Summer 2015 edition of plumage tx magazine draft 7 7 2015

PLUMAGEPLUMAGEPLUMAGE---TXTXTX Art Magazine

Summer 2015 Issue

Weldon Lister

Renaissance Engraver

Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events

FREE

James Saldivar

Echoes of arts past

Frame of the Month

Sidney Sinclair

Russell Russell

StephensonStephenson

Metaphysical Metaphysical Metaphysical

Journeys Journeys Journeys

Podcast Interview

Art Consultant Insight

PLUMAGEPLUMAGEPLUMAGE---TXTXTX

FEATURES Summer 2015 Issue No. 4

50 Auctions

Compare auction prices of a

few choice vintage paintings

32 James Saldivar

Art Exhibition review of

“Echoes” show at Melinda

Martinez Gallery

20 The Inspirations

An interview with Russell Stephenson

2 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015

PLUMAGEPLUMAGEPLUMAGE---TXTXTX

IN THIS ISSUE

10

IN EVERY ISSUE

A Note from the Publisher –P.6

On the Cover—P.8

Contributors— P.9

Framing of the Month—P.42

Designer’s Quill—P.46

PLUMAGEPLUMAGEPLUMAGE---TXTXTX Summer 2015 Issue

PUBLISHER

Gabriel Diego Delgado

All artwork photography courtesy of J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art

Prices are for current artwork, and can change at any time

© 2015

JR Mooney Galleries

305 S. Main

Boerne, Texas

78006

830-816-5106

Edited by Gabriel Diego Delgado, Marla Cavin, Katherine Shevchenko , Betty Houston

Design by: Gabriel Diego Delgado

Contributing Writers

Gabriel Diego Delgado

Katherine Shevchenko

Betty Houston

A Note from the Publisher

MORE RAIN, MORE FLOODING, MORE HEAT, MORE

MOSQUITOES, OH SOUTH TEXAS HOW WE LOVE

YOU. SUMMER HEAT MEANS MASS EXODUS OUT

OF TEXAS. WE ARE BEGINNING TO SEE THIS WITH

OUR CLIENTS. PEOPLE ARE GOING OFF ON

VACATION, TO THEIR SUMMER HOMES AND TO

EUROPE; ONLY TO RETURN WHEN THE TEXAS HEAT

IS NOT SO STIFLING. BUT SUMMER ALSO BRINGS

CHANGE AND ARTISTS LABORING IN THEIR

STUDIOS MAKING NEW ARTWORK TO HAVE

INVENTORY FOR THE COMING FALL SEASON. LET’S

RIDE OUT THESE NEXT FEW MONTHS WITH

DRIVEN PASSION FOR WHAT AWAITS.

PLUMAGE-TX hopes to use its pages as a vehicle to

educate, entertain and enlighten our audience on a

variety of topics ranging from reviews, news, artist

narratives, interviews, criticism and a cohort of other art related stories from within the

gallery walls to the major metro centers. I hope you find this informative and hope you

continue to follow the artistic happenings around you in your local neighborhoods.

Sincerely,

Gabriel Diego Delgado, Publisher

[email protected]

[email protected]


On the Cover

As Boerne, Texas is one of the fastest growing

metro areas in Texas behind Austin and San

Marcos, I felt it was appropriate to include the

windmill and water tank at Walmart’s parking

lot—opposite of the Boerne Welcome Center

on Main St. / 87. It’s such a dichotomy to see

this, which represents small town country

nostalgia but juxtaposed next to a big box

store that represents free market,

gentrification, expansion, growth, economic

development and so many other things. Yes,

Boerne is a changing and there are so many

signs.


Contributors

Katherine Shevchenko has attended the San Francisco Academy of Art University and the University of Texas at San Antonio where she received her Fine Arts Degree with an emphasis in Painting. Her experience ranges from interning as a curatorial assistant at Southwest School of Art to teaching art to students of

all ages. Currently, she is an art consultant/framing designer at the J.R. Mooney Gallery in Boerne. Some of her contributions include writing articles, hosting and editing the J.R. Mooney podcast, "Mooney Makes Sense" and art catalog design. She is also an artist that specializes in painting in oils and other media.

Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 9

Gabriel Diego Delgado is the Gallery

Director at J.R. Mooney Galleries of

Fine Art, Boerne, Texas. He has spent

almost a decade in Nonprofit Art

Management- working as a Curator of

Exhibitions at the Station Museum of

Contemporary Art, Houston; Project

Manager of Research and

Development at the Museo Alameda,

a Smithsonian Affiliate, San Antonio;

Community Outreach/ Communications Director for an art and

education nonprofit in Texas and is a working professional artist.

He is a Freelance Curator and Arts Reviewer for several

publications. His artwork has been shown in Arco 2012 Madrid,

Spain; New York, New York, MOCA (Museum of Contemporary

Art) D.C. as well as numerous galleries and venues throughout

the U.S.

COVER STORY

A Curatorial Review of Russell

Stephenson’s “Mindscapes”

Exhibition


JourneysJourneysJourneys - Gabriel Diego Delgado

A Curatorial Review of Russell

Stephenson’s “Mindscapes”

Exhibition


JourneysJourneysJourneys - Gabriel Diego Delgado


“Mindscapes”, a solo exhibition of new

work by San Antonio artist, Russell

Stephenson is a curated spotlight of art that

engulfs the viewer into a metaphysical

journey through sci-fi-esque renditions of

Texas typography, juxtaposed and coupled

with the artist’s own exploration of mind

and world shaped by personal afflictions.

From violent thunderclouds masquerading

as crowns for celestial auroras of heavenly

atmospheric amalgamations (halos) in

Corona to canyons and mountains

portrayed as conceptual struggles in identity

- an artist’s simplified battle of good vs. evil

in The Majestic, we feel an undercurrent of

cosmic exploration with a signature medium

by way of a quest for self-discovery.

Current events like the recent flooding in South Texas,

the massive supercells over the Texas Panhandle and

the artist’s own drive to experiment all play a role in

Stephenson’s influences for “Mindscapes”. Examples

of emotion abutted by landscape explorations can be

found in the calmness of mind of “Silent Solitude,” but

contrasted in “Castleaine” with its compositional

angles; assumptive tectonic plates that jut upward,

forced from the subterranean by violent burst of the

grinding fault lines.

With the inclusion of two artworks from the “Cave

Painting” series, “Cave Painting III & V”, the audience

delves into the past with visual investigations of the

primordial gestures of primitive man: a rock art

aesthetic that references the cave paintings of Lascaux,

Texas’s own Pecos region and Palo Duro Canyon.

“Castlelaine”, 24” x 36”, Oil

Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, May 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 13

Stephenson strives to

capture intuitive

application of creative

need in his own color

palette aesthetic while

retaining his mastered

craft for his push and pull

of textures – i.e. the

divots, cracks, creases, and

pockets of layered grooves

that capture our wild

imaginations. The

scrapped and gouged paint

give rise to his pursuit of

reconnection to art history

by way of contemporary

applications.

“Cave Painting V”, 12” x 16”, Oil

“Cave Painting III”, 18” x 24”, Oil


When I recently met with artist, Russell Stephenson at his Alamo Heights studio we had already been

discussing “Mindscapes” on the phone, in text and email for about four months. To see the artwork in

person prompted a crisscross of casual conversations mixed with a professional inquiry. I saw a change in

his mood, a kind of creative uncertainty mixed with a newly acquired cynical-ness of contemporary art

market vitality. I heard of his new gallery prospects in Santa Fe, NM, disappointments with the regional

affairs and ways in which he felt his artwork was going to mature. This insightful off-the-cuff conversation

led me to further investigate the ways in which to formulate his exhibition.


As our conversation continued in the studio, it

led to Stephenson’s other Texas galleries and

the bodies of work he needed to execute for

them; each one exhibiting a different series

ranging from strict grid patchwork designs to

formal abstractions.

Over the course of the last few years he has deliberated

how to blend these styles into one pure signature

aesthetic. His techniques and medium manipulations in

any of his series reflect a signature Russell Stephenson

touch, but each gallery wanted visuals that appealed to

certain demographics and art markets.

….celestial auroras of ….celestial auroras of ….celestial auroras of

heavenly atmospheric heavenly atmospheric heavenly atmospheric

amalgamations (halos) amalgamations (halos) amalgamations (halos)

in Corona to canyons in Corona to canyons in Corona to canyons

and mountains and mountains and mountains

portrayed as conceptual portrayed as conceptual portrayed as conceptual

struggles in identity...struggles in identity...struggles in identity... I began to understand he was starting to figure out a

way to deviate from gallery dictated ventures to

creating something new, a combobulation of sorts for

all of his contractual obligations he was fully invested

in. This thoughtful approach was refreshing to hear,

as he was beginning to understand how to dig out

from his muddled aspects of five separate directions

to one strong maturity.


