In 1970 John Lennon told Rolling Stone magazine: “I’m an artist and if you bring me a tuba I’ll bring something out of it.” The Beatles had just broken up, and Lennon was in a strange place musically, but his point was that creativity often wasn’t isolated to just one thing. Creativity could manifest itself in many ways, and across many mediums.
When Bloom is on the Beargrass, oil, 40 x 40"
The West has had many tuba players, that is artists who could pick up almost any medium and wrestle beautiful work out of it. Consider Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington, Joe Beeler and John Coleman, just to name a few.
Another artist who continues that great tradition is Texas artist Bruce Greene, who will be showing one of his most diverse collections of work at a show opening April 22 at InSight Gallery in Fredericksburg, Texas. The show, titled From the Hilltops to Heaven, will have oil paintings, gouache studies, pen-and-ink drawings, a bas relief and also more traditional sculpture.
Runnin’ One Down, pen and ink, 14½ x 12½"
“I’m enjoying the preparation of this one, that’s for sure. Between the gouache paintings, the color studies, the drawings…if I ever get burnt out on something I just switch to something else,” Greene says. “My studio is broken up into two sides with an office between them. On one side of the building is where my sculpture materials are, and then the other has my painting stuff. Having to switch rooms really allows me to shift my mindset as I go from piece to piece.”
Some Cowboy Times, gouache, 12 x 12"
One of the big, new oil paintings for the show is When Bloom is on the Beargrass, showing six riders riding into brilliant morning light that is still rising on the distant horizon. The models for the piece were Greene’s son and several friends. “A lot of the place is painted just from my memory, of guys trotting out in the morning as they work those big ranches. Some of the best places are from memory,” he explains. “I like to venture out a little bit. I’ve painted the Canadian Rockies and a little bit in Northern New Mexico, but really all my work is pretty much Texas. It’s hard to not paint the things you love so much.” Another major work in the show is the wall relief The Bell on Old Blue, which is rooted in some Texas history.
Saddle Up Before Sunup, gouache, 12 x 12"
“When Charlie Goodnight would lead his heard north, a big steer would lead the way. This was Old Blue. They would put a bell on him and the other cows would just follow him along,” Greene says. “Up in Kansas City, rather than leave Old Blue there, they would bring him back to lead the next group.”
The work is based on a 1989 poem with the same name written by cowboy poet, singer and actor Red Steagall, a close friend of Greene and an honorary member of the Cowboy Artists of America. It closes with a fond remembrance of Old Blue and his bell:
As I reminisce I’m reminded that I am
One of the fortunate few.
Who’s had the privilege of hearin’ a nightherder’s song
And the sound of that bell on old Blue.
For the relief itself, Greene had to merge painting and sculpture methods to create a flat work with three-dimensional elements to it. “It does require a painter’s touch to get the composition right. I wanted to lead the viewer’s eye through the semi-flat surface. You also have to create a sense of depth,” he says. “I just had a picture in my head of how it should look and I started to tear into it one piece at a time.”
Scambled Eggs, bronze, 26 x 18 x13"
Other works in the show include several gouache studies that are little gems. “Lately I’ve been doing gouache studies more because I’m enjoying experimenting with composition and values. And at the end I gain another piece—a small color study and the work that I was intending to paint. It’s nice to show those to people so they can see how a painting develops,” he adds.
Bruce Greene with the clay version of his new wall relief, The Bell on Old Blue.
The Bell on Old Blue, clay for bronze
Gallery director and owner Elizabeth Harris has shown Greene’s work before and enjoys presenting new pieces to collectors. “It’s always a pleasure to have a show with an artist like Bruce Greene because for over a year prior he gives us glimpses of his creative process, his ideas for the show, the preliminary sketches and then the works as they come together. It’s like having a bird’s-eye view of how his mind works in preparation for an exhibition of this size,” Harris says. “Greene’s exhibitions are always unique because they feature both oil paintings and bronze sculptures so it adds dimension to the offerings. Attending the show opening further adds to the experience because it gives collectors a chance to hear from the artist the story behind each of the pieces, which he enjoys sharing. The scenes depicted in Bruce Greene’s work are renditions of working cowboys that he knows, animals from his ranch and his personal experiences while riding horseback. A natural storyteller, Greene further brings his work to life as he paints an image in your head while telling of the moment that inspired the work.”
A Place to Think, pen and ink, 14 x 11"
Greene’s new show opens April 22 with a question-and-answer session starting at 10 a.m. and then a reception to follow at 5 p.m. The works will be on view through May 18. —
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