Attendees were treated to a packed weekend of art and education with distinguished speakers such as, Andrew Walker, Jack Davis, JP Bryan, Deborah Fullerton, Mary Bones and our own Reaugh supporter and fan, Light Cummins.  As if that wasn’t enough, we were treated to a weekend long Texas Art Fair from some of the State’s finest art dealers and two special events hosted by the Sid Richardson Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

It’s so enjoyable and inspiring to spend time with people who have a common appreciation for the same subject. Pictured to the right are art aficionados and film contributors, Beverly and George Palmer and Sam and Juli Stevens (R to L). Sam and Juli just recently contributed to the documentary and mentioned that there were most enthusiastic about the film’s premiere.

Several of the dealers had Reaughs on display so it was as equally delightful to chat with them.  I had the pleasure of meeting the Kinney’s from San Antonio, Greg and Marsha, who in between sessions, purchased their very first Reaugh from David Dike Fine Art’s booth. Here’s a snapshot of the proud new parents.

The entire weekend was so engaging and most educational.  I especially enjoyed learning about the women artists in Davis, Cummins and Bones’ presentations.  Don’t think that my brain wasn’t racing with the idea of a future documentary on these early female artists and teachers.

Hats off to all of the symposium contributors and to Leslie, Lindsay, and Bill for overseeing a fantastic event.  I’m a big fan and even a new CASETA member!  To learn more about this great organization and their mission to promote the preservation, study and appreciation of Texas visual arts and its history go to http://www.caseta.org/.

Thanks again to everyone that made this such an eventful weekend! I’m indeed looking forward to next year!

This enchanting excerpt is from the dairy of Virginia Goerner from a Gardner Smith and Robert Reitz publication, edited by Virgina Howard called, A Sketch in Time — The Frank Reaugh Sketch Trip of 1920.  Fourteen-year-old Goerner was the keeper of the dairy for this 1920 trek west with Mr. Reaugh and his students in the maiden voyage of the Cicada, an old Ford touring car.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Mineral Wells with my cousin Shelly for the weekend.  While she was racing cars — yes, she races cars — I was tootling around town. I just kept thinking, if this had been two years earlier, I don’t think I would have appreciated the journey as much.  Knowing Frank Reaugh’s history and the stories of his annual sketching trips, makes a person see the West Texas landscape in such a different light!  Every direction reminded me of a Frank Reaugh pastel.  Like this very sketch from Lucretia Donnell’s collection called, Big Herd and Distance Study.  The valley in the distance is the Brazos near Mineral Wells.

The diary continues, “At Lovers’ Retreat we had dinner and found a spring of most delicious water.  Proceeding from Eagle Creek through Ioni Canyon, we struck the bad oil roads on the way to Caddo. Leaving the main automobile road at Caddo, we turned northward toward Eliasville.  The terrible roads were the occasion of much uncomplimentary comment and of the composition of several songs.”

Mineral Wells is 30 miles west of Weatherford, and this sketching party paralleled the route of the Weatherford, Mineral Wells and Northwestern Railway, which is now a hiking and biking trail between the two towns. This visit was the beginning of their trek to the Grand Canyon.

On my journey, I was hopeful to see if I could find Lover’s Retreat, a favorite stop of Reaugh’s, but this once public park is now on private property.  This beautiful postcard is courtesy of a new Frank Reaugh fan, Judy Shubert of Genealogy Traces.  She writes, “Lover’s Retreat is found on Eagle Creek near the Brazos River west of the north central Texas town of Mineral Wells. As a girl, I often visited the Suspension Bridge, which looked so dangerous as it swung over the small creek below and as a young woman I often went there with other couples.  This postcard is in my small collection of memorabilia from my hometown.” To read more about Lover’s Retreat and to discover what a ‘Texas Nightingale’ might be, click her link here.

While the Mineral Wells of today is not the once resort town of late 1800s – early 1900s, it certainly warrants retracing one of Reaugh’s trips west and to see some of the City’s grand architecture, such as the magnificent Baker Hotel, to hike around one of the State’s prettiest parks, and to take a swig or two of Crazy Water!

