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Woodrow Blagg - Artist

Woodrow Blagg – Artist 

Woodrow Blagg, artist, the greatest Blagg of them all (shared opinion) joins Fortitude by telephone. His art is known throughout the world. His life and stories are not until now. Woody shares his fascinating life with us on Fortitude. If you know, you know. If you don’t, you will love this guy. His art reflects where he’s been and it’s vast and remarkable! Enjoy him and check out his art. 

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Episode Transcription: 

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roxo media house
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[Music]
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welcome to fortitude folks I am JW Wilson your host today we have a special
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episode sponsored by cap Tech’s Bank bank thank you cap techs for making all this happen for US Today’s guest is a
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friend of mine in a very experienced and well known in my opinion graphite artist
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among other things a man by the name of Woodrow blagg Woodrow thank you for
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joining us here on fortitude it’s great it’s a great pleasure to have you thank you JW I’m glad to be
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glad to be here Woody as we call you affectionately Woody we’d like to talk about your life
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a little bit if you don’t mind indulging us but um let’s start from the very beginning if you don’t mind where were
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you born and tell us a little about your childhood well um I was born with my twin brother in
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Canonsburg Pennsylvania uh twin brother was David
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and uh in 1946 and we lived there for
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about nine months before um mother and father and they were both
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mother was in the Red Cross and dad was in the army and we um
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we we went to Heidelberg Germany for the next four years
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what was in Heidelberg Woody uh that’s where my father was based
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uh well he was still in the army and um so
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you know we had a brother Jim he was born there and that’s why we were in Heidelberg very nice what are your what are your
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Recollections of your childhood mainly regarding art and winded art and drawing
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specifically when did that reach you well um
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you know I think it was always doodling um from an early age
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[Music] I think my mom said I was around two years old I started drawing on the walls
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um but I know well before I was in the first grade I was drawing quite a lot
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so it started pretty early um couldn’t tell you where it came from
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but it certainly showed up early
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any influences or Educators that stand out to you well over time
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um all during you know Elementary School and junior high school and high school there were
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lots of influences through movies and
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um artists of course you know we all read comic books in the
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back and um and there was a ad on the back of the
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comic book saying a draw me contest um
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buy some art school and up in Connecticut and the featured teachers were
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well-known illustrators at the time and that was kind of an influence [Music]
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um certainly NC Wyeth who did all the Nathaniel Hawthorne
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novels right and um so those were great illustrations
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um so there were you know similar things of that nature um
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um certainly I remember watching Ben Hur as a kid in 59 and um
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the opening credits featured Michelangelo’s uh Sistine Chapel
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painting the creation of Adam and um that was a very influential
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moment for me it inspired me to uh uh copy a lot of his
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work back then um and also learned about Raphael and
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Leonardo da Vinci so you know briefly said
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um those were the most memorable parts of being inspired by um
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by other artists thank you for that did you know early on Woody that art being
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an artist was where you’re heading in your life and also you mentioned some really the world’s most famous painters
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a couple of them uh why graphite ART versus painting or did you do both early
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on well I I I just uh like drawing
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um I like paper and um there wasn’t a lot of
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sophisticated art stores in West Texas and and
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um small Oklahoma towns where you could get or even know about
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you know oil paintings or watercolors it’s just you know back then I don’t remember them
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being around they may have I just wasn’t aware of them and it really didn’t matter I just enjoyed drawing a great
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deal um so you know
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um that’s one of the reasons uh I just I was I was at peace when I was drawing
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I felt that I was doing something that I was very connected to
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it it enlivened my imagination and
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I was always anticipating to see what the image would look like so you know and once again in brief
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that’s that’s why I kept going on fantastic did you no when you were uh
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back from Germany did you you got your parents moved you to Fort Worth or Dallas Fort Worth area before you went
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to the Pennsylvania Fine Arts Academy is that correct no um got that reversed
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yeah my my father traveled around a bit with with David and Jim and I and Mom I
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was trying to look for a job when he got out of the service I know we were in in Arizona and New Mexico briefly and
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and uh I think in 1951 dad found
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work in uh Purcell Oklahoma
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and so we were there from 1951 to 1956 the
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summer of 1956. and from 56 to 1959 we lived in Seminole Texas
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and we lived in town briefly and then we moved on a 300 acre cotton Farm
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and uh we love being out on the farm as kids it was
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it was just you know like you could just roam all over the Open Country and
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it was very exciting so um you know from 51 to 59 in Oklahoma
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and West Texas and this probably spurred Your Love of the outdoors and more specifically ranches I’m guessing
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correct well hard to say um I know that we had a lot of fun being
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out um but there was a dog that’s straight on
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to our property and it turned out to be a Britney Spaniel and he adopted us we
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adopted him and you know we could hunt quail and
