Dalhart Windberg

Dalhart Windberg

Texas Gulf Coast

20 x 30”

$15,000

Yes another masterpiece by Texas native and nationally acclaimed painter, Dalhart Windberg comes into the J.R. Mooney Gallery. For those not in the know, Windberg was born in 1933; went on to begin his long journey as a fine art artist in 1967 and garnered national attention in the late 1960’s after training under another Texas painter, Simon Michael.  Art Entrepreneur, Windberg sold limited edition prints, open ended editions of his work, he opened up his own art center in South Texas, ran his own business of art supplies and fine art paint label- as well as sold his original oil paintings (items that eventually matured in stature and value over his tremendous career). A true Texan in every way, he did not let anything stop him, the bigger the better. Now almost 80 yrs. old, his art has graced many a home as well as esteemed art collections and institutions.

Texas Gulf Coast is a dichotomy of thought. On the one hand Windberg exhibits a de-shelved coastline; scattered and strune seaweed, coastal grasses, broken pillars, rusted barbed wire, and miscellaneous other debris formulates a complicated visual aesthetic more in line with a post Katrina environment than with his mystical and idealistic landscape of yonder years. However, take his artistic hand and edge past the first ¼ of the painting and arrive at the glossy and gleaming water; shimmering with reflective melancholy from above. The overcast, eminent, and pressing cinereal gloom radiates into the water- complete with mirrored drab reflections of the Corpus Christie skyline. A few boats provide depth to the piece, adding a visual component that anchors the mid-ground before our eye meets the cityscape backdrop.

With such a hard and tattered wooden pillar playing focal favorite, it is tough to investigate further into his coastal rendition, until you discover the artistic shaman quality that Windberg inhibits with his trickery- yes the angled branch on the lower right bottom guides you into the cool harbor and angles you left while the direction of the boats lead you in –pointing to the right, bringing you back to the center and boom your home, safe in the comfort of the metropolitan. …Oh Windberg, your visual cues lead, corral, and deliver once again.

© Gabriel Diego Delgado

Sally Minter

Bluebonnet Field

Centuries of suppressed female artists coupled with the championed male counterparts can be seen as far back as the medieval guilds and in most cases absolutely reflective in the antiquity artists; creating a culture of woman suffrage in the arts. It comes as no surprise that in the genre of traditional landscape painting- specifically-Texas Bluebonnet landscapes; a category of fine art cemented in the Southern U.S. starting in the early 1900’s there is a lack of famous, successful, or even high-esteemed female painters. 

However, when a female painter gains admiration and respect within the overwhelmingly close-knit circles of art collectorships, they (the female painters) tend to become exceedingly prominent.  Such is the case with Bluebonnet and landscape painter Sally Minter. Known as a portrayer of the regional countryside, Minter tends to excel at a signatory Bluebonnet look. Based on numerous field studies and on-location sketches her paintings awe in a mature and simplistic aesthetic, capturing just enough detail in the application that she purposefully balances the impressionistic quality vs. the overt realism heralded by other painters of this methodical approach- creating a unique landscape painting.

Bluebonnet Field is a typical example of Sally Minter’s artwork. A wispy field of overgrown vegetation is accented with hordes of bluebonnet clusters. The mid-ground stands as the pictorial space assigned to covet the rustic visual elements like the stoned façade cottage, the broken property fencing and the ol’ oak trees. A lone cactus bush in the foreground acts as a splendidly spiky subject garnering for attention over the dominating country time nostalgia of Texas Hill Country. An over-clichéd Texas sky of light blues is overridden by the hazy backdrop of an impenetrable tree line.

Overall, still actively painting in Wimberley, Texas, Sally Minter delivers a notable painting in Bluebonnet Field; breaking free of the traditional Texas landscape painter male stereotype.

 © Gabriel Diego Delgado

Sally Minter's Bluebonnet Fields painting is available for purchase at the J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art Gallery, San Antonio. 

A.D. Greer

Untitled

As in the case of most artists, their art is not the initial sole source of income; most have “day” jobs that give them the freedom to create. In Mr. Greer’s case, his prolific career choice vocations as a trained boxer; a Michelangelo-influenced church dome painter; a sign, water tower, smokestack and car painter; field worker; railroad maintenance man; logger; and muralist- all attributed to his success as a fine art artist and well-respected landscape painter.

 Born in the Oklahoma Territory in 1907; back in an era and age that saw the dissolution of the Indian Territories of that geographical region and the formal establishment of the State of Oklahoma, his earliest childhood experiences would be charged with overwhelming landscapes and rolling plains. Something retained and stored in a nostalgic physiological state, only to erupt out, cementing his mid-career artistic signatures.

As a sort of visual jack of all trades, conveyor of ideas, showman, extrovert, and ringmaster; Greer led an artistic landscape painting charge that had not been seen before- a prelude to his successful artistic career. Painting scenery backdrops for a theater company he perfected his craft through an alternative visual means.  Furthermore, beig influenced by friends who were fine art painters as well as the Texas masters of the time like Porfinio Salinas, Greer produced landscape paintings of the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park in a dreamy and quixotic approach unlike any other.

With an artistic career that spanned more than 50 years, Greer’s legacy exists not in the amount of work, but in the quality. Knowing the clientele’s buying habits and general market of his work, Greer could appease any interested party with a “sliding scale” of affordability- while maintaining a certain grandiose aesthetic.

The untitled gorge and canyon painting dating 1985 has Greer’s career is in its later esteemed stages. His signature picturesque landscapes are well established as high-quality fine art; as found in the collectors’ circles throughout Texas and the Southwest. 

