American Spirit?

 

"Bison skull," 5 x 5 acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

Looking for a title. Sometimes paintings choose their own titles. Other times I know when I begin, or after I'm well on my way. But some paintings  stare back at me, literally in this case.

So is this one. Sources of inspiration for this bison skull come from many sources, but not a name. Best I can come up with is AmericanSpirit or American Ghost...but they don't seem to fit.

Suggestions? Email me. Soon to be at Edmond Vibes, at The Vault April 6, and thereafter at  In Your Eye Studio and Gallery in Paseo.

Against the odds

"Against the Odds," 11 x 14 acrylic on canvas panel

 "Time's A'wasting," was oft repeated by one of my childhood comic strip heroes, Snuffy Smith. If you remember that, you're as old as I am. And aware that time is passing, and we're wasting it.

I am more aware of that sentiment in all phases of my life than ever these days as a new year and a birthday have passed recently.

My previous painting on this blog, a watercolor entitled "Time Was," was spontaneous, and fluid, like time. I'm fortunate and honored that Andrea Byers, Hawk's Landing, and  The Hideout, of Canyon, Texas, loved it and bought it.

As time has passed this year, I've been experimenting, learning acrylics, and that scene demanded another attempt, for the same reasons.

This painting is the result, while of the same subjects, vastly different. The watercolor was fresher, more fluid, proof to me of its beauty and originality.

This one is not a copy, but done with different emotions, palette knives and brushes for the textures of the subjects, different effects, capturing the essence of time past on the Great Plains.

I had trouble with the title to this one, but they embody survival, against the odds.

Time was

"Time was," 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb. d'Arches. Reference photo, Tailyr Irvine, N, Y. Times

 “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; and the grass withers and the flowers fall,..." 1 Peter 1:24

'Tis the time of year when perhaps we think about our invention, time, time passing and time coming, though the Jewish and Christian God is only present tense, "I am that I am."

Another year, a human invention,  fades with memories, a new one is now, and looms, as does another birthday.

Thus today's watercolor, the first of the year, on the Great Plains, as I think of  times, seasons, grass and the rest of creations unaware of time, just now.

Wild spirit

"Wild spirit," 5 x 5 acrylic on canvas

We hear a lot these days of people who are "spiritual" but not "religious."

Given the turmoil and politicalization with many organized religions, it's no wonder, and the more I read and study of different cultures, a question comes to mind.

What is spiritual? Depends on you you are, your culture, your beliefs and much more.

I can't help think again of Native American cultures and the way they, and others, hold certain parts of creation as sacred. 

Thus, today's little acrylic, another sacred icon. I believe it is also important, in these over-regulated and political correct times,  that such a creation is also a symbol, a beckoning,  of wildness, of freedom. This is my second of the subject. There will be more.

Soon available at In Your Eye Studio & Gallery in Paseo Arts District.

When the Spirit Moves you

Getting started, 5 x 5 acrylic on canvas board

Sometimes you need magic, something beyond the ordinary to move you to breathe, to think, to live, to create.

Trying to come up with a composition for an Oklahoma landscape today lead down empty roads on the Great Plains, and into my imagination.

I, and countless others have painted bison, the iconic symbol of the American West. I will do so again, on a larger canvas. But today I ran across photos and articles about the Native American spirit bison, the White Buffalo.

So here's the start. Much more to come, out of the mist of snow and the past and spirits.

Time passes

"Sunset," 5 x 5 acrylic on canvas

Time passes, for all species, as change is constant, whether we want it to be or not, so today I tried something new.

To me, there's nothing quite so symbolic of passing time, of life, of change, of extinction, of survival, of freedom, than the American bison.

Today's painting, an introductory self lesson in painting with acrylics. I found myself playing with art again, experimenting, learning. I will get better.