Those that have been following this documentary from the start are no strangers to Robert Reitz and Gardner Smith. These two gentlemen have been documenting journals on Mr. Reaugh and his sketching trips to West Texas, correspondence between Frank Reaugh and artist L.O. Griffith, and other research materials and stories for over twenty years.  Their dedication to Mr. Reaugh and Texas has been most instrumental to this production; and as consultants of the film, they continue to unselfishly share their advice and expertise with me.

Their giving doesn’t stop there!  This month, as a token of thanks, new contributors who donate a $100 or more to the documentary will receive a copy of From Under a Mesquite Tree in PDF form (a $50 value). This 2005 publication of Charles Franklin Reaugh’s memoirs is no longer in print with limited circulation.

From Under a Mesquite Tree provides a tremendous wealth of information about the life and times of Frank Reaugh.  As dictated to one of his favorite students, Lucretia Donnell, this book colorfully recounts his days as a youth in Morgan County, Illinois and Kaufman County, Texas. He narrates his journeys and teachings in St. Louis and overseas in Paris and tells of the Frank Reaugh Art Club, the move to Oak Cliff, The Striginian Club, his teachings, his students, and of course, his many sketch trips.

With over a 175 pages of vibrant stories and illustrations, I had a most difficult time trying to select a single excerpt From Under a Mesquite Tree that would best illustrate the winsomeness of this book.  It’s actually my excuse for being a bit tardy with this month’s recent newsletter.  I found myself reading instead of writing.

An excerpt –

“On this sketch trip to Terlingua, Reveau Bassett took his second wife along. Terlingua at that time was one of the largest quicksilver mines in the world. It rains once in about three or four years down there, but when it does rain, it is a big rain. We were delayed three or four days by a flood in the creek.

We went down to see the big Chisos Canyon. On the way down there we saw a big snake coiled up on the road. Reveau was driving my Ford with his wife, and the rest of us were in the Cicada. They were a little bit ahead of us. We saw him get out of the car and poke at the snake with a long stick. This snake was as big around as my leg and was eight or ten feet long. It was a prairie snake.  The poor snake could not escape very well because it was molting its skin and was temporarily blind. The snake crawled over to the Cicada and thought it was a fine place to hide in. He climbed up the wheel, and then it went over the bumper and over the radiator.  Jim Cheek was driving the Cicada, and Josephine Oliver and John Douglass were in the front seat with him. The snake did not like that hot radiator, so he crawled in the right side of the car, and as he came in, Josephine and John exited the left side.

Now, Reveau was watching this and laughing like it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. Jim Cheek was still at the wheel of the car and he began whacking the snake with his hat, shouting – Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!  The snake did not care for that treatment, so he left and headed for Reveau’s car.  His wife was sitting there and when she saw the snake headed for her she began screaming.  I guess she thought that snake was dangerous.  Reveau had his fishing pole and took it and beat off the snake, who took off through the grass.  I would not allow anyone to kill the snake, because it is harmless.”

This is one of the many tales that transport you to another time when Texas longhorns, and really big snakes, roamed freely.  I picked this tidbit because I have some old photos from our friends Gardner and Bob (photo to the right) that compliment this journey as they followed in Reaugh’s footsteps.

To read more of Mr. Reaugh’s memoirs please donate by check, made out to Fractured Atlas with Pastel Poet of the Texas Plains in the memo line, and mail to Marla Fields at 7527 Oak Street, Frisco, TX 75033.  The book is valued at $50 so the remaining portion of your donation of $100 or more will be tax-deductible.  Once the check is processed, we will send your tax receipt and the PDF of the book.

If you already have this publication, we have a couple of others to choose from. Please let me know by sending an email of your interest and of your kind donation to marla@marlafields.com.

I felt it was key to learn more about Mr. Reaugh’s medium of choice, which led me to a recent telephone conversation with Thea Burns, the author of The Invention of Pastel Painting. Ms. Burns’ book is a fascinating and informative read as she explores the history, materials, techniques, and artistry of pastellists, specifically Robert Nanteuil (1623-1678), Joseph Vivien (1657-1734), and Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757).  A paper conservator, Thea is particularly interested in researching the artist’s materials and their social and cultural content. She commented that she doesn’t feel as if the material itself has a history, rather, it is the artist, and how they choose to use the material within culture that gives it its definition.

