Lots of Dillon Lake Paintings....Wonder how the Market will be for them in San Antonio?

I am not quite sure how this will end up...all of these paintings of Colorado in my San Antonio Studio.

This latest one seems like the values are too high.  The value in the lake should be darker than the sky...hmmm

Photo of Dooley

Here is a submission for the 2017 AKC annual photography contest.

It is my buddy Dooley -- a 4 year old Vizsla up on Shrine last year.

Niece and her Niece and Nephew

 This was just the greatest photograph from my niece -- a picture of her sister, and her two kids. 

it was so drawable...it is at least 24 by 18.  The lighting and the blowing leaves were great.

And what are they looking so intently at?  I have no idea!

John

IPhone Photographs at the Sohn Fine Art Gallery in Lenox MA

 You know I have just had the GREATEST time enjoying the beautiful Colorado landscape in Summit County this past year -- and I ran into a show that features iPhone photographs!

I just put in a dozen entries today.  I am not sure how it will all work out in the end, but I have to tall you that in the meantime -- I am so, so grateful for all the beauty that I have seen this year. 

Did I finally get old enough to pay attention?

I am so grateful, whether I make the entry or not.

I am also putting my favorites on Instagram at jgthebee. 

you are welcome to take a look there and this is future painting material -- to be sure!  John

Photographs Accepted at Exhibition -- Prairie Village Arts Council Jan 2018 Exhibition

 Speaking of dogs, I have done a pastel of Bailey too.  And I took his picture with Donna, and this and the Colorado Aspen photo below were both accepted for exhibition at the Jan 2018 Exhibition in Prairie Village, Kansas.

I am learning all sorts of things about printing and matting and Fed Exing.

Let me give a shout out to Kevin at Harold's Framing and Art Supplies in San Antonio.  He is a voice of insight and taste and they have reasonable rates.

Gone to the Dogs -- and Cats

 My dear companion and spouse believes I do a pretty mean dog, so she has been bringing images around of dogs of friends.  This is Jane, a lovely collie, and there is also a mixed media of a border collie.  I have done a pastel of a tabby named Charlie, that was special to a special person, and died entirely at too young an age.  These are mainly pencils and charcoal, but if you have an interest and want to sent me some pictures, I will consider them.  I have to tell you though, that it is important to me that I find something special to work on around them.  A regal, enthusiastic, or mischievous look.  Like portraits of people, dog owners too are looking for that special spark.    I am willing to do one of these for a couple of hundred dollars and matte it and get it in the mail to you. 

Oh, Found Charlie.  A small piece, he IS in a little red harness.  

there is an older post on Jane, be sure to check it out!

Second Place Los Bexarenos Genealogical Society -- Follow Up to Previous Post

There was so much that went into the making of this painting, that I am hoping that the genealogical society might one day take on a project of exploring all of the parts to it.

I have thusfar kept all of my reference pictures, but I suspect that if I hear from no one by February, I think that I will just trash them all.  There is only so much room in the IPAD.

The references did all seem to be quite interesting.  I think if I am going to put in so much work in the future, maybe I will need to have a better agreement.  On the other hand, it was a competition.  I was grateful to get second and to get a check.  That IS a nice feeling.

Check out the older post...though I owe the BLOG a more detailed rendering, just for fun.  John

Pears ala Laura Robb

Have signed up for a class -- distance learning -- with Laura Robb, a mentor of my fabulous teacher Janice Hindes.  She has us starting with pears.  I have done this before.  But I greatly appreciated the clarity of her teaching style.  "How many pair of pear do you have to do?" asked my wife.  I heard you had to keep painting pears until you wanted to paint them....good luck with that!  John 

The Story of Rape and War -- Sadly Maybe a Very Old Story

I am reposting this painting which was of a rape victim of Sudan, because I recently heard on the radio of yet another story of a war in Africa where the violence included the systematic rape of the enemy's women. 

If they survive the combat this leaves them damaged to their culture and isolated in so many ways.

