Monarch on Sunflower

 

So as the year is starting up -- perhaps I can do a little better job of painting more frequently -- and gracefully.  

Its a New Year -- What Will Happen in 2024? Start with Playa

 

Hello patient blog reader, at least I hope you have returned to my page.  Let me show you a painting that I did for the San Antonio Art League and Museum, and that was accepted by the Juror Harold Joiner who is the gallery Directory at the Archway Gallery in Houston.  I got to hear him speak for a few minutes a few nights back and he was explaining what his criteria were for accepting paintings -- I sure enough though he was talking about this painting.  The theme of the show was Texas Landscape.  I tried to personify two major factors of nature in the Texas plains:  water and sun.  Of course, there are the towns -- and the agriculture.  The playa are remarkably important in recharging groundwater and in providing habitat for the region.  There are about 20,000 playa in the Texas high plains alone.  The style of the sun is after Hundertwasser, Friedrich Stowasser, an Austrian artist.  In fact I used his features as I styled the sun.  The playa face is from Benny Andrews, also an artist, who was recently featured here in San Antonio at the McNay Art Museum.  I considered originally making this artwork three dimensional in the Andrews' style.  

If you are in San Antonio, head down to the King William Area and enjoy the exhibit.  SAN ANTONIO ART LEAGUE & MUSEUM - HOME (saalm.org)

May you be Safe, Happy, Healthy, and Live with Ease every day.  John