vienna, Austria; Firenze, Italy; Hamilton, NZ; Moscow, Russia; Porto, Portugal; Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil; Bogata/Chia, Columbia; Sydney, Australia; Lisbon, Portugal; Italia; Rome, Italy; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Treviso, Italy; Vancouver, BC; Kanagawa, Japan; Barcelona, Spain; London; Beijing, China; and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Also, Tamworth, Australia; Banalore, India; Paris, France; Belfast, Ireland; Osnabruck, Germany; Drogheda, Ireland, Salvadore, Bahia, Brazil; Wellington, NZ; Bologna, Italy; Shanghai, China (Puxi); East UK; Salzburg, Austria; Kuala Lampur, Malaysia; Hyderbad, India; SE Wales, UK; Salsburg, Austria; Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Manilla, Phillipines; Berlin, Germany; Milano, Italy; Israel; Sweden; Blue Mountains, Australia; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Aukland, NZ; Bremen, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Stockholm, Sweden.

If you are in any of those areas, and want to sketch with a group, you can contact them on the Forum under 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl.

Remember that Sketch Crawl is FREE and open to anyone who likes to draw, paint, sketch, journal, or even doodle. Just bring yourself, sketchbook or paper, pencil, pen or whatever you like to draw with, personal items like a hat, sunglasses, or folding stool or chair, and any money that you want to spend.

At the end of the day, people can get together, if they want to, to share their work and experiences.

We will post our work and experiences on the Sketch Crawl website, and personal websites and blogs. And this should give us some good material to do more finished work from.

Hope you are looking forward to this event, too.

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Robertson County Bluebonnets

Robertson County Bluebonnets

8" x 10"

oil

Bluebonnet time in Texas is an exciting time, bringing lots of visitors to see the state flower in bloom.

I've had this scene in mind for a while, finally got it painted, and dry enough to scan.

This scene is on a little hill with a drop off, covered in Bluebonnets, on the left. A dirt road leads off the highway to a wooded area behind a wooden gate. On the right, a farmhouse peeks above the raised lawn. In the foreground, there is a rock lined flower bed with cactus growing in the bed.

The blue Texas sky is dotted with whisps of white clouds.

I have a companion piece that isn't finished, to go with this one. Another 8"x10". This one has an old two room school house in it.

Hope you enjoy the Bluebonnets. They will soon be replaced by fields of red Indian Paintbrushes.

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Flu symptoms are a bit better today. The young one went on to school today. He had to go because of the TAKS math test. I hope that, feeling bad, doesn't hurt his score on that test. He came home yesterday and said that he felt so bad, he couldn't think. Hopefully, he is better today. I was so sick at my stomach, sneezing, dizzy, etc., myself until this morning. But I did manage to fix soup and toast, and urge him to eat Jello, take in plenty of liquids, etc.

I was going to make some homemade croutons to float in soup by just toasting some bread with a little butter on it, then cutting them into cubes. But, I ended up just cutting them into strips and letting him use those to dip in his soup. Pretty good! He really likes to have Cheetos or toast with his soup, and what we had was crackers. So, I had to figure out something to go with the soup. He can't have milk, until after Thursday, if the doctor says it is okay. She thought he had a stomach ache from a virus or milk, before the recital last Thursday. I thought it might be anxiety. But, as it turned out, it seems he was getting sick and by Saturday, he seemed to have classic flu symptoms. By late Sunday, I had his stomach ache!

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If you are in the area, go over to Stark Gallery in the MSC at A&M and see the Faculty Art Show. Another group of art teachers have their work on display at the Art Center in College Station.

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And I'm thinking of where the best places are going to be to sketch Saturday, during the 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl.

Hope that you are going to join me!

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Youth Art Month-Chick One

Chick One

11" x 14"

oil

This was my first "Chicken Clinic" piece, started at the first Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert last October. I've done a little finishing on it, signed it, and I'm calling it finished.

The "Chicken Clinic" is an exercise, designed to loosen up artists and to familiarize them with their palette and painting techniques. It's fast, loose, and free, and begins with shapes.

I had a little trouble because, for one thing, my Max II paints, that clean up with water , dried too fast and they were like painting with sticky chewing gum. Using a lot of turpentine with them, helped that problem some. But they were still hard to move around on the canvas.

You can use various mediums with the Max II paints, the same as you would use for normal oils, so that might help. But, out on location, we just had low odor turpentine.

Another thing that I had problems with was getting up and down out of a chair, to see the demonstrations close up. My knees just don't like that at all! So, I tried to stay put, and see from where I was. I thought I would put all my effort and discomfort into getting up, one final time, when we left the location. And I worried that my chair would turn over, or that I couldn't get up after sitting a while. Still, I thought it best to just stay put and try to see from where I was. (My knees have needed replacing for years, so that is the reason for the problem with getting up and down from a chair.)