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and other game um just so it was for a kid it was it was a
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great adventure to be in that kind of open space and um
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I I would say that certainly made an impression
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um did I plan to be a western artist no um once we moved to Dallas
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uh quite a lot changed for us um you know
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so just adjusting to a very different kind of environment
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uh was was an adjustment and it took a while
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before we were able to settle in you know as kids before you know when we
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missed being in that open space and we missed all that freedom that that space
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provided for us as children mom and dad were both working so we had a lot of free reign among ourselves
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and uh once we moved to Dallas the whole dynamic of that
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existence changed dramatically and not quite the freedom we had before what
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year and did you move to Dallas Woody it would have been in November of 1959
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what it was you how would you describe your relation with your siblings obviously those who know you know but
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you’re we’re all pretty close uh we were all pretty close
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Dennis and Danny uh kind of rallied around what I was doing
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and uh before long they were doing a lot of artwork too and we all three kind of
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um would huddle on a table and we’d try to you know compete against each other or for each other
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it worked both ways um but to me it was inspiring to be around
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them they were they were very good and they
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seemed to have the same passion and doing the work that I was doing so we I think we inspired each other
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any competitiveness within the sibling rivalries uh
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you know I think that happened later in in adult life with a sibling rivalry
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showed up um I think uh we were all trying to gain a
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foothold into establishing our our work and ourselves
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and at that time we were you know we we weren’t
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so-called discovered if that’s what you want to say and we were all
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struggling to find a niche and a place to make a
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living making our artwork very good so the Dallas years how long in Dallas before the next
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um big life transition yeah that was a kind of a
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roller coaster time we lived in Dallas from 59 to 1960.
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and we moved to Lewisville Texas where my father got I think he bought a restaurant
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and we were there for a year and a half before we moved back to Dallas and
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um there are a couple of teachers that were in Louisville in the early 60s
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one was a math teacher and the other one was an English teacher
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and they were impressed with the artwork that I was doing and it gave me a little
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exhibit in one of the classrooms during the Spring Break and the local paper made an article on
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it and so I got a little recognition there um
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for the first time uh the tender age of
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13 or 14 years old and so suddenly people were paying attention
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other students were and I didn’t know what to do with that kind of attention right
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you know I really wasn’t there but it was just part of the part of what’s going on and it was a lot of fun but we
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moved back to Dallas Dallas uh Beck and dad again we moved around
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quite a bit during the early 60s and
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um he opened the first Old South Pancake House and David and Jim and I worked there
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um during after school and eventually uh you know wound up in
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South Oak Cliff Winwood Park in Dallas and dad bought
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his own restaurant and it’s called Woody’s Pancake House and so
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that’s where we were for the the following three or four years
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gotcha then what happened to you well I think
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you know those were the High School junior high school years and
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um were they memorable for you well uh I I they weren’t nothing really
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memorable they were kind of whatever student goes through at that age I continued to draw uh every day
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um but other things were showing up um you know
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um didn’t interfere with my artwork the only thing that interfered in my artwork
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is when I you know joined the service in um 1965.
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um it was either going to be drafted by the army or I was going to enlist
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and I enlisted in the Air Force and uh you know and so once I enlisted in the
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air force it was the first time in my life that I didn’t draw every day
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so um you know you you adjust to that and
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wound up going to Germany um was there for a year and a half and uh got in trouble because of the
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artwork I was doing so me and the Air Force parted ways with each other
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can you elaborate on the trouble you’re speaking of well I’d be drawing you know there’d be
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a class for um we had to take classes once you get
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out of boot camp and training and and you’re a signed a base and a duty I was
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a military policeman or air police and you take classes on the job training
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and um I was mostly
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drawing pictures during class work thanks
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so um that and you know just
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you know I was 18 year old kid um just
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not mature enough to realize you know what I should be doing
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so um but it was it was quite an experience
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and you know there are parts of Germany I liked a great deal um
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and um you know that’s about it JW got you got you okay you survived the the
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your military service uh obviously um what’s the next step in your life
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well I went back to Dallas um and married my high school sweetheart
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and uh wrote her a lot during my time in Germany and then of course
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um I got a job um working in Dallas Love Field and
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um at an air freight company and um I went to Art School
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you know during the day so [Music] um and I did that for two years and it
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really was getting at a point in my age I was now like I don’t know 21 22.
