Pelican Profile

I decided to do one more Pelican.  I had taken this photo quite a while ago--a Brown Pelican in breeding plumage.  The thing that interested me this time was the contrast between very bright and very dark.  The fiery orange of the feathers on the back of his neck jump out against the blackness of the background.  The Pelican transitions from sharp detail to almost disappearing into that dark space.  This is a small piece--only 12" x 9" unframed.

Old Oak with Downy Woodpeckers

I spent quite a few months on this latest painting.  My initial idea was of the tree, and I thought a lot about painting just the tree--for once no bird.  But it's a funny thing: it just wasn't right without adding the bird.  Here there are two Downy Woodpeckers.  The red speck on the back of the head of the male is the only bright spot, and the female is almost hidden.  This painting is in the same style as my previous painting, Nuthatches in Pepper Tree.  It's a variation on the Japanese woodblock nature prints, with the mottled gold background and the graphic outlining of the Oak tree.    

I think a lot about my choice to paint birds.  It probably limits my appeal to the main stream art market, but on the other hand, it is also the one subject that makes me feel a passion for what I paint.  I guess if I have to choose, I'll take the passion.

Fall Events

It's been a busy fall.  My painting "Scrabble" was selected for the annual juried exhibition of Birds in Art, at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Musuem in Wausau Wisconsin.  This show is a very BIG deal, and I was happy to be a part of it this year.  My painting sold during the exhibition.  Birds in Art continues through November.

I just completed this California Quail--a small piece that was part of a benefit auction for the Woodson Museum during the opening weekend of Birds in Art.  Proceeds from the auction go towards future art purchases by the Museum.  

It's funny how sometimes the simplest paintings can be the most complicated.  I started this piece as two Quail--a male and female.  Both were positioned on a block, with clouds in the background and a blue square all around them.  But it didn't feel right.  So first I eliminated the clouds, then the second quail just didn't feel right, then the block went, and finally I decided to just keep the single male quail.  Sometimes simple is better.  I hope to have a limited edition print of this piece soon.

Finally, my painting Nuthatches in a Pepper Tree is included in the Society of Animal Artists 52nd Annual Exhibition at the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in Oradell New Jersey.  The show opened on October 1st and continues through December 31, 2012.  

www.lywam.org  www.societyofanimalartists.com

King's Move

"King's Move" is another painting in my exploration combining birds with human games or toy. Taking the birds out of their natural environment has been a stimulating way to push my creative thinking into new directions, while still keeping my primary focus on the birds.

The bird here is an American Kestrel, not really playing the game, but a participant.  The concept was quite vivid in my mind as I developed the composition, and I enjoyed working with the juxtaposition of elements.  Most of the time, my final painting ends up pretty different from the original concept floating in my mind.  This time the concept and the finished piece felt very similar.  

I am not a chess player, but I didn't want to make a mistake in placing the chess pieces on the board.  I found a website that illustrates the play-by-play of famous chess matches.  This match was played by Alexander Kotov against Ratmir Kholmov in 1967.  I don't know who won.  

Scrabble

A new piece.  I enjoyed perching the bird, this time a male House Finch, on top of the scrabble tile.  It took a while to figure out the right object to put him on.  The red border was applied with a house paint roller,and the edge defined by blue masking tape.

I wanted to paint yellow.  And I had an image of an American Goldfinch that I have been trying to use for a long time.  But I knew I needed something else to make the bird image work with the yellow square.  I think I came up with the children's blocks as a way of linking the little bird with a human experience.  I always seem to be looking for ways to connect the birds I care about to the world that we live in.

This is the first of a series.  I have four more colors I would like to paint.

Colors

Early this spring, while waiting at the doctor's office, I had a bit of an inspiration looking at a Richard Serra drawings in an old New Yorker.  The drawing was a black irregular four sided shape on an off-white background.  My mind jumped to a bright colored background, and the irregular shape became a rectangle.  The idea of actually getting some bright color into my work was really thrilling.  I got some old cardboard and set about painting all kinds of squares, using first a watercolor brush, then a paint roller until I got the right effect.

Being me, I saw a bird in the middle of it all, but first had to get the right feeling to the border.

Nuthatches in Pepper Tree

A few years ago, I began painting two Red-breasted Nuthatches that were visiting our yard. I have always been drawn to the master Japanese woodblock artists of the 17-1800's, particularly Hokusai's prints of Nature. The Nuthatches felt like a perfect subject to try this kind of approach. It turned out to be a long, somewhat frustrating experiment. I began three different paintings, and never felt satisfied enough to complete any of them.

Just this past year, I took a fresh look at these paintings. I cut the first one into two smaller works that I then finished in oil. You can see them on a previous blog--Nuthatches #1 and #2. The second is this painting. I pulled out my gouache (as that was the medium I used when I started it) and was able to complete it. Sometimes, I just need the space that time brings to look at a piece in a new way.

Fly away

Finally finished.

In several of my recent paintings, the clouds are as much the focus as the bird. And the clouds seem to carry their emotions as much as the birds. This one has made me happy. The Great Egret ascends, and it feels like she is traveling home.

Work in Progress

Since I'm working on one of my long term paintings, I wanted to post "in progress". Otherwise, you would see nothing from me until March. I've been working since November on this painting, and for me, it is really moving quickly. It's about 12 1/2" x 19".

