The news from Austin

Show opening in Northampton, MA; launching a new UteOob channel, and BettySoo being a rock star

Friends,

Typing this from BettySoo’s house in Austin, from which I will launch tomorrow to Terlingua, Texas to rendezvous with “The Rattlesnake Gang,” a group of friends who gather each year out in the Big Bend region for a week of painting and camaraderie. This will be my first time painting with them. I have been charged with bringing the maple syrup, which I did, on the train, from Vermont. The train ride was, as ever, wonderful, with plenty of time to read, nap, and gaze at unparalleled views of America’s back yards, algae-filled ponds, and lots of thicket.

FROM 64 NEAR CLYDE, 2025, 24x24, oil and acrylic on canvas.

Such trips restoreth my visual soul, and FROM 64 NEAR CLYDE, above, was the result of such a trip, from Albany, NY, to Toronto, to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and return over New Year’s. This piece makes its galleric debut, along with INTERVALE, a 16x32 oil on muslin, mounted on aluminum, at the William Baczek Fine Arts 2025 Landscape Exhibition, Feb. 12-April 5, opening Saturday, Feb. 15, from 4-6 pm. A preview of this exhibition can be seen on the gallery’s web site at www.wbfinearts.com. For more information about this or upcoming exhibits please call the gallery at 413-587-9880 or send an email to info@wbfinearts.com. The gallery is located at 36 Main Street in downtown Northampton, Massachusetts and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am – 5 pm, and Sunday from 12 pm – 5 pm. The show also includes several pieces by my friend Susan Mikula, from her recently concluded show at the Brattleboro Museum, ISLAND, for which I served as curator.

True to my word, this week at Betty Soo’s, I have sat myself down and created a new UteOob channel, REASONABLY FINE ART CLIPS, where I excerpt pithy bits from the archive of over 120 (!!) REASONABLY FINE ART TALKS, and edit them down to 6-10 minute bite-sized morsels. There are currently three clips up: one is Tim Kelly discussing his painting “May Be The Last Time,” one explains my back-of-the-car sun-and-rain rig, and one outlines my sketching tools and practice. I’d love to have you subscribe, if you’d like. Here’s the link.

Why a 3-H pencil? Here’s why.

As ever, all that content is free, and freely given, as is this newsletter. If you want to show support, you are welcome to become a paid supporter of this “Substack”- all funds raised go to charity, which tends toward the liberal/environmental/anti-fascist and local variety. As a “thank you” to the paid subscribers, I offer a painting from my inventory each month at a price about eighty percent less than what it would be in a gallery. The next painting offer will be going out in a week or so to our paid supporter list.

Until then, thank you for reading, and please take good care.
~ Charlie

PS: Going to leave you with a photo of my beloved, on stage this week at the Continental Club in Austin. L-R: BettySoo, Darren Hess, James McMurtry, Cornbread.

Jeff Bezos looks on as BettySoo joins James McMurtry at The Continental Club in Austin. Just kidding; it was actually Putin.