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Baytown artist Mark Barnett This is local Baytown artist Mark Barnett and his latest painting of Texas Alamo hero "James Bowie". He donated this to the newly rebuilt James Bowie Elementary school in Baytown August 12, 2008. He hopes the kids like it. Here is his story, in his own words. "I come from an Army family, so I'm a Army brat who has been around the country a lot, as a small boy. I lived in Illinois, Alaska and North Carolina before moving to Baytown when I was 10 years old. My dad was in for 27 years...He was a Sgt 1st class E7. He fought in Korea and Vietnam. My Mom and Dad still live in Baytown today. My dad Bob Barnett is 78. I pretty much grew up in Baytown going to school at the old James Bowie elementary back in 1970 through '72. I also went to Cedar Bayou Jr., Ross S. Sterling and Lee College. I lived in Baytown for about 30 years before moving to Friendswood, where I now live with my wife and two kids. The famous artist (S.J. Stout) of Kemah, was also in the Army with my Dad. They shared the same office building in Ft Hood for many years. In 1975, a lady who was the head of the PTA, asked me if I would paint a portrait of James Bowie for the Baytown elementary school. I was 15 years old at the time and I said yes. That old Bowie painting hung in the old school for over 33 years. The old school was torn down and the new James Bowie school was rebuilt at the same location at Clayton, near Hwy 146. I decided to paint a new picture of Bowie for the new school about a month ago. I delivered this new painting to the school, August 12th. The school grand opening will be in November 2008. This is a 24" X 30" acrylic painting that took me about three weeks to complete. It will hang in the school's library along with the old Bowie painting I did back in 1975.
The Baytown Sun newspaper was at the school Tuesday for some photos. My older brother "Steven K. Barnett" worked on the Hollywood movie "Dances With Wolves" starring Kevin Costner. My brother passed away in 2003, but was also an artist and worked on many movies filmed in Texas and other states from the 1980's and 1990's. I come from a long line of artists in my family from my mother's side. My Mom was a great artist, way better than me. She studied art at a college in Illinois where her and my Dad used to live. My older brother was also a very good artist and we both worked as t-shirt screen printing artists in Baytown for years. I used to own a screen printing business in Baytown called Excalibur Graphics. I started drawing at the age of 4. By age 10, other kids in my class were calling me an artist. When I was 16 my Sterling High School art teacher tried to get me signed up for the Baytown Art League, but they turned me down because I wasn't yet 18. I took a few art classes at Lee College back in 1979 when I was 19. I had a great teacher and did some of my best work while going to school there. I never earned a degree though, I guess it wasn't important back when I was 19. I won the Westheimer Art Festival Poster Contests in 1991 and 1992. That was cool because they printed my artwork on thousands of posters and t-shirts that they sold at the weekend long event. I think they sold over 2500 t-shirts and 3000 posters in two days. I also received $500 each time for winning; can't beat that. I've worked at all of the largest t-shirt screen printing shops in Houston and Austin, but do freelance work out of my home in Friendswood now. I'm not a great painter, I have to work at it very hard. I am my own worse critic and a lot of times my artwork looks like a cartoon to me. On bad days, I just have to walk away from it and give myself a break. Then I try again the next day to fix all of my mistakes. Painting does not come easy to me. I've only had a few lessons back when I was 19. I really should go back and learn more. You can never know too much! Some people around Baytown think that I am a really good artist. I would say that I'm only average at best. There is a whole world of artists out there that are much better than me, and I know it. But still, I love to create artwork! I hope that maybe one day after I'm gone, someone from Baytown will remember my art. I do have plans to paint more portraits of men who fought and died at the Texas Alamo and also at the battle of San Jacinto. I find these men's lives were fascinating and they were very brave in battle. They deserve to have their likeness done in portraits for modern people to remember our Texas history. Mark Barnett |