The new artwork for “Mindscapes” was much more than that typography driven formulation. In over a

year, I saw a maturity in style, a mastery of technique, a willingness to explore tools that include: sticks,

rocks, spatulas, and palette knives which brought about a new sense of conquer, of student vs. teacher,

and Stephenson playing the subordinate to the art. He learned along the way and in the course of being

schooled by his creations, he found philosophical substance. Conjectural aspects of personal inner

struggle, an inward reflection of self that transcribes physical boundaries to be projected out and

manifested as conceptual regurgitations, as he bears down and expels proof of everything around him

that affects his mindset- whether political, social, or environmental.

Rews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 17

Opposite Page: “The Majestic”, 30” x 30” , Oil

Upper: “Silent Solitude”, 30” x 30”, Oil

Lower: “Surge”, 18” x 30”, Oil

J.R. Mooney Galleries

“Mooney Makes Sense”

Podcast Series Presents:

An Interview with Artist

Russell Stephenson By: Katherine Shevchenko

This June, J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art hosted San Antonio artist and contemporary abstract painter,

Russell Stephenson, and his new body of work entitled Mindscapes. Russell Stephenson took some time

on the eve of his show’s opening to discuss his art and his current modes of thought and influences that

are currently driving his work.

A native Texan, Stephenson has been based out of San Antonio for the past 11 years, but has ventured

throughout the United States observing and gathering inspiration for his art. Stephenson elaborates,

“Throughout my extensive travels and explorations, I’ve been all over the United States… I’ll always try to

bring some of the inspiration that I always got from nature into the work in one form or another.”

As an artist, Russell Stephenson has been on a lifelong journey that started early in his life, “I’m one of the

stereotypical artists that was born with a pencil in my hand and I’ve been drawing since I could hold a

pencil and scribbling on the walls with crayons. My artistic journey started from then and has become this

long paced development of an unique voice that has developed over time through professional academics

and my own experimentation.” Everyday life and its challenges and joys merge into his abstractions; they

are processed through his hand as he creates. “So periodically, my work changes and evolves, depending

on how I’m growing in that particular period and what occurrences happen in the news on a daily basis.

And what events occur in my own life and times and the people that I know and it all kind of gets thrown

into a blender, so to speak, and mixed in together and it all comes out in one form or another in the studio

when I work.” When Stephenson works, the execution and craft are at once in force, picking up anything

that can be used to translate the feeling and effect he is striving to achieve. Stephenson elaborates, ”I’m

always experimenting with different techniques and different tools in order to explore the mark-making

aspect of my work.


Sometimes that involves a pencil, sometimes a brush, sometimes a spatula, sometimes something out of

the kitchen drawer...”.

Currently, Stephenson has created a painting series that references the landscape, yet in a more

conceptual and introspective nature than his previous bodies of work. Having grown up in the Texas

Panhandle, the expansive landscape permeates his subconscious, manifesting in exploratory renderings in

paint. One of the

signature paintings in the

exhibition, Corona, depicts

textural cloud formations

hovering with tension over

an earthen toned horizon.

Stephenson explains in

depth, “Corona is

influenced by that

landscape and even more

recently by the recent

thunderstorms that have

ravaged Texas... the idea

of the super cell that kind

of carries an idea and then dumps it at will wherever it may; I think they’re quite spectacular, sometimes

they bring life and sometimes they bring death. They fill lakes that are ravaged by drought, but at the

same time they overflow rivers and cause devastation. So the power of nature has shown up in this recent

body of work, because we’ve seen so much of it lately.”

Having done realistic figurative work in the past, Stephenson’s process has evolved to transcend the figure

to wholly depict the world

the figure inhabits and is

experiencing. “What

started as landscapes

ended up as an internal

thing in the mind. Once I

got all the way through

school, the figure started to

come out of the work, and

then I just concentrated on

the world itself and thereby

the viewer of the paintings

became the figure and the

work that (cont’d on next

page)

“Corona is influenced by that landscape

and even more recently by the recent

thunderstorms that have ravaged

Texas... the idea of the super cell that

kind of carries an idea and then dumps

it at will wherever it may…”


hung on the wall became the world I was able to explore.” This transition of subject matter in relation to

the landscape has been a gestalt of psychological elements that have come together in his artistic

formation. The role nature plays in his work and how it enforces a sense of scale both literally and

metaphorically, causes Stephenson to reflect, “I’m certainly influenced by the natural world, I mean as we

all are; we are all affected by it.