Western icon

"Patriarch of the Prairie," 5 x 7 today's watercolor, 140 lb Fabriano Artistico cold press

The almost universal icon of the American West, seen everywhere in sculptures, paintings, highway decorations. Why? For what was and is gone? Or as a symbol of freedom and wildness? Or as a sacred part of the lives of the people who were here first? Or because of majesty and spirit? Don't know.

Painting months, part 1

Next month is World Watercolor Month with the challenge for one a day. Accepted.
But May and June have been a blur of obligations, schedules with painting squeezed in, some completed at In Your Eye Gallery in Paseo. Most have been posted on Instagram, instead of this blog.

 Time for an update, more for the record than repetition.
Most recent were yesterday's 8 by 10s, representational and abstract of a turquoise doorway and adobe, "Doorway to/for My Dreams."

I've noticed that several of my works, completed at the gallery and relatively small at 5 x 7s, have to do with mortality.
Four bison, "Sunset," Alone," "Into the Sunset," (8 x 10), "You're Getting Too Close," and two travelers and a harvest, "End of Day," "Into the Storm," "Harvest Nightmare."

Back porch art school

"Into the Sunset," 8 x 10, 140 lb. d'Arches cold press paper--today's art lesson

So much to learn, so little I know, so little time.
Saturday morning, back porch art school, and today's lesson.
After viewing the magnificent art at the 46th Prix de West show yesterday at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, I left inspired, uplifted, confounded, thankful, and more than a little humbled.

Back porch art school

I can't fathom the techniques of some of the watercolors I saw, much less the talent. And the same goes for the oils, drawings and sculptures.
So it's back to the back porch this morning to read more of Edgar A. Whitney, trying to understand, to grasp  and eventually apply what this great icon and teacher had to say.
And then it's time to try a painting, today's lesson. Not bad, but so far to go. And don't miss the Prix de West...I'll be going back to study even more.

Don't miss this Western journey

Poster outside the exhibit

If you are a Westerner, or love the West, or wildlife, or great art, there's an exhibit at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History that you don't want to miss, and it ends April 26.
"Harmless Hunter, The Wildlife Work of Charles M. Russell" brings 18 paintings, 10 small sculptures and 13 other sketches and work from several famous museums around the country to the OU campus in Norman.
Go see it to be inspired.
You can't take photographs inside the exhibit, but I've downloaded a couple from the Internet to give you a taste.
The show is curated by OU's Dr. Byron Price, Charles Marion Russell Memorial Chair, and Director of Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West at OU.
I was particularly taken by some of the watercolors I'd never seen before, and some of the oils took my breath away. It's like studying art from a master.
It was a day when I needed a boost, and worth the hassle of driving to Norman, because for two hours of watching, studying, taking notes, I forgot about the rest of the world and was transported back to the last days of the Old West.
The West was and is a place of conflict, between nature, humans and wildlife, and nobody caught this more than Russell. I'll admit, I've been around his work all my life because my Dad was an artist who loved Russell and who found inspiration there. 
The exhibit gets its title from Russell, who hunted wildlife with his paintbrush as a "Harmless Hunter," and he had an unsurpassed talent to capture the soul of animals, four- and two-legged alike, in action. 

His favorite subject was probably the buffalo, and out of more than 2,000 works, his portrayal of this wild animal helped make it the icon of the West. His signature on every painting of a buffalo skull is an icon in its own right. 
Other wildlife that he painted include numerous grizzly in conflict, wolves, deer, mountain lions, pronghorn, birds, bighorn sheep, foxes and coyotes.
All of his work tells stories, stories of the West, and most of them leave the conclusions in doubt, as one panel terms them "predicaments," where humans and wildlife face each other. Such is the case with exhibit poster, a detail  of one of the paintings, "Crippled but Still Coming."

"Crippled but Still Coming"--opening painting of the exhibit

The rugged landscapes are as dramatic as the action, and Russell excelled in subjects late in the day, when the light is dramatic with shadows and sunlight  or passing, just as the Wild West was passing while he lived, 1864-1926. My favorite, which I sat in front of for a long time, as the day fades and the full moon rises, is "To the Victor Belong the Spoils," of Grizz taking the kill, while wolves circle at a distance.

