New Beginnings

Yesterday was a big adventure for me. I was invited to talk to 150 third graders at one of our local elementary schools.What I had intended to do was talk for a few minutes about animals and the endangered species and then move on to my artwork. The time flew by and I ended up speaking much more about the animals than intended. I don't think the kids minded too much and they had a ton of questions afterward which was great because it meant that they were listening and interested. Afterwards I got to work with a small group of young artists on a painting of the endangered Black Footed Ferret. I think they all enjoyed themselves, plus they got to have lunch in the art room so there was an extra bonus! I'll have photos to post of all that fun soon.

On the personal art side of things I've been pretty busy. I've been doing more sculpture and have really found my groove with painting in cold wax and oils. I didn't know about this medium until a few months ago but I am really loving it. Working in wax feels natural, I suppose that's partly due to my years as a wax tech in a couple of bronze foundries. Plus it's more tactile and physical which I enjoy immensely. Here are a few of the wax paintings and a couple pics of recent sculptures too.

Great Horned Owl

I've been doing more sculpting lately and just finished up with my latest piece. It's a Great Horned Owl bust which stands about 8 inches tall and is probably about 6 inches in diameter. It's a pretty hefty sculpt and I'm really pleased with the results. I'm feeling out my style of sculpting which appears to be more angular in nature. I do like clean lines.

New Work

We're a month into the new year and things are moving forward. Lately I've been working on some children's illustrations aside from my wildlife art. My first piece is titled "Captain Blackbeard Chickadee". It's 8" x 8" and was partially painted digitally, I then printed it out onto a cold pressed watercolor paper, sealed it and painted with acrylics. I have to admit that it turned out beautifully and was so much fun from beginning to end.

The second piece is not as far along but is a much more complex piece. It's 13" x 19" and I did virtually the same method as with the Blackbeard piece. I completed the original drawing, took it into Photoshop and adjusted the line art to a nice reddish brown then set it as a multiply layer. On another layer I added in all of my values in the same brown tone. Once I was satisfied with it I took a high quality Strathmore drawing paper (can't remember just what kind) and I cut it to size. Then I printed my layout at about 55% onto the paper. After it dried it was then ready to adhere to a sheet of masonite with acrylic matte medium. So now that stage is done and the whole thing is drying. Tomorrow I'll trim the bit of excess paper and begin painting! Right now the working title is "Little Satyr and the Spirit Fish" but I'm not sure that's a keeper.

Sweaty Creatives

As an artist and someone who spends a lot of time alone I've discovered a few things about myself. One of these things is that I have an incredible imagination. You might be thinking, well that's awesome you're an artist. But what I mean is that my mind can take me on journeys that I didn't even want to go on and they have nothing to do with creating art and yet they have everything to do with being an artist.

Creatives are some of the most self deprecating people and as Brené Brown puts it, we're constantly putting ourselves in the arena. It's difficult to put your work that you spend so many hours, days and weeks on out in front of others. You want people to like/love what you do but sometimes they don't respond as well as you'd like. Sometimes there are critics. Sometimes you want certain people that you know and respect to respond to your work and all you hear are crickets. For me, this is when my imagination goes into overdrive and can lead me into the darkest of places. But realizing you have absolutely no control over whether or not they like what you have created is a great starting point to letting go of the need for their approval. Just do your work. Period. Whatever it is, do the best you can and don't worry about what anyone thinks, good or bad. The people who need what you do will find you. So work from your heart, put it out there and leave it. Now go back and do it again. This is all that you are required to do. So get your butt in the arena and create something!




99UCONF 01A BROWN v05-720p from 99U on Vimeo.

Clouded Leopard

Yesterday I finished this small 8" x 10" commission of a clouded leopard. This was a really fun piece to do and I can see another clouded leopard in my future. More than likely at a much larger size. These leopards like far too many animals, are on the verge of extinction and this painting will be auctioned to raise funds for these amazing cats.

Kings

Well yesterday we had a fabulous Thanksgiving with family and friends, wonderful food and a nice sunny day. It was just one of those perfect holidays, the only thing that could have made it better would have been to see family from out of state. Maybe next year! One thing that I'm extremely thankful for is the amount of support that I've been blessed with in pursuing my art career. I really couldn't ask for more in that area. One of my most recent paintings is titled "Kings of the Mountain" and it is 12" x 24" on canvas. I chose to create this one from a little bit different of a focus than my last few paintings. The changes in this piece were the inclusion of gold leaf and oil paints on top of my original acrylics. I think these two additions made a wonderful difference that added a lot of depth to the piece. Some people have asked what the crown above the bluebird means so I'll tell you what my meaning is, but you can definitely come up with your own.

The mountains in the background are the Tetons of Wyoming. The big horned sheep is definitely a natural "king" of the mountain so in turn he should have a golden crown. I applied gold leaf to his horns and then painted over areas in oils. I wanted there to be another focus for the viewer and so added the bluebird and perched him on the sheep. Partly because it is a nice design element, but also because birds are the only animals who can naturally go higher than the mountain sheep. So he should get a crown too! Also, I love fantasy and imaginary surrealism. Adding little bits of those elements no matter how small just adds to the fun and interest of a painting.

New Painting!

I took the past few days off to work on a new personal piece and the result is this cheetah painting. I had so much fun painting this piece and I love how the reds and yellows compliment each other so well. This piece is 24" x 24" acrylic on stretched canvas.