From the immensity of the sky and what’s unknown underneath the waters and so on, we become very

small in comparison to the forces of nature.”

Ultimately, an abstraction of the landscape is

merely the result of Stephenson having

formulated a process to express all the intangibles

of the many multifaceted aspects of witnessing

various locales firsthand. “These are all collective

experiences over time of different places that I’ve

been to. In the artistic mind it turns into a totally

different language altogether, because there’s also

the exploration… into how to push the boundaries

in the work, rather than just capture what the eye

can see. But also try to develop something new

out of it and explore a new depth in some of the

works… and create a sense of realism in the

abstraction so the abstraction itself becomes its

own reality.”

Mindscapes is on display at J.R. Mooney Galleries

of Fine Art - Boerne until July 1st

Visit J.R Mooney’s podcast channel on Soundcloud® and YouTube® to listen to the full interview.

“These are all

collective

experiences over

time of different

places that I’ve

been to…”


COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

Weldon ListerWeldon ListerWeldon Lister

“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”

COVER STORY

By: Gabriel Diego Delgado

Weldon ListerWeldon ListerWeldon Lister

“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”

Weldon Lister “The Texas Renaissance

Man of Engraving”

By: Gabriel Diego Delgado

Third generation engraver and small town artist using a

century old carving technique just gained a new level

of artistic credibility. Weldon E. Lister Jr. of Boerne,

Texas, an internationally recognized ultra-baroque

engraver of firearms, knives and jewelry and

accomplished intaglio printmaker, is making friends in

high places.

About half a year

ago, his timeless and

intriguing decorative

aesthetic captured

the attention of

Hollywood. The

History Channel

contacted the Texas

artist and commissioned him to create a series of

embellished, engraved and artistic Texas

emblems reminiscent of the Texas Rangers

Badge for the "Texas Rising" event at the

Alamo in San Antonio on Monday, May 18,

2015.

“Texas Rising” is a 10 hour television mini-

series on the History Channel that

premiered on May 25, 2015. “Texas

Rising” begins at the Battle of the Alamo

and chronicles the birth of the Texas

Rangers. As a celebration of this

miniseries, the History Channel wanted to

do something special for all the people

who were part of the concept, production,

directorship, and corporate sponsorship of

this television series.


“The only power equipment I used

was a drill press to make pilot holes

for the jewelers saw.” -W. Lister


Lister saw it as an opportunity to

thank those people who were

instrumental in helping bring

attention to Texas through this

historic television series.

These unique awards were

completely handmade by the artist.

Each one started off as a 1/8" thick

and 4" in diameter round solid

sterling blank disc, intricately

fabricated, cut, carved and

engraved; complete with a grooved

coin edge.

“The only power equipment I used

was a drill press to make pilot holes

for the jewelers saw. It was a lot of

work especially considering there

were one dozen of them,” says

Lister.


“The engraving style I chose was based on what you'd

see on vintage weapons from the mid

1800's….something that goes along with the theme of

the Award.”

Look for more of Lister’s artwork on his website at

www.weldonlister.com

Photo Credit: All images are courtesy of the

artist, Weldon Lister


James James James

SaldivarSaldivarSaldivar The New, The Old Work & The Artist

“A Need for a Reinvestigation of the Past”

COVER STORY

James James James

SaldivarSaldivarSaldivar The New, The Old Work & The Artist

“A Need for a Reinvestigation of the Past”

By; Gabriel Diego Delgado

“A Need For a

Reinvestigation of the

Past”

In “ Echoes” Saldivar returns to his roots..

an Antonio artist, James Saldivar recently opened a new exhibition, “Echoes”, at Melinda

Martinez Gallery, which consists of a potpourri of old, new, and experimental paintings. On

display is a collection that gives off an artistic reverberation of previously explored aesthetics.