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um and I really wanted to go to a good art school and so I wrote to the Chicago Art
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Institute and I wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
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and um who wanted to find out about their schools
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I had no idea what they were going to be like um I know being at the little art school
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I think it’s called the Dallas art institute on McKinney Avenue it’s
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certainly was a small place and I met a
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couple of guys there and we were both all three of us were pretty serious about so-called fine art
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and we went there initially initially to be illustrators and but once I I think that the age the
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time uh in the late 60s and everything that was going on in the world I felt like
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being an illustrator might not accomplish as much as I thought maybe
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Fine Arts would and so that was my Pursuit
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um and I learned with those two guys and a couple of them I’m still friends with
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and we do tend to try to see each other when when I’m in Texas
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and um they’ve been great friends for a long time
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but we inspired each other and I eventually got a big letter from the Pennsylvania
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Academy of Fine Arts as well as I also wrote
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um an artist who was living in New Mexico very well known
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um back then and his name would lose me right now just momentarily Peter Hurd is
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his name and I went to visit Peter heard to see if he took students
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and Peter [Music] um said he doesn’t take students but he was
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very helpful and generous in giving me information and suggested I do go to the
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Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and so we wrote a couple letters to each
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other in the ensuing year or two and eventually I went to the academy for a
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visit and was very impressed and made the decision to go to to move to Philadelphia and go to the Academy of
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Fine Arts well done fair question to ask Woody did you know at that time that you
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had a talent for for drawing I mean obviously you’ve been doing it for a while and people have said things and
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you’ve won a few Awards here and there but did you know yourself that you had you had a gift in this world for in that
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respect well I I felt that I did um I felt that I had it
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through school um yeah I felt that was ahead of the curve
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a little bit but once I went to the academy I mean we’re talking now 1970
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and through the early 70s so there was much going on in the art World Andy Warhol all of the abstract
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artists the photo realism it was an explosion of these multi uh different
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um forms of expression and they were all dominant in the Art Market and the art
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world and it was very imposing and if not intimidating
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um there were talent that exceeded anything that I was used to experiencing
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and I realized at that point that I had a lot to learn did you ever have a chance to meet any
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of those in those folks in that that decade what the people I just mentioned few of
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them yes but people in that art in the world of art at that time obviously were you mentioned Andy Warhol but there’s no
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no those guys were too well known and two
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um different circles yeah just different circles there
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um you know and I had I had my own thing going on at the Academy because now at
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this very prestigious School um there there are other talents and
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there was guys who did sculpture and print making and paintings and they were
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great artists um and so it was a good gut check for me
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and I realized I have a lot to learn and yeah I’ve Got Talent and a specific
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kind of skill that I’m still honing but as far as having an aesthetic background
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or having an intellectual background on on the various ways of art making and
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even in art history I did not know a great deal about art history I knew some but I realized that I had a lot to learn
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very quickly in learning you did I mean I know you well enough to tell you to to
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tell people that you’re a bit of an art historian if not full-fledged I mean you know more about this art world than I
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gather most people on Earth right now it’s it’s it’s going one of the fastest I don’t know about that but I certainly
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have um paid attention let’s put it that way I paid attention and I think that it
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helped serve what I wanted to do with my work any favorite uh graphite artists
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that aren’t yourself oh my gosh yeah there’s one guy he was
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an illustrator damn it um I wish I could think of his name right
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off the bat yeah he was an illustrator he did pencil work graphite work I thought it was very
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exciting um he was like out of the
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50s and 60s and he turned the painting during the
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70s and 80s but I prefer this I’ve I prefer this graphite work
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it just had a charge to it and though he was a very accomplished painter I
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thought the paintings didn’t have the Vitality that the
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drawings had and um so you know it’s just something that
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that I remembered it’s like when the paintings that he did were so meticulously done
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it’s like all the windows are shut it’s all done but with a with the drawing
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there’s an openness in this space and it’s just if you do
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for me to express what is called a successful drawing it has a charge to it
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it has a certain animated feeling and it’s open-ended all the way from left to
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right and top to bottom yes sir how would you say you
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exited the Pennsylvania fire academy versus how you entered what what changed in you or in your art from start to
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finish well um I think the biggest one of the
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biggest developments for me because I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to
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make it I was married and I had Financial pressure’s going on I wasn’t showing
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anywhere in the first couple of years and I’m saying how am I going to do this and
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um I went to a little Gallery in Chadds Ford Pennsylvania
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and there was a water colorist is about my age maybe a year or two
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younger and he was having a show there his name was Peter skeltor
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and so I went to see his work and I was
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enliven by it I thought it was very exciting work and eventually I met Peter and actually
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we had Studios across from each other you know in Westchester Pennsylvania and
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that was a big moment that’s when I decided I think I can do this I’ll try
