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.

Cloud Hawk

This is my 4th painting of a Hawk. My previous efforts were Puddle Hawk, Harris Hawk and Moon Hawk which all can be seen here on my blog. I think one time or another we all have seen or wanted to see shapes in the clouds. So, I brought a Hawk to cloud life with this painting. It’s painted on two pine planks glued together.

Penguins Hiking

Penelope and Louis Hiking

This painting is of Penelope and Louis Hiking. It’s the 8^th painting of them in a series I am doing. I used to small pine planks glued together for the canvas.

Mount Katahdin

Strategic Moves

A challenge and a victory. Hiking the Knife Edge Trail to Chimney Peak on Mount Katahdin Maine. Like the game of Chess it takes strategic moves. I did this painting for my oldest son. I combined his love of Chess and hiking into one little painting. It is a reminder and tribute to him for tackling the Appalacian Trail back in the year 2000. This is small wood canvas measuring only 5″ X 7″.

New Day Current River

My wife and I just floated the Current River, and I felt inspired to do another painting of it. It was a great float! I decided to go with a bright pink and orange sky, and a huge morning sun. The river winds around the bluff on the left, and is complimented with a large gravel bar on the right. Great place to pull up the canoe and have a morning dip. The Ozark Mountains up ahead. The morning air is cool with spring fed water that’s crystal clear. We go with the flow. Made this painting with two small pine wood planks.

The Northern Lights

Northern Lights have always facinated me. So, why not do a painting of it? And, for added measure, I through a snowy owl in the mix. This is just one reason I love to paint. You can create anything your imagination desires. I’ve done paintings with owls before, but this is my first snowy owl. The backdrop is somewhere in Norway. I’ve never been there, but would like to see the Northern lights in person some day. Just another thing to add to my bucket list 🙂 This was done on three pine board planks glued together. For those of you who have never picked up an artist paint brush, give it a try. You might surprise yourself.

Eagle Over The Smoky Mountains

I call this painting Eagle Over The Smoky Mountains. The Smoky Mountains bring mysterious, peaceful and sometimes haunting images throughout the hours. It all depends on temperature and time of day and evening. The mist blanketing the mountains is something to behold. I remember traveling and camping here as a kid with my parents. It’s something once you see, you never forget. The eagle threads his way atop and along the horizon. This is a small painting on two pine board planks. Even though the canvas is small, this little painting packs a colorful punch and rivals any large paintings I have done. I’m completing this painting on the last day of the year 2017. As we soar into 2018, I’m thankful to be able to paint, and to all of you who have looked at my work. I wish all of you the very best in the coming year!

Sky Chess

I call this painting Sky Chess. Ever since I was a little kid I have always loved the game of Chess. I have been wanting to paint something about Chess. Little things came to me here and there, but I was having trouble coming up with an interesting Chess theme. Then I figured why not just go all in and make something grand. This painting is a mix of my imagination, reality and fantasy. The water falls, bluffs, trees and parts of the mountains are all reality. They are from pictures I took from state parks in Tennessee. Of course, the chess board rising out of the water, and both the sun and the moon out at the same time is from my imagination and from ideas I had seen on the internet. The raven and dove are the Chess adversaries. Black is in check and the end game ensues with both birds locked in battle. The fantasy is dark v.s. light, good v.s. evil. Winning and losing are at stake on Mother Nature’s world stage. At the moment Black is in check. As I said, I love the game of Chess and this painting is my tribute to it! I made this painting on three pine board planks. It took me a long time to finish this, but I’m pleased with the time I spent creating and completing it. I hope you like it 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. 

Penguins In The Desert

19 January is “Penguin Awareness Day” and on 25 April its “World Penguin Day”. Who knew? I certainly didn’t until I stumbled upon this info while surfing the net. It turns out that I just completed a painting involving penguins. In fact, it is my second painting with these two love birds. They are Louis and Penelope named from the movie Trading Places. In my first painting that I posted in this blog, Louis and Penelope are whale watching. In this painting, Louis and Penelope wild adventures continue. Penelope says to Louis… “Louis, how did we end up in the desert? Louis replies… “We took a wrong turn in Canada Penelope”. In this painting, I used the native Saguaro Cactus found in Arizona. My canvas is constructed with 4 pine wood planks glued together. The misadventures of Penelope and Louis will continue. It will be awhile though. They have to get out of the desert first.