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
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that I mean I I could share it with the Cowboys you know but I didn’t have there were no
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cell phones back then let’s face it so couldn’t take pictures of them show it on your cell phone
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um I do remember getting some 8×10
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um prints made from some of my drawings and around the early 80s
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uh to the mid 80s I could take a few of them there and show them to the Cowboys
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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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