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to get into a gallery do some artwork and there was a place in Kennett Square
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Pennsylvania a guy named George Scarlett who was really wonderful and he was a
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wonderful guy I could spend an hour talking about him but he was very uh enthusiastic about my
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work and really encouraged me and he also gave me my first show
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um which I was terrified but um he was very supportive and I had a
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modest first exhibit there and wound up selling half the show and
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um so that was a benchmark that when it made that gave me confidence and
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it helped and with his support I felt that I could successfully show there for
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the following few years and that’s what happened
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uh so George Scarlett was a um instrumental
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in in help me make a determination
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that I’m going to be I made the determination I’m going to be an artist what
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whether it succeeds or not very good well thank you George Scarlett
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what she did um yeah he and I were friends up to his death which happened three or four years
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ago so I always went out to George very nice so you graduate from the academy you’re
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doing you have your first several shows you realize there is a future in this obviously economically for you given the
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right circumstances uh yeah I didn’t get rich and you know I could make money I I was making enough
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money to get in trouble with and um you know but
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with each ensuing show the work got a little more developed and
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the artwork became a little bit more ambitious and I could challenge myself
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uh I knew I still had a lot to learn and I wasn’t going to Kid myself
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and I realized it was going to be a struggle and I took it on I just said you know
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that’s what I have to do your first several shows Woody what type of of drawings are you doing similar to
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what you do later in life well there were a lot of watercolors I did uh one of the people I met while I
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was in art school was another kid named Walt Hughes and Walt came from a large family like I
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did we became friends right away and Walt went to watercolor like a duck to
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water I struggled with it for a while afterwards before I was able to make
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some good inroads but uh wall was uh Walt and I were
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pretty close in fact we’re still close he’s been in Virginia now for a number of years but we stay in touch
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monthly and uh so combination
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of George scarlet and my friend with Walt who really became a excellent
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watercolor painter and um all of those things were very exciting
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to be around and be a part of and so my first shows that Scarlett’s there were
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drawings definitely and um but I was doing a lot of watercolor
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at the time and a lot of it was you know inspired
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also by a painter who lived in Chadds Ford my name Andrew Wyeth who was ncya’s son
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so we were all inspired by Why Us work in
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the country and because we could relate to it easier than anything else
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and one of the reasons that that uh I didn’t I sort of started to
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step back from doing the watercolors is that I felt as it was too close to Wyeth
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and I didn’t want that to be around to hang over my head you know where he
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looks like he’s a Wyeth clone right you know so
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you know so I just learned some other things to be involved with and
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um during that time because of the financial difficulties
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that I would go through there was no stable income coming in you know when Mary started to uh
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um get tested and of course I think eventually
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we separated and got divorced but remained on very friendly terms
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and and I realized that I just
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had to take a break from a lot and I wound up going to Texas to visit my
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brother on the ranch uh the Wagner Ranch and I was blown away by that experience
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visiting Jim on the Wagner and a half a million acre ranch it was was quite an
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experience and this would open up a whole new segment of your life spending time on active working ranches
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developing your craft drawing yeah all these things correct I decided to move
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to Texas and in a light winter of 78 and
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I think it was in 78 or 79 maybe it was 79.
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um I asked Jim if he would call Boots O’Neill the wagon boss and let me come
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out for three or four days and photograph the ranch and he did that and I went to the Wagner’s
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you know that weekend that tornado hit Wichita Falls and there were
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five tornadoes on the ranch as well so it was a very dramatic weather-wise to be there and
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just you it was just a very um
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strange and unusual um going through Wichita Falls and it
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just looked like it was been bombed out and so many of the shrubs and trees were torn up on the ranch
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and at the same time there was an excitement about being there because all the Cowboys they
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were just coming of age and they were in their late teens early 20s so you know it was just a lot of young guys
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uh doing this and they brought in this large herd which is ready to Stampede
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because of the storms and they couldn’t bring the herd to the
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pens because all the trucks were getting caught in the mud and so forth so they decided to
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brand in the open field and that was that was pretty amazing so
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being a part of that and the clouds were real low you had very dramatic weather going on
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so it it was just very exciting to I
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didn’t I guess I I think I had three or four rolls of film um
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and so it really had to use a lot of
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jurispoons to make sure I was taking the right pictures and didn’t know exactly
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where I was going to go with it but I was just taking pictures like crazy and
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um boots O’Neill once I got to the spot where they were
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located [Music] um boots was was very generous and gracious
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and said Mr Black anything you need is to help you out with let us know and um
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no it left a mark I was deeply moved by his
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generosity uh extending his warmth and graciousness to someone he didn’t know
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before and who had a beard and long hair and more of a band around
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his head [Music] um yeah I was impressed I’m glad you I’m
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glad you said that Woody because I was my next question was how did you capture these images obviously with with a
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camera and what was the what was the relationship with you in the in the the hands because you were there in a an
