Honored and humbled to be considered for Texas Artist of the Year. I'd hang my hat on these selections out of two series. Both were begun when my beloved wife Katie Wintters was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. We both moved closer and closer to home as that cycle progressed. I thought it was a good idea to quit traveling and stay home and work on still life photos.
I'm a very native regionalist. I work out of my home and yard on Lindsey Lane in Tyler, Texas. I trust the everything I need is within arms reach here in the upper Blackford Creek Watershed.
My work flow is as follows: An idea arrives in my imagination. I think of ways to get it on a piece of film. I keep failing until it arrives.
Lucy waiting on photography to end and lunch to begin.
Tornadoes arrived and blew through my studio.
Ten Texas Tornadoes.
Moonado
Puzzle Twister.
Modern life. Who doesn't have one of these spinning inside?
Dicenado
I'm enamored with the idea of luck and chance.
Candle Twister.
Magic & Logic
Mashing up items from the neighborhood. AC Gentry's granddaughter and neighbors Magnolias.
Triple Magnolias.
Illuminated Manuscript.
My neighbors have learned to tolerate me over the years. Here's Byron posing.
Tulip Tree Hat
Ike Crutcher, native Tylerite, 1899-1985. His fedora and Sallie Gentry's, 1914-2006), Tulip Tree Blossoms.
Wisteria Scissors.
A pair of scissors that stayed in my prop pile for a few decades matched up with Wisteria blooms from a brief Spring season.
Fallen Stacked Dogwood Leaves.
Dogwood trees are beautiful all year. The leaves stack best if you catch them in the air as they fall.
All images made on film with darkroom. I don't use photoshop except when folks insist of getting one of these really large.
At Tyer Museum of Art.
This work is included in every regional collection in Texas. Gernsheim, MFAH, TMA. Southeast Texas, the Comer Collection, Amon Carter, et. I have about 20 various bodies of work commissioned or self-determined. I'm a Guggenheim Fellow for 2022. Ably represented by Foto Relevance in Houston, Texas.
Just a note: My dear Friend AC Gentry was Texas Artist of the Year in 1972 for his watercolors.
Thanks for your consideration. God Bless Texas and all of its people.