My favorite, "To the Victor Belong the Spoils"

I could write much more, but here are some of the main things I noticed as an art student, who was particularly interested in his eight watercolors. The vivid colors and landscapes of the oils are almost the opposite of the watercolors. In the watercolors, the central subjects have brighter colors and the backgrounds fade in the dusty distance. You can almost taste the dust.
But in all his paintings, his meticulous and accurate attention to detail is amazing, whether it is Indian garb, cowboy dress, firearms, gun belts, or more.
And don't miss his humor, as a sketch of a fox and skunk smoking a peace pipe, or his illustrated letters to friends, including one of him up a tree in Florida with a crocodile underneath, or a sculptured wolf sniffing a discarded whiskey bottle.
Another favorite was a five-inch square watercolor on birchbark with a poem to some recently married friends, with the owl and other birds discussing the newlyweds. There are also illustrations for magazine articles, sketches for his paintings, and more. I came back trying to find a couple of favorite large watercolors on the Internet, having never seen them before, and couldn't, including one of Teddy Roosevelt hunting a grizzly with dogs. So worth the trip. But here is one watercolor, of Russell on a horse in a actual buffalo roundup, "Pablo's Buffalo Hunt,"  in his beloved Montana.

"Pablo's Buffalo Hunt"--a watercolor

This is a treasure. Don't miss it.

Tallgrass means tall

A visit to the spectacular Tallgrass Prairie Preseve in the middle of Osage County just north of Pawhuska gives a glimpse of what this country was like before fences and cattle. Thanks to the Nature Conservancy,http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/oklahoma/preserves/tallgrass.html this is the largest remnant of such prairie on earth, of about 10,000 acres.

Few roads, and bison roam free--a herd of better than 2,500...none of which we saw. Yes, there are still some oil wells and private patches of ground, but it's wild and free and the only sound is the wind.

You cross cattle, er, bison, guards to drive down the gravel roads and 8-foot fences keep them in.

The prairie grasses star the Big BlueStem, plus the Small Blue Stem, Switch grass and some others. Big Blue Stem reaches from 6 to 10 feet high, but the root system is deeper. It was once a complete ecosystem, but that is now extinct, although here and in the Flint Hills of Kansas just north of here, it survives.

 We got out of the car to walk a nature trail, neatly mowed, and were soon surrounded with grass over our heads.

To make sure we don't get lost

 

 How tall is tall grass? Here's Susan.

It's beautiful when backlit by the sun.
And there are quiet cool spaces with water and shade too.

Headquarters is at the original ranchsite after a 20-minute drive down the gravel roads.

Check this site for a map http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/oklahoma/files/tallgrass_map.pdf

Journalism and art...what a treat

I'm covering the Prix de West art weekend at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum today and tomorrow. Two articles for the magazine Persimmon Hill.

I think I'm in heaven, mixing journalism and art. This morning's assignment was covering Dr. Bob Pickering, senior curator of the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and a forensic anthropologist, talking about the art of the bison through the ages.

Did you know that the oldest art in America is from Oklahoma? A lighting slash painted on a 9,000-year-old buffalo skull found at the Cooper kill site in northwest Oklahoma!

And tomorrow I cover Canadian Richard Loffler,  wildlife sculptor. He will be demonstrating sculpting wildlife from life, outdoors, and he's using a live eagle.

By the way, this year's art continues to be magnificent. My favorite is by  Greg Beecham of Wyoming. It's a magnificent 30" by 50" oil on linen of four white wolves at full run through the snow, chasing prey. "The Chase." The wolves are alive. Everybody I saw looking at  the painting said what I did: "Wow!"

And then there are more watercolors than before. I don't use the word awesome. But this is awesome--it fills you with awe and makes you feel good. This is the 37th annual show, and the largest so far, with 356 paintings, drawings a d sculptures from 110 artists.

Go see it.