Painting wild places...

I let a month go by.... my mural is done, will add a Mural section to my website as soon as I get good finished photos of all 4 walls. I enjoyed the process enough I think I'd like to do more - just in case you are interested in having a mural painted on your wall.

As Covid-19 restrictions loosen up a bit, the galleries are open and I'm getting work ready for some shows. I've got a whole bunch of paintings (see Recent Work on the home page) that no one has ever seen yet because I haven't had a chance to exhibit them.

I am very pleased to announce that my 2019 Osprey Nest painting, "Unexpected", has been accepted in the 2020 Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, at VIEW, Old Forge, from August 8 - September 27, 2020. There may be a reception on August 7 - check back for updates. Yes, there is a reception, by reservation only.

This is a prestigious show, with hundreds of artists entering from all over the country. I have entered it probably 20-25 times and have only had 4 of my paintings accepted, so it is quite an honor.

I don't do a lot of watercolor, but I love the kind of detail that watercolor allows me to do - at least the way I paint with watercolors, which is pretty controlled and "dry" - you won't find lots of wet, blended colors in my paintings.

"Unexpected" is based on my own series of photographs, taken over a period of 2 weeks, of an osprey nest located not far from the highway between Tupper Lake and Long Lake. I probably shot 100 photos or more, squinting into the viewfinder of my camera, trying to hold the fully extended zoom lens steady.  The photo this painting is based on, was the only instant both adults were on the nest, along with a single offspring. I never knew one of the adults was carrying a large-mouthed bass unit I looked at the downloaded images on my computer. Most of the time only 1 adult was on the nest, but I had learned that when it looked up at the sky and made a certain chirping noise, that the other bird was nearby. So to get this picture, I zoomed in and focused on the nest and just waited. As soon as the 2nd adult came into the picture I just held down the shutter and took multiple photos. Imagine my delight when I saw this one..

I opted to leave the background white so the flowing, organizer contours of the birds, tree, and nest could be visually enjoyed without distraction. Does the painting look familiar? It might, if you've ever studied John James Audubon's "Birds of America" portfolio. I grew up with a book of reproductions on the bookshelf and loved studying how Audubon drew them. I haven't looked at the book in probably 50 years, but his life-size renderings and attention to detail has always impacted the way I work. I didn't look at his osprey painting while I worked on mine, but out of curiosity I looked when I was done. It's kind of amazing we captured almost the same pose while I had the benefit of a powerful zoom and high speed camera, and in the early 1800's, Audubon worked from dead specimens, pinning them into position so he could draw them. 

The website this image came from is amazing - it let's you zoom in to see all the delicate details that were drawn and painted. https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/fish-hawk-or-osprey

I'll focus more on my other recent works in upcoming posts. Please comment or ask questions!