They become alone.  I appropriated from Sorolla in this painting -- his painting was The Blind Man of Toledo -- also an isolated, almost a raving character.  Certainly alone.  

Magic of Genealogy

Well, here it is, an oil painting 18 x 24 that was a couple of months in planning and painting.  The Theme was "Weaving the Tapestry of Our History:  One Genealogical Thread at a Time."

This was inspired by an art contest by the Los Bexarenos Genealogical and Historical Society.  The composition includes an image of the founder and seven small portraits -- from historical images, two of which had been brought to life and color by the explorations of the society.

I had a great time painting it!  

Pooch Parade....Put in a Submission for Next Year's T-Shirt

This is a graphics composition created by my daughter Langley Melendres using a charcoal drawing of Calamity Jane -- a friends collie, and a pastel I did of the Texas flag to serve as a background. 

We toyed with several versions -- one of which was an artistic rendering of the two pieces which worked very well. 

However, with some suggestions from Mary Kay Stewart, we added a little more Fiesta Pizazz -- and tried to keep it all integrated.

We hope it works for Therapy Animals of San Antonio -- TASA.  They are a wonderful 501c3 Service Organization that raises money through the Pooch Parade every year.

Win or lose, it was a pleasure putting it together.

Drawing for a Friend - Calamity Jane Pencil 20 x 18 Roughly

A friend has a lovely collie who asked about getting a drawing or painting of her.  This is she, Calamity Jane and in this best of the reference photographs she had some antlers to chew on.  

This was a great reference image -- a little wild which was even better.  It had a lot going near like it is, but I thought cropped down it was going to be easier to recognize the dog, portrait style, and cropped down it still made a good composition, which might even have included some of the background branches which drew my eye to the dog's eye.

Drawing it got me out of a tug of war I was having with a landscape, and so I was glad Calamity came along! 

Art Competition Dot Net Entries

A friend brought to my attention Art Competition.net and that they have virtual exhibitions, and one coming up on dreams.  So I have submitted two submissions on two different kinds of dreams.

I wanted to put them up here too -- frankly the difficulty was to get a handle on the artist statements.  Any suggestions from anyone on how to do a better job with them would be greatly appreciated.

So, here they are...

I am a representational artist and photographer and I enjoy finding the nuanced and subtle beauty or narrative of a scene in work about nature or people.   

In this dream exhibit I have submitted three oil paintings which all relate to the narrative of global climate change – Rape Victim of Sudan, Aylan, and Louisiana Rains.  In them I find a narrative about both nature and people and present several ideas.  I think that I do not understand the many forms of the global impact of climate change.  These do include rain and climate refugees.  Refugees who can no longer sustain their communities where they once did because the weather has changed and who find themselves in new struggles with their neighbors – and therefore more conflict.  The significance of these changes I fear is like a shark in the sea, where I carry on my live swimming around, oblivious to an existential danger.  The defenseless and the weak among us feel the impact first.  Should I be listening more closely?  Who holds the light with the answer, perhaps it is I? 

     

In this dream exhibit, I have submitted three digital photographs of the San Antonio River which all relate to the narrative of water and the river – River Upon River, Water Flows Through Us, and Built of Water.  In western United States, as in many parts of the world, water is a precious commodity.  The San Antonio River is a remarkable geological gift from God.  A ridge of hills to the north catches the intense rainfall which is common in Texas and channels it into porous rock storage from which springs flow and water is pumped.  Our water storage is rapidly recharged in San Antonio, but we are careful stewards of it.  River Upon River echoes dreams of Rome and Greece to me with marble columns and the majesty of cascading plants and distant architecture.   In Water Flows Through Us, I feel like the trees, the sky, and bicyclist and the duck are all so clearly infused with the flow of water; and of course, we are.  Lastly in the Built of Water image, the base of one of the first mill dams of the river is in the foreground and behind one of the newest condominium complexes.  We are all a mirage without our precious water which we all must collectively care for.