"Pasture Reclaimed"

"Pasture Reclaimed" 9x12 acrylic

Last painting for the History Meets the Arts show in Gettysburg finally finished. Now on to framing, packing, and other less entertaining chores.

"Old Gray Warrior"

"Old Gray Warrior" 11x14 acrylic

Sometimes I just have to put a painting away for a while and let it rest. Often I reach a sticking point where no matter how hard I try, I just seem to spin my wheels and make absolutely no progress. This was one of those paintings. After several days of productive work, suddenly it seemed as though every brush stroke made the painting worse. It was time to stop for a while and work on other projects. Finally, almost 3 weeks later I was able to look at the piece with fresh eyes and get it back on track. Once it started moving forward again, I was able to finish it up a few sessions later.
I think this one is destined for the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, SC.

"Quiet Water"

"Quiet Water" 9x6 acrylic

The last painting ready for the Waterfowl Festival!!! Time to start packing!

"October Orange"

"October Orange" 9x6 acrylic

These small landscape/foliage experiments are a lot of fun. It's always a challenge to get the colors close to reality without pushing them too far.

"Prelude to Autumn"

Inspired by a recent day afield, this small painting came together rather nicely. I may need to explore the possibility of painting this motif in a larger format.

"Prelude to Autumn" 8x6 acrylic

 

Plein Air Afternoon

I've been wanting to do more plein air work recently, so today I took the afternoon and set out to find a suitable location to paint. It didn't take long to find a good spot. With the leaves starting to change to their autumn colors, I parked the truck and lugged my easel to an overgrown field in Goddard State Park. The warm sun felt good as I set up my easel and a young deer wandered by as if curious about my intentions.
It's funny how quickly time passes while I paint outdoors. I try to work fast hoping to capture the essence of a scene before the light changes too drastically. Today, I finally noticed I was starting to get cold and the sun was dropping behind the trees to the west. I'd been there for nearly 2 hours at that point and wished I'd brought along the sweatshirt I left in the truck.
As you can see in this last photo, the light was significantly different than it was when I started the painting. Still, I managed to get it to where I could say "done". 

I smiled as I hauled my gear back to the truck, happy with my effort. I'm looking forward to getting out there again soon!

Time for the Hunt

It's that time of year. October and November are my favorite months to be outdoors. With the last two weeks of bow season right around the corner, deer activity is ramping up and signs of the rut are everywhere. Rubs line deer trails near thickets and swamps. Scrapes are briefly covered by falling leaves, but quickly cleaned out as bucks freshen them. Does are getting antsy as they seem to know bucks will be running them ragged in just days. Scuffles between the boys turn into knock-down-drag-out brawls when the older bullies on the block are involved.

My trail cameras are getting a workout and the anticipation of checking them for new images is sometimes more than I can stand. Still, it doesn't compare to actually being out there. Most of my days from now until the end of the season will be spent sitting 20' up in a small tree stand. I will stay from an hour before sunrise until well after sunset, only making my way back to the truck after I'm confident any deer in the area have moved on. Then it's back to the house for a quick bite to eat and a few hours of sleep before I head out again.

So far, I've been able to pace myself. It's easy for me to get burned out early in the season if I'm not careful. Now my drive has reached a crescendo of hunt all day every day if at all possible. If you call, I likely won't answer. If you visit, no one is at home. It's just that time of year.

Second Sign of Fall

For the last couple of years, I've been having some fun with trail cameras. Setting a few cameras in likely spots, then checking the memory cards keeps me busy while my mind races toward October and the beginning of archery season. The photo above is from 1:00 AM today. It's still pretty early in the year for the bucks to be dropping their velvet, but this guy already has his antlers shined up and ready to go.
A lot of things seem to be happening early this year. The white oaks are already dropping acorns, corn fields are starting to brown, and a few trout art moving upstream as though looking to spawn... perhaps all set in motion by the dry summer. It's been a strange year.

First Sign of Fall

Summer has been a bit of a grind this year, but I've managed to muddle through. As I took Otis the Wonder Dog outside this morning to do his obligatory sniffing and marking of everything in the yard, I noticed a welcomed sight on the other side of the street... one of the big old maples has started to turn.
The small patch of reddening leaves immediately made me smile at the thought of the upcoming season... my favorite by far. Last year, the fall weather was pretty miserable around here. When the leaves were turning, rain and wind ripped them from the trees as fast as the chlorophyll began for fade. My photo files typically bulge with with shots of fall color, but not last year. My photo outings were pretty fruitless, so my hopes are high that this fall season will be spectacular. 
Of course, the possibilities of fresh venison, wild mushrooms, spawning trout, and a myriad of other appealing goings-on has my blood moving and sends me into this fine day with optimism and vigor. Time to smear some paint and perhaps... a hike a bit later :)