Years ago I remember pausing in a gallery of the Old Jail Art Center to consider the unique painting style of Texas artist David Bates.
The artist seemed to ‘build’ his paintings with bold chunks of paint color that seem assembled together like little chips of wood. The moonlit fishing scene of Salt Flats, with it’s thick hues of white, brown, black, grey and red made me think this work would hang perfectly in a nautically-themed ‘man-cave.’
Several months after first viewing that work, the museum Docent Corps had the pleasure of touring the Barrett Home in Dallas. This was a fabulous tour of the couple’s home who had gifted the painting to the museum. I remember instantly recognizing other works by Bates during the tour due to his unique, textured painting style! In addition to viewing other examples of his art, hearing the collectors speak about their own interest in his work truly enriched my understanding of our OJAC collection pieces, and has helped me provide more engaging tours, myself!
Though Salt Flats is not currently on exhibit, I hope you are able to visit the OJAC and view this and other pieces by the artist soon!
Delnita Jones, OJAC Docent