Don Thacker's Online Art Journal

I'm ready for Spring. Really ready. Next week I'll have a new post where I'm going to catapult myself into the next season, regardless of what the weather does. So stay tuned. But for now, I ran across this picture of me painting at the Petrified Forest. I thought I'd post this as the final blog post of Winter (by my standard, not the actual date. I'm pushing Spring forward ahead of schedule).

  Well, the Storm of the Century made its way down to Georgia yesterday. Things looked really awesome with all the snow. I felt like I was in New Hampshire instead of Atlanta. A lot of it has melted by now, but I was able to go out this afternoon and paint a quick sketch. It was good to work on the structure of trees, although I am eagerly awaiting the leaves to return this Spring. I did this painting at good ol' Freedom Park.

  The last few weeks I've been touching up my Rose Bowl painting. I think I may be done! After I look at it tomorrow, I'll decide whether it needs a couple of additional adjustments, or if it is ready to send on the the printer. I'm very excited about these prints and really enjoyed painting the stadium. There may be a few more stadium paintings in my future in 2010.

If you are interested in ordering a print, click the "Buy This Piece" link below. Even if I make another round of touch-ups, they should be ready to ship in 2-3 weeks.

(Note: I did punch up the colors in this piece, but not as drastically as these two images suggest. The earlier photo is more subduded and this last one is a bit exaggerated. I will have an accurate image from the printer soon.)

 Five-thousand five-hundred thirty-four miles. From Atlanta, Georgia to Pasadena, CA and back. It was our contribution to "The Process" that Coach Nick Saban talks about. My dad and I drove across country to see our alma mater, the University of Alabama, play in the BCS National Championship game at The Rose Bowl. I was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and it felt that way the whole time. Both of us enjoyed surveying the scenery and witnessing the gradual changes as you from state to state.

 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.

The 14th Telephone Factory Art Show was a success. Many thanks to everyone that came to see us during the show, and a special thanks to those that added one of my pieces to their collection!

I really appreciate the hard work that the organizers put into the show, especially Michele and Grant. I enjoyed sharing the space with Lori Buff and her great ceramics. We now have one on display in our upstairs hall. 

Huge props to Sunny for letting us take over her apartment for two whole days. She picked

out Freedom Park at Night as her gift for hosting, and I'm very excited she picked that piece to add to her walls. She also bought my most popular piece (which isn't a landscape), The Girl at the Bar. It is one of my all time favorites and I think it found the right home.

And finally, a huge thanks to Kate. All day, people raved about the great snacks available in 102. She made brisket tostidos, carmalized onion and blue cheese pizza, baked brie and assorted other goodies. She was also instrumental in getting everything together and I'm thankful for all her help and support.

 The show is next weekend, and I've just finished reorganizing my prices and online offerings based on the print run I'm going to do next week. This piece, Seal Harbor, will be featured in my first oversized print - a 22x28 giclee. It is also available as a 11x14 canvas giclee, 11x14 giclee on watercolor paper and notecards. I did this piece during a wonderful trip to Acadia National Park a few years ago.

This last week I've been getting ready for the big show 12/5 and 12/6. Mainly, I took a bunch of paintings off to Digital Arts Studio to be scanned with their Star Wars-y scanner. I'll have an assortment of prints and notecards available at the show, and other pieces will be available to ship within 2 business days. I ordered new display grid walls that I have to pick up next week, and I also will need to do some fast framing when I get the paintings back from Digital Arts Studio. So the next few weeks will be busy. This is going to be a great show, and I hope you can make it.

Also, be sure to sign up for the newsletter. I am going to make a few 'subscriber only' prints/notecards and at a special rate for you that have been kind enough to share me your email.

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

 Well, maybe it's always sunny in Philadelphia, but here in Atlanta it is dark before 6pm. But I'm not going to let that stop me from plein air painting! Back in May I went to a workshop with Marc Hanson and he told us about how he enjoys nocturnal painting and uses the Mighty Bright to light his canvas and pallette. I gave it a try in downtown Minneapolis later that week, and while the light did its job, I didn't make the right adjustments for the values after dark. Through the summer the days were long enough that I didn't have a good opportunity, but that changed recently with the shift back to standard time. So tonight I went out and stood out in the middle of Freedom Park and painted the waning gibbous behind a big silhouetted tree with some nice street lights in the background. I surprised several night bikers and joggers who didn't expect to see someone off the bike path painting under a set of book lights. There are some good advantages to the night painting. For starters, your lighting conditions don't change (at least not until sunrise). The dark areas are simple and fun to paint and you can really work on mood, edges and making your lights stand out. You also kind of feel like Batman or something, going out into the pitch black and setting up. I'm going to take advantage of the nearly full moon while I can, then next week move to some night street scenes.

"Freedom Park at Night"

9x12 oil on panel

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