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artistic capacity are these guys bringing you in as their own are they kind of treating you differently because
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you’re an artist are you are you one in the same with the Cowboys are you helping out
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I really loved all of them I just felt their you know at this point and I’m in
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my early 30s so these guys are you know 10 years younger than me
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and I can’t say we connected right away but they were curious
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about me to an extent I certainly was impressed with all of their Vigor and
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energy and you know the thing about youth
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gathered in a certain way as they all were there must have been at least 12 of these guys most of them were brothers or
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you know from one family they were either cousins or brothers and and they
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were they were all pretty amazing and uh
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they were friendly uh I wouldn’t say that we had a
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close knit operation but over the following two or three years I did establish a relationship with them I
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worked decided that when I came to the ranch I was going to do what I can to be of some
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help and I did flank cattle with them when the Roundup was brought the cattle to
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the pens and did as much work as I could be along to help
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as well as I could take my photographs so I think that helped establish
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a relationship that I have been able to keep for the for all these years I still
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have Cowboy friends of mine I’ve known since the late 70s early 80s
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I’m still in touch with so I’m feel real fortunate but you know being on the ranch in JW
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it changed me it changed my artwork and at that time I wasn’t the biggest
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fan of so-called Western Art but what I experienced out there was
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more than just Western Art it was it was the just the vast openness of
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half a million Acres and watching all these young guys work
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together it was very infectious very exciting and it was a great adventure
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and as opposed to making a picture to look important
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I learned how to make a picture that belonged to an experience of being
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somewhere that was pretty special right how many Woody how many different
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ranches or what different ranches did you get to have this experience with was there multiple ranch ranch experiences
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uh the majority of it was at the Wagner’s I was however at the begs Ranch
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in Post Texas I was at the four sixes two or three times
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um I was at the uh the Pitchfork Ranch
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as well um Keen saube Ranch up near the Panhandle
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and I was at the Bell Ranch in Tucumcari New Mexico
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did these Ranch owners and and or Ranch hands ever get to see what their what
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these photographs turned into were they were they privileged enough to see what what the Art became
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what did the ranches see what the Art became correct um no I don’t think that happened it
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just I think the Ranch Management and all of
38:32
that I mean I I could share it with the Cowboys you know but I didn’t have there were no
38:38
cell phones back then let’s face it so couldn’t take pictures of them show it on your cell phone
38:45
um I do remember getting some 8×10
38:50
um prints made from some of my drawings and around the early 80s
38:57
uh to the mid 80s I could take a few of them there and show them to the Cowboys
39:04
and you know they were impressed and and so from the first trip of being to the
39:11
ranch up until the mid 80s four or five years later you know my relationship with the men
39:17
and the bunk house um and changed a lot and gotten very
39:23
you know very comfortable so
39:28
like I could just disappear and when I’m in the field working with them you know they knew who what I was going
39:36
to do and I knew I had a sense of how they go about what they’re doing where they’re going to be at a certain time
39:44
how are they going to flank the cattle where are they going to go afterwards and I could position myself
39:50
in a in an area where I could get the most
39:56
you know um a line picture that I was interested in
40:03
so there was a give and take that was very comfortable or became very
40:08
comfortable and it made working really great
40:14
and since you’re working a different place every day you know the landscape changed a bit and
40:19
so forth and I think the longest time was spending three months out there
40:25
I think it was in 86 and that was
40:32
that was just a tremendous experience wonderful I went to the most of it was
40:38
at the Wagner’s but I was also at the Pitchfork and
40:43
at the bags and at the at the four sixes now Woody are these uh
40:50
these photographs you’re bringing back maybe you bring back to the studio are they coming back to to uh Pennsylvania
40:55
and then you’re turning them into your graphite art and then are they going into subsequent shows as your
41:02
progression goes on well I you know I was in Texas until 86.
41:09
uh or 87. I think the first that’s when the banks crashed
41:15
and you know that’s when the Texas had all these failed Banks right so the economy
41:23
in Texas is really tough and just couldn’t sell my work
41:28
uh I had done you know all of these big eight foot drawings
41:34
I had like a dozen of these drawings of which four or five of them are eight
41:42
foot nine feet and the rest were like four and a half to five feet
41:47
and I think I only sell one sold one thing and so that was really pretty tough
41:57
um I wasn’t the only one struggling but you know so
42:03
um I went back to PA and um
42:10
um eventually got work with a friend of mine but back to your question about the
42:15
artwork yeah I would go back to the studio and and composite pictures together
42:22
where I could get the kind of image that I wanted um and so
42:28
you know it helped making drawings more interesting to work on
42:35
when I can create an image that basically didn’t exist but I could use photographs to compositely put pictures
42:43
together and take a figure out of one picture and put him in another picture and in an
42:51
animal and so and so forth so um that Trend continued
42:57
and the drawings got stayed large because it was the closest what it felt like to
43:03
being on the ranch that I could Encompass the sense of space and whatever drama that might be
43:11
unfolding and the animals all of it and it just made me feel like I was
43:16
I was at the ranch more than just making a piece of art yes sir it was it about this time Woody you got
43:23
a you got a phone call I believe uh and you got a little visit to the Oval Office can you tell us about that
43:31
yeah I was in Fort Worth and this would have been in the um early 80s
43:37
and there was a gallery in Fort Worth that had shown my brother’s work
43:44
a couple of times a Ralph Carr I think it was called car galleries
43:49
but I uh spent several weeks working on a seven foot
43:58
drawing it was a very healthy fully developed sketch and was seven
44:05
feet and it took several weeks to do it and I took it to the gallery to see if he could
44:13
show that um I wanted to do that drawing 15 feet
44:18
long I felt that you know that would be an amazing
44:23
experience so I left that drawing there one of his
44:30
clients um saw the drawing and
44:37
got it and wanted to take it to Washington and that’s where I got the call
44:43
and so I met a guy named John Howell and um
44:50
he uh he he flew me up to Washington
44:55
and we were in the Oval Office the next day
45:02
and I think we were scheduled to have lunch with the president or something
45:08
but Beirut had just opened up so all of that social stuff kind of fell by the
45:14
wayside but we did meet him in the Oval Office and President Reagan correct
45:20
yes sir and Mr Reagan was
45:25
very warm and receptive and certainly seemed to appreciate the work
45:31
and um so it it was pretty amazing being in the
45:37
Oval Office you know a week within a week of not
45:42
knowing you know that’s never going to happen so right you know like I said he was very
45:49
gracious it was it was great experience being there and spent
45:54
um I think a day or two in DC and then went to New York for a day or two acquired form of Celebration and then of
46:02
course back home so um did that piece make it into President Reagan’s collection
46:09
yes it wound up at his Ranch in Santa Barbara oh wow
46:15
and that reminds me of another notable that uh bought a couple of your pieces Man by name of Ralph Lauren
46:23
yes sir yeah that was from a show at a gallery in New York in 1987.
