Environmental issues
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Saturday, April 30th, 2022
Camel at Gorge Wildlife Park, Australia, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. During the late 19th century, camels were imported to Australia from India and Afghanistan, so hundreds of thousands now roam ferrell.
Left, how I start most of my work: general shapes are outlined, and composition is roughly established.
Elements of Nature
Saturday, January 1st, 2022
Paint Arson, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas (2009), wrapped sides painted, frame unnecessary. Set on shelf or hang on wall. This and Cumulonimbus: Montana Sunset (2020) are in J. Mane Gallery’s ‘Elements of Nature’ online juried exhibition, showing through January 2022.
I don’t always have clear intentions behind my work, other than to make it interesting of course, because I wonder if too much explanation muddies a fresh impression of it. However, the writing connected to “Paint Arson” is worth the read. Fire is a destructive force, and positive associations with it are not immediate. For example, the pinecones of Sequoia, the largest trees on Earth, only open under the extreme conditions presented by fire. Read on…
English Ivy
Saturday, November 27th, 2021
English Ivy drooped in oak tree branches, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W”.
Pretty? Pretty invasive! Probably escaped from a nearby garden, English Ivy is beautiful draped in the branches of this Oak tree, but the plant, left unchecked as a ground cover, will choke out any growth of native or desirable flowers or plants. An aggressive perennial, it attaches easily with roots that exude an adhesive substance, destroying rooves and siding, climbing on branches that break under its weight. Once established, it will kill trees by blocking sunlight and thereby, photosynthesis. Because of the labor and enormous expense it takes to eradicate it from public lands and parks, people are encouraged to not plant this in your garden, even though it’s still for sale in nurseries.
York Gum trees
Saturday, May 15th, 2021
Eucalyptus loxopleba – York Gum Trees near Hyden, Western Australia – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Apparently the York Gum is a marker of fertile soil in the Wheatbelt. Many have been cleared to make way for agriculture, resulting in weed trees and other invasive species taking over. In this iconic back-road-Australia scene, their charm welcomes us for miles.
Beautiful Invasion: Scotch Broom
Monday, March 15th, 2021
Beautiful Invasion: Scotch Broom hugging the cliffs beside Netarts Bay beach OR – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. During early May along the west coast, hillsides, forests, dunes and ditches are covered with the deep, vibrant, most gorgeous yellow flowers of Scotch Broom. Cytisus scoparius is an invasive species displacing native plants, shrubs and trees.
Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white mat and white wood frame, crackle finish.
Wildorado Wind Ranch
Monday, January 25th, 2021
Organic – Wildorado Wind Ranch, 25 miles from Amarillo, Texas – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W” white mat and white wood frame with crackle finish.
Matthiessen State Park, IL
Saturday, November 21st, 2020
Matthiessen State Park, Illinois US – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white wood frame, crackle finish.
This park located near Oglesby epitomizes the word “anomaly”. The surrounding landscape is flat for miles and miles, with a lot of farm fields and no hint at all that such pockets of vastly different ecosystems occur side by side, merging so abruptly. In fact, we know a guy who grew up an hour from there and he didn’t even know it existed! There are a few other hiking trails and hidden canyons with waterfalls in the area too.
The Angel Oak
Friday, October 9th, 2020
The Angel Oak on Johns Island, South Carolina – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb watercolor paper. The Live Oak with massive branches is estimated to be 400-500 years old. We visited during a tropical storm, so we were lucky to experience the magnificence of this tree all be ourselves.
Loosestrife
Friday, June 28th, 2019
Loosestrife: beautiful invasion, Violet, ON Canada – 12 x 12 inches acrylics, crackle medium on canvas, frame unnecessary.
Store-bought canvases are really slippery, so I’ve started using crackle medium to give the paint something to hold onto. It also is great for subtle textures and building layers of color. For more texture, the medium can be manipulated while wet. It softens the paint layer/s below and can be scratched, lifted or molded into shapes with a brush.
Indian Paintbrush
Tuesday, May 8th, 2018
Indian Paintbrush, Mt. St. Helen’s Washington, 14H x 20W inches watercolors on 140 lb cold pressed. Framed size approx. 20H x 26W inches – white mat and white wood frame with crackle finish.