house on a hill

The typical American McMansion, blissfully stamping its carbon footprint from sea to shining sea.

Wimberley Valley

Quick location sketches around Wimberley.

The making of a painted sign

I was commissioned to paint a sign for Taste Buds, a unique and fun specialty food shop in Wimberley. There are all sorts of salsas and hot sauces. There are traditional and spicy jams and candies. Lots of unique dips and a huge selection of crackers and chips to pile your tasty treats on top of. The fun part is the taste samples of goodies throughout the shop. The sign is for the wine and beer side of the store. This final, approved drawing is the beginning of the process.

I’ve always preferred to paint large pieces outside. It’s great to live in a rural area to have the space for this. I have this “rustic” setup behind the barn, next to what used to be the blacksmiths’ shed. I use it for storage. My table is fashioned out of the rack that was originally mounted on the bed of my truck when I first bought it. It's much more useful and versitile as a table frame.

I enlarged the drawing to full size, then printed on paper from a large format architectural drawing printer. After cutting and priming the masonite board, I traced the drawing onto the surface. This is a great technique because it’s very accurate and clean. It looked just like a paint-by-number canvas, fresh out of the box.

"W" stands for Wind! These large sheets of paper were like sails in the 30 m.p.h. winds. Gotta love that duct tape!

Cold weather painting. I love it!

Clarence, my cat. He is completely orange and white, except for this black patch on his forehead. It’s the perfect target for a loaded paintbrush.

The finished sign, just before delivery to Taste Buds.

The left side completed. The photo is slightly out of focus.

The right side completed.

permanent installation

At home above the wine racks. From concept to completion, this took a month. Cold and rainy winter weather slowed it down a bit, but the process was smooth. I learned a lot from the painting process. For years I’ve tried this style, but the results have been vague, with confused brush strokes and too little confidence and understanding of where I was going with it. This one was different. I’d love to do more like this, and I’m sure that will happen. Thank you Taste Buds folks! I had a blast!

power

The electricity was fun to draw. I made a previous drawing of this, but didn't like the energy.

plug

No matter where, there are never enough electrical outlets.

push

Nervous energy drawing done over time. We certainly have plenty of commands to make on little electronic buttons these days.

the swift and mighty Blanco River

Last summer this river was low enough to walk across without getting your feet wet. There were pools of water in the deeper valleys of the rock bottom, and a small trickle of flowing water in the center of the river. Now, (thank you, El Niño) it's a happy, energetic river again! This was sketched at Rio Bonito in Wimberley.

another place

I've always had a fascination with the idea of a perfect utopia. What if we had taken a more ecological approach to our environments? A natural world would be nice to hold on to for posterity.

flame

The aura of a candle flame. I have a thing with ribbon-like lines lately.

Farm to Market

This started out as one of those thoughtless drawings while on the phone. It grew from there. The top of the mountain is a precariously balanced modern city. The further into the valley, the more earthy and organic it becomes. The bridge ties the gap between the two worlds, providing needs and balances to both environments.

Ink on file folder paper, 5" x 8" or so.

pieces

During spare time, I've been creating several 3D Pop-Up works of art. I think they become more interesting when done slowly over time. These pieces are folded paper painted with gouache.