105 E. University - A Family's Story

105 East University - The Traugott Home

9x12 Watercolor

My work in the studio this week was a "labor of love"....a home "portrait".  This painting is of a 1920's  bungalow on a quiet street in one of Waxahachie's historic districts. My clients purchased the home as newly-weds and as the family grew in numbers, it became necessary to find a larger home. 

Two weeks ago, on the day they sold the house, they contacted me and comissioned a painting.
Intimate conversations with clients are as important as sketches and photographs. As I snapped photographs and made quick sketches from several angles,  I listened carefully as they talked about the house - and after a short while, I began to see the home through their eyes. It was evident they are excited about the move to their new home, but at the same time, there's the sadness of leaving their first home; one filled with love and laughter and children.  A photograph gives me technical information, but there's no emotional connection....it doesn't share memories. It doesn't tell "the story".

Elements in the painting - the big tree and dappled light; the flower gardens; the red door; faces in the picture window - are all connected to a family memory. Everyone - except the family - will see a  painting of a house...but the family will see and remember "the story".

Commissions like this one give me great pleasure.  I'll deliver "105 E. University" tomorrow to it's new home with the knowledge that it will continue to tell "the story" in the Traugott family for generations to come.

A Page from my Plein Air Sketchbook

Today’s plein air session is a good example of making the most of a sketchbook page.  The day was overcast and threatening rain at 9am when I arrived on location just south of the courthouse in Waxahachie, TX.  Anticipating a downpour before I could complete a painting on the “good paper”, I decided instead to work in my sketchbook….under the back door hatch of my Expedition.  I paint out of the back of my SUV often using it for protection from sun – or in this case - from rain that was already beginning to fall. It takes some pretty ugly weather to cause me to pack up and call it a day….especially when the day has only begun!

My favorite sketchbook size is 11 x 14 -  it gives me several options; I can use the entire page for one composition, or divide it up into 2, 3 or even 4 “minis”.  In about an hour and a half, I completed the 4” x 9” vertical on the left “Crossing on S. College” and the upper right  3” x 7” horizontal “Viaduct – Crossing on S. Rogers”.  - by this time, the rain was falling pretty hard and it was almost time for lunch, so I packed up & met 2 other artists (painting from their SUV’s as well) for lunch.  Afterward, we all went to Getzendaner Park, for the annual Chautauqua Assembly and set up our easels under the exhibition tent and spent the next couple of hours painting a “portrait” of the Chautauqua auditorium. The lower right 4” x 6” titled “Chautauqua” completed my day’s work in the sketchbook. 

Did you notice that even though I never saw a ray of sunshine today, I used my artist’s license and created a “bright & sunny” day with blue skies & fluffy clouds.