Moonlight Hiker

With the Covid Pandemic there has been upheaval in everyone’s lives. During this past year I took a break from my wood canvas art paintings. Just recently, I decided to explore art again. I do absolutely love working with wood and painting, and combining the two for me is rewarding. My oldest son back in 2000 hiked the Appalachian Trail. It inspired me to try a different art form. 3D art I guess you would call it. The piece you see here only has about $15 in materials, but I know could sell it for many times that. The laired panels to create the 3D look is just from a 1/8″ piece of wood panel which I bought at a big box store for about $6. I just cut it to make it look like mountains and then sanded and painted them. The frame is just repurposed from an old ugly painting it once held that I bought from a second hand store. The cutouts of the hiker, trees and moon were bought on-line for cents on the dollar. The cutouts are bare wood, so I painted them with the colors that I thought would best suit the picture. The creation is just a labor of love for my son and what he accomplished. I presented it and gave it to him last week, and he absolutely loved it. I don’t know what is more rewarding, making art or giving it away. Anyway, I just thought I would share it here, and welcome any comments.

A Haunting Alley Springs Mill On The Jacks Fork River

Alley Springs Mill

I’ve always wanted to do a painting of Alley Springs Mill, but I wasn’t sure on what kind of mood I wanted for it. Then it kind of hit me with Halloween coming. I decided to do a ghostly, haunting theme. It’s not quite night as the sun rays fall on the mill and the moon rises above the bluff. An unworldly set of tiger eyes pierces through the trees. Just staring and waiting for the impending darkness. I think I created an uneasy beauty with this theme. It took me awhile to get this one done because I wrestled with how I was going to create the mood. I almost left the tiger eyes out, but then decided to go with them. I hope it was the right decision. This painting is done on 4 pine planks glued together.

Sunrise Moon Hawk

I called this painting Sunrise Moon Hawk. It has a sort of mystical look to it I think. There is a tree near where I live that when stripped of it’s leaves in winter looks like the one I have in this painting. The moon is the moon and it can look many different ways depending on the light, time of day and season. The moon here looks half asleep and half awake as it rises above the cold morning sun. The sunrise within a crystal blue sky is always a cool sight, so I thought it would be the right backdrop for these images. Then I decided to add a Red Tailed Hawk to the scene. There are 17 species of Hawk in North America and the Red Tailed Hawk is one of my favorites. There is a Hawk in the woods within walking distance of where I live that occasionally visits the trees near me, so I wanted a Hawk in this painting. All these images are bold and stand on their own, but when I put them together in one scene they sort of created a mysterious other world to me. I guess part of the reason is the silhouette and reflection effect. Most of my paintings mixes realism and fantasy, and this painting is no different. For me, this painting is easy on the eyes and creepy at the same time. It creates different reactions. If I can do that with a painting then I feel good about what I painted. I look forward to reading any responses to it. Three pine board planks were used for my canvas. As always, thank you for stopping by and having a look, and I look forward to any thoughts about it (good and bad).

Super Blue Blood Moon

The Super Blue Blood Moon glows brightly red in the cold black night as a seagull sails above a mighty ocean wave.

I wanted to make a painting/tribute about a rare epoch celestial stunner that will occur on 31 Jan 2018. It’s a moon trifecta. An All-In-One Blue Moon, Super Moon and Blood Moon event.

A Blue Moon happens every 2.5 years according to NASA. It has a couple different definitions, but it’s basically a second full moon happening in a single month. Hence the saying “Once in a blue moon”.

A Super Moon is when the moon is closer to the earth, and so it appears 14 percent larger than normal and 30 percent brighter. There are 12 to 13 full moons a year. Of these, 3-4 of them are classified as super moons.

A Blood Moon is a total lunar eclipse. This is when the full moon passes into the earth’s shadow. The moon becomes bathed in a bright red glow. It’s like seeing a combination of the world’s sunsets and sunrises all at once being reflected off the surface of the moon. It’s been more than 150 years since this spectacular event has occurred.

Any one of these events is amazing, but having all three occur at the same moment in time is an immense astronomical event not to be missed!