46:29
[Music] um ACA gallery and
46:36
apparently the owners had let him know and Ralph Lauren had sent a couple of his
46:42
um assistance to go to the gallery and look at the work and apparently they came back and told
46:49
them enthusiastically about to work and Ralph came over and um
46:54
saw two of the drawings and bought them immediately that’s wonderful and I met him the
47:01
following weekend and uh he was very gracious and very
47:07
appreciative of the work very excited about it so it was a great visit
47:12
I imagine so anybody other any other notables that I’m not asking you about that were fans
47:18
of your work well I I can’t think of right away
47:24
um um you know just I didn’t mean to put you on the spot
47:31
there but yes yeah all right
47:36
you know there are a couple of people of some notes that looked at it but nothing ever materialized so right I decided not
47:44
to speculate beyond that um Woody what is the term the golden
47:50
section mean to you well that’s a good question
47:57
um the golden section helps define space in a very harmonious way
48:03
um it gives balance and um substance to
48:10
a particular space where they’re rectangle or a circle or what have you
48:15
me the golden session means root one through root 5 Geometry
48:20
and I remember working on a large commission it was nine feet long it’s a
48:26
lot of people in it for a couple in Texas and Fort Worth
48:32
um Jill and Brad Barnes and I remember working on their drawing
48:37
and it turned out really well and but I felt like I was having
48:42
I really struggled with the composition and I usually don’t struggle with compositions
48:49
over time you develop an instinct um an intuition for how to develop a
48:55
picture but this was one created some problems for me I had
49:03
it’s the first time I did picture with 20 something people in it uh and a couple of animals
49:11
and so to arrange everyone in order uh where it does create
49:17
Harmony in a particular space I felt something might have been missing
49:22
and I went to a friend of mine who I was a cyclist at the time and he was a
49:30
mechanic at the bike shop as well as a cyclist and he was going to art school and he went to the school that taught
49:37
the golden section and said I should know about it and he introduced me to this guy who ran
49:43
the school he gave a demonstration um and I said that’s the key
49:51
and I immediately enrolled in the school for the summer and that would have been
49:56
in the late 90s um and that really helped
50:03
change everything it was like getting a key to total freedom
50:09
uh as far as being able to put a picture together
50:15
so Route 1 through Route 5 Geometry in the golden section that’s what it means
50:21
to me is being able to make a picture however simple or however complicated
50:26
and have it worked you know harmoniously across the space you’re working on
50:32
well thank you for describing that I’ve heard you mentioned that several times over the years and it’s it certainly
50:38
makes a big difference in what you’re doing so yeah it helped me a great deal
50:43
if we could fast forward your life a little bit here um there’s a school here in Fort Worth
50:48
Texas Christian University TCU you’ve you’ve become intimately involved with them in certain respects could you tell
50:55
us about your trip to Africa and what that all entails and what what came of this
51:02
well um mostly through
51:07
a couple of instances uh JT onba at the JP Morgan
51:13
Bank in Fort Worth and on their third floor where the
51:20
private banking is um there are two of my drawings one is 15
51:27
foot long and one is about six or seven feet long as well as a couple of paintings by my
51:32
brothers and one of JT onba’s clients by the name
51:38
of Larry Brogden showed a great interest in in the large drawing
51:45
and asked JT if he could set up a meeting between he
51:50
and Larry to discuss an idea that Larry had in his
51:55
about doing some artwork and so the meeting was set up
52:01
I came to Fort Worth in the Met Larry and JT at the bank in the conference room
52:09
and Larry told me do you think I could do something like that
52:14
regarding the Rhino project TCU is involved with
52:19
and um in South Africa and to me it sounded very exciting
52:26
and I told Larry I said listen just put me in a helicopter and let me bail out
52:31
and put me on the land let me take care of it so
52:37
you know I didn’t met Michael Slattery in an ensuing uh following meeting with Larry
52:44
and JT and Michael Slattery and slaughtering had brought a couple of
52:49
these um images to look at and about amakala and will Folds
52:58
the owner of the gaming preserve that is family owned as a farm in South Africa
53:04
since 1873 and so
53:10
without going into further detail about that um Larry agreed to the project and we had a
53:18
certain perimeter set up and um that’s how I got started
53:25
and it just kind of went from there and I wound up going to Africa it’s rather
53:31
arduous Air flight but did get over there and
53:37
you know this would have been in July so the following morning it was 30 degrees I was shivering to death
53:43
so I wasn’t ready for that to be that cold but um you know it was a great trip I felt very
53:51
fortunate to be where I was and very fortunate to meet will fols and all of
