Andy Warhol's "Factory" again . . .

Lots of rain today. So I chose not to go to Waxahachie's Plein Aire (my first absence since it began last Friday). Instead I spent the entire afternoon and evening printing about 60 art image greeting cards, a few more reproductions, then matted and shrinkrapped over a dozen works for this weekend's show. I was in the full-bore factory production mode again, channeling Andy Warhol. I played one of his documentary videos while I worked in the dining room. The communion was sweet, and I'm still saddened by his passing, over 20 years later.

Skimpy Accounting for the day

Well . . . I had to return to the classroom today, and then do some business for my back-to-back festivals this coming weekend. So I didn't get to the plein aire event until late this afternoon, and did not paint long before heavy cloud cover obliterated the quality light. I barely got started on a grain elevator behind the feed store (but spent nearly an hour drawing it before I began painting). All this to say that there is nothing worthy of a photo record.

However, I did meet two fascinating oil painters at the same location. Both are extremely talented in their work, and one of them I found to be very engaging in philosophic and aesthetic discourse. I think I've found an incredible colleague with whom I can discuss ideas openly. I look forward to meeting these men tomorrow.

Today, the third day of the Waxahachie "Paint Out," I finally got to see many other artists at work, and spend some time conversing with them. Here are a few selected shots of them, along with the two watercolors I completed today. The old house reminded me of the wonderful Andrew Wyeth drybrush works, and I tried really hard to capture some of that technique (tried--I'll go to my grave wondering how Wyeth rendered some of his paint-peeled siding the way he did). The other painting is the abandoned rails found near the Feed Store I painted yesterday. I was smitten with the deep darkness of the forest beyond (even though it was about 1:30 in the afternoon), and tried to capture the contrasting deep interior with the sunwashed weeds in the foreground and canopy of leaves above. Of course, I always balk at painting pure landscape, so here are the technological intrusions of rails, utility poles and power lines.

It was another rewarding day for painting. The sun didn't get too awfully hot, and my motivation remained, even when the hours stretched into the later afternoon.

Day Two of Waxahachie's Plein Aire event

The day began at 10:00 with a 90-minute "Quick Draw" featuring 35 artists on the courthouse square. At noon, the paintings were auctioned. I found the ninety minutes extremely challenging, though I felt relaxed enough to chat with one of the onlookers for about 15 minutes or so (I guess I wasn't so uptight after all). At any rate, the time was over in a hurry, and I was happy that my painting sold. I did photograph it before releasing it.

There were many fabulous paintings created in this brief space of time. I couldn't believe the speed and skill I witnessed from these painters today.

After the auction, I moved away from the town square and gave a few of the afternoon hours to painting the local feed store. Three hours and 8 bottles of water later, I decided to call it a day. I'm exhausted, but cannot wait until tomorrow.

End of Day One at Waxahachie Plein Aire event

I feel too exhausted to blog, but I really believe in this, so here goes. Rose at 6:00, taught school till 12:20, then loaded the Jeep and headed to Waxahachie to register for the Paint-Out, and then go to the square to scout a subject for water coloring. I found it--The 1879 Chisholm Grill. I began at 3:00 and ended at 6:00, when the courthouse bell tolled behind me. The weather was a delicious 88 degrees, I sat in the shade of a huge tree, and time evaporated as I stared at the restaurant and tried to capture it on paper. All the while, I enjoyed fabulous conversations with onlookers, including a couple of women from Arlington and Fort Worth (always nice to have people from back home say "hello"). Also met some of the other painters, including two women from Grandbury who had give part of the day to painting the railroad depots nearby.

Here are some photos of my painting station. I'm glad the Paint Out started so positively. Now I need some sleep, so I can go after it again tomorrow!

Channeling Andy Warhol and his Factory

It's getting closer to showtime. A week from Saturday, I begin my back-to-back festival participation, with my booth set up in Mansfield, then Waxahachie. Since I leave tomorrow to begin the plein aire event, I'll have only evenings to mat and shrinkwrap my art work.

This evening, I dragged out the mat cutter and various materials, and decided to put on the video documentary Warhol: Portrait of an Artist. I've always been amused at his reference to "The Factory"--the converted hat factory where he produced all his silkscreens and various reproductions. As showtime neared, Andy went into "factory mode" and his items were all "factory made." Listening to the documentary play while I cut mats for a stack of prints of my watercolors was a rewarding experience, and it certainly moved the time by much more efficiently. After days and days of painting and sketching, it is nice to take an evening off from that, and just enjoy the "factory" experience.

Thanks Andy. Life isn't the same in the commercial art world without you. We miss you.

My Waxahachie Painting has been Published

This could be good timing. I certainly didn't see it coming, but I'll take it! The Country Register has just come out, with my watercolor titled "Waxahachie Blue"on the cover. The publishers have given me several hundred issues to distribute while I'm painting in Waxahachie, and later from my booth at the Gingerbread Trail Arts & Crafts Festival.

Anxieties are trying to creep up behind me. In 48 hours, I begin my week-long plein aire "paint out" at historic Waxahachie, followed immediately by back-to-back festivals, Saturday in Mansfield and Sunday back in Waxahachie. The booth set-up and break-down between the consecutive events will in itself be maddening. And of course, throughout this I will be finishing out the last week of school. I know--it sounds like a suicide course, but I just did not want to pass on this opportunity of "total immersion" in the arts. Such opportunities are extremely rare. School isn't. So Idecided to say "Yes" to the art schedule, and expect it to be sublime.

I have no regrets that I am a part-time artist and full-time teacher. Both worlds feed each other, and inspiration for me seldom runs dry. I'll take it. Frankly, I don't maximize my time when I have it in abundance. If I were a full-time artist, no doubt I would be filling gaps in my lean schedule with time-wasters, instead of pushing out paintings with a passion. The painting tends to come on strong when I have to struggle to steal time and do it.