Robert Pummill in front of one of his larger pieces. Image courtesy InSight Gallery.

In the forward for the show catalog, Norman Kolpas writes, “For almost half a century, Robert Pummill has dedicated his prodigious talent to depicting the legacy of the American West and the Texas Hill Country he calls home. Most often, the paintings that result measure in feet rather than inches—a scale worthy of that expansive rolling landscape and its wide-open skies. Sometimes, however, his feelings for the subjects express themselves in artworks of a more intimate scale, like the abundant collection of landscape works featured in this very special show.”

Bluebonnets in the Morning, oil, 16 x 20”

The Ohio-born artist has been painting since he was 11 years old. He spent nine years in the Air Force and has lived all over the country painting scenes from the areas around him. He attributes his talent to knowledge and admits that he is still honing his craft today. “To me, it was a natural progression. I’ve been at this now for, what, 70 some years. So, it’s not something that happens overnight, and it’s usually not something that is planned and detailed ahead of time. I mean it’s the old saying that Yogi Berra said, ‘When you come to a fork in the road, take it.’”

Still of Use, oil, 12 x 16”

The 87-year-old also says his process is less about inspiration and more about the elements of his surroundings and how he unites them to tell a compelling story. He’ll often start with multiple thumbnail sketches as an outline, guiding him beat by beat. “I decide that I want to do a certain subject, and then I create a design for the painting and set the elements that I want to put into that design…That’s the process. Sitting down and being inspired to do something, that’s not the process. You grab all your elements you get. You have to decide what you want. And then you say, how do I want to depict this subject?”

Cactus in Bloom at Sunset, oil, 16 x 20”

And though the paintings in this show are a little smaller than his normal pieces, he still approaches them the same way. Pummill emphasizes that it’s not something that flows ambiguously from the brush like a magic wand but a craft that can be tedious, even boring. Yet, the result is worth the labor. Every piece is carefully outlined with details composited to create a masterful Texas landscape like no one has ever seen and can escape into.

Spring Rain, oil, 12 x 16”

When asked what he hopes people take away from the show, he jokes that he hopes for “one or two paintings,” and adds, “The thing about it is that if people were interested in my work, they could probably find something in this show that will work for them, because it’s pretty…[and it has] got the gamut of landscape subject matter and approaches to the subject matter. I mean, I tried to make them different and have different subjects in each painting.”