"Christmas in Mexico"

      It was twenty years ago when my friend Tommy Teague called and asked if I could do a painting of himself and his son, Thomas, in a duck hunting setting.  I said that I certainly could, but that I would have to photograph them myself in that setting.  He said okay; he would get back to me. I thought we would be going to a pond on his farm, or at best, somewhere around Currituck.  However, a few days later, his secretary called and told me that we were going to Mexico a couple of days before Christmas.

     Along with several of Tommy’s friends and business associates, and his son Thomas, we boarded a private plane and flew to a place called Alta Vista Lodge, on Lake Guerrero.  It was the kind of place every hunter dreams about going to.  The food was great, the guides were great, the setting was beautiful, and there were more ducks than I had ever seen in one place at one time before.  The shooting was incredible, and I must admit that I felt a bit guilty about it, but most of the ducks that we didn’t eat went to the local people, for which they were most grateful.

     I shot several rolls of film, mostly of the Teague “boys” hunting together and did the painting from photos in my studio.  The painting took a couple of months to complete, and I know that Tommy was quite pleased with it, as was Thomas, who is now in his mid thirties and will pass it down to his kids some day. This painting has frozen that moment in time for these friends of mine, which is what I set out to do.

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