Twenty plus paintings comprise all avenues of painterly/ sculptural exploration – from his

abstract pouring techniques to the 3-D string and stripe paintings. However, one collection of

new abstractions is the highlight of the exhibition. Measuring no larger than 12 inches square

each, five abstracted pours and autonomous manipulations pack a big ‘cosmic’ punch in a

small package. These Organics, as he calls them, are actually reinvestigations and

reevaluations of his previous abstract artwork from circa 2008 when he was beginning to

explore metaphysical properties of subconscious creation; nonfigurative manifestations that were initially

inspired by NASA captured images of the mysterious Universe.

Saldivar explains this regression as a need to revisit where he left off.

“This series is a compilation of the past few years where I've lost my way trying to fill the space in between,

usually filled with irrelevances. Something I'm searching for and realized I've gone off of my own path and

where I'm at now, my sense of being, my sense of enlightenment, my freedom, not in a political sense but

how nothing has control over my happiness, my career, or my education.

These painting were created in my new gallery/ studio, obtained by the need to change my energy. …

Energy from a metaphysical standpoint, the action of setting my chakras back in balance and creating a

new space, my temple to create again and to deny the mental block handed down by negativity.”

Not everything is on a smaller scale. “Laniakea” is a 36” x 36” oil and enamel on panel that illustrates a

calming sensibility with a neutral and subdued palette of badious earth tones. Milky cascades of icteritious

lava flow into the foreground, meeting the viewer with an off-the-edge composition, bringing the

experience into our physical proximity.

S

34/ PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015

“There’s something that happens in the process, where my subconscious speaks

to me and lets me know what's happening. I try not to control my work. I have

control over placement but once that's done, I don't, and it becomes its own

entity,” he says.

Mostly self-taught, Saldivar has explored various avenues of contemporary work,

trying to find a unique voice to call his own. From Jackson Pollock inspired drip

paintings, to Morris Louis striped pouring, to cosmic abstractions to his newly

discovered 3-D string “paintings”, it is good to see Saldivar reconnect with his

past and continue to explore his older work with new eyes. His more mature

outlook, his scholarly studies and personal life experiences are bringing new life

to his artistic vision. No longer is he being influenced by his peers, a trap we all

fall into, but he is allowing room for personal growth and unedited exploration.

“Floating 1, 2, 3, and 4” are four paintings which show evidence of this rounding

the bend. These 12” x 12” paintings are miniature abstractions. Using the

viscosity of the thinners, paint, and mediums, Saldivar shows movement across

the canvas with the paint fraternizing in pools of coagulation. Frozen in time,

these paintings become more and more serene as you begin to categorize them

as meditative samplings; it is a kind of artistic granule hour glass, paint funneled,

moving to the other side by way of unseen force.

“Abstract work to me must be free; the universe must still be able to exist in the

work. I do have more control than I want. I don't mean to, want to, or even know I

do…..I've been controlling the work spiritually, with the universe. I am just another medium,” he concludes.

© Gabriel Diego Delgado

Photo Credit: Opposite Top: “Floating 4”,

12” x 12”. Opposite Bottom Left:

“Phantom”, 24” x 48”. Opposite Bottom

Right: “Just When You Believe”, 24” x 72” .

Top Left: “Floating”, 12” x 12”. Top Middle:

“Floating 2”, 12” x 12”. Bottom Left:

“Laniakea”, 36” x 36”. Bottom Right:

“Floating 3”, 12” x 12”. All Images are

courtesy of the artist, James Saldivar.


Breaking News

BOERNE

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New art and cultural initiative, “Third Thursdays” art opening affair launches in Boerne, Texas with local gallery leading the way in midweek events.


(Boerne, TX, 2015) – In an initiative to help relieve weekend event congestion, local art gallery, J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art- Boerne has launched a new initiative dubbed, “Third Thursdays”. As a way to create engaging midweek events that will not conflict with the diverse artistic and cultural events of San Antonio area during the weekend, “Third Thursday” allows the gallery to host a stand-alone art opening, adding something of significance to the daily event roster of activities local families, and art patrons can explore during the week. “Third Thursdays” will be in addition to the established and decades long “Second Saturday Art & Wine Crawl of the Boerne art community and Boerne Professional Artist (BPA). “Third Thursdays” is modeled after the McNay’s Second Thursdays Free Family Night, and the First Fridays, Second Saturdays and Fourth Fridays of various art districts in San Antonio - who lay claim to various weekend days to hold local art attractions on the same night based on general geography.

