PBS Show - Paddling Trails, Edwards Aquifer & The Art of Texas

[Music] the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas thanks to members across the state additional funding is provided by Toyota your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas Toyota Let's Go Places coming up on Texas Parks and Wildlife de Cove is my favorite place on this payak Trail because it's just so peaceful anybody who doesn't belie

ve that the populace of San Antonio knows about its water suppli not paying attention this is not only a fabulous exhibition of landscape paintings but it's also a historical record [Music] Texas Parks and Wildlife a television series for all [Music] Outdoors this morning we're going to launch on take a look at the trees and see if we can find some blue herand pardon me coming in ducklings sun is just starting to peek out from the trees there we have about 6 miles that we can paddle on here and

since it's a lake you can make it as long or as short as you want this time in the morning it is so comfortable out here there goes yep blue hering right there Lake Ray hub's been in my backyard for almost 30 years now so I grew up on this Lake a lot of people from Dallas a lot of people from the Fort Worth area come over here a lot of people travel over an hour just to come to this spot we're going to paddle North past the railroad bridge over the years I've had a chance to paddle uh all over N

orth and South America but but the most fun now is paddling with my daughters right here isn't it so pretty well the breeze is great this time in the morning we're going to paddle up to where the old Main Street that used to run through ret is and the lake uh has submerged a portion of it so this is Main Street ret uh it's great for families it's an economical way to get started and spend a day out here with nature back into the Wilderness we go guys you all better slow down for the old [Laughte

r] guy is this your Cove Catherine The Cove is my favorite place on this specific kayak Trail because it's just so peaceful and it's calm if you're paddling along the lake and you get tired this is a great place to come in and take a break slow down and just observe [Music] feels pretty like mythical out here isn't it so pretty so I really enjoy being out in nature just because I enjoy seeing the wildlife it's definitely a way to get outside of your comfort zone I am glad you guys have shown me

this area and Dess out on an open Lake we probably should head back one of my favorite things about Kayaking out here is it's very relaxing going out there and just being able to sit in peace and quiet I do enjoy that especially after a long day you'd be [Music] surprised [Music] so far we've had a record 9 days of 105° heat in fact we are in the worst drought condition in the Southern United States in the late ' 80s there was a growing concern that the Edwards aquer would not be able to serve t

he rapidly growing San Antonio area the drought is draining our source of [Music] life so many communities and industries depend upon the water that goes into the Edwards aquafer to help sustain their livelihoods and then we've got the 600 lb gorilla because San Antonio sucking everything dry you know so so the question was how do we sustain water security for San Antonio into the future But ultimately what we came down with was you have to protect the recharge Zone and that's the way you protec

t the Water Resource for the future the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program is really a model for how you can protect a very important natural resource next to an urban environment the concept behind it was ingenious the city of San Antonio and many partners including the nature conservancy went to the voters with the idea of taking sales tax and allocating it toward protection of land over the Edwards Aquifer so that ultimately you'd be protecting the primary drinking water source for San Antoni

o and one of the conservation goals was is the dedication of a 18 Cent sales tax in San Antonio city of San Antonio really led the way and going to the voters and saying will you tax yourselves to protect the land the water the habitat all the things we love about the Hill Country and the voters said heck yes Time and Time and Time and Time Again anybody who doesn't believe that the populace of San An Antonio knows about its water supplies is not paying attention because San Antonio they know wh

ere their water comes from because they hear about it every night on the news aquifer aquifer aquifer aquifer sure enough there was a high literacy in San Antonio about where their water came from and the public loved it and they made some strategic purchases we really targeted buying conservation easements because you could get more land protected with conservation easement you never know for certain if this thing is going to take off but ultimately it did since its Inception over 171,000 Acres

have been protected and the city's collected over $315 million towards this effort over this 20-year period but it is a tremendous success story it's one of the two or three most important conservation achievements during during my career that I've seen happen and that was very difficult because the people in that part of the country are so skeptical of conservationists and environmentalists and government [Music] people but when it comes to water people get it it's very visceral it's very orga

nic connection we all have with water it was remarkable remarkable thing to see done and that has taken a long [Music] time I really believe that we're going to continue on with aquafer protection and I think it will be expanded I think it has to if we're going to live on our little [Music] planet [Music] 2023 is the Centennial of the state park system it was established 100 years ago in 1923 the wonderful thing about art or good art is you see something but also makes you feel something it remi

nds people of the tremendous natural heritage that we have in [Music] Texas I divide my time painting the rivers in the Hill Country and out here in Big Ben I feel very honored to have been asked each of them brings something different it's the artist's interpretation I think that is really really the value added component of all this this is not only a fabulous exhibition of landscape paintings but it's also a historical record of the state parks of Texas there's never been anything quite like

this before really contrasting style mhm they're all amazing and captivating in their own [Music] way these are some studies I did of Fresno on better mornings than this beautiful little creek it almost always has some water in it which is kind of rare out here and this morning I'm going to paint up uh this spot I'm David kton an artist a painter live in Utopia but I come out here to Big Ben and in big Benin Ranch three or four times a year off on a cold morning cold wet morning I'm a landscape

painter I think it it is harder to find these remote wild untouched areas right here pull myself together here a group of artists were contacted and asked if we wanted to take part in the Texas state park Centennial when it's cold like this your fingers don't work too well each artist has two parks and we will produce two paintings of each Park I was lucky they asked me if I wanted to do a third Park so besides big Benin Ranch and Garner which is in my backyard I've got also the Davis Mountain S

tate Park which I'm I'm excited about I do love to paint in all three of those places probably my favorite Parks it's not very much light I think it's going to be a fun project unlike a photograph a painting demonstrates that there's more to the landscape than we can actually see just a little sketch I'm excited painting anything out [Music] here I find inspiration in so many different ways out here this is a painting by my friend uh David kton who is U known for his paintings of moving water I

