On graduation day from the L.A. Art Center College of Design, I was sitting with my beloved instructor,
Joseph Morgan Henninger. He turned to me and said:
"Well, my dear, I believe you will soon discover, that you have barely scratched the surface."
I was in shock! Surely, he didn't know
HOW MUCH I HAD LEARNED!!!
Well, 10 years later, after admiring a certain artist's work for over 5 years, I finally "found" Dan McCaw...his studio was in
Don "Putt" Putman's old studio,
only 2 miles from where I use to live!
I called Dan that day, told him how great I thought he was, and described a painting I had seen of his years before. He said: "O, that thing...it's coming back from a gallery this week." To make a long story short...I not only purchased the 40 x 30 Native American piece, I also studied with Dan for the following two and a half years. And I discovered, that
I HAD NOT EVEN GOTTEN "TO THE SURFACE,
TO SCRATCH IT!!!"
Just a note regarding this painting:
In the early '80s, it was in a Denver gallery, when a French professor from the university there, viewed it, asked about the artist, and responded:
"NO! It cannot be an American artist, it is too "European" in it's accomplishments."
LETTERS FROM PATRONS
2003
Dan J. McCaw
Betty, Just looked at your web sight- I was really impressed with your work. You are doing some
great paintings. Keep up the good work. I will try to find the cataog you wanted, and a book. Your
friend Dan
Website: http://www.billupsfineart.com - Sitemap - Email - Phone: (208) 263-1117
All Text and Images Copyright Betty Jean Billups. All Rights Reserved.
Address: P.O. Box 102, Sandpoint, ID 83864