My eyes also have problems (wet Macular Degeneration and cataracts), so I don't see colors, lines, or even things as they really are. We started with a sort of oval shape for the head. Then there was this nice curved line, going from the back of the head to the body, which was another larger oval. V...., our instructor came by to check on everyone's progress, and she commented that my curved line made my bird look like an egret, with a curved neck. It turned out that the curved line I seemed to see, was actually a cone, with straight outside edges. No curves. That was just the AMD making me see a curve when none was there.

I fixed it, but you can still see that curve, working in the neck of my rooster!

We got in the basics of the rooster, with most people coming out with a really good looking rooster. I had things placed and colors, but it didn't look a lot like a rooster should!

I thought, "I should have looked at a rooster before I tried to paint one!"

My rooster looks like it came out of one of the old cartoons that we used to see in the movies. The hint of an eye, looked like a cartoon eye, he had a little smirk on his beak, and a nice round cheek. So, after looking at it for a while, I just went with some of the cartoon features that seemed to want to come out. (I know I watched a lot of cartoons at the movies, and read a lot of funny books when I was young!) I defined his eyelid and eye, a little more, added a little more blush in his cheek, lightened his legs to show more against the dark background, added more color in his tail, added the "hangy down thingy" under his beak, and added more lighter red on his wing. Not a lot of changes, but enough to call it finished.

I'm going to have to look at what roosters look like!

The second one was better, and somewhat different. Progress.

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Barbara brought me some pictures that she took at the Plein Aire Workshops. I'll add those on my blog, now that I have them scanned. Good thing I scanned them yesterday. A thunderstorm rolled through this morning, so I unplugged the computer. Now, my scanner isn't working-again. Happens everytime I unplug this machine. So far, I've made it work again by unplugging and replugging it in, for a while and, eventually, it starts to work again. A time to get off the computer and do something else, I guess.

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Does anyone remember the old club house at the Bryan Municipal golf course-the little lake with the nice dam? I wish they would build that back. I think I found a picture of one that was in Corsicana that looks something like it, but I'm not sure if I am remembering correctly.

I want to paint the little dam, with that nice clubhouse across the lake, at sunset. I always thought that this was such a nice place to go, as we drove by. At that time of day, we could see the men and ladies, going up the steps, dressed in their formals, going to a dance or event at the clubhouse.

I guess that, if I paint it at sunset, it won't matter a whole lot about what color it was, because it would be in shadow, with the sunset behind it. I seem to remember it as being kind of a light grayish brown brick, with wide steps going up to the second floor in front. I can't remember if that led to a terrace, or if that was covered.

The canvas is ready, have a couple of photos we took of the dam, but I can't find the ones we took when the water was running over the dam a few years ago.

I think I need a little different angle on the dam, though.

Another thing that I have been staring at for a while, and "studying on"! I about decided that it might work better to go sit there and paint on location. But... where would I sit? In the car wash across the street, in the middle of a busy street intersection? That's the place I am trying to paint it from. My photos are all a little too far over so I don't see part of the dam. And, of course, the clubhouse was torn down long ago and replaced with something that looks like a long, low garage for a lot of golf carts. I guess there are clubhouse facilities in there for golfers, too, but, since I don't have an interest in golf, I don't know what is there. It's set back off the street, so you can't see it very well.

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I missed the entry time for the Art Teachers show at the Art Center in College Station. It was Friday, I understand. I had a date of the 30th, but that was when the show opened. Maybe I'll have something ready for the Art League Members Show in June.

Go out to see the Art Teachers show at the Art Center in College Station. I'm sure that there is some very interesting work.

See my sidebar for more information, or check out the calendar on the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley website.

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Chuck Norris is receiving an award tonight at the George Bush Library in College Station. I surely would like to take Ashton to see it. He has been wanting to go to those things, but most things did not seem like something he would be interested in, lately. This one should be great for everyone to see.

We probably won't get to go. You have to get tickets at the MSC on campus, and it's very hard for us to get over there since we don't have a reason to go there. We would have to pay at the parking garage in order to have a place to park, and have to walk over to the MSC, and that is just too much for us. They did have tickets at the Eagle, but now they are saying to go to the MSC for tickets.

Wish Chuck Norris would give my grandsons some lessons!

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Youth Art Month-Linda Lane Sunset

Linda Lane Sunset

6" x 8"

oil

This is another one of the small oil paintings, part of my homework from the Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert. We get to see some really nice sunsets beyond the oak tree and across the open field across the street.

I did this one last week and, already, the new leaves are covering a lot of my view.

As I painted, I used V....Vaughan's limited palette of primary colors, plus white. Which is what you really need to make all the other colors. And I kept in mind what I watched her do as she painted those early morning sunrises in Calvert.

If you are familiar with Harry Ahysen's work, her colors remind me so much of what he used. In his workshops, we asked him what colors he used to get those magnificent pinks and purples. He laughed and said, "Oh, you mean Pepto Bismol Pink and that new Spanish color, Jello!" See, that stuck with me through all these years. I can't remember what he said about purple, though. I think that was stuck in the sentence somewhere.