“We decided it was time to address the host of events that people have to decide on

doing during the weekend. There are so many activities in and around San Antonio, in not only the art sector but birthday parties, soccer games, outdoor activities and many many other things, that we felt it was in our best interest to not compete with them, but free up the weekend calendar and add an evening event to the weekday; give opportunity for patrons to visit the gallery during a less hectic time”, says Gallery Director, Gabriel Diego Delgado. “We know people are busy, and we thought if we created an event that was not conflicting with the majority of activities people have to choose from on their busy weekend, the more people could attend. During the peak of the NorthStar Mall J.R. Mooney Galleries, we had weekday evening opening, and it was heavily attended. Now is the time to properly address how well received this time slot is for people to get out and enjoy a cultural outing as they begin to wrap up the week and might be looking for something to do.”

As J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art launches “ Third Thursdays” the first part of the Fall 2015 season they will commence with a bimonthly exhibition opening schedule, holding events every other month. An exhibition schedule of events will be available in the coming months.

“When we have months in-between major exhibition openings, there is a certain amount of flexibility we can offer with spur of the moment possibilities like artist lectures, workshops, and gallery talks”, says Delgado.


FRAMINGFRAMINGFRAMING

Framing of the Month

Standard 1/2” Gold speckled inside frame, house brand

This frame is a visual break from the darker muted color palette of the painting to the

middle wood inside step. The gold accents and the warm tones in the painting and adds a

hint of traditional framing aesthetic to a contemporary fine art profile.

Roma Framing: Tabacchino series, 7/8” Cigar Leaf finish, model #60387

This wood veneer finish complements the overall tones in the painting and grounds the

large bush in the foreground while interacting with the trees on the left as a strong

repetitive vertical element.

Larson-Juhl Framing: Sevilla series, Antique Gold finish, model # 550540

The ornate fashion of the repetitive curved pattern adds a defined motif to a painting

that is primarily feathered, muted and blurred. The underlying red tones that come out

from the distressed gold add the perfect color to compliment the red, orange and warm

tones in the painting.

Sidney Sinclair

Autumn Daze

18” x 24”

Oil


Framing of the Month


Editor’s Note: J.R. Mooney Galleries is proud to present, “The Designer’s Quill” Interior Design & Framing

Tips, a monthly column spotlighting industry trends and hands-on advice in dealing with home interiors.

Written by the knowledgeable staff at J.R. Mooney Galleries, “The Designer’s Quill” will highlight tips,

reassurances, thoughts, and advice for those making changes to their home. It will also feature facets of

custom framing, including new moulding lines available, how-to walkthroughs and framing consultations.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

room that “just feels right”

can be elusive, but is very

achievable. Most of us

know what we like. We all respond to

color and subject matter in art. Yet scale

is often overlooked when choosing art

and how it relates to the size of the wall

and size of the room. The main wall or

main furniture sets the tone for the

scale of the art. If the ceiling happens to

be high, the taller and more dramatic

the art needs to be.

Survey the rooms of your home. If “something” does not

seem right it might be the scale of the art that needs

tweaking. Your can have the environment you desire by

removing, rearranging, and or replacing. Most interiors

benefit from art that is larger than one might initially

choose. This one decision can transform a space into an

extraordinary and memorable area. A unique opportunity

offered at J.R. Mooney Galleries is our concierge service. At

a client’s request and agreed upon time framed art can be

viewed in its intended area.

A


This is especially valuable as a large

painting is transported safely by

courier and consultation can take

place. The radius of this service is the

immediate San Antonio area.

© Betty Houston, Art & Framing Consultant


Graphic vectors courtesy of "Vecteezy.com/members/ zhaolifang"

AuctionAuctionAuction

Antonius Henricus "Toon" Koster, a renowned Dutch artist, was born in Schiedam, (South

Holland) Netherlands in 1913. He went to the Art Academy in Rotterdam, Netherlands and

became a painter, printmaker, industrial artist, enamellist and muralist. During most of his

artistic career he lived and worked in Nieuwkoop near the Nieuwkoopse Plassen. Koster was

a member of the Dutch Federation of Visual Artists, and died November 25, 1989 in

Woerden, Netherlands.

