national parks

Last weekend Kate went to the beach with her Mom, so I decided to split town also and catch some Spring painting and a bluegrass festival. Luckily, Dad was up for joining me on the trip. As I've mentioned before, Dad is a great painting trip companion, as he is happy to go with the flow and does a great job meeting people along the way.

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My friend Michael Kirby pointed out the other day that I had fewer Texas paintings than he expected. He was right, and I knew I had to do something about it. You see, Texas is where I learned to paint the landscape with my friends John Kuehne and Steve Armes. 

Now, Texas - especially around Dallas - isn't exactly a landscape painter's paradise. But it does have a certain charm to it, just like Texas does with most everything. I was fortunate that I got to go all over Texas and paint so much of its variety. So I just posted paintings of El Capitan (the highest point in Texas), Big Bend, the Brazos River, and to complete the circle - bluebonnets.

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 Well, the last two paintings I attempted were two more forays into speed painting. The first, which is shown here, was done in about twenty minutes. We were at the Rocky Mountain National Park on the Ute Trail. The view was sublime and the spot I was at was over 12,000 feet above sea level. I think it was my first

painting above the tree line. 

The temperature was cool but very nice. The mountains reminded you of a scene from The Sound of Music. I talked to a couple of park rangers about my work. Kate and her folks were going to hike the

Ute Trail, so I had a good couple of wonderful painting hours in front of me. Except for those dark clouds off in the distance. They had me a bit concerned.

The clouds came up quickly. I adjusted my painting speed accordingly. I furiously mixed paints and slung them across the canvas. I saw Kate and her parents coming back on the trail after just being away about ten minutes. My brush was flying across the canvas and as soon as Kate got to where I was set up, I started packing up.

About the time I got the last few items into my pack, a crack of thunder struck. Then it started to rain. Kate and I ran down the trail. Before we got to the car, it began to hail. Alas, the perfect painting session was cut a bit short by Mama Nature. They aren't common, but this was another day that I was very irritated at Ma Nature's mood swings.

The next outing didn't produce a painting, at least not yet. I may work on it later, not sure. The last day, Kate and I returned to the Rabbit Ears Pass Trail where we had hiked earlier in the week. There was a particular spot that had an incredible vista.

Kate painted with me this time, and I was very happy that she was starting to paint with me. We both got set up, and I was excited because there was not a storm cloud to be seen. Perfect sunny day, great light, lots of beautiful wildflowers, perfect temperature and we had the whole afternoon.

Then a couple of mosquitos bit us. We had sprayed ourselves with repellant before we came out, but these two suckers found the spots that weren't sprayed. Then about the time I had a few strokes on the canvas, eight billion mosquitos attacked us. Not the huge Texas or Georgia mosquitos, but little bitty S.O.B.s. 

At first I was going to fight through it, but then they started biting through my clothes. Kate packed up and walked around to shake some of them off. I then threw in the towel and packed up. As I was packing, tens of them were on my face. It was as if they were saying "Get the hell out of here! We hate plein air painting!"

We ran back to the car and decided just to go hiking (if you were moving, the pests didn't seem to attack you). I was slightly disappointed, but the vacation was so great it really didn't bother me. I was very pissed off at the mosquito nation. And made a note of yet another outdoor painting device I need - a bee keeper's suit.

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 For those that may not know, I graduated in '92 from the University of Alabama, and I'm a huge fan of the Crimson Tide. My Dad (UA '68) and I are currently in route via car to Pasadena, CA for the Citi BCS National Championship Game. I Saturday from Atlanta, picked him up in Alabama, and we are now in Twentynine Palms, CA. This morning, we drove from Gallup, NM and visited the Petrified Forest National Park. Petrified Forest exceeded my expectations and we both were fascinated by the scenery and the history behind the petrified wood you see all over the park. I did this painting of The Blue Mesa. I was drawn to the interplay of the snow with the desert and rocks. 

Dad makes a great companion for painting. He loves to drive around and doesn't mind reading and walking around while I work. Tomorrow morning we are going to Joshua Tree National Park.

Oh, and curious about the picture of me there? That is me with the 

Heisman Trophy, taken this November. I think my presence with the trophy brought Mark Ingram some luck. You see, Alabama won the 1964 National Championship when my Dad was in school, and the 1992 National Championship when I was in school. My brother is currently a senior at Alabama and we are playing for the 2009 title Thursday. So obviously we have been good karma for the team. I call it "The Thacker Factor". In this picture I'm wearing my replica of the Crimson Tide's 1931 Rose Bowl uniform. I had it made in 2006 and I've worn it to one game each year. And I'm very excited to actually wear it for the second time this season in the Rose Bowl itself.

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The weather was so incredible the last few days, there was no way I could let the weekend go without painting in it. The light, the temperature, everything was fantastic. And it is the last few days of the Fall colors. So I took Illy out to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. At first I was going paint from a similar spot as the work I did during the Paint Out back in August. I was going to paint a fall scene to contrast with the same design with summer greens. But then behind me I saw a view that I've had on my list for a long time - a dense forest with lots of illuminated colors. So I turned my paint box around and painted this hill with the light coming through the trees. Illy was on her best behavior, and I was assuming it was because she was as anxious to see how it turned out as I was. This is the third densely wooded forest piece I've done (the other two being in swamps), and I've learned a lot each time. One important part of landscape painting is to simplify, which is a tough task on such a complex subject. 

"Fall Forest"

10x8 oil on lead primed canvas

SOLD

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I completed my first online sale on the new site last month! (I have sold items from my blog in the past.) I'm just now announcing it because it was a surprise anniversay gift. My friend Ben Wilson bought the original piece "Bar Harbor" for his wife Rebecca. Congratulations to them both on their anniversay and purchase. A donation of 10% of the sale went to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Ben and Rebecca's donthacker.com statuses have now been upgraded to 'collector'. You might wonder what that means, and I really haven't decided yet. But I do know it will include something special in the future, such as gifts, discounts and collector only editions. Anyone who purchases a piece from the site is automatically upgraded to collector. If you have purchased art from me in the past and would like to be a collector, just send me an email.

"Bar Harbor"

11x14 oil on linen

SOLD

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I finished up the Paint Out Thursday and Friday with these two pieces. I chose the first one ("The River ") and the piece I did Wednesday ("Fishin'") to submit to the show. The reception is tonight at the CNREA Island Ford Headquarters from 7:30 to 9:30. There was a ton of artwork there this morning when I dropped my pieces off. It was a lot of fun to meet the other landscape painters and to see what they did.

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Yesterday was the first day of the Great Chattahoochee Paint Out, and I went to the Island Ford unit of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. Since the Paint Out is about the river, I chose the river as my point of interest. I really liked how the sky made the water so light and how it contrasted against the trees on the shore. Then about halfway into the painting, I saw a guy out there fishing. It was the perfect thing to throw in to really highlight how cool this river - which is in the Atlanta metro area - is.

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Tommorrow starts the Great Chattahoochee Paint Out (http://visitroswellga.com/great-chattahoochee-river-paint-out.html). The registration was tonight, and there are over 75 artists that are planning to paint over the next 3 days. I'll be going to work early so that I can leave early and do a painting each evening. Each artist can submit 2 paintings to be displayed at the reception at the Island Ford HQ. I'm excited to have a piece displayed at a National Park facility.

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There is nothing like spending the day on and in an active volcano. Kate and I were at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is a phenomenal experience. We hiked the Kiauea Iki trail, which first skirts around the rim and then through the floor of a crater full of steam vents. We ate lunch at the Volcano House which features a buffet and a view of the main Kilauea caldera.

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