Ahysen's paintings just glowed, too. I think it was his use of mediums. He mixed 3 mediums together, Grumbacher Medium #3 (or was it #2!), Copal, and something else that I never can remember until I see it in a catalogue. He also used some Liquin.

So far, I've just been using low odor turpentine, as V.... directed when we were outside painting. And I have been using some of the Max II paints, with Bob Ross Titanium White and Cad Yellow Light. I need to use my Liquin before it dries up, like a lot of other things that I have!

We found that the Max II paints dry out a lot faster, especially outside, making them hard to handle at times. I had to use a lot of turnpentine to make them move on the canvas. Otherwise, it was like trying to paint with sticky chewing gum!

The idea of the Max II paints was to keep the odor down since they clean with water instead of turpentine. But, they can be used with any medium or thinner, just like regular oil paints. So, we end up with some fumes anyway.

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I've learned that the circus will be in town on the day of the Sketch Crawl, Saturday April 11. Ringling Brothers will have a one ring circus show with animals and perfomers at Reed Arena, ending on the 11th. They will be here several days before that.

This might be a possibility of a place to draw, at least for a little while, during the Crawl.

Of course, you have to buy a ticket to get into the circus, but there might be an opportunity to just watch from outside and do some sketching of people and any circus performers who happen by. Just a thought.

Let me know if you want to join us for the Sketch Crawl. And if you have some ideas about getting more people involved and where we might work. We're going to start here in downtown Bryan. A group can also start at Mud Creek Pottery in Calvert.

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One more thing about Sketch Crawl. If you would like an official Sketch Crawl t-shirt, they are available on the Sketch Crawl website. http://www.sketchcrawl.com They are not required, but I thought it was a neat idea. There is time to order one if you want one for the event.

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Go over to the Art Center in College Station to see the Art Show of work by area Art Teachers. Look at my sidebar for more information. You can also attend the reception at the Art Center to honor the teachers. Check the Arts Council of Brazos Valley calendar for more information.

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Plan to go downtown Bryan Friday evening for First Friday. Lots of art, music, food, entertainment, and activities are being planned for all to enjoy. Check out the Downtown Bryan Association website and The Frame Gallery website for more information.

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Thanks for reading and sharing!

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Youth Art Month- Spring Sparkle

Spring Sparkle

6" X 8"

oil

This is another of the starts, or homework assignments from the Plein Aire Painting Workshop. I've been watching the bare limbs on the Oak tree and Crepe Myrtle in my yard, fill with tiny leaves and, with the rain, burst into full leaves. This was one afternoon, when the sun put sparkles onto the leaves and the grass. There was a spot of maroon with a sparkle on top of the Crepe Myrtle leaves. Now the bush is full and I can only see the top of the Oak tree, with some yard behind and beside it. The rain did wonders for growing things.

There is a concern, though, about low temperatures harming things like gardens and flowers that people have already planted.

I think of that "Easter Snap"-cold weather for Easter, so it is not all that unusual to have cold weather in spring.

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It looks like another beautiful day in the neighborhood, as Mr. Rogers used to say. Cold and windy, though. I hope that you are getting out and enjoying the Robertson County Fair, the Brazos County Youth Livestock Show, the Physics and Astronomy Open House at the George Bush Library, the Bryan ISD student art show at Bryan High, the Silver Campus cafeteria, or any of the other activities going on today. Maybe you can just get out and enjoy the Bluebonnets.

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The Brazos Valley Art Teachers will be showing work at the Art Center in College Station this month, starting Monday. Be sure to go out and see art work from this group. For more information, see my sidebar, or go to the Arts Council of Brazos Valley website.

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Time to start thinking about Sketch Crawl Saturday April 11th. You can even order an official t-shirt from the website, http://www.sketchcrawl.com. There are people participating in Dallas, North Texas, Waxahachie, Austin, Georgetown, Houston, Calvert, Bryan, and other places in Texas. Also various places around the United States and the world. I hope that you will join in.

You can see pictures and read more about it in my older posts, and on the group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrazosValley_Sketchers or Brazos Valley Sketchers on FaceBook. Also there is information on the Brazos Valley Art League and Arts Council website, KAMU, the Eagle, KBTX tv, etc.

Let's plan to draw the Brazos Valley this time!

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National Youth Art Month- My Chick

Loose Rooster

8" x 10"

oil

Another painting from the workshop. I added a few touches to my rooster and am calling it finished. This was done during the "Chicken Clinic" portion of the plein aire painting workshop in Calvert with Virginia Vaughan in February.

The "Chicken Clinic" is an exercise, designed to "loosen up". So this rooster, and the others in the group, were painted fast and loose.

Scroll down and you can see the earlier posts that show us painting during the "Chicken Clinic" and the results displayed in the show window of Mud Creek Pottery in Calvert.

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Nancy Standlee has two watercolors of a couple of roosters, done in a workshop in Granbury, Texas, on her blog today. You can find a link to her blog by clicking on her name in my sidebar.

