New Shop Opening “HagermanArtPaintings” on Etsy

After much thought my alter ego “Byron” decided to offer his landscape oil paintings on Etsy with his own shop named HagermanArtPaintings.

Etsy Shop Page

Prompting this was a desire to find new audiences to share my work with. If nothing else, Etsy has some great statistical information that helps me get an idea of what people like. I first started offering my Byron work on eBay and I do not plan to eliminate the eBay avenue. It’s just good to spread your stuff around as you never know who might see it.

I like the format of Etsy as it appeals to the creative side and things that are hand made.

What to Expect at my Landscape Oil Paintings Etsy Shop?

Byron is wishing to experiment once again. Who knows you might even see a colorful abstract and more choices in painting sizes in the near future. But for those who enjoy my realistic landscape oil paintings under my William Hagerman signature, not to worry he’s not going anywhere. Matter of fact he’s gearing up for a commissioned painting! It’s to be a surprise so it’s hush hush for now. I’ll share when it’s done.

So I invite you to visit my Etsy shop. There’s a banner on the side bar that links to it. I hope my shop will be a favorite!

My participation in the  Winnsboro Art & Wine Festival 2016 was an enjoyable weekend. The weather was absolutely beautiful. I all but wanted to ditch the show and go exploring the countryside with camera in hand. The area is beautiful. But, then I wouldn’t have gotten to meet several nice folk from the area and share my art with them.

Here are a few pictures of my booth.

During set up

set up complete

set up complete another view

I especially wanted to thank my brother-in-law who helped with my show set up. I wouldn’t have got it done without his help.

I understand he is now inspired to try his hand at painting. His wife said he just had his first lesson and wonders if we we haven’t created a monster. We shall see. Maybe we’ll have a show together someday! Two monsters showing art.

If you didn’t get to attend and would like to see what the event was like, a video was produced for the event. I’m in the video at the one minute forty two second interval. Blink and you’ll miss it.  Just wish more of my art was shown rather than my stupid looking face. Ha!

 Winnsboro Art & Wine Festival Video

Regarding those who signed up for the free painting giveaway here is that announcement and a picture of the winner with her painting. Congrats to the winner and all who participated in the drawing!

Over the years I have been privileged to be interviewed for newspaper articles about my art. The first article was when I was 15 years old. Now 35 years later, another article on my art was just recently featured in the Odessa American Newspaper. It was written by Bob Campbell with the theme: Landscapes Endlessly Fascinate.

Mr. Campbell came by my home studio and spent the better part of an hour and a half asking questions. I wondered how he was going to organize all the content he recorded. Soon, my question was answered in the words he wrote.

You can click the image to read the article. Just thought I’d share.

William Hagerman featured in the Odessa American Newspaper.

I was thinking about some of the inspiring art teachers I’ve known. What got me to going down memory lane? Well, the wife and I are having a garage sale and our house is currently a mess. I’ve been hauling in boxes with STUFF in them to be priced, going thru this and that etc. In doing so I came across a box containing early paintings and artwork done in high school in the early 1980’s. This made me think of Mr. G my high school art teacher whom I still appreciate to this day.

Why my high school art teacher was an inspiration.

Mr. G (that’s what everyone called him) was great. I thought he was pretty cool. What made him so? Did he teach me some outstanding technique? No. He pretty much left me alone.

Whaaat??

Let me explain. My first class with him in the 10th grade was a commercial art class as it was the only one available at the time. Apparently I passed the course on the first assignment. Mr. G recognized the talent I had and from that moment on I was assigned to do nothing else but draw no matter what the rest of the class was doing. He even had me sit at a separate table near his desk so I wouldn’t have the distractions. I was to draw until I graduated.

One year I was put into a different teacher’s art class and I told Mr. G that I was sorry I wasn’t going to be in his class. He said “I’ll take care of that.” Back in his classroom once again, I remained there each year until graduation. I credit that time spent in Mr. G’s class in helping develop my drawing skills and giving me opportunities to explore and experiment. That was the best thing he could have ever done for me. He left me alone to practice and practice I did.

Today, as an art teacher I hope somewhere along the way someone will also consider me as one of their inspiring art teachers.

Early high school artworks

I spent a lot of time on this drawing. Don’t remember where the picture source came from. I don’t claim it as an original.

I even got to practice doing some animals. Is this Bullwinkle?

This class assignment focused on repetitive designs. It was done in mixed media including watercolor and colored pencil on paper.

