Famed Texas artist Dalhart Windberg goes over some of his painting techniques with his son Richard.

Bascom Heard’s Hill Country landscapes, were a real hit, as was his spectacular Art Fair poster, with the edition almost sold out. Chuck DeHaan’s horses were a sight to behold with extraordinary detail and lifelike qualities. Travis Keese from Kerrville had a remarkable scenic with deer walking through a hill country stream. Raul Gutierrez‘s western scenes exhibited his unique flair for blending backgrounds with an aged quality that was reminiscent of old-world paintings. George Boutewell, a Salado icon, has a consistency in quality and depth in his bluebonnet landscapes, that never fails to delight the crowds. And, Larry Prellop’s latest moonlit seascape, was exceptional with the light streaking through the waves as they begin to crest and break along the beach. There were so many wonderful painters in one room, one was hard pressed to pick a favorite.

Ron Wells’ bronze work was spectacular as you entered the door of the Celebration Center. The scale and patina on his bass bronze definitely had the ‘wow’ factor. Around the corner you could see Edd Hayes’ life-size figurative bronzes depicting early frontier life, where even women were required to pick up a rifle. Another big hit in the 3-D category was the metal botanical work of Charles Allen. His skill with cutting and bending metal into tiny, delicate flowers is simply extraordinary.

Shelley King, 2008 Texas Musician of the Year rocked the house with her fantastic voice!

Playing background music for the show was Shelly King, an outstanding musician. It’s easy to see why the State of Texas chose her as the 2008 Musician of the Year. And, speaking of state artists of the year…the State of Texas Poet Laureates were well represented by Larry Thomas and Alan Birkelbach. These two extraordinary writers kept the crowds entertained with stories and personalized autographs of their poetry and writings.

Throughout the evening you could see artists meeting for the first time and many rekindling old acquaintenances. The food, cocktails and spirit of the evening were on par with the level of art on display. Texas’s rich heritage in the arts was well represented in this small Village of Salado.

For more pictures of the event, click here.

Work by Charles Matheson

Work by Larry Prellop

Work by Linda Rauch

One of the great things about doing copy work on original oil paintings is that you get to experience first-hand, some of the finest art in the world!  From old masters, to the up and coming young artist – it’s a chance to see all levels and all kinds of work.

Last week, I had the double pleasure of having two new paintings of the Battleship Texas arrive in the studio to be copied. They were fantastic!
The Battleship Texas-Under Tow is a large and powerful painting that actually allows you to feel just what it must have been like when the ship was being pushed out to sea by the tugs.  It’s coming directly at you.  The original is 28″x50″ and with a nice frame makes a serious impression on the wall.  The original is on display in Bremond House Gallery and is $65,000.00.  I’m sure that Giclee prints will be coming at some point in time.

The other image is a 26″x32″ representation of the ship leaving its berth in the Houston Ship Channel, with the San Jacinto Monument in the background.  It is yet another power image of the battleship and historically significant in its portrayal of a lost era.  This painting goes for $35,000.00.

Anthony comes from London England, and spent two days in Elgin last week.  The Chamber of Commerce had a special reception for him and a proclamation was read from the mayor declaring March 8, 2008, Anthony Blackman day in Elgin Texas.  After that, he went over to the gallery, where he was re-united with his two new paintings, as well as three originals of the 1877 Elissa that he had done.  John Moran from Houston is the owner, and he was kind enough to bring both Tony and the three paintings up for the evening Art Walk.  I think everyone had a wonderful time.  John had to take the three Elissa paintings back the next day, but the two Battleship Texas paintings will continue to be on display at Bremond House Gallery.

Part of what I do is reproduction work for artists, museums, and libraries who want to make Giclee copies of their art work for sale.  In this case, it is a private collector who commissioned Anthony Blackman of London England to create two new original oil paintings of the Elissa, based in Galveston Texas. One – called Pass in Review shows the Elissa coming out of the fog past the Battleship Texas and San Jacinto Monument – three important Texas icons. The second one, has the Elissa quietly sailing past the same two monuments.

Worked on getting a holiday shot of the Bremond House Gallery center section with it’s Christmas tree and ‘Spirit of the West’ show featuring Lee Herring the 2007 Texas 2D artist of the year and R. David Mattiza – sculptor.  The idea was to have a wide depth of field so that the artwork from front to back would be in focus.  Lighting is tricky in the gallery because of the upper level windows which let in a LOT of light. The first floor areas are only lit by Track lighting.  Camera used was the BetterLight Digital Scanning back.  Three images were taken at different exposures and then combined to create a High Dynamic Range master.  Then, some dodging and burning took place to fix some of the lighting areas for the final print.  I’ll be back again to do the same shot after the tree is down, and that version will be used in advertising, the web and other publications to help brand the gallery.