Turtle Creek, Dallas, c. 1916, oil on canvas, 10 x 14, signed lower right: E. Onderdonk, A Collection of Texas Art - Bill and Eloise Blakeley Collection. LOTS: 138 - 194. After moving into a new home with lots of empty wall space in 1995 we decided to fill the empty spaces with paintings. Eloise pointed out that rather than buying prints we could find original works for reasonable amounts. First we went to a local Austin antique dealer and found three paintings. One was a night scene Julian Onderdonk. Next we traveled to Dallas in search of art galleries. We found David Dike's with an Onderdonk painting in the front window. When we entered his gallery there was David and Bill Cheek talking "Texas Art". This led to Bill Cheek's suggestion that we should collect Texas art. Bill told us about an upcoming TACO meeting at George Palmer's and offered to send us information about many early Texas artists. We attended the meeting, read the material he sent and were hooked. After driving to Dallas each month for TACO and going to many antique stores and art galleries in search of paintings we were avid collectors. We hosted some TACO meetings at our home and met lots of great art collector friends. Bill and Linda Reaves came to see our growing collection and we soon became early CASETA members. That led to even more wonderful meetings and friends. Collecting books about early Texas artists added to our enjoyment of the works we had. This hobby has given us great pleasure and has introduced us to many fine friends. Bill and Eloise Blakeley