The Tap Dancer The action in Zupp ’ s paintings is often based on experience . Asked about the woman dancing precariously over a pit , he tells a story of an old friend . “ She was mean ,” he explains . “ Very bitter . She was proud of holding grudges .” Zupp thought of her as an epic character , and was surprised when she died of a stroke , rather than in a more spectacular way . He wonders if her attitudes toward life and other people had poisoned her from the inside . He once asked her , “ Can ’ t you just forgive and forget ?” She replied that she loved hating . The back of the painting tells her story , handwritten by the artist on the board .

George Zupp is not a folk artist . Folk artists paint in a naïve style because they are untrained , and George holds bachelor ’ s and master ’ s degrees in painting and sculpture , respectively . His work , on the surface , might seem like folk art . A closer look reveals the careful composition , ease of form and deft use of color that are the hallmark of a trained artist . Empty space speaks as loudly as figure . Simple depictions of Texas life amplify into a cultural mythos . Locals become archetypes , mundane actions take on the tenor of immortal human themes .

Lately , Zupp has turned to working more with charcoal , a medium he ’ s come to appreciate more . “ I don ’ t know why it took me so long , but I like being able to do these drawings . I can work quickly , and they have a different feel to them ,” he says .

Cenizo Summer 2023

Sotol Smuggler In the past , Zupp ’ s work often depicted what he calls “ Jerry Springer themes :” unkempt people in conflict , shouting at each other over tables laden with sides of ribs or briskets , for example . In recent years , his interest has turned more to larger ideas of the American West . Here , a sotol-drinking troubadour rides a goat through the scrub of the Chihuahuan desert . Over time , Zupp has painted more of these subjects , and fewer nudes and what he dubs ‘ redneck barbecues .’ “ These themes interest me , and the buyers have sort of edited out what I spend a lot of my time working on . These things are more relevant to me , even if they ’ re less virally popular .”

This is the part where I ’ ll stop with the artspeak . It doesn ’ t suit his body of work , even if it ’ s true .

Born in Friendswood , Texas , Zupp began his higher education as a psychology major . His grades were wan at best . He enjoyed taking art electives , but was convinced that his parents wouldn ’ t support the switch to art . He determined to drop out . To his surprise , his family met his intention not with protestations about the struggles of a career in art , but with an insistence to continue in whatever field appealed to him . Bolstered by that support , he changed his major . His grade-point average shot up , and he graduated with a bachelor ’ s degree in painting from Southwest Texas State .

Zupp got a house in San Marcos , where he hung out with Texas singer-songwriter types and supported himself with carpentry and house painting . In those days , the mid-1990s , living was affordable . He wandered out to Redford in 1999 , using the tiny town as a quiet place to produce a body of work . His intention was to travel around in this way , spending a block of time here or there , observing and chronicling , producing work in a style or to a theme before moving on . He stayed in Redford for about a year , the first time .

A friend dared him to apply for grad school at UT San Antonio . He went through the application process and found , to his surprise , that the school