We Have a Winner!

I promised early in the springtime that at the close of spring I would select a winner of a free photograph. I recently selected at random (using Excel's "RAND" function, which we know is perfectly random!) a name from my blog's email subscription list.

Our winner is Connie Clark, and she had the option of choosing one of four different images from my "oceans of flowers" Texas wildflower series. Connie made an excellent choice of LAGOON OF BLUEBONNETS.  Congratulations, Connie!

The image was captured of a field of somewhere between five and ten acres of Texas bluebonnets north of Marble Falls, Texas. The photograph recently shipped to Connie was an 8.5" by 42" print on archival matte paper using my state-of-the-art archival processes.

LAGOON OF BLUEBONNETS, © Bill Brockmeier, all rights reserved by the artist

Stay tuned for announcements of my next drawing for free art...

Conserving the Hill Country

A few days ago I had the opportunity to travel to the site of the Arts and Conservation project that I will be undertaking for the next several months. The location is a beautiful and considerable stretch of the Guadalupe River between Sisterdale and Comfort, Texas. The region is classic Texas "Hill Country" with its rolling hills, steep knobs, and rich river valleys with "pecan bottoms." In particular, this stretch of the river is populated by ranks of huge cypress sentinels arrayed below bare limestone bluffs.

Thistles Along the Guadalupe
© Bill Brockmeier

We met with the landowner and conservator of the property who graciously explained to us the layout of their place, and where I might find interesting subjects to photograph. She told us why they had acquired this piece of land and what it has meant to them over the years. They appreciate the unique treasure that they hold and they have made it available to me to convey some of its beauty to others.

I plan on visiting the property over a period of months so I can capture images during different lighting, weather, and seasonal conditions. I will make my first photographic trip to Sisterdale later in June, and will bring you some of the fruits of my efforts here.

Art & Conservation

I was pleased this past week to open an email from the Cibolo Nature Center and discover an acceptance letter for the 2012-2013 "Our Hidden Treasures" project for their ongoing "Art & Conservation" program. The every-other-year project, which began in 2007, is a collaboration between the Cibolo Nature Center, Cibolo Arts Council, and the Cibolo Conservancy.

The Cibolo Creek watershed and surrounding Hill Country region is not only a treasure to the state of Texas, but is such a remarkable gift of natural diversity that people from all over the nation come here to enjoy its richness.

The "Art & Conservation" project juries applicants from a wide spectrum of the visual arts and then pairs the selected finalists with varous landowners from the region (the image I submitted for the jurying process appears below). The properties chosen for the project are veritable jewels of our natural heritage and this collaboration is aimed at highlighting these spaces' unique and precious gifts through creative expression.

DARK MIRROR, Pedernales Falls State Park, © Bill Brockmeier, 2009

The selected artists will visit the places that they have been paired with over a period of mostly a year and will have the opportunity of experiencing the seasonal changes in the land. The creative focus is on the natural and unique ambience of these places, and a determined goal of the project is to avoid the inclusion of man-made structures and common artist cliches.

I am certainly looking forward to experiencing and expressing the wonder of the place I will visit— a ranch on the Guadalupe River east of Comfort, Texas. As the project unfolds, you'll read about it here.