The following painting was not done in high school art class, but it was from 1983, so I was still in high school at the time. Compared to my work just a year earlier it was a big improvement which I credit to spending more time on drawing. It was also an original and one of the better pieces that I painted during that time period.

Hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with me and thank you Mr. G.

It’s always nice when sharing happiness through art when it touches the lives of other people. One such was a commissioned painting that I did under my alter ego “Byron”. Here’s a testimonial I’d like to share regarding the following painting.

My wife and I have a dog who has been with us for over 15 years. He has been a special part of our lives. We have seen 3 different apartments, 3 different homes, two different states, but the one constant has always been my wife and Spike.

Spike is getting older, he is on medications for his heart, his hair is more grey than black, and he doesn’t get around like he used to. However, one day we were back home during bluebonnet season in Texas and we captured the Spike of old. He was running and playing in a field of bluebonnets. It was as if he was transported back a couple of years. Fortunately we snapped a picture with our phone and it was perfection.

We decided the best way to honor Spike and this photo was to commission a painting to have forever. After doing some research, I came upon a William Hagerman. I loved the works I saw in person and online. I knew he would be the perfect person to make the photo come to life. From the first email to the final product, the commission process was easy. He took our photo, asked some questions, and sent a couple of rough drafts. The final piece was perfection. It truly captured the joy Spike has that day.

We will be forever grateful for the piece that he made for us. Thank you Mr. Hagerman.

Rene and Vanilla Macias-Rodriguez

The span of our life is 70 years, Or 80 if one is especially strong. But they are filled with trouble and sorrow; They quickly pass by, and away we fly. Psalms 90:10

In January of 2015 I wrote a blog post on “Finding Beauty in Small Things” the subject of when an aging parent and child experience a role reversal in which the child becomes the caregiver and finding beauty in small things when circumstances are not always kind.  I wrote that first draft sitting in a hospital room watching over my Mother who was admitted the beginning of 2015. Then 11 months later in December of that year my Mother was back in the hospital for another week stay.  I realized after this it wouldn’t be long before I would have to say goodbye. Sadly March 21, 2016 my Mother quietly passed away at the age of 87.

She was a kind, gentle person and even up to the last days of her life she still managed to muster up a smile. She treasured the thought expressed by a man of God who lived many years ago who asked: “If a man (or person) dies, can he live again? He then answered with; I will wait all the days of my compulsory service until my relief comes. You will call, and I will answer you. You will long for the work of your hands.” Job 14:14, 15

Thus a chapter closed, but it’s not the end of the story. I recall a time when I was quite young walking along with my Mother. My feet and legs were starting to hurt and I began to protest and wanted to stop and not go any further even though there wasn’t much more distance to travel. She used an illustration to help keep me going. She had me look down the street to a stop sign and told me to imagine that on the other side was the fulfillment of all of God’s promises. The ones she had taught me about. She asked; do you think you can make it that far? I said yes, and so it happened. Such was her way of teaching and in way part of her legacy. I still get sore feet and legs, but I haven’t forgotten those words and I still try to look past the stop signs.

Recently I received an email from one of my readers asking when is a painting finished? He himself is a hobbyist painter and struggled with knit picking his work often fixing what isn’t broke.

I told him to take his work as far as his technical ability (skills) and knowledge of painting would allow. Set it aside maybe a day or two and come back and look at it with fresh eyes. Also holding it up to a mirror can often highlight mistakes, since you’re getting a different perspective by looking at it in reverse. If you see something that needs adjustment, then adjust it. Alternatively you can have someone else, perhaps another artist give it a critique. After any changes move on. Often the vitality of a painting can be killed by being overworked.

For myself I finish a work somewhat intuitively. But what are some of the factors or mental questions that I consider? Here are a few and it generally revolves around the visual impact of the painting and have I achieved what I intended for the painting whether it be one of my detailed realistic paintings or one of my impressionist pieces.

I ask myself is the composition still holding up? Does something distract or call too much emphasis away from my center of interest without leading me back to it. I don’t want to lead my viewers eyes off of the canvas into the corner of the frame or onto the wall. Are the colors and values correct? Could it use more or less contrast?

As I told my reader, I do the same; I take my work as far as my knowledge and skill will allow and then stop. If I feel I’ve achieved the goal of the painting, then I move on. Certainly as a person continues to paint and learn your knowledge base grows allowing you to paint with more confidence. However, an artist should always continue to expand and grow and there’s always things to learn and improve upon. Try new things, vary the technique. It builds your repertoire of problem solving and ways to express yourself in paint.