Old homestead

My granddad Douglass built this home more than 100 years ago in Memphis.  He and my grandmother raised five youngsters there, including my mother.  She, my dad and brother, and I lived there for several years, too.

When built, it was near the outer limit of Memphis; now it is well in mid-town.   It stayed in the family as long as my granddad lived.

Richardson Civic Fountain

In October, Urban Sketchers-Texas met in Richardson (my home town) as part of the new Ricochet 15, a celebration of the arts here.  In addition to sketching, I did a plein air painting of the civic fountain.

Waxahachie Paint-Out, September 2015

Twice a year Southwestern Watercolor Society travels to a nearby town to paint on location, or Plein Air, or just a Paint-Out.  Last weekend we were in Waxahachie, an hour south of us.  First I painted and beautiful old Victorian home, then a commercial building near the town square.

Thanksgiving

It's fall, y'all, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  This is titled "Thanksgiving Birds," but I sorta liked my alternate title:  "So Tell Me Again, Big Guy, When Is Thanksgiving?"

Weather Change

It's always fun to paint changing weather.  Here's one of storms coming.

Warm Painting

Today I finished an unusual landscape . . . nearly abstract in its composition.  My artist friends would say this is a warm painting.

Queen of Winnsboro

 A few weeks ago I painted a home I'd seen in Winnsboro, TX on a warm summer day.  I love old homes.

The old home place

Recently I've gotten interesting in genealogy.  My brother, Bob, uncovered a sketch that artist A. R. Waud made in about 1870.  It shows the river landing of our great-great-grandfather's plantation in central Arkansas.  Our grandfather, his father and our mother were all born there . . . well more than 100 years ago.  It was the Douglass Plantation, later becoming Douglass, Arkansas.  Now little more is left but an overgrown cemetery of 48 graves.

I used Waud's sketch (now in a New Orleans museum) as the basis for this painting.

Columbarium Art for CCP

I earlier noted that I was doing some paintings for the columbarium in our church, Canyon Creek Presbyterian.  Today we hung them, and I'm pleased.  These five paintings are all about the 23rd Psalm, and my friend, Susan Ingle did a spectacular piece of calligraphy of the 23rd Psalm to accompany the paintings.  Here they are:

Queen of Swiss Avenue

Last month I was commissioned to paint an old mansion on Dallas' Swiss Avenue.  The painting is a wedding gift for the new owners who are redoing the old home.  What a great piece of history.

New painting, "So Glad You're Here"

I just finished this painting today in David Rankin's workshop at Artists' Showplace.  I like the looseness, the flow of color and the "pop."

SWS Paint-out in East Texas

About 40 from Southwester Watercolor Society (25 of us were painters) descended on Greenville and Sulphur Springs, Texas this weekend.   Here are two plein air paintings I did Saturday morning.

This one sold at the reception that evening!

I followed it with this painting, a different view from the same spot on the square . . . both done before lunch.

Over the weekend I also did some ink and watercolor sketches.  They are on my other blog: www.herbreedsketchbook.blogspot.com.

Still Waters

I just finished a small painting, Still Waters.  It's a study for a series of larger paintings on the 23rd Psalm I'm doing for a church project.

Me, Doing My Thing!

A few weeks ago, I was challenged to do (another) self portrait.  I think I got a good likeness, but need to warm up the colors some.  Maybe next time.

Red Bike in the Aspens

I just finished this . . . a funny combination: a red bike in an aspen grove.  Working to get good darks, I painted negatively to bring out the light aspen trunks.  I used some aspen tree photo references, but it was mostly from my imagination.

Pour and Negatively Paint

Recently I did this small painting as an exchange with another watercolor painter.  Much of the background was masked, poured and the middle and foreground was negatively painted.

Three new paintings

Last week in Richards Stephens' workshop I did three quarter-sheet paintings.  Here they are: