Predators' eyes from the past

"Dinner Time," Snowy Owl, 6 x 6 acrylic on canvas

Sixty million years ago, owls were hunting in what is now Colorado. I learned that this week, searching for painting subjects.

The oldest owl fossil, a leg bone,  was dated from about five million years after the dinosaurs went extinct. An almost complete Skelton has been dated aat about 55 million. It was about five feet tall. The main difference in that bird and today's owls seems to be in its feet. It had an extra large toe talon, like Eagles, which is used to kill prey. Today's owls capture with their talons, but kill with their beaks.

 Throughout history, mankind has been snared by owls in mythology, religion and more. Their calls, their markings, their lives, their zoology, and especially their eyes, are captivating, even haunting.

"Breakfast time," Burrowing Owl, 6 x 6 acrylic, canvas

  They've always caught my attention, hearing them at night, seeing them on back roads or in trees, in zoos, in videos, and especially now that my daughter Dallas has two independent bookstores in Canyon and Amarillo, Burrowing Owl books,, both full of lots of owl images and models. 

 Thus today's two acrylic paintings, available this Thursday at my show as Edmond Vibes at The Vault, and thereafter at In Your Eye Studio and Gallery in Paseo Arts District.

Here's looking at you, but not as well as they do.

On the Llano Estacado

"Llano Estacado," 6 1/2 by 10" watercolor, 140 lb d'Arches cold press pape

"This jagged landscape filled
with harsh formations
rising in rugged
abrupt relief
is beautiful."
     --From "Llano Estacado," in Sunlight & Cedar, --Ken Hada

Llano Estacado. The "Staked Plains" of the Texas Panhandle and Eastern New Mexico...where flat is deceiving.
A place of magic, of history, unless you had to walk the interminable flat land  like Coronado and the Spaniards looking for gold, or rode horses across them like the U.S Army looking for Comanches 300 years later, instead of speeding along at 75 mph on an Interstate today.
Even today, people seem to think they're boring, featureless, something to get across as quickly as possible. And they're not all flat. They're a land of extremes, of weather, and of geology.
You haven't looked? Or dodged huge thunderstorms, survived ice storms and hai, and blizzards, weathered continual winds, watched for tornadoes, experienced the dust storms, or discovered the canyons and caprock. 
(I've driven them often, especially these recent years when my daughter and son-in-law and grandchildren have moved outside Canyon, 10 miles south of Amarillo. Todd is an MD in the Texas Tech system in Amarillo, and Dallas, besides being a full-time mommy, operates two indie bookstores, Burrowing Owl Books in Canyon and Amarillo.)
That is an aside to the story of today's painting. As with anyplace that still has wild in it, and wide open spaces, there is to me always poetry.
And Ken's poem inspired today's painting. Those verses above are just the opening. If you want the rest, buy his book, or wait for me to review it.
I've had his new book since it came out in July, intending to review it, and that is coming soon. But it takes me time to stew on choosing paints and words especially in dealing with poetry. Ken lives in Ada, and is nationally recognized. Sunlight & Cedar is his eighth poetry collection. The cover carries a photo I expect was taken somewhere along the edges of the Llano in West Texas. 
Today's painting is more impressionistic than two dimensional  as fits the poem and the spirit of the Llano, and I've found that poets think in several dimensions. 
By the way, don't expect the rest of Ken's poem to be flat as the llano. Like the landscape, there are always twists and surprises.

Step by step story of bookstore mural--III--unfinished?

From this on Friday morning: That's a big daunting wall. After taping off the wall, the sky is first.

To this on Saturday evening--a long two days--that may be a little "unfinished" yet.

What you see are photos of my West Texas mural for Burrowing Owl Bookstore's "Back 40" children's reading area in the second store, in Amarillo, which opened this past week.

I learned a lot doing this two-day painting, especially on mixing colors and processes. Someday when I get back, I'd like to improve a few items. First, the bison are too small, and needed to be bigger. And perhaps the vultures too. There might be a burrowing owl added, but that's up to my Daughter Dallas' approval. I also think the yuccas, and shadows could be bettered.  The Texas flag needs to have a little blue and red added at the bottom. Picky, picky.

As you get through these photos, you'll notice some details that changed as I went along.

Since my grid was originally for an 8-foot tall wall, not 10, we just painted the bottom two more green because there would be chairs or tables or something in front.

You can barely see the grid at first, so I went over it with brown paint which shows near the bottom of the wall later.

Even though this was opaque paint, I couldn't have done it without my experience in the process of watercolor painting, and that influence shows.

At the end of both days, about 9 to 6, I was pooped. And sore, from stooping to mix and climbing up and down that ladder.

• There is a lot of green. Dallas wanted it more colorful. Color always win, and West Texas needs the rain!
• The road was a mistake, so I painted it over. I thought it was too light, but Todd said it looks just like caliche. Yep.
•  I was going to paint the cloud first, but ran into real trouble getting a good gray. It was one of last things painted, other than the white outline. Dallas' advice helped a lot on color mixing. The gray in the finished cloud, and lots of other shadow work were among the last subjects painted.
•  Notice all the mixing trays, and colors. What an experiment.
• Notice all the post it notes. Those were my notes to myself the second day, of things to do to finish up.
• Lots of those were the details, like barb wire, windows flowers and the  windmill, the "calligraphy," as I've heard artists talk about the last steps.
• I spent most of a morning on the iconic  Lighthouse in Palo Duro canyon. It still tilts a bit, but not as much as earlier. Maybe there was an earthquake?

Story of a bookstore mural--II

14' x 8' mural for Burrowing Owl Books, Amarillo, after two -plus days' work

How do you paint something this big, I wondered, as I traveled to Amarillo on a mid-September Thursday? In watercolor, I think in terms of inches of paper size, not feet.

"The Back 40," Burrowing Owl Books, Amarillo

Daughter and son-in-law Dallas and Todd Bell have just opened Burrowing Owl Bookstores' second location, in Amarillo, and wanted a West Texas mural for the children's reading area. The store in a busy shopping center is twice the size of the Canyon store, which I believe is a work of art in itself.
My answers to my questions, always open to failure, are planning, and step-by-step attempts. 
Watercolor experience with paint helped, but at least I could cover up mistakes with new paint. 

This is what Burrowing Owl looked like in mid-September

People had asked if I had a projector for the sketch, and obviously I didn't. This meant the project would change as I went along, rather than being meticulously executed as the pros do it. 
In addition to using acrylic wall paint, when I arrived I discovered the wall was 14 feet wide and 10 feet tall.

That's a daunting big wall, and Lighthouse sketch.

First adjustment--Thursday afternoon the grid was expanded and  sketched with pencil.
Although most of the composition was made up, the main eye-catcher was not--it had to be a fairly accurate rendition of the iconic "lighthouse" formation in nearby Palo Duro canyon. I used my watercolor card as a guide. 
Then to look at the paint and supplies Dallas had purchased and get a few more.
Next post: step by step photos of two days "progress."

West Texas challenged--Story of a bookstore mural-I

 10" x 8" tentative color study for tentative mural, gridded to match 10 foot wall

In late August,  when my daughter called on the phone from West Texas, I answered immediately.
"Dad, would you paint a mural for us?" Dallas asked, laughing.
"I don't paint murals," said I, somewhat taken aback.
"Yes you do. Remember the crucifixion mural on the class wall at church?"
"Oh, long time ago."
"We want a mural in the children's section of our new store in Amarillo," she explained, about adding a branch of Burrowing Owl Books in Canyon. Having bought out the  stock of a another store, they've moved to a new location  and were busy renovating the place.
"How big is the wall, when, what?" I started rattling off questions.
"About 10 feet long, hopefully this month, and a West Texas scene with some of Palo Duro Canyon," she answered.

Work on Amarillo Burrowing Owl Books underway

No, they're not leaving Canyon, where Burrowing Owl books is on the courthouse square, new and used books, the only independent bookstore in the Panhandle, and a popular success.
"Let me think about it. Call you tomorrow and see if I can figure it out, and the calendar." (She knows a chance to go see grandkids, and she and Todd, is a "yes.")
I've never done anything like this. I've painted the iconic "Lighthouse" in the canyon for them, and they have cards for sale in their store, and a bison, since the Buffalos are the mascot of West Texas A&M in Canyon. 
But those are small--inches, not feet.
And when? By October, she said. No pressure, but that meant only a couple of possible weekends, hoping for a two-day job.

"Lighthouse," watercolor, inches, not feet

Ok, I agree, then the planning started: 

• Preliminary sketches and composition, with Dallas' approval. Then thinking about colors, and orientation of room, etc.
• I needed  a 2-foot-square grid on the wall, so I can transfer my smaller sketches to it and paint pretty quickly. 
• Supplies and acrylic paint  listed and forwarded.
• Three sketches: general small ink, value sketch, and today, gridded to scale with 10 foot wall, with colors washed on it--not on watercolor paper but enough to get an idea.

First sketch,  5" x 4"

Eventually, I'll pack up and go, shooting for a two-day completion. 
First the sky, and work forward, letting paint dry  one step at a time on the landscape, with plenty of paint left over for covering my mistakes.
And, some of the mural was open to, and will change, as it goes along, like the progress of the store. M.D./carpenter Son-in-law Todd is building the shelves, and answering lots of questions from people eager for the opening.

10" x 8" value sketch, notes

What you see here are the first three tentative sketches on a rough grid. I hoped, once it was done, there would be a completed mural to show for it.
If not, and it was a failure and I got "fired," I'd show you a nice repainted blank wall.
I didn't get fired. Next, see part for the story of the results and first stages.

There be Owls, and Books, there

Reflecting the county courthouse

How many owls can you count?
If you enter Burrowing Owl Bookstore in Canyon, Texas, I bet you'll lose count.
Not live ones (that's against the law), but models and stuffed toy types.
Why do I know? Because that's the bookstore of my daughter and son-in-law, Dallas and Todd Bell, which just celebrated its second anniversary in business.
With more than 21,000 new and used books on the shelves, it's the only independent bookstore in the Texas Panhandle, and probably the only one between Oklahoma City and Albuquerque and Santa Fe, 
So yes, I'm proud and bragging. 

Lots of local authors, and owls

Owls? I lost count too, and it changes, but not counting the signs, I'd estimate about 40 on my last trip this month, scattered throughout the store.
It's located on the east side of the square across from the stately Randall County county courthouse, about 10 miles south of Amarillo. The courthouse is vacant, after refurbishing funds ran out, but the exterior is in great shape, and every hour the bells chime from the clock tower.

The door is usually open, because Dallas says they get more traffic that way. When I was there Saturday morning,  people of all ages came in, buying books, asking about books, talking, browsing, even reading to their children.
Step inside and you'll find new books and stuff up front, and then used books all the way to the back where the children's section is--fiction on one side, non-fiction on the other. Those wooden bookshelves?--all build by Todd.

The first things you see will be the regional books, new and used, in cooperation with West Texas A & M University's Center for the Study of the American West.New local authors and books and displays of gifts and stuff are next.

Wardrobe entry to children's, plus an owl

In the children's section, you can walk through a wardrobe (also built by Todd), and find seating, toys and, obviously books. This is where "Granny Gray," one of Dallas' employees, comes to read to the children every week. The shop has also hosted local authors and poetry readings.
The square is no longer just the home of antique shops, victim to the strip and Walmart. Canyon bills it as the "Dining District," and there's an Asian restaurant next to the book shop, a Mexican restaurant, a new bar and grill, and a hip 1950's themed soda fountain and cafe, as well as an independent coffee shop, all walkable. The newspaper, the offices of the Palo Duro Canyon  "Texas" musical, a barber shop and other offices are also there.

One of the neatest things in the store are the "Wrapped Books." Dallas and some  employees put duplicate books  in brown wrapping paper. Then her employee Emily Hinds, an English major at West Texas, copies the first line of the book, and draws a simple image on the front. They sell for $6.50 and are in constant demand. I bought one for Susan, and she won't unwrap it, keeping it on a shelf as a work of art.
Dallas actively promotes the shop on social media, has eight employees, including occasional help from her three children who are also super active in school, my grandchildren Erin, Abby and Max. The store is closed Sundays, and early Wednesday for church.
Independent bookstores are coming back, but they are a labor of love and lots of commitment. I don't buy from A...(the name which should not be spoken for books), unless not available from independents. We're fortunate to have four good ones here. I do my best to buy my books at Edmond Best of Books since it is close, but also at Full Circle Books (terrific poetry section), and a few at Commonplace Books. Literati is new  in Paseo. I do buy used art books elsewhere.
You should too. Go browse, discover, touch, read--you can't do that on line.

https://www.burrowingowlbookstore.com/

Owls? More photos.

Children's section

Burrowing Owls and old books

Behind checkout, and yes, my watercolor of Palo Duro's "Lighthouse"

Seasonal owl

Genre Sign

Up to date owl

The door is open

Books, and owls

An owl's eye view

A year ago, Erin, Max, Abby and granddad at Burrowing Owl

A devil of a time--watercolor

Dawn at The Lighthouse, 5 by 7 watercolor, 140# greeting cardAdd caption

"The Lighthouse," in Palo Duro Canyon. This is the third attempt of this view, and while I can now paint it from memory almost, and have the colors figured out, I still can't seem to get it where it's clean and as graceful as the colors and geology.
But, since I failed twice yesterday, this is a makeup. I can blame it on the lighter, cheaper greeting card stock, and that's a little, but I'm having a devil of a time with this icon...hoping for greeting cards good enough to sell in my daughter's bookstore, Burrowing Owl Books in Canyon, Texas.
So forgive the crudeness, but by the time I ruin another dozen of these, maybe I'll get it.
This counts to make up for missing yesterday's WorldWatercolorMonth daily challenge.

Palo Duro landmark, watercolor

"The Lighthouse," Palo Duro icon, 5 by 7, greeting card watercolor, for Burrowing Owl Books

Palo Duro. Llano Estacado, Comancheria. West Texas. Panhandle.
Where the wildness of the West still pervades every day. Palo Duro Canyon, not far from where my daughter Dallas, her husband Dr. Todd, and my grandchildren Erin, Abby and Max live outside Canyon, on the rim of a canyon.
People who think Amarillo and the Panhandle is flat, haven't traveled. 
Palo Duro, where the musical "Texas" is staged, where tehre is camping, and hiking, and all kinds of critters, is just outside the county seat of Canyon, Texas, a great county seat with a university, West Texas A &M, a place with great schools, and...
Burrowing Owl Books, my daughter's new and used bookstore on the courthouse square, will feature today's watercolor, for cards soon for sale there.
Icon of Palo Duro's fantastic geologic formations, The Lighthouse. More coming.
Biggest challenge for me? Other than all the different angles and light on this icon? Painting vertical. Hey, when you grow up on the Great Plains, horizontal dominates. 

(WorldWatercolor Month, Day 14 challenge).

Palette--all kinds of earthen colors.