The origins of pastel are also open for debate.  Some trace its genesis to Leonardo da Vinci’s circle in the late sixteenth century, while others credit the fifteenth century as they define pastel as “a cohesive yet friable natural black chalk stick.”  Thea writes, “Certain twentieth-century art historians, citing the etymology of the word ‘pastel’ – the Italian pastello, from the Latin pasta – meaning ‘paste’ – argue in favour of pastel’s later fifteenth century Italian origins.  Others, persuaded by the key role in this history claimed by some scholars for the French artist Jean Perréal, have described ‘pastel’ as a French invention of the same period.”

She continues, “The change in artistic practice from drawing with chalks to painting in pastel was accompanied by a shift in manufacturing and marketing procedures and a broadening of the demand friable drawing sticks, which can be documented, and which represents an efficient and calculated response to the demands of the art market.”  In our conversation, she further explained that while pastel was considered an easier tool to work with, it still produced quality paintings.  The medium was ideal in conveying the cosmetic features of the period.  The colours were portable, dry, required little preparation time, and no drying time. Models did not become exhausted and portraits could be completed in a few sittings.  We agreed that these were all key points that most likely contributed to Mr. Reaugh’s preference for pastel.

While Thea’s expertise is focused on earlier works, she was appreciative to learn more about Frank Reaugh.  She admired his work from our website and agreed that more individuals needed to know about his many contributions and his fascinating story.  She was intrigued to learn about “Twenty-four Hours with the Herd” and how Reaugh combined this exhibit with lighting, narrative, and music.  The origins of this particular presentation style hasn’t revealed itself to her, but perhaps she will help us to learn more as she currently continues to research and write her next book on pastel painting.

And in answer to our side note, Thea eloquently explained to me and I agree, “Pastel is being used by painters and it is a blended image of colours and in the painter’s mind they are painting, therefore, it is pastel painting.”

Thank you Thea!

Founded in 1988 by Dallas philanthropist, Annie Lee Warren Roberts, The Summerlee Foundation has been a strong advocate for both animal rights and historical preservation. With Frank Reaugh’s legacy so steeped in Texas history, it seemed like an ideal partnership.  Pleased and impressed with the grant proposal and sneak preview submitted in the Fall, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees agreed that this film was indeed a worthy endeavor and awarded the project a grant to assist in a local production to gather more key interviews and Reaugh artwork.

We are truly honored to add The Summerlee Foundation’s name to our list of contributors and champions!  Visionaries themselves, all of our contributors are helping to preserve our history through Mr. Reaugh’s artwork, photography, music and inventions.  This non-profit film couldn’t have even started production without the generous donations of our champions and it is their support that is spurring us on to tell a story that is, indeed, “a worthy tribute.”

See a preview of the film at this link and once again, thank you to The Summerlee Foundation, the Frank Reaugh Art Club and all of our fabulous contributors for making this vision a reality!

When a friend first encouraged me to attend, I hesitated thinking I might appear pretentious.  I’m the first to admit that I have a great deal to learn about art.  While I’m much farther along than I was this time last year when I first started working on the Frank Reaugh documentary, I still have a ways to go.  I’m constantly learning and this auction was very educational.

I enjoyed visiting with Scott Chase as we waited to see what the Otis Doziers would bring. I was introduced to Morris Matson, a gentleman that I know has some great tales for me! I was also pleased to get the chance to meet David Dike and Anne Kelly and personally thank them for their contributions to the Frank Reaugh preview online.  They assisted in securing permission for the Perry Nichols and John Douglass images seen in the trailer.

As for my friend, Tracy Glover, who encouraged me to attend, she had fun comparing her Fred Darge to those that were up for auction. By the way, story has it that, Fred Darge took up residence in El Sibil after Mr. Reaugh’s passing.

It was really wonderful to see such a great turnout and it excites me to think that our premiere of the Frank Reaugh film could possibly generate an equally enthusiastic audience of art lovers.  Wouldn’t that be something!

The story goes that Mr. Reaugh delighted in sending his holiday greetings on this special day, December 29th, his birthday.  This is one such card. Oh, how many of us wish we were on that mailing list!  Research has also uncovered that Mr. Reaugh was commissioned by the Caruth Family to sketch Christmas cards back in the day.

