Changing Up A Bit - A Look Again At The "Process"

 

"Past Thanksgiving - November Barn"  - oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

A few friends have noticed I haven't been "yarn spinning" for a while. Getting caught up in other things always gets the better of me...I'm easily distracted... SQUIRREL!!!

 

Where was I? Oh ya; I think I'm changing my old format up a bit and will eliminate the "Archival Works Friday" theme; but still occasionally give some insight to what steers me and my work derived from it. I'll try and bring these up from time to time. I have to admit I never liked schedules because too many things pop into my head and I just give in to whatever shouts the loudest.

 

Some weeks back I posted an image of our old stucco barn here on the acreage...it was a still late fall evening under a crescent moon. It was taken on the evening of November 26th and posted the next morning. I will post that November 26th Photograph in my first comment below...so you can make a comparison from the original photograph below...

Original photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

I've always been partial to crescent moons. And I've always been partial to the stucco barn here; I believe it to be the only such barn in our county. I could be mistaken but have looked for 20 years and not found another. The barn was retrofitted with concrete stucco sometime shortly after WW2...concrete block reinforcement of the north and west sheds was done first, and concrete buttresses added to the north shed to support or reinforce the addition are fairly unique for an "old" barn as well. 

 

I've done paintings of our stucco barn a couple times in the past...still regret selling one of them. And Georgie - bless her (!) has also painted the stucco barn a few times - literally! She has been up there with the barn swallows many times in the past 20 years with her bucket of paint and brush!

 

After I first brought the November 26th barn image file up on the computer screen, I liked what I was seeing...the photograph was nice yet there were elements in the picture's foreground that did not lend nor add to the support of the image. But I was struck by what I saw in my mind - could I do it justice? Well, that's always the question when I pick up a paint brush.

 

I set out to simplify and celebrate the light and the delicate crescent hanging in that last glow of the remnant day. That silhouette of our barn was almost iconic and somber in color and tonality. Did I mention loving that crescent phase? I embellished it ever so slightly, by increasing its size by about 50%...not too much to make it seem too unreasonably exaggerated. 

 

There was much too much "busyness" in the foreground...all the bushes and shrubs add nothing to the design and composition - they will not be included. That lone crab apple intersecting one of the barn windows was actually two trees, one had been damaged by strong winds many years ago and I couldn't bring myself to cut it down...it was still gifting us with a flush of deep prairie rose colored blossoms on its lop-sided trunk each spring. Another opposing color crab was planted next to it a few years ago and they seem quite happily married now. It will be painted as one, as that's how it appears.

 

The complete idea of the very closest foreground leaves and gravel drive will give the image a resting place, a foundation to support the image. I appreciate those leaves; fall is nearing its end...their least bit of color notes are peaceful on the eyes.

 

But - as you'll notice, I gave the scene my own color interpretation...I am NOT trying to lavishly copy a photograph but give my own sense of the "emotion" the original scene evoked for me.

 

These are my thoughts and goals as I worked on this painting. These are the ideas that formed this attempt to remember this moment in oils. It left a lasting impression on me and this small token of an idea, albeit small, is part of this memory.

 

"After Thanksgiving - November Barn" - oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

Smitten

"Summer Stream Dawn"

oil pastel/oil pencil study

(click on image for a larger view)

I just deviated a "tad" from working on the "From the Tallgrass" exhibit this coming summer at Neal Smith NWR, by doing a small (6X12") oil pastel and oil pencil study of the creek down below us here in the valley.  

 

I had been searching for "prairie" material while viewing years of video footage I've taken and came across this wonderful section of the Waterman Creek about a mile and a half south of us and was immediately taken with it.  I have found so many things in the past that have interested me as material for future paintings or drawings, and a familiar thing always seems to happen - I either lose interest or grow less "smitten", or even forget!

I am not an organized person...OK, maybe too much information, but everyone has their short-comings...that's at least one of mine.  I've always relied on my memory and its just not holding up as I pile on new thoughts!  The old "hard drive" is finding a need to delete information as more is downloaded!  That's about as concise as I can put it!

But when I saw this footage from 2012, I really was smitten - I knew it had to be squeezed in NOW, or be deleted or forgotten from memory someday.  So as soon as I finished my last drawing (Big Bluestem, color pencil) I started this sketch immediately.

I really want to do a larger oil painting of this scene, now that I see how well this study works for me.  I hope I do not lose interest (another short-coming 'ADD' perhaps?) and never get back to trying a larger studio piece; but I can't think about that now - Too Much To Do!!!

Back to Work!

A New Year!

2009! Wow, I'd like to say "Where did 08 go?", but I don't believe I'll miss it too much...it just feels good to move on at this point. Not that I would ever wish time away (I did that too much when I was young), but there does come times when you really feel you need to look forward...just be thankful and mindful of the past year, it's blessings and bumps.

Georgie made a New Year's resolution to "just have fun each day" - I like that! I guess I won't worry about not having an original thought and just agree with her! It's funny how we take ourselves so seriously all the time and then, sooner or later find that it's just not working out. Enjoying the small things along the way would be a helpful boost for anyone through the year...I'm going to try and stay more in tune to that thought...nudge me if I forget!

Happy New Year!

Road Trip!

Georgie and I packed our bags for a road trip this weekend...it was short but long deserved as far as I was concerned! Too much work makes Bruce a dull boy. I needed some winter painting material too and hadn't been down the Loess Hills in Western Iowa for some years, so that's where we headed.


Even though the color of autumn was fading, the hills are usually good for nice pockets here and there plus the landscape has much physical character. You can always count on the prairie ridges (the grasses) for color though - without fail!

One area we always go through when we're in the Loess Hills is the area of Preparation Canyon and further north. It was very windy when we went through on Saturday but not nearly as bad as today! (Gale force winds sustained at 40mph and gusting a lot higher)

With real windy weather I rarely come up with publishable images, but they give fodder to work with on long winter days and nights in the studio. Winter - yikes, lets hope for a "long" fall first!