Koster often used dark earthy colors and painted in broad coarse brush strokes, creating

depressive and gloomy atmospheres; making for subtle impressionistic qualities.

When asked to which movement he belonged or which subjects he preferred, he answered:

“There is no movement… and everything repeats itself.”

“Night City”, is a signature city-scape by Koster that exemplifies all that he was known for:

boats, cities, gloom, illuminating sun/moon behind clouds, and his pictorial post WWII

depressive metropolis. A one point perspective only exacerbates the depressive complexity of

the work with the angling of the drab buildings that line the boulevards, structures as borders

for the blackened water in the industrial canal, a waterline that is cut midway down the

composition with the three arched bridge. We are boxed in on three sides with the horizon

line blocking an eternal view. However, our release from the melancholy is up into the sky,

but wait – impending catastrophes await us in the heavy snow laden billows that weigh down

on us with only a glimmer of light; a false hope.

Koster’s Night City evokes a more sinister evocation, a trembling sensibility of some sort of

impending doom. The overcast heavens bear down on us with god-like fury, a blackened sky

that covers the cityscape in an ashy haze. Snow-covered rooftops and barren trees suggest a

frigid climate, but the waterways are unfrozen, allowing safe passage of the passing boats.

The arches in Night City are like a trifecta of hollow, barren and utilitarian tunnels leading

the way to a banal canal.

All three are marked with a horizontal hint of white snow, a three level color scheme that

transitions from black, to white to grey, a repeated color palette of the artist’s choice.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said “Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the

torments of man.” ‘Tis true when dealing with Anthonius Henricus “Toon” Koster.


Anthonius Henricus

“Toon” Koster

(Jan. 19, 1913- Nov. 25, 1989)

Night City

$1,200 (framed)

24 “x 36”

Oil

(Below: Previous auction results)


G. (Gerald ) Harvey

(1933)

Late Reflections

$6,500 (framed)

9” x 12”

Oil


Gerald Harvey Jones (G. Harvey) was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1933. His grandfather

was a cowboy during the South’s trail-driving days. Family stories of wild cattle and tough

men from the patriarch experience became the basis for G. Harvey's art. A cum laude

graduate in Fine Arts at North Texas State University, Harvey took a teaching position with

the University of Texas in Austin for a few years only to quit and pursue art full time.

Harvey struggled financially for the next couple of years, but in 1965 he had acquired his

first esteemed exhibition, The Grand National exhibition in New York. This career spotlight

would only to be followed by the American Artists' Professional League presenting him with

their New Master's Award, a coveted bestowment that would only be a precursor to Harvey’s

successful artistic career.

Though Harvey has had nearly two decades of sell-out shows, an outstanding honor came

with a series of one-man shows in Washington, D.C. The first was at the National Archives

featuring his paintings of the Civil War era, and then a selection of paintings of notable

Washington landmarks was exhibited at the Treasury Department, culminating in a one-

man show of 35 paintings at the Smithsonian Institution during their exhibition of "The All

American Horse." The Smithsonian Institution also chose Harvey to paint "The Smithsonian

Dream," commemorating its 150th Anniversary.

Today, G. Harvey lives in Fredericksburg, Texas, with his wife Pat in a 150-year old stone

home built by German settlers. His studio and residence are nestled within the Historic

District of Fredericksburg.

In Late Reflections, Harvey presents us with a Texas Hill Country dusk scene that was

painted in 1966; an era that pre-dates his traditional western genre and impressionistic

vintage metropolitan scenes. Encapsulating a traditional vintage look, the color palette

somehow rests somewhere in the middle of light and dark with the tonalities straddling a bi-

polar spectrum with the bright colors of a setting sun and the warm shadows contrasted with

an almost faded and monotone foreground.



Helen Hunter was born August 4, 1920, the first child of Rufe M. and Lydia Goodwin Crain

in Pleasanton, Texas. As an adolescent, she took art classes under Ellie Wheeler, a well-

known Poteet artist whose teachers included the nationally renowned Bluebonnet painters,

Jose Arpa and Julian and Robert Onderdonk.