Clouds have been my major focus all year. I have volumes of photos now. I took this cloud photo on a trip to Oregon, and finally found the right bird. I had this idea in mind for quite a while. A lone Great Egret flying in a threatening sky. Flying home, trying to make it there before the storm hits. Or maybe the storm has already hit, and the bird had to wait it out somewhere, and is now on her way again.

I think about the birds when it is storming outside. We are warm in our homes--how do they survive through the harsh winter?

Man in the Moon

Two things came together at the same time. One: My friend, Lynn Feller, sent me some amazing shots she took of a full Blue Moon with clouds (two full moons in a month make a "Blue" moon). Two: I spent some time photographing a Spotted Owl named Sequoia at WildCare. The light was low, and the owl had a particular, solitary, and mysterious feeling. These two events came together for me, and I knew I wanted to put them in a painting.

The concept was far easier than the completion. I labored months getting the right balance of dark. In my imagination, these things come together effortlessly, but getting the balance right in real life, or at least the life on the board I am painting on, is another, sometimes extremely different matter. I wanted the feeling of night, but I wanted the Owl to be visible as well.

It is finished for now.

My Nuthatches

I'm so bad at blogging. It's been 2 months since my last post.

During this time a new show has come up. I put my swallows on hold to get things together for an exhibit at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library. My home town library, so it feels good to be there. The show opens November 30th.

I have revisited two Red-breasted Nuthatches that I have worked on, off and on, for ages. I started three different paintings with these two birds that I photographed in my backyard a few years back. The first two paintings were in gouache, but for some reason, I was never able to finish them. Never got the composition quite right. Then I tried one more--this time in oil. It was a promising painting, the two birds on a branch in front of a dark tree. I almost completed it, but the fumes from the oil and turpentine made me sick, plus the slow drying time of the oil paint discouraged me. Again, I put this one aside.

But this month I looked at the painting again, and, with a gulp, cut the painting into two smaller ones--each bird its own miniature. I was able to go back to the oils for the time it took to complete the two, and I finally have a feeling of completion about these two little birds that are so special when I see them flit past my studio.

In the Works

I've been staring at photos of two flying swallows for at least a year. Finally have put pencil to paper, (not brush to board), and will see how it evolves.

Every gray day this past year, I have taking pictures of clouds. Must have about a million photos by now.

So my composition is the two Cliff Swallows against the clouds--birds suspended in the air. The Swallows are only roughly drawn in now. I can see that the success of the drawing will be determined by the balance between the tone of the sky and the deeper value of the swallows. "Between conception and creation lies The Shadow" T.S. Elliot.

I just came back from the opening of the Society of Animal Artists 50th Annual Exhibition in San Diego. The show is on display at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. A wonderful museum to host the show.

An extinct great white shark, three times the size of the big ones we have today, swims through space in the main exhibition hall and prehistoric dinosaurs greet you on the ground floor . It seemed a perfect setting for all the animal art. The exhibit covers the walls on three floors--the top elevation covered in glass--beautiful lighting and a wonderful exhibit.

Worth seeing if you are in the area. My painting, Winter is in the show. More information is at the Society website, www.societyofanimalartists.com.

New Owl

My focus the past few months has been owls. I've been working on two, one a Spotted Owl, still in progress.

But one is finished, a Great Horned Owl. I took the reference many years ago at Wildcare, and chose to focus on this wonderful bird's face, and paint his portrait.

A couple new pieces. I finished the Duckhorn wine label, but my photo images are not the best.

And a new painting, "Go". A Peregrine Falcon I have been working on for a long time.

Duckhorn Vineyards

Good News! Both of my pieces sold at the Bolinas Museum Holiday Mini show. Maybe an indication that things are looking up in the art world.

I have a new commission, and commissions are unusual for me. I will be painting the 2008 Artist's label for Duckhorn Vineyards Paraduxx winery. Paraduxx winery has commissioned an artist every vintage since 1994 to create an original painting depicting a "pair of ducks", and the paintings become duck stamp labels for their proprietary blend bottling. They do a limited edition print of the image as well. I went up this week to visit the winery--a completely beautiful place, and what a perfect time to visit Napa Valley. All the vines yellow like Autumn leaves.

Bolinas Museum Mini Show

I took a break from my Peregrine to complete two small pieces--both only 4 inches square--for the Bolinas Museum Holiday Miniature Show. Since most of my paintings take three months, you can imagine how satisfying it has been to finish two pieces in one week.

One painting is a Brown Pelican against clouds. I took my camera when the Blue Angels were flying above San Francisco Bay this fall. The Pelicans were up there too. By chance, I got a good shot that worked with some clouds I had saved last year.

The other is a drawing of a Red-breasted Nuthatch from my own backyard. I took the photo years ago, and believe it or not, I have begun and almost completed three different paintings of this guy and his mate; two in gouache, and one, my only attempt, at oil painting. I was never completely happy with any of them, but I do like this little drawing.

The opening of the exhibition is November 21st, and the show runs through January 3, 2010. Please check the Museum website for hours. The Museum is only open on the weekends.

So now I am back to my Peregrine.

A Peregrine Falcon

A while back I was lucky enough to run into Mary Pounder at WildCare, and take some photos of the Peregrine Falcon, Peli, that now lives there. I am finally getting around to painting this beautiful bird. I'm creating the bird from a mix of many photos, but mainly the two above, one for the bottom wing, one for the top. No photo I take ever seems quite perfect, and I get used to piecing together what I need.

And now I can incorporate my love of sky and clouds with the bird. A long vertical compostion with the bird at the bottom and clouds filling up the rest.

I'll keep you posted.