Here is my newest painting, two bears catching their dinner in a waterfall.
Since I moved to Virginia, I’ve been able to go hiking a handful of times. On one of those trips we almost stumbled across a brown bear. Some hikers in front of us had seen the bear walking across the street so we all grouped together, waited a few minutes, then cautiously continued on the path. I have plenty of respect for this large animal.
I received a request from an old friend to paint longhorns so that’s exactly what I did. My Alma mater, the University of Texas, instilled quite a bit of pride for me within these calm animals. I’m not a cowboy, and I never rode horses to school, but I did see this scene all the time growing up in Texas – sans the tornado of course. Everywhere we drove there were flat fields with either cows, goats, horses, or some other kind of four legged animal. And although tornadoes were a constant threat, I never saw one in person. Burnt orange Texas Longhorns – Hook ’em!
This is the second dog I’ve painted in my animal series. Pugs, like dachshunds, have a pretty hardcore following. This one, in particular, was inspired by a little guy named Hubert. However, as I found out later, his personality is the opposite of what I’ve shown – tidy and organized. I continue to find myself learning a lot about each animal that I paint.
Zeppelins, blimps, dirigibles, or whatever you want to call them, fascinate me in the same way the Titanic always has. They conjure up old-timey images that I’ve only seen in movies and photos. I even made a painting in college with myself in a newsboy outfit standing on a shipyard in front of a bunch of flying blimps. They have the sense of being both innovative and vintage at the same time.
I really enjoyed coming up with the concept for this new painting. I knew that I wanted to design it around a cloud theme. I included a few birds in the Moose painting prior to this one, and I needed to add something unique. I imagined a flock of birds emerging from a giant cloud formation with a large blimp slowly following. The contrast in size is an interesting visual.
I’m still at the early stages of my new business so I have quite a long to-do list. I’ve posted prints of most of my silhouette paintings to the store already, but as of now they have been somewhat naked in their presentation. I’ve reached the point of staging – arranging the framed prints in a way that’s much more appealing than laying them on an empty table.
I used to be a pack rat in my earlier days, but once I moved away from home I turned into the opposite monster. I don’t like keeping souvenirs or knickknacks because they become a hassle in the long run, especially on moving days. Therefore, when it came time to make my prints look presentable, I found it difficult to find objects to put next to the prints. After a little detective work and creativity I think the arrangements, so far, have turned out well.
Most of my past jobs have been frame shop related. I’ve had to mass produce them, assemble them, and ship them. I’ve had to custom mat and frame prints over and over. It is an extremely useful skill to have, but I always dread coming back to it when I have to. Thank goodness the end result is so worthwhile. A framed piece of artwork feels clean and special. It’s one of the small joys in life that makes me feel complete. I’m sure this will be an evolving process now that I’ve started. Go take a look at the other arrangements I’ve made so far.
I just finished up a commissioned moose piece using a beautiful green color. Just a note – I’ve done quite a few of these animal silhouettes now, and one of the best aspects of working on them is the knowledge I gain while doing the research. The only moose I recall seeing during my life is Bullwinkle, but after gathering photos for this painting I discovered all of the subtleties of this creature.
Just as I began to skim the surface, I learned that there are two types of moose – cow (female) and bull (male). My moose is a bull moose as indicated by its large and intricate antlers. I can’t tell you how many times I redrew the antlers in an attempt to get them to look authentic. Mother Nature definitely went bold when it decided to give us this animal.
Here is the painting for sale at my store. You can also learn more about the moose here.
I once had a pet turtle named Jack. I feel guilty for having kept him for so long, but Jack was released into a park pond later in his life. He was just one of many unusual animals that lived inside my family’s suburban home.
I loved all of my pets, even the slimy ones like Jack who weren’t as lucky as some other species to receive cute looking fur. Jack was also lucky, to some degree, to live the rest of his life in a natural environment. I was recently contacted by a group called the Turtle Rescue Team, a non-profit organization run by veterinary students at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. They provide medical, surgical and husbandry services free of charge in the hope of releasing rehabilitated turtles back into the wild. I was invited to submit a piece of artwork to donate for their 2nd Annual Turtle Team Rescue Benefit Sale. You can take a look at the other artwork submitted here.
I have to admit that I didn’t see how I could give up one of my new paintings so early on in my new business venture, but I also didn’t see how I could say no. This was such a good cause, and it was a way I could finally help do something that didn’t involve time or money I didn’t have. I thought about donating a print, but I couldn’t because my turtle painting was designed in such an awkward shape as to not translate well to print form. Finally, I decided to let it go. Once I made that decision, it was easy to follow through.
The auction was scheduled for January 25th – January 29th. I’m happy to report that the painting sold within the first few hours of the benefit! Not only did I get to participate in such a wonderful event, but I helped raise money that will go to take care of medical and surgical therapies for quite a few injured turtles.
http://www.turtlerescueteam.com/
Please go check out this amazing organization and help out in any way possible. The world is a better place because of the team. I know the turtles appreciate them.
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