For two summers in high school she studied at the Witte Museum, taking community classes

in fine art. After graduating as Valedictorian in 1937, she attended Texas Woman's

University (formerly Texas State College for Women). She received her B.S. Degree in

Costume Design and Art Education in 1941. While attending the university, she was a

cartoonist for the daily newspaper, The Lass-o, as well as the art editor of the college annual,

The Daedalion (1940-41). Hunter was also a charter member of Delta Phi Delta, a national

honors art fraternity. After graduating, Hunter became an art teacher in the Cotulla Public

School System. During WWII she quit teaching to join the war efforts and began working at

Kelly Field Air Force Base in San Antonio. Eventually she was transferred to Galveston and

spent 2 years as a foreman in the Engineering and Drafting Department at the Galveston

Army Airfield. After the war, she became a graphic designer in the advertising department of

a woman’s retail store in San Antonio. Later, Hunter spent four years in Houston as an

Advertising Manager at Palais Royal, a national retail chain of women's wear.

Helen Hunter found her way back into the Fine Arts genre in 1957. First, she started to

study oil painting with John Squire Adams, and then spent 7 years mentoring with San

Antonio artist, Leslie Larsson. Hunter was a member of the Texas Watercolor Society, San

Antonio Watercolor Group, San Antonio Art League, Coppini Academy of Fine Art and the

Brush Country Art Club of Pleasanton, Texas. She has taught private art classes in San

Antonio, Dilley, Floresville and Pleasanton.

Hunter gained regional distinction for her renditions of cactus, wildflowers, birds and

brush country landscapes of South Texas. Her work is collected by many large corporations,

banks, insurance companies and business professionals. She was also featured in Southwest

Art Magazine, dated November, 1978.

Helen Hunter passed away in 2003, leaving behind a great artistic legacy and a secured

provenance in the Texas Vintage genre.

© Gabriel Diego Delgado and www.nanetterichardsonfineart.com

Helen Hunter

(1920 – 2003)

Cactus

$1,200 (framed)

8” x 10”

Oil



W.A. Slaughter

(B. 1923)

Bluebonnets

$16,000 framed)

24” x 36”

Oil


W. A. Slaughter (b. 1923- 2003), a nationally recognized bluebonnet landscape painter and

WWII Air Force Veteran grew up in Texas amid the splendor and beauty of the Hill

Country. The serene landscape and rolling hills near his home in San Antonio were early

sources of inspiration for his developing artistic ability.

In 1952, Slaughter was ordained as a Lutheran minister. He served at an English-speaking

congregation in Mexico City, but returned to Dallas in 1964 to become the pastorate of The

King of Glory Lutheran Church. As an adolescent he had always dabbled in drawing and

painting, it wasn’t until 1972 that many historians reference the moment Slaughter decided

to dedicate himself entirely to painting, after retiring from the church in late 1971. He was

actively painting while preaching, and it is said that some of his earliest collectors were

church patrons. He exhibited his first set of bluebonnets in 1968 at a Dallas shopping mall,

and was “discovered” by Southwest Gallery in Dallas. Slaughter also exhibited at the Dallas

Artists and Craftsmen annual exhibitions and won awards in 1968 and 1973. He is rumored

to have been able to produce over 250 paintings a year in his prime.

Although a wide variety of landscapes inspired Bill Slaughter, it is the gentle beauty of the

Texas Hill Country that truly speaks to him. His canvases of fields of bluebonnets and

stately oak trees evoke memories of quieter times. W.A. Slaughter died in 2003. His

aftermarket presence is impressive with well over 100 auction records on file, which a

trackable increase in value.



“Mindscapes “Mindscapes “Mindscapes Russell StephensonRussell StephensonRussell Stephenson

Event Pictures Event Pictures Event Pictures

Opened: June 13, 2015, J.R. Mooney GalleriesOpened: June 13, 2015, J.R. Mooney GalleriesOpened: June 13, 2015, J.R. Mooney Galleries––– Boerne. TX. Boerne. TX. Boerne. TX.

Society Pages

Photography courtesy of : J.R. Mooney Galleries

56 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer, 2015

Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer , 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 57

Installation Images of Exhibition Installation Images of Exhibition Installation Images of Exhibition

June 13 June 13 June 13 ———July 1, 2015 J.R. Mooney GalleriesJuly 1, 2015 J.R. Mooney GalleriesJuly 1, 2015 J.R. Mooney Galleries––– Boerne. TX. Boerne. TX. Boerne. TX.

Summer 2015 edition of plumage tx magazine draft 7 7 2015

Documents

Transcript of Summer 2015 edition of plumage tx magazine draft 7 7 2015