53:57
the students that worked there as a team member as well as a lot of the international students
54:04
that were working as interns so it was very impressive
54:12
time to be in Africa and I told will that you know I need to be
54:20
involved more personally with the Rhinos other than the students I need to be
54:26
next to them on the ground you know I don’t have a lot of time here
54:32
so if either you or one of your assistants can give me solo one
54:37
one-on-one with the Rhinos that would be a big help and that’s what happened
54:43
and then we went to a Game Preserve uh specifically for the rhinos and they
54:50
were treating a dozen rhinos that day very long busy day and that was that was the day where the
55:01
pictures I needed to take were happening so I had I had the crew working and I
55:07
had an idea in my head what I wanted to do I wanted to have the whole as opposed to
55:13
just separating the Rhino and making a picture of a rhino I wanted to have a full
55:21
ambitious complicated picture with a whole crew of people working to
55:27
save the rhinos and so the golden section came in big time during that period but it took 2
55:36
000 pictures and came back here and it took seven months to put the
55:41
composition together and I spent another 14 months on the drawing
55:46
and you know once the composition was done I took a break for about a month just to
55:54
clear my head get away from it and then come back and be able to look at it objectively and make sure that the
56:01
picture I had composed was still
56:06
as strong as it was when I initially completed it and it did and so I tweaked it a little bit
56:14
and it was it was a wonderful project to work on Larry was very supportive and I
56:20
was excited every day to work on that drawing and the result now lives in the in the
56:25
brown Lupton University building over on campus and luckily I was there for its
56:31
dedication for those who haven’t seen it uh you must stop everything at the second and
56:37
go see it it’s it’s a it’s a work of art it is a it’s a masterpiece in many people’s minds I hope you believe that
56:43
because it truly is well you know I have to say that you know I look at it after being away from
56:50
it for a while and I told my brother Douglas who came to visit me here just just
56:57
about a month ago and I said you know I saw that it’s like somebody else did it so
57:05
yeah I think it it it’s it’s done something that I always hoped would
57:11
happen and like I said there was a lot to be involved with I certainly wanted
57:18
to make sure TCU is a part of the image I certainly wanted to feature will folds
57:25
and Michael Slattery as integral parts of putting that whole project together
57:31
and then of course having the students so you know working out the composition
57:36
was as significant as making the drawing
57:42
um because if that doesn’t work nothing else works and so by being able to use will folds
57:51
and Michael Slattery at TCU and then the students I didn’t want to make a student
57:58
you know classroom photo project it had to be it had to look like it was
58:04
seamlessly working from left to right and I wanted it to look natural and hopefully I think it
58:11
turned out like that indeed yeah you know so those were my concerns
58:19
and I have to say being on the ranch for all those years it was really like being in West Texas
58:25
on steroids and there are very similar things in
58:31
both entities Africa and West Texas where you’re doing fundamental things
58:37
Elemental to the Earth you’re working on the land and you’re working with animals and so just intuitively once I was in
58:47
Africa and and being there with Will and working with his team it wasn’t not a
58:54
far cry from being on the ranch and working with those guys yes sir what do you why is it do you
59:02
think art is so important in this world I mean I’m going to get into your art here in a second but why why is it
59:07
things like this this rhino drawing you did or art in general why is Art so important to what mankind is trying to
59:14
do on this planet well that’s a big question it’s a big one yes but only you could put it in
59:21
words I think I don’t know about that but
59:26
I mean all I can all I can
59:31
really articulate is what it means to me as a person
59:37
um it has helped me um realize that
59:43
you get out of your own shell and and to learn uh is a humbling experience as well as a
59:52
very learning experience so for me it I think
59:58
it helped me became more patient um
1:00:03
you know one can make a choice to be an artist or
1:00:08
one can make a choice to be a football player what have you what happens over time
1:00:14
you know you learn there are specific things you can only learn by going through time
1:00:20
you know so what can be complicated can be easy
1:00:26
just by belonging to what you’re doing because intuitively you’re going to learn a great deal
1:00:32
Through Time and and I think you know for me that’s what art has helped me
1:00:41
they’re I look like an artist like you know Leonardo da Vinci or
1:00:47
Michelangelo or Van Gogh um the the journey is of self-discovery
1:00:57
but it also is stronger than that
1:01:02
and there’s something spiritual about it and there’s
1:01:09
this passion for wanting to express a part of
