"Look, an artist."

The Alamo, 12 by 9, watercolor

Several years ago, when I painted this, "en plein aire," sitting on the ground on a warm day in San Antonio, a group of school kids came up and one said, "Oh look, an artist."

That was a defining moment in art for me, that I've written about this week for another arts blog, information to come soon.

I never framed the painting, but just tossed it in pile file in my closet where the not-so-good and failures and rejects  and I don't know what else go. I throw very little away and you never see the real failures...it's all part of my continuing art education.

I go through it every once in a while, for ideas, for inspiration, for a self-critique on my work and progress. Every once in a while, I see one that should be rescued and framed, that looks better "after all these years." It paid off during the Paseo Arts Festival. An experiment I painted of Taos Pueblo I hauled out and framed, and it sold for more than $500 from Adelante Gallery. Lesson--paint more, experiment more, let paintings sit and, like writing, maybe they'll  grow on you, as you grow.

Taos Dreaming, 22" x 30"

Anyway, my favorite cousin, Sarah Beth Lutrick Foote, is a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (I told you I was a genetic Texan), and I gave  her the Alamo painting for her birthday. She framed it and it hangs in her East Texas home next to her DRT certificate and what not.

Looks pretty good...but then it was done by "an artist."

The what do I do with these watercolor file in my closet.