Friday, March 16, 2007

Timing?


They say timing is everything don't they? Well maybe my timing is off, as I picked a hard time to begin a blog...we're in the middle of construction.

We're working on our studio/gallery/workshop at the present time. We'll need roof work and total electrical setup and furnace/AC wiring and setup, that'll come this summer we hope.

Georgie and I were working on the interior gallery wall today...can still work on that as it won't influence any outside walls, windows, or roof work. We are out in the country and are remodeling an older farm building for the studio, so there's a good deal of a ways to go yet.

I did just finish a fairly large piece (for me), a color pencil landscape that I'd been toying with in my head for quite some time. I've fixated on night time landscapes before, but always wanted to do one with an owl in it. This goes way back to when I was a kid...saw many owls at night growing up and the images of these cool birds just stuck in my imagination. I've always loved raptors and owls anyway, they're a more dramatic creature than the run of the mill bird, and stir up lots of images in people's minds.

The owl I chose for this nocturnal landscape is a Great Horned Owl...I've probably done more GHO's than any owl. They're the most common owl where we live and always were where we grew up. But I must admit to really liking Eastern Screech-Owls as much. But I'll save a Screech-Owl for another day.

The scene is one I did several photographs of last early July, and is just across the road from our place...it's of another subject that I can really get interested in, hay bales. Love the interest they bring to a pastoral scene....they also lend the sense of size, proximity, and relief, etc...

Click on Image to enlarge


The original piece is 23.5" W X 8" H. The length tells you it's more of a panoramic image, and yes, I've been interested in panoramic landscapes the past couple years...they seem to fit the prairie theme and agricultural themes as well. The prairie landscape can sweep away into the distance, or up into the sky for ever...there's no one way to see or experience it.

The "Night Pasture - Great Horned Owl" depicts a night lit by the full moon with early July southern sky constellations. The stars are approximate, and are fainter than they'd be if it were a moonless night. You may have to see the original to get the interpretaion on my part...there is only so much that will show on a monitor at 72dpi...and of course it "is" just an interpretation on my part.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

What - me blog?

Never gave a lot of thought to doing a blog! As some of you may know I have published a web journal "A Tallgrass Journal" for some years now, relating to the Tallgrass Prairie and our own efforts to restore a prairie remnant on which we live. But "A Tallgrass Journal" is only a quarterly journal; life gets in the way of making it more frequent.

I've been a painter and natural history photographer for well over 30 years, and developed a business website (www.morrisons-studio.com) as many, many other artists have - but I am seeing something I've overlooked! I have seen that artists can involve or share their efforts on a much more interesting level than just through introductions on a static website. I've witnessed how blogs are a very good tool for feedback, and for keeping friends, art collectors, and other artists informed on what directions the blog artist is taking, how they are formulating their ideas, their approach to the medium and the subject matter...it can bring an active involvement for everyone.

I am going to try and share the prairie and other natural heritage subject matter through my artwork and my photography. You may get a bit of personal involvement in the Prairie, but I want the creative process to rule this blog; the "subject matter" matters however!!

Like anyone beginning a process, this may take some getting use to but I hope it will be a good experience for everyone!