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Picturing a Texas legend By Tara Sullivan - The Baytown Sun - Published August 13, 2008 The students at James Bowie Elementary have seen a whirlwind of "surprises" since gaining a whole new school building in January and new playground in March. Now approaching their first full year in the new building, Bowie students are about to witness a meeting of history and future. When Mark Barnett moved to Baytown in 1970, he attended the original James Bowie Elementary School on Mockingbird. He was in the fourth grade. Five years later, Barnett was met with a proposal from the school district. Knowing the Barnett's to be a family of artists, a Bowie Elementary school administrator approached Barnett's mother when they wanted a portrait of James Bowie to hang on school grounds. "My mother told her that I would paint the picture of Bowie," said Barnett. "It was my first painting, I had drawn a lot but I had never done a painting." The district brought him art supplies and a photo to work from. When the painting was complete, however, Barnett realized the photo he was working from was actually Sam Houston. "I kept wondering because in the photo, the man had grey hair and I had remembered James Bowie as having dark hair and sideburns," said Barnett. After looking through several history books, Barnett realized that his suspicions were correct. The administrator who commissioned the painting brought Barnett another canvas and the process began once again. When he was finally finished, Barnett had painted a large-scale portrait of James Bowie, complete with the Alamo standing in the background. For 33 years, that large painting hung inside the old school building. Each year, youngsters learned about the school's namesake when they'd point and ask, "who is that man?" "That painting had historical significance," said current Bowie Elementary Principal Ginger McKay. "The students knew when they learned about James Bowie that he was the man in the painting." Years after he had laid an iconic image to canvas, Barnett learned of the impact of his work. "I didn't know it before, but that old painting had become a big part of the school's history," he said. That revelation came when a Goose Creek CISD administrator approached his younger sister Marcile, a Baytown art instructor. "Someone told her they were going to reframe that old painting and hang it in the new school," said Barnett. "That was motivating to me. These people had such respect for that old painting. It was my first and it wasn't even that good, but it was the best I could do at that time." After some thought, Barnett considered: "It is a new school, right? So, why not give the new school a new painting of James Bowie?" After contacting McKay, Barnett's suggestion was met with enthusiastic reply. "It was exciting when we got his email," she said. "We're so excited to be able to show the students that this is what he did as a student, and this is what he did as an adult." For three weeks, Barnett worked hard on the new 24-inch by 30-inch portrait - the first painting he's done since 1992. Describing the dimensions as life-like, Barnett said this painting aims to capture the real look of Bowie. "The first one seems kind of like a cartoon," he said. The new painting will be mounted in a gold-toned frame with a small name plate the reads: James Bowie, 1796-1836. McKay said the new painting came fittingly at a time when many students and parents feel that the arts and other elective subjects are overshadowed by TAKS studies. "These paintings will be a reminder that sometimes kids are fabulous at art or other subjects," she said. "Those talents shouldn't be treated as secondary to TAKS like a lot of people think." Before school lets once more, both of Barnett's paintings will be hung in the school library. A formal dedication ceremony is set for November.
Trying to find the Face of a Texas Hero
After 13 days of fighting, on March 6, 1836, the battle of the Alamo
had come to an end. Over 182 Texas defenders had lost their lives
trying to defend the Alamo from Santa Anna and his 2,000+ troops.
Men like Davy Crockett and James Bowie had already had their
likenesses drawn or painted by artists while they were alive. But
the Alamo commander - William Barret Travis, had
not. Travis was a young, unknown attorney, born in South Carolina
and raised in Alabama. No one had ever taken the time to draw or
paint his likeness while he was alive. This is probably because
no one knew the outcome of his life and that he would become a Texas
hero and legend in death. It's important to remember that (photos)
did not come out until 1839 - that's three years after the fall of
the Alamo. So, people like Travis, Crockett, and Bowie never had
their photos taken. Instead, artists would draw or paint them. For
173 years, we have not had a good likeness of what Travis might have
looked like - until now! Texas artist - Mark Barnett spent one
full year doing research work on Travis. Barnett studied all of the
other paintings available and in the end, decided to use a photo of
Travis's son, Charles Edward Travis as a go by. Since Charles did
not look like his mother or his sister, Barnett believed that father
and son may have looked somewhat alike. His artwork is listed
(above), and the image to the (right) is what Barnett believes
William B. Travis could have looked like.
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You can see more of Mark Barnett's artwork at this online website:
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