Nice watercolors, Nancy!

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Greta Watkins has been working on a series of portraits of people she knows in downtown Bryan. These are going to be part of a show at Art 979 and the Village Cafe in downtown Bryan opening June 5. This is going to be part of the Art Step/Art Walk. Art 979 and the Village Cafe are online and are located at 210 W. 26th Street in Bryan. You can see some of Greta's portraits online and on her FaceBook page.

Another little tidbit about Art 979 and the Village Cafe. I've read that they have Swing Dancing on Wednesday evenings. Now that sounds like a lot of fun! Something to watch, now, although it used to be a lot of fun in my younger days!

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The Brazos Valley Art League spring judged show at the Art Center in College Station is ending. Next up there is the Art Teachers show. See my sidebar for more information.

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Join my list of Followers, subscribe to my blog, sign my Guest Book, and pass this on to others who might be interested. Thank you for reading!

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March is National Youth Art Month

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For those of you on my e-mail, I apologize if you happened to get this twice. It didn't seem to send, so I pressed Send again, and it looks like it went to some addresses twice. I apologize. Computer mysteries!

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Painting The Eloia in Calvert

This was my view of Main Street during the architectural session of the Plein Aire Painting Workshop with V....Vaughan in February. This was a spot where I spent a lot of time during my life, watching the traffic on Highway 6, people on the sidewalk, and the picture show, the Eloia. If I was going to the show, I watched to see if it was time to go yet. If I was undecided about going, I might have watched for my friends. I could see who was going into the show, see what was playing, and when they rolled out the popcorn machine, ready for customers. I had a good view of a place that I loved to spend time, the Eloia.
The Eloia was named for Miss Eloise, Carl Allday's wife. Miss Eloise, with her red hair and pale skin, sat in the ticket booth selling tickets while Carl and their son ran the projector, sold popcorn, and made sure that everyone was behaving in the theatre.
During the workshop, I had a good view of the theatre, from a spot that had sentimental attachment for me, and it was warm and out of the wind!

This was my start during the workshop. I took a photograph so that I could finish my painting later. Also, on this small canvas, it was important to focus on one area and not the whole block. My thoughts were on the theatre and afternoon matinees on the weekend, and night time shows when the neon lights reflected on the building and the street.

At home, I added the clear blue sky that we experienced that afternoon and started cleaning up some areas. Darkening the north side wall of the theatre was something else that I decided to do. I thought a purple wash over the greenish wall might make it look more gray, like the concrete that it is made of.

Almost finished- I decided to keep this fairly Impressionistic and not add in all the little details of decorations, windows, and such. I like the way that the reflection and shadows in areas, like under the overhang of the old hardware store, give the impression of windows and woodwork. I just hinted at some of these things.

Finished- I think! I debated about adding in things like people, the Eloia sign that isnt' there anymore, and the popcorn machine. Probably that means another painting with the older features. I noticed that the current awning on the old hardware store on the left, doesn't let people see the windows that used to be above the overhang. Years ago, the hardware store had an overhang that was level with the one over the Eloia. It also had some pull down awnings, with green and white stripes.

This is an 8" x 10" oil painting on a canvas board. The finished painting is for sale.

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I thought you might like to see the different stages of this painting. Virginia has a link to my blog and the story of the workshop on her blog today. So, I wanted to show what my painting looks like, finished. It does look better than the scan, to me.

http://www.v-vaughan.com or http://www.vvaughan.blogspot.com

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Spring Break is winding up here. The last weekend for going to the beach, traveling, having fun somewhere, or just catching up on rest and sleep.

For me, I'm glad that the British comedies are going to be back on tv tonight after weeks of fundraising by Houston PBS. I'm looking forward to an evening of "Last of the Summer Wine", "Keeping Up Appearances", and Are You Being Served", along with a pan broiled chicken breat and a baked potato.

I spent a lot of this Saturday putting gesso on some canvases and cleaning my turpentine bottles. My gesso was almost dried, but I was able to add water and stir to make it spreadable again. That also meant clearing the island in the kitchen , spreading out newspapers, and carrying all my materials into the kitchen. I needed to prepare a couple of larger (16" x 20") canvases, and finish the package of 8" x 10" canvases that I bought for the workshop in February. I like a smoother canvas and don't care for the textured look of the rough canvas, when it is scanned. It's a little harder to work on, I think, as well. Those Dalhart Windberg canvases, that have layers of gesso and are sanded smooth, sound like they might be nice to work on.

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Thank you for signing my Guest Book and subscribing to my blog!

