Friday 13th Open House

Friday the 13th

Sweetgum Gallery and Frame Shop hosted an open house on

Friday, May 13 from 5pm until 8pm.  Sweetgum Gallery is

operated by my wife, Mary Etta, and designers, Marilyn and

Debbie.  The gallery represents my art as well as limited edition

prints from many artists and Marilyn Schwanniger's pop art.

She creates scenes with a mosaic of aluminum soda cans.

We had a great crowd and snacked on wine, cheese. soft

drinks and nuts.  The Depot Museum across the street had

an opening for three artists and several other galleries and shops

remained open.  We hope to make this a monthly event.  Thanks

to all who came by.



Plein Air Augusta, Missouri

Augusta Plein Air

One hundred and three plein air artist descended on Augusta Missouri

for about ten days recently.  I was fortunate to attend the last three

days.  Artist from all over the country as well as Canada were

present, painting every aspect of Augusta, a sleepy little town

on the Missouri River and the Katy Trail.  It is in the heart of

Missouri wine country.  No fast food or shops, just antiques, Bed

and Breakfast Inns, and Wineries.  Each day was at a different

location, many of which were wineries.  It was fascinating and

my first plein air event.  I would like to post more pictures, but

this blog will not let me do so tonight.  I finally figured out
to edit the blog to get more photos.  It's amazing how my
paintings have such realistic gnats, leaves, and grass in them.

Red House Docent

Red House Docent

Oil...16 x 20....$400

The Red House is a museum in Cape Girardeau, Missouri,

on the Mississippi River near my home. It is one of the

first homes in the region, and I think it was present

when Lewis and Clark went through the area. It

is opened on the weekends. This man is a docent there, and

is the fire maker. He is showing his flint and cloth

used to start a fire. His period costume was very colorful

and I could not resist painting him. The colors in the painting

are much brighter, but I cannot seem to be able to take

good pictures of my paintings. Good photos are a must

nowdays, since that is the preferred way to enter shows. I'm

not sure I understand pixels and dpi's, etc. One must be

a computer guru as well as an artist. Next week I am

trying a new experience. I am traveling to Augusta, MO, near

St. Louis for a plein aire event. Going to try to run

with the big boys.

Garage Sale

Garage Sale....oil/acrylic...nfs

This is a little ( 5 x 7) plein air I did of my neighbor

across the street during a garage sale she and my wife

were having. Seated are my wife, neighbor and some

customers. The two children in front are her children.

It's always fun and we spend a lot of time reminiscing

and buying items from each other. It's always interesting

to see who shows up and what items interest them. I

did this painting sitting on the tailgate of my truck

in the driveway.

Rusty Cottonpicker

Rusty Cottonpicker

Oil....16 x 20...$350

This old cotton picker sets on the side of Hwy 61 north in

Missouri, near an old cypress barn. This is the first cotton

picker made by international. It's the old style where you

drove a tractor up under the picker and drove the tractor

backward. It still sits there today, while the large modular

pickers work in the field behind it.

Queen of the River

"Queen of the River"

Oil...16 x 20...$300

The Mississippi River is only a few miles from my home.

This image was at New Madrid, MO, where the great

earthquake occured. Several of the old riverboats stop

in New Madrid as well as Cape Girardeau MO. They look

just like the grand old ladies that used to run the river. The

river is hypnotizing. I can just sit and watch the tows push

the large barges up and down the river.