Here he presents the viewer with an edgy mindfully centered vertigo that lingers down into the coniferous trees below. Angled boulders and rocks line the wide open fissure leading into the infinite cerulean abyss. An unseen light source hidden by the mountain ridges on the left emanates a fading sun; spotlighting the vistas, ridges, and mountains in the ranges miles away. Sporadic clouds dance across the sky, leaping from plateau to plateau in a kind of artistic landscape choreography  drawing our eye from background to mid-ground. Obtuse triangles of misaligned trees help balance out the foreground, bringing the focal point to the center of the painting. A dreary mist engulfs the scenic view, copulating us into his artistic reverie.

-© Gabriel Diego Delgado

Available for sale at the San Antonio location of J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art

After the Texas Hill Country Invitational

As we come back to the galleries from a wonderful weekend in Boerne at the Texas Hill Country Invitational 2012. 

We are now faced with rehanging the galleries to make room for all the newest collections of paintings by Arthur McCall and Randy Peyton.

Winter Newsletter

See the new article about Randy Peyton and J.R. Mooney Galleries at the Texas Hill Country Invitational

Pages 82-83 of the Nov edition of NHOME Magazine

Click on the article for a link to the full magazine online

"Under 300"

Under $300

J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art is gearing up for the Holidays!

 

We have decided to use one of our spotlight walls to feature what we are calling our “Under 300”. These small works of art are all under $300 and are great ideas for that unique holiday gift.

 

Ranging from open edition prints by Texas’s own Dalhart Windberg, South Korean artist, J. Morgan, impressionistic gems to traditional still lives- Our “Under 300” selections has something for everyone. 

 

Check out our impressive choices of fine art for your holiday needs. 

October issue of Boerne Business Monthly

The October 2012 edition of the Boerne Business Monthly is out. On page 21 there is the newest installment of Mooney Makes Sense.  This month we are spotlighting the Texas Hill Country Invitational.

http://d27vj430nutdmd.cloudfront.net/5721/128632/128632.1.pdf

(as seen in the sponsored story above)

Texas Hill Country Invitational

On October 19^th, 20^th and 21^st, the Boerne Professional Artist association (BPA) in collaboration with the Boerne Convention Bureau and the city of Boerne will host the annual Texas Hill Country Invitational at the Cana Ballroom of St. Peter’s Church, 202 W. Kronkosky St., Boerne, TX 78006.  The exhibition will be open Friday from 5 pm – 9 pm, Saturday 9 am – 5 pm, and Sunday 12 pm – 5 pm.

Spotlighting 40 plus regional artists, a quick draw art contest, a paint-out with artists painting throughout Boerne, a special Friday VIP preview night, art demos and artist lectures, a silent auction, breakfast with artists, and other events and prizes; this unique art event has something for everyone.

With previous public turn-outs in the two to three hundreds, the Hill Country Invitational has continually grown in reputation and population as the quality of art and artists continually spotlights Boerne as an artistic leader in the National consciousness of Texas Hill Country art identity.

The Friday night VIP opening events and preview party is a ticket only event.  Tickets can be purchased for $25.00 through the Boerne Professional Artist association at www.boerneprofessionalartists.com or by calling 210-274-5223.  Tickets can also be purchases at the following locations: J.R. Mooney Galleries for Fine Arts 305 S. Main Boerne, Texas 78006, (830) 816-5106; Carriage House Gallery 110 Rosewood in Boerne, Texas 78006, (830) 248-1184; and the Highland House Gallery 14 E. Highland Dr. Boerne, Texas 78006 (830) 249-8678.

So be sure to mark your calendars to attend this unique art experience at the Texas Hill Country Invitational at St. Peters Catholic Church on October 19^th, 20^th, and 21^st as Boerne’s art community comes together for an artistic amalgamation of significant proportions.

For more information about the Texas Hill Country Invitational go to www.boerneprofessionalartists.com or call the Boerne Professional Artist association at (210) 274-5223.

Second Saturday Boerne, TX 78006 Oct. 13, 2012

              2^nd SATURDAY

THE ULTIMATE ART EXPERIENCE

“…October’s cooler temperatures are accented in the artworks of national landscape painter, Charles Pabst…among many others”

 J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art is proud to announce their participation in the October 13, 2012 Second Saturday in Boerne, Texas with a spotlight of landscape and impressionistic paintings reflective of the autumn color scheme.

Celebrate fall’s changing colors and cooler temperatures in Boerne on October 13, 2012 from 4 pm – 8 pm with the monthly Fine Art festivities of Second Saturday Art and Wine-hosted by six art venues through-out Boerne. Enjoy the beautiful fall colors and cool hill country breezes in Boerne by taking the opportunity to see the eclectic selections of Fine Art that Boerne has to offer.  Plus, sample complimentary hors d'oeuvres and cool drinks while visiting with the galleries, artists, and fellow art patrons.   Boerne’s 2nd Saturday Art and Wine is a free event open to the general public; including free parking and a free complimentary trolley to all destinations along the 2nd Saturday route.

Who:

Charles Pabst, J. Morgan, Cliff Cavin, Adams, and various artists represented by J.R. Mooney Galleries

What:

Second Saturday Art Event in Boerne, TX

When:

October 13, 2012 4 pm – 8 pm

Where:

J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art

305 S. Main St

Boerne, TX 78006

“The historical town of Boerne is becoming known as the Santa Fe of the Hill Country by tourists and locals"
-Southwest Art Magazine

Contact Gabriel Diego Delgado at J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art / 8302 Broadway / San Antonio, TX. 78209 / 210.828.8214