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Plan to join in the 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl Saturday April 11, 2009!

http://www.sketchcrawl.com
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Robertson County Fair

Hearne, Texas
March 26-30

Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert IX

More Photos from the Plein Aire Painting Workshop

with V....Vaughan

Calvert, Texas

February 21, 2009

Top Photo- The Eloia theatre on Main Street-my start. The two buildings on each side of the theatre, the old Allen Hardware Store and the bank, now the Boll Weevil antique shop, are both green. I thought I was using a lot of beige tones on the Eloia, which is white, but it seemed to look green still. I was looking at the buildings from inside Mud Creek Pottery. This was once my grandfather's dry goods store, Conitz Dry Goods. I spent a lot of hours during my life, looking out this show window as you can read about in previous posts. So this view was special. It was also warm and out of the north wind! This was the point where I stopped as we moved on to paint the sunset. Since then, I have done more on the painting, which I will show in another post.

Second Photo- Barbara's painting of the Masonic Lodge. This building is across Main Street, or Highway 6, from Mud Creek Pottery. Barbara painted it as it is today, without the triangular shape and pole on top of the facade. You can see a bit of the Calvert Hotel across the railroad tracks, behind the Lodge building, in her painting. This is Barbara's photo.

Third Photo- Kerrie's photo of the start of her painting of the Masonic Lodge building. I like the way that she showed the building with her painting in front of it. Looks great, Kerrie!

Fourth Photo- We packed up our equipment at Mud Creek Pottery and headed for the an open area where we could watch the sunset. We intended to paint the sunset, and possibly the moonrise, if we could see it. Barbara selected the road near the Country Club where we could see the sunset, and the light across some weeds that seemed to glow.

But, as it worked out , V.... did another demonstration of painting the sunset, in a cold wind. The rest of us watched, wrapped up in our blankets and coats, and huddled together against cars. That north wind was cold! But we learned as we watched V.... deal with the elements and paint. Due to the nature of the sun going down fast, and the wind blowing things around, V.... chose to not use her easel, but just held her canvas and worked from her palette on the ground.

She is more experienced at working fast and knowing her palette well, which is an advantage in such paintings.

Fifth Photo- Virginia's finished painting of the sunset on the Country Club Road west of Calvert. It's amazing that she could do this while fighting a north wind and the cold. She didn't even seek shelter behind a car, like the rest of us, but only had the protection of her coat while she stood out in the road to paint.

We were startled when a car came down this road, looking like it was heading straight for us. Fortunately, there was a curve and we were on a different road off of the main road, so the car disappeared around the curve beside us!

Thanks to Barbara, Kerrie, and Virginia for use of their photos to help tell the story of the workshop. Now, don't you want to get out and paint something too!?!

Virginia has more workshops coming up, and we plan to have another one in Calvert in October. You can contact me for the one in Calvert, and also about Sketch Crawl April 11. See V....'s blog or website for her workshops and shows in other places. http://www.v-vaughan.com/ or http://www.vvaughan.blogspot.com/ . http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrazosValley_Sketchers or the group on FaceBook, Brazos Valley Sketchers .

Ending the Workshop

Sixth Photo- After the sun set, we ended the day with supper at the Dixie Cafe in Hearne. Not the best photo, but it helps to tell the story of the workshop day. Barbara and Kerrie are in this picture, as everyone finished eating and visited.

Seventh Photo- Sonny and Virginia conversing after eating in the Dixie Cafe in Hearne.

Eighth Photo- We had talked of painting on Sunday morning, but, with a forecast of 27 degrees we decided against it. The morning was glorious, though, with sun streaming across wide lawns in the quiet little town. I took the bottom photo through my bedroom window, that's why you see the screen.

We packed our cars and drove to Zamykal Gourmet Kolache shop on Main Street for breakfast. Jody was busy since the program about her on "Texas Country Reporter" was on the morning before and this morning, too. We enjoyed eating our kolaches and visiting with people who came in the shop. And Barbara and V.... took the tour of the shop, while I visited with Pat R.'s wife.

I am hopeful that Reba's research on the old families of Calvert can be found and published, as she had planned before her death.

After breakfast and visiting, we all went our separate ways and headed for home.

It was a very nice, productive weekend, workshop, and experience. And we had it all, in the way of weather conditions to paint and enjoy!

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Scroll down to see previous posts about the beginning of the Plein Aire Painting Workshop.

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Go out to the Robertson County Fair next week in Hearne. I know that the young people are working hard to get their entries in the fair ready to show, and the adults are ready to enter work in such things as the art show, needlework, cooking, etc.

The carnival is always fun, too. Hope that the weather stays nice for them.

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Thank you for reading and sharing!

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Happy Spring!

Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert VIII

Painting on Main Street

Calvert, Texas

Plein Aire Painting Workshop with V....Vaughan

Saturday February 21, 2009

Top Photo- (by Barbara)-V.... shows Toni how to look through a view finder, made with the hand, to isolate parts of a subject when drawing or painting. This was taken on the south side of the Mud Creek Pottery building, out of the north wind of a new cold front.

Second Photo- After lunch at the Wooden Spoon, we returned to Mud Creek Pottery, moved our equipment, to do some painting on location on Main Street. This time, architecture was the subject. Clear blue skies were such a change from the morning clouds. But colder temperatures and a little wind, made painting a challenge. Most of the group set up on the south side of the building, making some protection from the wind. In this picture, Kerrie and Barbara set up on the street, behind a retaining wall, and painted the Masonic Lodge across the street. In this photo, you can see part of the old brick streets in the cross walk.