NOTE: This painting is on two pine board planks measuring 6 1/2 inches wide and 15 inches in length.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the painting. Any feedback (good, bad and ugly),is always welcome.

The Lion Within

The air is crisp and clean. The majestic Locomotive roars powerfully across its tracks. The Lion within also reveals itself as it roars powerfully in the escaping steam. With manmade and nature forces combined, these two images are unstoppable as they speed across the shadowy landscape. Do you have the Lion within you? Are your body and mind like a Locomotive? I wanted to capture in this painting the strength and noise of the Locomotive and Lion together as one symbolic powerful roaring force. I decided to go mostly black and white with this one using three cedar planks to show-case more of the grainy cedar wood canvas. I’m pleased with the result, and I hope whomever lays their eyes on it is pleased as well.

Harris Hawk Soars In Moonlit Desert Sky

Harris Hawk

A mysterious night above the desert floor. A Harris Hawk soars through the moonlight sky. The idea of making this painting came to me on a recent trip that my wife and two of our three grandkids made. About a 45 minute drive from where I live, there is a World Bird Sanctuary. It’s basically a hospital for all kinds of wild birds. They even do bird shows that both kids and adults enjoy. During this particular show they brought out a Harris Hawk. These hawks are native to the American Southwest, Chili, Argentina and Brazil. It’s a social bird that usually hunts in packs. Their eye sight is eight times stronger than humans, and they are amazing to watch in flight. I used three pine planks for this painting. 

Super Moon Over Missouri Wetlands

I have dedicated this painting to the Super Moon. I call it “Super Moon Over Missouri Wetlands”.

While Super Moons aren’t unusual, having three back to back to back in one year is. These three occurred October 16th, November 14th and December 14th, 2016.

The biggest of three Super Moon events was on November 14th. That hasn’t happened since 1948! The next Super moon of this magnitude will happen again after 18 years on Nov. 25th, 2034. The next Super Moon will be next year on December 3rd, 2017. The closest Super Moon of the century will occur on December 6th, 2052. If I make it that long I will be 95 years old. Yikes!  I have no idea the next time when there will be three in one year?

I’m from Missouri, and wanted to showcase a part of its land diversity that doesn’t get much attention…the wetlands. So, I  chose the wetlands of Missouri to be the back drop for the Super Moon. I think Missouri is better known for its rolling hills and bluffs of the Ozarks. Missouri has eight types of natural wetlands: swamps, shrub swamps, forested wetlands, marshes, wet meadows, fens and seeps, pond and lake borders and stream banks. I sort of blended some of these together.

I also included an eagle and green heron ( related to the blue heron), in it. The eagle has his eye on the heron snagging a fish. The scene is fictitious, but in my mind it plays out. I have seen plenty of blue herons on the many Ozark river float trips I have taken, and there are plenty of eagles to be seen in Missouri as well. This is the wonder of painting. The act of creating anything you want. I try to mix both realistic and made up scenarios when I paint.

I wasn’t sure how it was going to end up looking, because I made the scene up as I went and wasn’t really sure where I was going with it? That is the other fun part of painting for me. Just letting things unfold as it comes. I’m happy with the outcome. I used three long pine planks for this project. This is my final painting for 2016. I did 23 paintings since February. Thank you to everyone who have seen them, and especially to those who made comments as well. I appreciate the feedback.

What Whales Do At Night

Sometimes I feel a little weird. I think this painting reflects that. I really have no idea how this theme popped into my brain? It just felt right at the time, so I went with it. Two whales playing soccer with one another in the ocean under the moonlight. What is unusual about that? I decided to go black and white with this one. I kind of like the silhouette effect, so I may be using it more often. Bottom line is painting gives me freedom to express and freedom to escape. As I said in an earlier post it’s actually therapy for me. I love creating, and another reason I am sharing this blog is in the hope that it inspires you to create. Even if you think you have no artistic talent. You do. If you give painting a go, start out simple. Start with simple landscapes. Nature is a great way to hide mistakes. Questioning on how a tree should look or hill or rock, log or whatever is hard to do. In nature, imperfections are what make it perfect. So, just experiment and don’t be hard on yourself. I have never had professional training. I am self-taught. For now, I just hope I made you smile a little and inspire you to create something.