sunsets

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Rainbow at sunset

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

Rainbow at sunset and Oak trees, Lewisville Texas

Magic Hour – work in progress

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Magic Hour, 60H x 40W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress.

Art history is human history. What we call Art is the expression of individuals finding connection with our humanity; who are we? How do we respond to our surroundings and who are we in relation the things we depend on for survival? Standing in front of the Totems I realized that the answers we sought long, long ago are the same, and the things we love now are the same things people have always loved. As Artists and Art Viewers we’ll never venture far from subjects that speak to the heart.

The originals of all the totem poles erected in Thunderbird Park on the grounds of the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, Canada are now protected from the effects of weather inside the museum. The totem portrayed in this painting is a replica of the Gitxsan Pole that was moved in 1958 from Kitwankool, BC. This version of the pole is named Skim-sim and Will-a-daugh, belonging to Chief Wiha (Wee-kha, Ernest Smith), the chief of the Wolf Clan: only the top 3/4 of the totem is portrayed. Due to deterioration caused by weather, the originals of all the totems in Thunderbird Park are now erected inside the museum and are replaced with replicas carved by Mungo Martin, chief carver, Henry, Tony and Richard Hunt (this one 1960).

Symbols/crests: The bird at the crown is a giant woodpecker (wee-get-welku). Legend reads that a female ancestor kept a pet woodpecker, feeding it so much it grew to be a giant monster that ate everything made of wood until it was killed. It sits atop 5 human figures who stand on the head of the Mountain Eagle (Skim-sim), who kidnapped and mated with a woman then devoured their offspring. The eleven small figures are humans fishing through holes in the ice. Under them and not pictured in the painting is Will-a-daugh, also known as “Person With a Large Nose”, holding her child who was conceived from a wood grub.

Magic Hour started

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

Magic Hour, 60H x 40W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, work just started. This is the top half of the magnificent Gitxsan Totem pole, one of the Haida totems in Thunderbird Park near the Inner Harbor downtown Victoria, B.C.

The drawing is sketched with Alizarine Crimson and Red Oxide base. We were there a week ago just as the sun set, shining light on the right side of the totems and rising moon light lit the left side. I changed the tree silhouette to a typical B.C. horizon of tall Red Cedar, whereas the trees in that park are Maples.

Thunder, Sunset, and Herons

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

Three nights ago, I was out taking photos of storm clouds in the setting sun, and flock of herons crossed by.

6:49 p.m.

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

Amazing sunset tonight.

Mackeral Sky

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

December 17, 5:21 p.m.

November 17, 6:55 a.m.

Almost every evening year-round I’m drawn outdoors by the change in lighting, just before sunset. Called Mackerel Sky, stripes and mottled cloud formations like this precede a cold front, and occur during any time of day, but are most dramatic during sunrise and sunset.

Dancing With Trees 02

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007

Dancing With Trees 02, 48H x 48W x 1D inches acrylics, matt and semi-gloss glaze medium, and semi-gloss varnish on canvas, scene continues onto trim frame. Detail images below.
Layers of glaze washes used in final stages: Hansa yellow light, Phthalo blue, Phthalo green, Permanent green, Thio violet, Mars black, Cadmium red light, Dioxazine violet.
This piece is an example of work that does not reflect the original vision but is turning into something much more interesting. To help enhance the character of cedar branches I’ve dripped water, paint, glazes, and varnish across patches of color, splattered it on with a brush and also painted it turned upside down. This left sheen and textures not captured in photos; best seen in person.
Dancing With Trees 02, started August 30th – several progression details posted on different dates are combined in this post. The oil pastel with the same name, first version, posted in March 2007, inspired the painting.

North Carolina

Monday, October 1st, 2007

Alain and I flew to North Carolina for three days ( a little business trip and I tagged along—he threatened to take my camera with him and I was sure I could not manage without it!) We drove around the eastern countryside between Raleigh and Washington (NC) through old, old towns (it takes a looong time for wooden doors to shred, and a looong time for conditions to be just right for vines to sprout then twirl round and round, entwined and squished between panes of glass!) …old, old farms: tobacco, cotton, peanuts.. and an interesting gas station.

There is a lot of history in NC – fossil, human/settlers and Civil War history. We stayed at Kitty Hawk (first flight – Wright bros.) and walked the shores at various places along the narrow coast of the Outer Banks. We watched the sun rise and dolphins feed – too far away for good photos, even with the telephoto. As soon as the sun rose they swam away.

Along Cape Hatteras, groups of Grackles ate ripe grass seeds, bouncing up and down on the stems, their bodies too heavy for the tall grasses.

On Pony Island a large sand crab tried to buff up and look tough, but it was quite vulnerable there out in the open; all the other crabs scurried into holes but this one stayed, trying to hide in footprints, which offered no protection if we had been birds looking for a hearty meal.

Great fun to watch the behavior for a while. It’s clearly outlined crab-shaped shadow following it everywhere, creating a few graphic photos that are perfect resource material for drawings and paintings but do not stand alone as good photography because it was moving so fast.

Just off the 2 1/2 hr. long ferry at Swan Quarter, and sunset with a short, wide rainbow after a storm that we managed to escape and watch from the better side.

NO OLF – we were curious about this sign in many people’s yards. The following website shows a video describing how the U.S. Navy has purchased over 30,000 acres of land near the eastern North Carolina coast, planning to move their pilot training program from Virginia.

Part of the huge controversy is that over 75 families would be forced to leave their homes, many of them farming that land for generations. The human issues are enough, but the cause and effect on the wildlife and ecology would be drastic and irreparable. Thousands of ducks and large flocks of snow geese that feed in the area annually would no longer have sanctuary. The large birds would also be a danger to the jets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XDmC1LD1Kc

Dancing With Trees 02 work in progress

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Dancing With Trees 02, 48H x 48W x 1D inches acrylics on canvas. Layers of glaze used in final stages: Hansa yellow light, Pthalo blue, Pthalo green, Permanent green, thio violet, Mars black, Cadmium red light, Dioxazine violet

Dancing With Trees 02 – progress

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Dancing With Trees 02, started August 30th – 48H x 48W acrylics on canvas – progression details are combined into one post. The oil pastel with the same name, posted in March 2007, inspired the painting.

I’ve tried lots of new things with this one – am hoping to keep just the impression of branches. I don’t want too many details. Using washes and glazes to help create the cedar branch texture I’ve dripped water, paint, glazes, and varnish across patches of color, splattered it on with a brush and also painting upside down.