As we all know, Reaugh was generous with his work. Stories go on to mention that when his students either graduated or married he would send them a sketch or painting as a gift and a keepsake.

It isn’t too late to send Mr. Reaugh a birthday gift with a small donation. Unfortunately, the documentary hasn’t received any donations over the last month and a half so, if you happen to have an extra $25 and need a last minute tax deduction, please click on this link.

]]> http://marlafields.com/frankreaugh/?feed=rss2&p=1642 0 http://marlafields.com/frankreaugh/?p=1618 http://marlafields.com/frankreaugh/?p=1618#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:41:19 +0000 Marla Fields http://marlafields.com/frankreaugh/?p=1618 My meeting of Pernie Fallon falls in that “small world” category.  Before jumping on the Frank Reaugh documentary campaign, I was the committee chair of a local art contest for school students here in Frisco, TX.  As some of you may know, Pernie teaches at Frisco’s Liberty High School.  Her talented students participated in that contest and her name registered back then.  Her name came up again a year or so later at the symposium in McKinney where we first conducted round one of our interviews for the documentary.  As we were loading the equipment, someone mentioned how they were having dinner with Lucretia, along with others, one of which, a student of Lucretia’s by the name of Pernie Fallon.  I thought, I know that name, but from where?  It wasn’t until a bit later, I connected the dots.  It seems that Pernie has been a huge fan of Frank Reaugh’s for a while. Here she shares her story and her art.

Pernie eloquently writes, “Growing up in the Texas Panhandle, I spent a lot of time at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.  I was always fascinated with the exhibit of Harold Bugbee’s studio and next to it — the small, dimly lit room full of exquisite little landscape paintings.  That room was a small oasis in the large museum, a place of refuge where in the peace and quiet, one could encounter the timeless transcendence into the scenery.  In those early years, it never occurred to me to find out who the artist was.  It was not until much later in my life, when regional artist Amy Winton first put a pastel into my hand leading me to a new passion for painting in pastels, that I returned to the quiet little room at the museum to learn and understand as much as I could about the man whose paintings so intimately portrayed the western landscape.  Frank Reaugh became my teacher.

My connections to Reaugh and the land became apparent.  I began to understand the feeling he had for this country.  The feeling that even though you’ve seen this country, you have to see it again.  The feeling that even though you know the country, you have to experience it again.  And though you know it will never be the same, you must look for it again.  It was those moments of beauty and fleeting effects Frank Reaugh captured in his exquisite pastel paintings that I wanted to learn to paint.  Every location has its own story to tell and Reaugh painted it with urgent accuracy, making his work not only poetic, but also a historical documentation of a sense of place.  And though those particular moments are both forever gone and forever preserved in his paintings, the landscape I sought to paint presented me with my own experiences of the land, the wind, the light and the weather.  Even though Reaugh died years before I was born, he has been most influential in my life as a painter.  We have never met, but he has spoken to me through his work and writings.

One of the highlights of my life has been getting to know and study with Lucretia Donnell Coke, one of Mr. Reaugh’s favorite students.  She in turn has taught me to paint in the way that Mr. Reaugh taught her.  His knowledge, his philosophy, his hopes and dreams passed down to me through her hand.  What she handed me was a gift – his legacy – that I too have taught to my students.  This gift is about truth, about being, about how some things just are.  The gift is in paintings that so powerfully speak of silent spaces and light, which has been spent. This gift makes me so full that I must share Mr. Reaugh with everyone I meet.”

Thank you Pernie for your beautiful words.  You have expressed what so many of us see in his work. To learn more about Pernie and the equally talented Guy Giersch visit http://studioduendegallery.com/

It was this time last year that we officially started production on a long overdue documentary about Texas artist, inventor, naturalist, and educator Frank Reaugh. While the seed of the film was first planted in May of 2010 with research and pre-interviews, it wasn’t until October 9, 2010 that the film truly blossomed as we taped our first series of interviews during the Texas Regional Art Symposium at the Heard-Craig Center for the Arts in McKinney.

