The Time is Near!

"Creek's Bend"

12X16 oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

Tomorrow is the autumnal equinox...how great is that!?  Also, how weird it arrived so soon!?  I keep harping on the "time" thing...I apologize, its just a character flaw I guess...but geeze its going too fast!

Georgie and I have been busying ourselves getting ramped up for the 2012 Artisans Road Trip coming up in just two weeks...the painting shown above has been kinda hampering my efforts!  I know better than to start a painting so close to the A.R.T. weekend but you have to strike when the idea hits you, or its almost always gone for good.  

"Creek's Bend" is reminiscent of this past late June/early July when there was still water in the creek below the studio!  The summer hasn't been good to the water table around here...the creek is about a foot wide in many places now...hoping for a wet fall!  This painting will be on the studio easel for the Road Trip weekend (Oct 6 and 7) because it'll be too wet to put in a frame yet - but will still be for sale of course :)  Here's a chance to own something hot off the easel!

Next Tuesday - the 25th, the 2012 Artisans Road Trip will be holding their annual fall exhibit at Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa!  The evening reception is always a good one to get in on...delectable morsels and drink...and lots of good company; many of the artisans road trip artists will be present and  its a good time for a sneak preview of what the road trip will have to offer this year!

I'll have 4 pieces of work there...mostly brand spanking new.  Hope to see you there,

and keep your calendar clear for the 9inth annual Artisans Road Trip weekend - October 6th and 7th (Saturday and Sunday)!!! 

Summer's Fading

"Stream-side Cottonwood"

color pencil drawing - 6X8"

© Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

Cottonwoods are a prairie tree...a stream-side tree...a tree of wet or dry places, a real opportunist. As a stream-side tree, Beaver love it, its a favorite for Herons - its a great rookery tree.  They'll grow very tall and gain great girth in a fairly short time, and that's perfect for rookeries like the one just SE of the acreage studio here.

I've climbed many cottonwoods as a kid...they're perfect before they gain too much girth because by then they've tended to loose their lower branches - those you need to grab onto in order to gain some height and get to those more easily handled perches. Besides, a fat tree is nearly impossible to hitch up unless you're a woodpecker or squirrel!  I spent many a summer afternoon 40-50 feet up in a cottonwood, seated on a big horizontal branch, gazing out into the river or creek valley below...occasionally something would land nearby and be startled by the sight of me!  This was a great perch for watching Red-tail Hawks and Turkey Vultures soaring in the sky; like a "head-start" to their level.  What memories!  And I've fallen out of 'em too...but lets not go there!

The piece shown above is a small color pencil drawing I just finished.  It, like a myriad of others, is of the creek in the valley below the studio here (Waterman Creek)...I'm beginning to suspect that no other person has painted, drawn or photographed this creek more than I have!??  I could be wrong but I don't know?  Anyway I'll keep walking and exploring it and all the other area creeks and rivers I possibly can

The Cottonwood tree on the other bank was my focal point, I just loved the structure of the tree, but the sun was lighting it frontally (not an easy or preferred way to portray something) so I threw the left foreground into a "bit" of shadow to help with the composition and to give a transition to step into...the creek helps conceptually and compositionally too of course.

I like these small color drawings, they're fun to do but are not always cooperative!  

I'm trying to get ready for the 2012 Artisans Road Trip now!  Well, I've been trying all summer but now I'm down to "crunch time"  and I'm afraid I'll be glued to the studio from now until October 6 and 7 when the event takes place.  This is the ninth consecutive year of the Artisans Road Trip and it should be a great weekend!  Set the days aside if you can.  If you haven't taken one in during years past, or have yet to have visited the studio here along the valley - check the dates off on your calendar!!!

The summer is fading - take advantage of it while you can, and enjoy yourself!