Third Photo- SuZan set up her French easel on the sidewalk on the south side of the building.

Fourth Photo- Despite the protection from the building, SuZan still battled a little breeze. You can tell from the way her paper towels are blowing!

Fifth Photo- Toni selected a bench on the south side of Mud Creek Pottery to do her architectural painting.

Sixth Photo- This was the view that I selected. Through the show windows of Mud Creek Pottery! I really thought that others might join me to stay out of the wind, but they all ended up going outside. I had already moved my things to this spot and didn't want to move again, while others were moving outside.

I painted in comfort from a place where I spent a lot of hours during my life. When this was my grandfather's dry goods store, I spent a lot of time, looking out these windows, decorating the windows, watching people on the street and the cars passing on Highway 6, and, especially, watching the Eloia (the picture show) to see if it was time to go to the show or who might be going when it opened. It's still sad to see it closed. My focus was on the old theatre, which has been closed for years, another place where I spent a lot of time during my life.

V.... talked with me about my choice and we discussed focusing on the lower part, more than the whole scene. I had decided to just indicate the two buildings on each side, the old bank and the old Allen Hardware store, and focus on the Eloia.

Wish they would restore the Eloia to the way it was when it was rebuilt after the fire in the 1940s. It had all the latest features, back then-just before wide screen came in.

Another thing that I spent a lot of time doing in this spot, was straightening underwear boxes and displays, sitting on the floor of the show window, putting on pin tickets and stringing handkerchiefs. Toot used to sit on the show window ledge and write letters when there were no customers. I liked to get behind the counter when we had to do inventory, while others were counting merchandise in other parts of the store. Grandpa would wrap the inside cardboard from bolts of material with butcher paper and we would write on those. When we finished, he would take all the boards to the desk in the back of the store, and transfer all that to one of the books. I liked counting the boxes of hose and socks, behind that counter, where I could watch out the show window and dream while I counted.

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Here's an interesting site. Margaret loves to sew and create! If you need jeans or other things altered, or if you need a cute creation, or something monogramed. Margaret is the person to call. I'm going to put a link to her website in my sidebar under The Jeans Lady.

http://thejeanslady.com/ .

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It won't be long until the 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl! There is some discussion about it on various blogs and lists. The big day is Saturday April 11, 2009. I hope that you will join in. It really makes a nice day.

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I'm trying to decide if I should add the sign that used to be on the Eloia theatre in Calvert, or leave it off as it looks today. I like to do things the way that I remember them, when they were at their best. But, on my painting, I have the slanted awning on the old hardware store, the way it is today. In older pictures, that awning is flat and flows into the overhang at the Eloia, with windows above the overhang in the hardware store.

I thought it should, perhaps, have life, with people, and the popcorn machine. But, maybe, that is another picture. Decisions.

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Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert V

V....Vaughan Painting The Sunrise

Calvert, Texas

February 21, 2009

Here is another group of 5 pictures from the Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert Saturday February 21, 2009.

Top Photo- V.... Explains. Light is a very important part of Vaughan's work.

Second and Third Photos - V.... smiled as she told of her recent experience while she was doing a Paint Out in South Carolina. The wind kicked up and she had to grab her painting equipment. As she did, her turp can fell off her palette and rolled down an alligator slide and into the water. She reached, with her non-painting hand, into the water to retrieve her first-ever turp can. She thought of the alligators and quickly removed her hand from the water. She lost her can. She advised that the alligators don't like to feed when it's cold, so they just sat there, not moving. Quite an experience!

Fourth Photo- Side view of V.... painting just north of Calvert.

Fifth Photo- The finished painting. This is V....'s painting of the sunrise in oils. You can see more about it, and the price, on her website at http://v-vaughan.com/ or her blog at http://vvaughan.blogspot.com/ .

This completes the series of pictures from the sunrise painting demonstration.

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After our sunrise experience, we packed up and went back to Calvert and moved our painting things into Mud Creek Pottery on Main Street. We set up our easels inside, just as the wind started to blow and the rain fell with the cold front moving in. Our timing was just right!

We spent the morning in Mud Creek Pottery, painting and getting instruction from V.... It was a perfect place to work with lots of room and light from the big windows. And, of course, it was warm and dry. A real plus on that day.

You can check out V....'s website and blog to see her upcoming workshops and shows. She has a couple that are going to be several days long in some very interesting places. We are talking about having the next plein aire workshop in Calvert with Vaughan in October.

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If you use FaceBook, and are from Robertson County, Texas, there is a group for you! I just found it late this afternoon. Now we need something for Calvert!

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Thanks to Barbara and V.... for letting me use some of their pictures on my blog to help tell the story of our day of painting in Calvert. If anyone else has some to share, I would be glad to use them-especially if you have pictures of the work you did that day.

