Clay McGaughy
Watercolor Artist
Clay McGaughy is a San Antonio artist who received his degree in art from the University of Texas..
He also has a diploma from the Famous Artists’ Course for illustration.
His work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the U.S.,
including the Grand Central Gallery and the Crossroads of Sport in New
York. He has been a member of the San Antonio Watercolor group, the
Coppini group, the San Antonio Art League, the Society of Animal
Artists, and is a past president of the Texas Watercolor Society. His
work is in the collection of the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, and he
was the San Antonio Art League’s “Artist of the Year” in 1976.
He formerly taught summer seminars at the Hill Country Arts
Foundation in Ingram, Texas, and for several years was invited to show
in Game Coin International’s bi-annual wildlife art exhibit in San
Antonio.
Clay was featured in the January 1978 issue of Southwestern Art and
has done covers and illustrations for Texas Game and Fish, True West,
Texas Highways, American Artist, The Artists’ Magazine, Progressive
Farmer, and Outdoor Life. Selections of his paintings are included in
the books, Texas Hill Country and Pecos to Rio Grande, published by
Texas A & M Press.
In 1980, Clay was commissioned to do a painting for the Gulf Coast
Conservation Association’s series of limited edition fishing prints. He
was selected by Ducks Unlimited to be the 2002 Texas Artist of the year.
His popular series ,”Reflections”, and subsequent giclee prints of
wildlife and the outdoors continue to be published.
ARTIST BIO
- Landscapes, Country and City Scenes, Wildlife and Sporting Art
- Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, 1931, moved to San Antonio, TX, in 1933
- Graduated from Alamo Heights High School, 1948
- Attended Trinity University and graduated with a B.S. in art from Texas University, in 1953
- Completed Famous Artists School’s correspondence course
- Served two years in the Army in training aids branch of Medical Field Service School at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio
- Did covers and illustrations for various magazines, including Texas
Game and Fish, True West, Safari, Progressive Farmer, and Outdoor Life
- Voted 2002 Texas Ducks Unlimited “Artist of the Year,” and painted an annual limited edition print for members
- Arts in Parks annual calendar and posters in 1995
- San Antonio Art League’s “Artist of the Year” in 1976
- Two paintings in the collection of the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio
- Works are included in books, Texas Hill Country, and Pecos to Rio Grande. Also in Strokes of Genius (drawings);
- Paintings and articles published in Southwestern Art Magazine, Texas Highways, American Artist, and Game Coin Conservation’s quarterly magazine
- Painted a series of 23 point-of-sale regional wall transparency signs for Pearl Brewery Company
- Attended seminars by John Pike and Millard Sheets
- Taught summer sessions at the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram, Texas, for 27 years
- Member of the San Antonio Art League and is a past president of the Texas Watercolor Society
- Was a member of the Society of Animal Artists
- Member of San Antonio’s “Watercolor Gang,” whose world-wide painting
excursions produced “travelogue exhibits” of France, Italy, Spain,
Mexico, Alaska, and many locations in the U.S.
- Has exhibited and had shows in galleries in San Antonio, Dallas,
Houston, Austin, Corpus Christi, Sedona, AZ, Santa Fe, NM, and Grand
Central Galleries in New York
- Published “Reflections,” a series of prints of wildlife and sporting art, distributed by Arts Limited in the 1970’s and ‘80’s
- Present galleries: home and Collectors’ Covey in Dallas
- Currently resides with wife, Patsy, in San Antonio.
A Thought about Art
Art to me is – – a simple pleasure. I tire of the obtuse statements
of philosophy we so often hear from artists, for to me it is less
complicated.
There seems to be something instinctive in man that yearns for the aesthetic.
Though the arts seem a less “productive” enndeavor to society, this
subtle drive has been with us since history was recorded on rocks and
buried in the soil.
Anthropologists must know the reason, or have theories. I do not
know why – – only that is is so. As we are lulled by Brahms, enraged by
Orozco, and provoked by Kubrick, we know that there is depth of
communication, an intuitive understanding through the arts – – and
perhaps that is the reason for the arts.
Whatever, I am pleased to simply “let it out” and speak as best I
can with my brush, for there is a deep, instinctive pleasure in sharing
my concepts with others.
Clay McGaughy
