The Booty

Finally. My wife and I are going to get back out to Canton, Texas for 1st Monday Trade Days. It is the largest outdoor flea market in the U.S. and is about an hour east of Dallas. We haven't been out there in about 2 years or so. They have more stuff than you can shake a stick at. They have tons of antiques, crafts, food, junk, collectibles, and art. It can literally take days to see it all. We're heading down tomorrow morning without the kids to shop til we drop. We've got a pretty good grasp on the place so we know a good route to follow once we are inside the gates. I look for collectibles, materials for art projects, and unique trinkets. My wife likes the home decor stuff and antiques. Don't get me wrong there is a ton of crap there too......you got to know when move on. I'll fill y'all in on the trinkets we pick up this weekend.

I discovered Kelly Willis back in college probably around 1993. I immediately was hooked on her sound. I bought her back albums and began to go see her live whenever she came in town. I've probably seen her live about 10 times. I could go on and on with stories about run ins with her at shows and stupid things I've said to her.....but I won't. My wife can attest to that. She did ask me for the time once at Gruene Hall amidst hundreds of fans......we had a moment. Seriously though, Kelly Willis has the best voice in music in my opinion....raspy, twangy, & soulful. I don't listen to many female singers, but Kelly Willis is my all time favorite and probably always will be. She is married to another one of my favorite singer/songwriters - Bruce Robison. This album, What I Deserve is a good one! You won't hear Kelly on the radio....she doesn't fit the crappy Nashville mold....thank goodness. Check her out, you will not be disappointed.

When I used to teach Texas History to 7th graders a few years back, I would always discuss the Mystery Lights of Marfa during our Mountains and Basins unit. The kids loved it! Most had never heard of them and it really seemed to interest them. The whole mystery aspect is very appealing to 7th graders. The last time I went out to Marfa I made sure to make 2 trips out to the viewing area. It's so cool! There is a real nice viewing area set up on Highway 90 between Marfa and Alpine. You basically show up around sunset and look out at the horizon towards the south....and wait....and wait. Most people think that they see the lights....but they are car lights from highway 67. You can tell that they are car lights because they follow the same pattern....every time! Also, ranchers had reported seeing these lights before cars were invented. It's hilarious to see the tourist ooohing and aaahing over the car lights. If you are lucky enough....you will see the real thing. Which I think I did. I saw something out there around 11 PM. There were only a few of us there because it was late and it was cold!.....but we saw a flash of lights stretch out along the horizon....and we all kind of looked at each other in disbelief. This is an absolute must when you visit! It is really neat. Sometimes you see them and sometimes you don't. To read more about them....check out the link above.

It's always to fun to finish a piece. I finally finished "Bird" this afternoon. It is a mixed media piece on a 20" x 20" gallery wrapped canvas. I decided to transfer the words bird, fly, sky, and soar in the blank spaces to balance it out some. Then using a combination of acrylic paint and oil pastels I finished off the color scheme. I went with a triadic scheme focusing on the primary colors with some subtle accent colors in the corners. I am very pleased with how it turned out. This is a gift for my mother-in law from my father-in law. Her birthday isn't until late March.......so no procrastinating here. I am now very excited about beginning some new projects using the same methods. I'll post them as I start them up. SOLD

This is an older piece I did while I was experimenting with the transfer techniques of Jonathon Talbot. I took an old book page and made a transfer of a photo I took of Gruene Hall from my hometown - New Braunfels, Texas...actually Gruene.....and sandwiched them together. I cut out a couple of characters from a magazine and glued them down as well.....covering their eyes with the names of some of my favorite Texas performers (Bruce and Willie). I really like how this one turned out! I am about to do some more work like this very soon on a larger scale, and more as a background for some of my upcoming paintings. We'll see how it goes.

This is a watercolor painting that I did a while back at a watercolor class I took at the local community college. It was a one week course that met 3 hours every night for a week. It was a really cool class. I picked up some new techniques from our very talented instructor. This image is from an adobe church in New Mexico. Watercolor painting is something I really enjoy. I haven't done too many watercolor paintings lately as I've been focusing on my large scale acrylic paintings. I've got 4 commission pieces lined up in the near future. So, I'll keep y'all up to speed on those as I begin the brainstorming process.

Favorite song lyric with the word President in it: "So we tripped the lights fantastic, we were both made of elastic, midnight came, and midnight went, and I thought I was the President. She said, "Do you have a car," and I said, "Do I have a car?" "Barrier Reef" - Too Far To Care - Old 97's

Favorite President - Sam Houston - Republic of Texas - 1836-1838 & 1841-1844

You want change?? I may change the format a bit on this blog and open it up to some new topics. Stay posted.

This is a shot I took on one of the most scenic drives in Texas, "The River Road". From Marfa you go south on highway 67 through Shafter on down to Presidio. Once in Presidio, you are on the Mexican border. Presidio is really desolate and not very scenic. We ate at an awesome Mexican restaurant in Presidio for breakfast. From Presidio you head southeast on highway 170. It basically hugs the Rio Grande river. You go by the entrance of Big Bend Ranch State Park, not to be confused with Big Bend National Park which is a little further down the road. Highway 170 will take through Lajitas, Terlingua, and end at Study Butte ( Big Bend National Park entrance). If you are ever down this way, make sure you take "The River Road" and see a part of Texas very few get to witness.

The Chinati Foundation is a contemporary art museum located in Marfa, Texas conceived and founded by the late artist Donald Judd. It is known in the art world as the largest public museum for the permanent installation of sculpture in the world. The non-profit museum opened to the public in 1986. It was Judd’s goal at Chinati to bring art, architecture, and nature together in order to form a coherent whole. People come from all over the world to view the work here. Check out their website for all the current installations.

Today I was wanting some input from y'all. I've been keeping all the bottle caps off the bottles I've had for about 2 years. A friend of mine named Seth W. kind of inspired me to do it. Seth had made a cool piece of art using his caps, kind of a colorful mosaic piece.....so I figured I'd help out his cause and save some for him. Since then I figured he probably could manage to build up his own little stash rather quickly......and I have decided to keep them for myself. Sorry Seth. I have some ideas about what I want to do with them, but I wanted to see if anyone else had any better ideas. Whenever I begin making something with them, I will for sure post pictures of the results. Let the ideas flow!

Here is a painting that I did about a year ago. It was my first attempt of a painting on the large canvas. The canvas is 24" x 36". It was something that I had wanted to do for a while.....a bold colorful painting. Of course the subject matter was easy for me......something old and rusty. I looked up old signs online and found a couple of images of this Los Alamitos Motel sign. I had to make some changes and cropped most of the pole out. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I used a technique called under painting on this one to get the worn and peeling paint effect. I surprisingly knocked this one out in just a few hours of work. Since then, I have finished another large painting of a motel sign. Scroll down.....Lido Motel More large scale paintings are on the horizon. Aaron Brothers is in the middle of their buy a canvas and get one for a penny sale. I'm gonna try and stock up on some. I've also got some gift certificates from Christmas to burn through at select art supply stores. Contact me for more information or click below if you would like to purchase this original painting. Price $600.00

I know, I know.......but it's so good. I can listen to this CD at anytime. I'm really not a huge fan of much of their newer stuff.....I mean it's okay. I especially like to listen to this CD during the spring and summer or when I'm thinking of the spring or summer. Cubs baseball on WGN @ 1:20 comes to mind. It was a great staple in the last years of college and still one of my all time favorites. Favorite songs: "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" , "Say It Ain't So" & " In The Garage". I like em' all actually.