F-15 Eagle

When I was in the Air Force, I worked on many types of aircraft to include HH-53 Helicopters and even the Space Shuttle carrier. But, by far my most favorite aircraft of them all that I worked on was the F-15 Eagle. It’s just an amazing aircraft in many ways and has stood the test of time of decades. This painting is my tribute to it.

NOTE: After I finished this painting, I noticed a figure in the clouds. It was totally unintentional, but there it was. It’s a figure of a man’s face staring down. The face image is above the right wing near the orange color. Do you see it? You can clearly see the nose, eyes, hair and beard. When I showed my wife, she said she didn’t see it at first, but seen something else that I didn’t see. A large figure of a man saluting above and behind the plane. He is wearing a military dress hat. His arm extends left and then back to his brow saluting. His arm is overly large, but it clearly shows a salute. Do you see it? Again, this was totally unintentional. Then my son found another image in the clouds. It appears to be a man’s head staring down to the bottom of the lightning bolt crashing around the white cloud. The man’s head is right to the left of the nose of the plane. I guess something was speaking through my hands when I created these clouds. Weird…eh?

Penelope & Louis Sunrise Snow Moon

• 

This is my 9^th painting of Penelope and Louis continuing their globe trotting adventures. Here they are in the Falkland Islands at sunrise with a February Snow Moon. The Falkland Islands are considered as being the Penguin capital of the world. 5 species of Penguins live on these islands in the South Atlantic. I painted this on 3 small wood pine planks.

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.

Elephant

One of my Nieces (Michelle), told me she likes elephants. So, I decided to paint one for her. These are indeed incredible animals. I basically only used three colors. Black, White and Antique Gold (for the sun on the elephant and African prairie grass. This painting is on two small pine planks glued together.

Penguins In Africa

This is my 7^th painting of Penelope and Louis penguin adventures. This time they find themselves in the African plains. This painting was inspired by my 8 year old grandson who says he wants to be a zoologist when he grows up. He asked me…”Grandpa can you paint the penguins in Africa?” He loves everything animals! How could I say no. I did this painting on 3 pine board planks.

Sun Catcher

Sun Catcher

The graceful dolphin’s arched leap over the sun catches the fading light that will soon turn into night. My wife likes owls and hummingbirds. She also likes dolphins and whales. This painting is for her. I did this painting in one day on three pine board planks glued together.

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.

Table Rock Lake Sunset

To me something about sunrises and sunsets have a calming effect. The anticipation of a new day or the satisfaction of a day well spent. The geese fly west…southwest towards the extinguishing light. The lake is like glass in the still of the night, and soon the night will consume the horizon’s red glow. Peace, serenity and calm. That is what this painting represents to me. I made this painting in one day. That includes cutting, gluing and sanding the wood canvas made of 3 pine board planks.

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).

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!