Doc Weaver Signed Original Watercolor — Abstract Riverbed Stones

Large-scale original watercolor on paper by Doc Weaver, signed in pencil at lower left. The composition reads as an aerial or close-focus study of a stone-strewn watercourse, with a sinuous arc of pebbles rendered in deep umbers and slate blues set against a saturated terracotta wash. The artist's handling exploits granulation and bloom effects, building texture through pigment pooling rather than line — a departure from the landscapes and military subjects for which Weaver is best known.

Presented in a solid oak frame under glass, the substantial horizontal format gives the piece real wall presence. Abstract compositions of this scale are atypical within Weaver's catalog, which centers on representational subjects.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Lieutenant Colonel Richard "Doc" Weaver (b. 1929) is a Santa Fe-born painter whose career bridges three decades of military service and a second life as a full-time studio artist. Commissioned into the United States Air Force, Weaver flew and served operationally through the Cold War era, retiring at the rank of Lt. Colonel in 1976. He returned to New Mexico and committed himself to painting full time, working principally in watercolor from a studio in the northern part of the state.

Weaver's mature catalog is built around three subject areas: northern New Mexico landscape — high desert, adobe villages, and the cottonwood-lined drainages of the Rio Grande corridor — historical Western genre scenes, and aviation and military aircraft portraits drawn directly from his service experience. The aviation work in particular earned him a regional following among collectors of military art, and his landscapes circulated through New Mexico galleries and regional juried exhibitions from the late 1970s onward. He is known for a disciplined wet-on-wet technique and a restrained, earth-driven palette consistent with the northern New Mexico tradition.

Pure abstractions are uncommon within his output, making the present sheet a notable outlier — a rare instance of the artist setting representational subject matter aside to pursue pigment behavior, granulation, and bloom as the work itself.

CONDITION

Very Good overall with the watercolor itself bright and intact. Debris and dirt are visible inside the frame between the glass and the sheet, and the oak frame shows light handling wear at the corners.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 45" W × 29.25" H × 2" D
• Visible Sheet: 43.25" W × 27.75" H
• Medium: Watercolor on paper
• Frame: Solid oak
• Signed lower left in pencil: "Doc Weaver"