convinced my colleagues Bill and Linda Reeves former Gallery owners to collaborate on a book this is the first book that Bill and Linda Reeves and I did together which is uh features many of the same Texas artists that will appear in the Centennial book and the back cover is once again by David Kon we have recruited 30 Texas artists to paint 60 paintings of state parks across the state the book will also be accompanied by a series of exhibitions of the paintings themselves there was an effort to

select locations which reflected the diversity of state parks we included the historic sites we wanted to make sure that historic Legacy was represented I'm fidencio Duran I'm a painter and muralist I'm here at LBJ state park at the S Beckman pioneer farm on a project for the Centennial of the Texas Park system I was drawn to it specifically because it reminded me very much of my own uh childhood my parents worked as tenant Farmers we always had chickens and raise our vegetables butchered a hog

around wintertime for meat my grandparents lived right down the road in the little house uh with a wood burning stove takes me back quite a bit the creaking of a screen door the smells very good the old materials jars of preserves and the tools that are here at the farm very reminiscent of where I grew [Music] up my work can be described as being narrative I like to show people doing things or in the process of making something seeing how much time it can take to make something as simple as a t

hread from wool I think is very enlightening and and very [Music] refreshing this is the end of Colorado canyon I think it's called it's just one of the grand views including Big Ben National Park it's a place I've loved to paint for many years my brushes and my pallet starting mixing up some colors here it's a nice composition with the the zigzag of the river it's a beautiful spot but this is a real challenge with with this low light this light is pretty humbling if not humiliating even if it's

not the most most ideal situation it's still it's just great being out here so I try to come out to Colorado canyon every time I come out and maybe someday I'll get it right I'm out here with other painters a group of us come out here several times a year nice spot can learn from one another and ni and it's fun to see what we all do do I don't want to get bogged down in uh details at this point in the painting but it was so interesting when the clouds were going across these mountains I was a l

ittle sad at how flat the light was this morning but this is really grown on [Music] me my only goal here is to just block in this painting and see if I if I like what's what's happening I really like the study that I did on site but I just think I want to try for something with a little bit more drama I'll bring that in the studio and then I'll work out ideas with sky and Shadow maybe create a a cloud Shadow I'm going to have this cloud back here half of it illuminated something to give it more

movement and a stronger [Music] composition from those photographs that I took I like action shots the women spinning the yarn and showing the process I'm honoring that they' they've held on to that and they're exposing the greater public to these ways of living I was a priority of LBJ I think he really wanted people to realize not only what came before but also to have some understanding of the inner relation between humanity and the land [Music] itself I wish I could be outside more but the m

ajority of my time is in the studio so this is looking East just on the other side of the hill this sky is a little bombastic but uh this was the first one I did for this whole project I have no idea which ones will make the final cut it's a pretty slow process it is nice to see taken shape this is my painting representing lockart State Park about completed we have to have our work done by the end of May because an impress is doing a book and it'll take them about a year to put that together thi

s is uh the university press I'm Tom lemons I'm the editor-in chief having a book is a whole lot like having a new baby come into the family A book is the focus of so many different people at so many different points in the process here I feel like almost if I touched that water my fingertip would be wet there are a tremendous number of people who Who start to really look forward to the arrival of the new baby it's just a thrill when that thing shows up in the warehouse and we can actually hold

it and look at it the art of Texas state parks really kind of pulls in everything that we're interested in uh and then the fact that it's a beautiful book just is the icing on the cake that's it really nice it really does we'll be selling one painting from each of the artists revenue from the sale of paintings the royalties from the book all go to the Parks and Wildlife Foundation for the benefit of state parks today at Sarah FZ Gallery here in Houston Sarah is hosting this exhibition and sale o

f works so this will be a benefit for the future of the Parks from the artists who participated uh in actually painting the parks wonderful work that we have on the walls and I think there are a number of artists that will be here this evening it's a real wonderful array of both subject matter and artistic style this has been 5 years in the making yeah yeah and worth every minute of it yeah really captured the essence there of of that incredible spot out there in West Texas everything that was p

roduced was pretty pretty exceptional it really was seeing this in in real life really makes it exciting I think they've done a great job of capturing the diversity of the parks we've got some of the oldest allaha mother nef and others but also ones that have just come into the system this is the newest Park oh Palo Pinto I say going I'm Daryl Daryl how are you you it's so much fun seeing him in person as you know it's wonderful I'm looking at your painting Jerry just it keeps catching my eye go

od I'm Bill and I both being associated with this learn so much about the state park system we have wonderful wonderful park lands in our state and we're very grateful to the artists on three look right here one two I'm excited about it I'm I'm anxious to see the book and anxious to uh begin to have this exhibition travel around the [Music] state our team is installing the art of Texas state parks we're thrilled to be helping tpw celebrate the Centennial of the park system and we get to kick off

the exhibition here at the bulock Museum I know it's going to the bulock the Museum of Natural Science in Houston and other venues so I'm looking forward to that there are so many different kinds of artists and it'll be interesting to see their interpretations I hope that it inspires people to explore the state and appreciate all the people that have made it what it is today we're so happy that this exhibition now has has legs of its own I mean there's so many people I've barely even made the r

ounds uh it's pretty amazing to have it all put together and presented and and have the public view it more than anything all these great friends and Painters and it's a privilege to be in their company this event has far exceeded my expectations the people are excited the artists are happy the paintings are beautiful and it's absolutely [Music] unbelievable our Texas parks are Jewels I think it's so important that we respect and honor and protect those lands and try to grow them [Music] for for

a this series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas thanks to members across the state additional funding is provided by Toyota your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas Toyota Let's Go Places