Watercolor Passion

This is an abandoned gas station near Altus, Oklahoma. I took the picture for this painting and completed a painting of this gas station in 1976. I wasn't satisfied with the original painting, so completed this painting in June of 1996. I'm still not satisfied that I have done justice to the whole thing and will probably do another--wonder if it will take me 20 more years.

It has been a long time since I've used a structure for a painting subject. That seems a bit strange because I started this watercolor journey painting old buildings. This old school house is from a photo I took while living in Alabama. Most weekends, my friend Mic Bryant and I would get our touring bikes out and cruise the back roads around Montgomery. We would always run across abandoned buildings, and whenever I wasn't too far behind, I would stop and take photos. I left Alabama in 1987, and even after painting all these years, I still have many subjects waiting for a painting.

Several weeks ago, an artist friend and I went of on a picture taking adventure. Sometimes we have in mind where we want to go, other times we just drive around the local area. This particular day, we were cruising along when we came to this old farm house. I couldn't pass it up, and got out of the truck to knock on the farm house door. A lady came to the door and I explained that we were artists, taking pictures for paintings. She gave me a funny look, but said we would could take pictures of her barn.

This old house was located at the top of Dallas Divide, near Ridgeway, Colorado. The painting was completed around 1981. The house is no more, and has been replaced by a modern monstrosity that attests to the affluence of someone. I preferred the old house--not only because I'm an artist looking for subjects, but because it fit in with its surroundings. The replacement can't say the same.day.

This deserted ranch house is near Soda Springs, Idaho. It seemed such a lonely place. I think I drove by this place three times before I managed to stop and take a picture. I sometimes wonder about all the great subjects I've driven by while moving from one place to another. Even though I have hundreds of photos of many different subjects, I still kick myself about all the good ones I've passed up.

This is a painting of the tram house at the Buffalo Boy Mine that is located in the San Juan Mountains above the town of Silverton, Colorado--well above-12,000 ft. I usually spend a week over in that part of Colorado every summer and had driven past this one turn off that said "Dead End." Finally one day I had time on my hands and took the road. The turnoff was at about 11,000 feet and kept climbing up and up. At the dead end, I found this tram house and took many photos It took two years ago, and have finally gotten around to getting it on watercolor paper.

I'm always amazed at the creative process. I carry my camera with me most of the time when I travel--and I took a photo of this abandoned house over 20 years ago. I've looked at the image many times over the years, and although I liked the house, I just couldn't decide what to do with the whole composition. Then the other day I was looking through my photos for something to work on and this just seemed to jump out. I quickly drew the old house on watercolor paper and was off and running.

About 30 years ago, I took a trip to Virginia to visit some artist friends. After the visit, I drove the back roads on my return trip to National Airport. Whenever I saw an old broken-down barn or house, I stopped and took a picture for future reference. This painting came from that trip.

When I lived in Alabama, my friends and I would go biking in the country. In that area, old sharecropper shacks abound--this is one of them. The biking was wonderful, but I always looked forward to the next bend in the road--there had to be another great subject waiting for a painting. Of course, it isn't quite that easy. It takes more than an artist and a subject--it takes emotional connection. Fortunately for me, these subjects seem to grab me emotionally.

This abandoned house was located near Altus, Oklahoma. I haven't been back there since I left--which goes on 40 some years. When I look at this particular painting, I'm reminded of how I got started on this watercolor journey. I was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and stationed at Altus AFB, Ok. I picked up an advertisement announcing a watercolor class. I had always been interested in art and had painted a few oil paintings over the years. So I signed up--and here I am 40 some years later. I haven't painted an oil since.

This painting is from an old house that is next to the Interstate on the way to the airport. I took a number of photos of this house about 20 years ago and used one of the photos for this painting. Yet, I think there are other paintings in those photos. I took my wife to the airport a couple of days ago and the porch is no more, and I think the house is not much longer for this world.

I love big juicy skies--they either happen or don't, but they sure are fun to play with. I've done a few paintings with these kind of skies, but I think this is one of my better ones. My wife really likes this painting and has it hanging in her room at the school where she teaches. I hope she doesn't find out I uploaded this image and presented the painting for sale. I could be in big trouble.

There are times when you are walking along and see value shapes and patterns that just grab your attention. This painting resulted from that happening. I was visiting a friend one day, and as we were sitting in the backyard, I was struck by the way the shadows from the trees were falling across the buildings and yard.

At this writing (3/7/98), it has been about a year since I've used the abandoned building as subject matter. This is the subject matter that got me started on my watercolor journey and it still intrigues me. As I paint these things over the years, I'm always interested in how my artwork evolves.

A few years ago, my wife and I took a road trip across the midwest. I tried to avoid the Interstate because I wanted to see things instead of zipping by a 80 mph. In one small town we came across this grain elevatior--it was like you might imagine--blue tin. I wanted to do something with this painting and took a lot of liberties with color.