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The 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl is coming up Saturday April 11th. Hope that you will be joining in- where ever you are. http://www.sketchcrawl.com/ .

If you are interested in drawing, painting, etc. in the Brazos Valley area, you might like to join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrazosValley_Sketchers , or Brazos Valley Sketchers on FaceBook.

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If you want to start a Sketch Crawl in your community, that would be great! I'll be glad to answer any questions, or you can just check out the Sketch Crawl website.

Locally, we are planning to meet at Mud Creek Pottery in Calvert or the LaSalle Hotel in downtown Bryan. Register with Greta Watkins at the Frame Gallery in Bryan.

It's Free! And open to everyone. Sketch, draw, paint, journal, or doodle, alone or in a group.

It really is a nice day!

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I will be so glad when the British comedies return to their time on Saturday nights on PBS after these weeks of fund raising. I think that "East Enders" will return this Sunday night. I'm watching the re-run of Glen Beck's special program instead of "Last of The Summer Wine", "Keeping Up Appearances", and "Are You Being Served". I wish they would bring back "As Time Goes By" and "Monarch of the Glen". It's like missing an old friend when my programs are not on!

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Plein Aire Workshop in Calvert III

Photos from the Plein Aire Painting Workshop

with V....Vaughan

Calvert, Texas

February 21, 2009

These are more photos from the sunrise painting demonstration by V....Vaughan during the Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert in February. These were taken while Vaughan painted the sunrise in oils. The location was on Sunnyside Road just north of Calvert. To see the first photos from the workshop, scroll down to the earlier posts.

Top Photo- V.... Vaughan paints the sunrise.

Second Photo- The sun began to peek just over the hill below the clouds.

Third Photo-Clouds gathered ahead of a cold front moving in from the north.

Fourth Photo-The sun rose over the little hill, between the clouds and the earth.

Fifth Photo- Clouds formed this spectacular radiating pattern as workshop participants watched in awe.

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Rain! We finally got some rain! More to come, along with temperatures in the 40s. Before the rain began, we had two power outages. The first was not connected to the weather. We haven't heard about the second outage, yet.

What do you do when the lights to out? I can't sleep without the tv, so I had to find something to entertain myself. I had an urge to paint something! But, I'm not as experienced as V...., who has memorized her palette and can paint in the dark! I had candles set up on a stool by my bed, along with my Sprite, and a cup of ice cream I had started before the lights went out.

So, I got my sketchbook and a Pitt pen, and did a Blind Contour drawing of my candles. This was really a Blind Contour because I couldn't see my paper! The first time I have ever tried to do that.

In Blind Contour drawing, you look only at the subject you are drawing and use a continuous line to draw the outside edges. The trick is to not look at your paper.

The drawings usually don't come out looking like beautiful finished work. But they do teach you to observe and focus on your subject.

I cheated some on my candle drawing, though, because the lights came back on. I did some finishing from memory instead of focusing on my subject.

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Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert I

Plein Aire Painting Photos

Calvert, Texas

February, 2009

I wanted to add these pictures as a slide show, but, since I still have not been able to get the Slide Show feature to work, since last October, I am just going to add a few pictures from the workshop in Calvert, a few at a time.

Here is the story from Friday February 20-Sunday February 22.

Top Photo- After watching my grandson get an award at his school, Barbara and I packed my things in her car and traveled to Calvert. Our presenter, the artist V....Vaughan, was scheduled to arrive that night, after she watched her son play baseball. We settled in and got our painting things ready to go out before sunrise on Saturday morning. Barbara cooked supper, as shown in the top picture.

Second Photo- One of the staples that we always had on our menu when we were growing up. Goulash! Our goulash consists of ground meat, onions, and canned tomatoes with a little salt and pepper, with a little water added for juice. Sometimes, we add in things like corn, bell pepper, macaroni, and even biscuits on top. This is basically the same way that we made spaghetti sauce, too. This picture shows a pan with the goulash, before a can of tomatoes was added. Sure was good!

Third Photo- On Saturday morning, we went out in the dark, to the same place where we had painted in October, but a little different view. This was just north of Calvert on Sunnyside Road. In this picture, V.... was setting up her equipment for her demonstration of painting the sunrise.

Fourth Photo- V.... paints the sunrise while Barbara and Toni watch. Sonny was watching the sky, and V.... painting.

Bottom Photo- Barbara brought kolaches from Zamykal Gourtmet Kolache shop in Calvert for participants to enjoy while V.... painted. Always delicious!

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If anyone at the workshop finished their painting started in Calvert, and you would like to share it on my blog, just send it along and I'll be glad to add it. I know that they all looked good!

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Also, V.... assigned homework, so be sure to be working on that!

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We are talking about the next workshop taking place next October in Calvert. And, in between that time, V... will be conducting workshops in other places. Look at her website and her blog for schedules. http://www.v-vaughan.com and http://www.vvaughan.blogspot.com

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If you are interested in drawing, painting, etc. in the Brazos Valley area, I hope that you will consider joining the group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrazosValley_Sketchers. For convenience, I added a Join button at the top of my sidebar. The next thing coming up is the 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl Saturday April 11, 2009. There is a similar group, Brazos Valley Sketchers, on Facebook.

I hope that we can get these things started all over the Brazos Valley, in each community. If you would like to be a contact person, or start a group, or if you would like to join us in Bryan or Calvert, let me know. I registered for Bryan/College Station/Calvert/the Brazos Valley area on the Forum at http://www.sketchcrawl.com. There are other cities and countries listed there including Houston and Georgetown. I know they have a group in Austin, too.

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I'm thinking that we need to do another rain dance! We need rain. It looks like some might be coming, later in the week. We should be prepared for drought as it happens in our area, along with other years of plentiful rainfall. The worst I remember was in the 1950s. That wasn't all that far removed from the time of the Dust Bowl. A really terrible time.

I'm amazed at people talking about snowfall and ice, since it has been so warm, and, of course, dry, here. Supposedly, it will get a bit colder with this next front. The important thing, though, is going to be moisture.

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Calvert Bank

Plein Aire Painting on Main Street in Calvert, Texas. Artists Virginia Vaughan and Barbara discuss painting while participants spread out to paint. This is from where I was sitting in a doorway behind me, out of the wind. You can see part of the bank across the street, with the green canopy. I lightened the photo some so the background colors seem to be a bit washed out.

Main Street, Calvert, Texas from Zamykal Kolache Shop. The bank is on the opposite corner from Larry's Place (Dr. Wade's old office). During the Plein Aire Painting Workshop, some people worked on the balcony upstairs, while others worked on the street corner or across the street. I chose to do the bank from the corner view, along with what was once Mack Rembardt's Furniture Store, with the curved metal overhang. This was just one of several banks that we once had in Calvert.

This was my start at painting the bank on location, or en plein aire. I was struggling with a borrowed French easel that I had not used before and couldn't really figure out what to do with my palette. And, of course, I had to stop and visit a while. As we packed up to go paint the sunset, my "helper", got the palette, with wet paint, jammed into the French easel while closing it incorrectly, we learned. So, I lost the colors that I was using at the time, not to mention causing a big problem in trying to get the palette loose.

The shadows were long across the street at that time of day.

I had been interested, for years, in painting the orange bricks of the bank, with the sunset reflecting in the windows. I'm getting closer! I thought that this study might help toward that end , eventually.

I liked my trees and the hints of windows on the bank. I wasn't too happy with the dark sky, though. I would have carried it out, if I had not lost that color when the palette was cleaned. Since I had to start over with color, I tried for a Cerulean Blue sky that we often see in Texas. I liked that much better to keep the painting light. The darker blue worked well for the shadow on the building and the highway.

This was the next phase of the painting that I did at home. I lightened the sky and added some soft clouds, tried to straighten the edges of the buildings , the sidewalk, and the steps. The uneven edges of the street beside the curb bothered me, but I liked what was happening with the bricks and the highway in front of me. I found some photos of the bank because I knew I was going to need to look at something to put in the overhang and all those windows. I think I made the door too wide, and, with my weird vision, I could have sworn that there was a small curve in between the top facade and the top line of building. When I examined the photos, that small curve is not there, so I had to take that out. and work on the white line around the tops of the buildings.

Amost finished. I'm down to using a toothpick to do the tiny details on the painting! I had to really gather my patience to do all those windows! (I don't think I have a lot of patience!)

This part was dry so I could scan it. Since then, I have added a distant oak tree on the right behind the building. And I added some darker green to indicate the letters on the sign and clock. Like the metal scrollwork under the metal awning, I used a toothpick to add the darker green on the sign and the final tree.

I still plan to use some white for letters on the sign-I think. The green needs to dry a bit before I do that.

I decided to leave off the green canopy over the bank entrance. I think that is a more recent addition. For some reason, when I go to Calvert to sketch or paint, I'm trying to capture the buildings as they were-as I remember them. It's really hard to make myself record the buildings as they are-or even look at them as they are today.
When the finished painting is dry, I will post that, too.

This painting is 7" x 9" and was done in oils.

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I hope that you will join us at the next Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert Saturday February 21 and Sunday February 22. Remember that V.... is a finalist for Texas State Artist, so we will be working with one of Texas' outstanding artists.

Let me know if you are interested.

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Congratulations!!!

Local author, Kathi Appelt, has been named as one of the Newberry Award winners for her book, "The Underneath". This is such an honor. You can click on Kathi's name in my sidebar under Artists and Authors, and that will take you to her website.

I'm so thrilled for Kathi!

Kathi was instrumental in getting the BVSCBWI chapter started here. (That's Brazos Valley Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators). The national chapter is SCBWI.

And she has come a long way in her own career as a published author, speaker, and workshop presenter.

She is a very special, fun, and nice lady, too! Continued success, Kathi!

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