Episode 36: Wagons West or The Texas Two Step This week our intrepid trio discuss plans to head out west to the Lone Star State to paint the early flora and fauna of the Texas Hill Country. "Life is creation – self and circumstances, the raw material." — Dorothy Richardson Julian Onderdonk, Blue Bonnet Field, Early Morning, San Antonio, Texas, 1914, oil on canvas, 30 1/2 x 40, private collection Although a painter should be able to find stimulating material even in his, or her, own back yard, there is nothing like a field trip to stir the creative juices. Of course, you always have to keep your fingers crossed that the weather plays its part, and the flowers bloom at the right moment, but other than that.... Still, if it wasn't for the unknown, life would be boring. The thought of creating the next great painting is what keeps an artist fresh and on their toes. Connie and David talk about what they hope to achieve, and some of the problems artists come up against when traveling with all their gear. One wonders how artists managed it years ago. Jane Peterson, Gertrude Fiske, Frank Duveneck and 'the Boys' traveling throughout Europe, and the intrepid Anthony Thieme, who painted in numerous countries while traveling from his native Holland to Boston. Perhaps they had less rules and regulations to cope with! Jose Arpa y Perea, Verbena, oil on canvas, 24 x 34, Texas Prize, 1927 So, let's cowboy up, and see what gems come out of this trip. Until we talk again, Happy painting to one and all. Connie, David and Judy "Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art." — Leonardo da Vinci