1:01:16
life that May overwhelm you in another way and if
1:01:22
you’re able to articulate it whether it’s through writing or painting or photography or architecture if you’re
1:01:28
able to articulate it then you have clarified something for yourself that
1:01:34
hopefully inspires other people at the same time that was lovely Woody
1:01:40
and then as we wrap this up a couple of last questions but since we’re talking
1:01:46
about you and in your words is there a way you could tell us how you would
1:01:51
describe your art to someone who doesn’t know you the way that I might know you
1:01:56
how would you describe your art wow
1:02:02
um I think I’m still learning I
1:02:09
um uh the the quickest answer that I can get to is just
1:02:15
I’ve been fortunate enough to have great experiences um on these ranches not just because
1:02:22
they were Cowboys but being on a half a million acres in
1:02:28
the quiet of a day um allows your mind to roam and for me
1:02:34
it helped me understand there’s a there’s something Eternal about that
1:02:41
sense of space of The Quiet the quiet areas of it the
1:02:47
openness of it it’s something that goes through you and it never really ends
1:02:55
so as much as these are so-called Cowboy drawings they’re also
1:03:01
paying homage to those who are passionately involved in their work on the land
1:03:08
and I don’t see them as individuals necessarily as much as symbolic individuals
1:03:13
who completely love doing what they do they don’t get a lot of money
1:03:19
and it’s not about it it’s just sheer love of being out there and being a part of that and being a part of their
1:03:26
passion has helped fuel the artwork that I do yes sir
1:03:31
Woody what advice would you give to a a new artist that’s up and coming maybe
1:03:37
could you tell us what you might say to somebody that might have a talent or a desire to be in this world as an artist
1:03:46
um [Music]
1:03:52
well um learn to love what you’re doing um
1:03:58
learn to be involved with it as much as you can um
1:04:03
uh you know there was an art teacher at the
1:04:09
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and his name was Dan Miller and amazingly at age 94 he still teaches
1:04:16
there did I just found out a few days ago but Dan Miller was a great art history
1:04:24
teacher and he was a very good artist too and I learned so much
1:04:31
about being in his class because he could enliven
1:04:36
anything and not only did he bring about a specific artist he would be talking
1:04:42
about but the time period the place where he
1:04:47
lived the other players other artists and people socially and political he would enliven
1:04:55
that whole era and it became a rousing experience to
1:05:01
listen to him talk about art history um and that really helped a great deal it
1:05:09
was not only that it helped it was very inspiring and humbling because I realized how little I knew
1:05:16
so you know I think part of that can mean a great deal
1:05:22
but everyone’s different there’s no one way there can never be one way
1:05:28
um so you just marched to your own beat and
1:05:35
eventually these things will show up and there will be a commonality um
1:05:40
you know eventually where [Music] you’ll be able to understand what other
1:05:46
artists are doing as well that’s that’s the only way I would know
1:05:52
how to articulate that one I think that was perfect spot on Woody I’ve definitely appreciated hearing from you
1:05:58
for the last hour in a bit but your life has learned some things today and I appreciate you sharing with our audience
1:06:04
this is this phenomenal interview so thank you very much yes sir before we go
1:06:09
we always ask our our interviewees uh aside from marital Affairs and children
1:06:16
is there a Best Day of your entire life that you could tell us it’s an intentionally difficult question
1:06:22
but you’ve lived such a in a phenomenal life is there a day in your life that
1:06:28
stands out about above all others without using uh you know familial
1:06:33
affairs wow um JT now you put me on the spot with that
1:06:40
one that’s there are so many I don’t know which one to pick um
1:06:46
you know everyone everything builds off of something that’s already happened
1:06:51
oh gosh [Music] yeah all right
1:07:00
um wow um I think
1:07:07
there’s just a lot um glad I can believe Woody
1:07:12
I mean going to the White House is special going to the academy the special being in Africa meeting you meeting
1:07:20
Larry um being involved with people personally certainly the Cowboys there are so many
1:07:29
I don’t know how to pick one we’ll accept that answer then Woody okay Woodrow black I have appreciated
1:07:36
you again thank you for what you do thank you for who you are I think you’ve been such a kind-hearted soul and for
1:07:42
sharing your life with us you are a treasure um that needs to be remembered for a long long time because what you do
1:07:48
for this world is it’s pretty special and I’m obviously a fan and I’m grateful to know you so thank you Woody for the
1:07:53
time you too JW thank you very much well thank cap Tech’s bank for allowing us to
1:07:59
put this on and thank you for joining us on fortitude that was Woody black thank you again
1:08:06
thank you [Music]
1:08:13
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