The Stars of Texas Juried Art Exhibit opened on Sunday, February 7th and will continue through February 19th with many talented artists from across the state offering demonstrations alongside the art exhibit. Demonstrations scheduled for Monday, February 8th will include Ava Hicks, Tammy Barr and Thomas Pettengill.
Demonstrations will be presented from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. daily on weekdays at the Depot Civic and Cultural Center in Brownwood. Artists will show visitors how to use a variety of different media as well as share interesting techniques.
The Stars of Texas Juried Art Exhibit will continue with daily hours through February 19th at the Depot. For more info, visit
Tammy Barr
Tammy grew up in Brown County and currently lives in the Hill Country. She graduated from Sul Ross State University with an Agri-Business degree, but has an entrepreneurial spirit. She has bought and sold rental property for the past several years.
Tammy has always been very creative and loved crafts or “making things.” She found metal clay by accident, but has been a fan and worked with it since she discovered it about 6 years ago. Her niche is jewelry with a western flair which often will be custom with cattle brands, logos or initials. She will be demonstrating how to paint found items with the metal clay turning it into beautiful jewelry. Pictured above is a piece of jewelry created by Barr.
You may have seen some of her work at the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Convention, Western Heritage Classics, Red Steagall Ranch Gathering or Petticoats on the Prairie.
Thomas Pettengill
From looking at some of his earliest school report cards Thomas Pettengill states that it is apparent he has always had an interest in art. He explains his love for art as follows.
“My kindergarten teacher said I would sit and draw all day if they let me. Formally I didn’t follow art through my education. I became interested in photography about 20 years ago while working as a fisheries biologist for the State of Utah. It wasn’t until after I moved to Brownwood late in 2005 that I started to take photography serious. I have taken a few online photography classes but I am mostly self-taught.
Since I could walk I’ve wanted to be outside. I’ve probably spent more time out in wild places than indoors. I enjoyed being out way before sunrise and staying out well after dark. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful sights in nature and wanted to learn to capture that beauty with my photographs. My main focus in photography is nature and landscape photography.”
Pettengill’s demonstration at the 2016 Stars of Texas Exhibit will be night photography. He tried night photography while he was taking an online photography class in 2010. Pettengill quickly found out he had a lot to learn. Over the last few years, he experimented in capturing images of the stars, the moon, the Northern Lights and even lightning bugs.
“The moon is one of the hardest things I have ever tried to photograph. I still make mistakes but I want to share some of my knowledge and hopefully I can help you get out at night and capture some beautiful images,” said Pettengill.
Pictured above is Tom Tettengill with some of his artwork.