The Center, the crew, the interviewees’ time, and all the film equipment were generously donated to the cause; and as a result, five key interviews were recorded and an eventual five minute trailer was produced to assist with future fundraising and marketing.  It was on that day that there could be no denying and no turning back as we were all collectively committed to telling this man’s story.

Frank Reaugh has garnered a great deal of attention since…

• A press release and announcement of a documentary in the making – Oct. 2010
• Pastel Poet of the Texas Plains becomes a non-profit, tax-deductible project with Fractured Atlas – Nov. 2010
• A preview/trailer was launched online – Dec. 2010
• Countless letters of introductions were sent – Monthly
• A monthly Frank Reaugh newsletter was created – February 2011 – present
• An Advisory Committee was created – March 2011 – Read more…
• Sponsorship levels were established – March 2011
• Research and pre-interviews continued with Joe Oliver, Betty Bock, Sam Ratcliffe and the likes – Throughout the year – See Latest News
• Community partnerships were cultivated and art releases and relationships created with the Tyler Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, Torch Gallery… – Continuously
• A new and dedicated website was designed and launched with monthly updates – April 2011 – present
• Formal proposals created and grant applications submitted – May 2011 – present
• Postings to various publications such as, Art&Seek, NeighborsGo, The Guide, Pegasus News, Oak Cliff Online… – Throughout the year
  
• Sneak previews to the Frank Reaugh Art Club, the Lois Weber Film Festival, the DADA Gallery Walk, and the Heritage Association of Frisco – June 2010 – present – Read more…
• Monthly interviews and postings made of current Texas artists influenced by Mr. Reaugh – July 2011 – present
• A second shoot as crew travels to Austin for a two-day shoot to tape Peter Mears and hear more from Lucretia Donnell Coke – Aug. 2011
• Crew travels to Denton for our third, one-day, shoot in Denton at the Frank Reaugh exhibit at UNT on the Square capturing nearly 100 Reaugh works – Sept. 2011
• A mini Frank Reaugh Exhibit during artseen studio tour 2011 – Oct. 2011

All this on monetary donations totaling only $12,250, with in-kind contributions totaling to more than $25,000; and that doesn’t come close to calculating all the invaluable time donated by the interviewees, consultants, curators, historians, and volunteers that have shared their expertise with research, marketing and publicity. We can’t thank everyone enough for their belief in the project and personally, in my producing ability.

Those familiar with video and film production know that a one-day, high quality shoot like ours can easily total $8,000-$10,000 alone, but to shoot 4, 10+ hours, days on $12,250 is unheard of.  It took a great deal of commitment from our entire team and my thanks continues to pour out to my fabulous crew of talented professionals.

What is in store for us in the coming year?  It all hinges on future fundraising.  We will have to see what develops there and in the meantime we’ll look to coordinate a local shoot and travel to Canyon and Houston to record even more interviews and artwork that are central to Reaugh’s complete story.  Click here to read more about our hopeful schedule.

On this fall day, the public was invited to stop by my home located in Frisco’s historic district, to catch a glimpse of Mr. Reaugh’s works, to view an extended preview of Pastel Poet of the Texas Plains on the tube, and to swap stories with myself, Robert Reitz – author, historian and film consultant, and Bonnie Rea – the President of the Frank Reaugh Art Club.

Art collections, from various collectors, several works from Joseph & Jean Oliver, and the Frank Reaugh Art Club, were loaned with several members of the Club in attendance, including Pernie Fallon, Barbara Hartger, Dora Slover, Brenda Wright, Bob Reitz and Bonnie Rea.

The day saw a steady flow of some old and new Frank Reaugh fans.  Visitors were in constant awe of how Mr. Reaugh could capture so much in such a small space.  They found it equally amazing how he could sharpen the pastels to include so much detail in one scene.

Also on display, a small tribute to Reaugh’s legacy as we also displayed some works by his students.  For instance, on an alternating wall, we featured a work by Lucretia Donnell Coke who in turn taught Pernie Fallon who now teaches Reaugh’s technique to her art students at Liberty High School, both also on display.

Thanks to all those who attended, Bob and Bonnie for welcoming our guests, Pernie for helping to hang the works, Guy Giersch for his assistance with photography, and to the owners of our collections.  I was truly honored to have all these beauties in my home for a most memorable day.