Digging Back In

"After the Storm Passed - Study"

2 1/2 X 3 1/2" (6.4 cm X 8.9 cm) color pencil (sold) © Bruce A. Morrison

(Click on image for larger than life size image)

It's been a time of digging back in here at the studio; the hours being spent printing up jobs and framing for clients is winding down from the aftermath of the Artisans Road Trip in early October.  Now it's November!  (How does that happen so quickly - someone please explain it to me!!!)

Now I am mustering up the mental stage to get back into creating new work.  This is the time (that comes along almost any time all year long) for me to go through my jointed and disjointed thoughts and begin new pieces.  How this comes about varies wildly here!  It either hits me like a 2x4, or I go back through recent and past "studies", like the small color pencil image under this blog's title...or I spend hours perusing through image files on the hard drives or the film file drawers until something talks back to me.

I'll be frank...this can be a frustrating process!

In the meantime we're at no loss for work around Prairie Hill Farm; we just finished patching cedar shingles in the barn roof, picking seed on the farm's native pasture, trimming down broken trees from the year's storms, and putting gardens to bed for the coming winter.  Never a dull moment!
  

Bald Eagle along the valley here below the Prairie Hill Farm Studio

© Bruce A. Morrison
(Click on image for larger view) 
 

The wildlife around the farm has been changing from summer to winter residents also...this makes things more interesting.  Certain yard birds become more numerous and our winter residents return; like the Bald Eagles in the valley here.  We've now had eagles for the past couple weeks.  It's pretty cool when a bird flies over your head when you're out and about the place, or when one passes by the living room window when your going about business in the house!

It can be pretty inspiring stuff!  Guess I should get busy!

 

Revisted

 "Arches Mulie"

color pencil rendering - 5.25X7"

(click on image above to view as a larger size)

Just finished another small color pencil piece I've been working on for some time; this one being done for a specific purpose that I may go into down the road.  But it's not my typical subject and not a regional piece this time.  Occasionally I do stray off the tallgrass, and revisit places we've visited or spent reoccurring time.  This piece is from the memory/photo bank of a visit by Georgie and I to the Southwest...it's been a few years, but this particular trip was memorable for both of us.

Arches National Park was one destination of ours that was pretty amazing for the senses.  Going from NW Iowa to the grand and amazing geological formations of the high desert left an impression!  The colors of the high desert, the flora and fauna, and even the feeling of the place were almost magical; kind of like visiting a different planet!  We camped out there in the winter - yet had no snow, also with comfortable days...a place we could spend more time in without qualms!

There are many more places in our memory banks I try and revisit in my photographs and artwork.  In the meantime I hope you enjoy this "snippet" from a great time and place!

Processing, Processing, Processing...

"M12 Fall Bales"

(photograph - click on to view a larger image)

I Love the Fall!  It's wonderful out after a few frosts have calmed the summer's mosquitoes and other biting bugs.  But it's really the sky, the air and the sun I enjoy...along with fall colors, the crops being harvested, even the early evening light.

But sometimes things catch up with me...I am trying to work on the many image files I downloaded onto the hard drives.  I have processing to do.  A lot of processing to do.

Years back I would always look so forward to going through batches of film, either after I processed it or had it sent out instead.  I shot transparency film, so spent a lot of time over the light table peering through a loupe , checking for film scratches, sharpness and what were "keepers".  When this film returned from a processor, it was almost like Christmas...I'd eagerly open each box in anticipation!  When I processed it myself (E-3, then E4, then E-6 processing), I still got excited about what I was seeing but the work load would temper this enthusiasm somewhat. 

I still look forward to going through images on the computer monitor, the old feeling of anticipation is still there but one thing I have noticed the past 10 years (I've been shooting digital since 2000) is the work load actually gets more cumbersome!  Why?  Well, when I shot film there was a "finite" number of exposures I could make...you'd have to be made of money for that not to be true! With digital I found I was freed up a great deal and did much more experimentation...also I took many more photos of what I'd call "idea" shots...these "ideas" pile up fast!  Soon I have more "ideas" than I can manage - on my hard drive or in my own head!  But I keep recording these ideas...and they need "Processing"...they have to be sorted and filed somehow so I don't forget them or loose track of where they're at.  

Georgie knows how "organized" I am...uh...OK - "disorganized"  :)  But I still plug away.

The "M12 Fall Bales" photo at the top of this post was forgotten...but I only took it 5 days ago!!!  Uh...I also saw numerous...too many to count images that I forgot about, and they've only been taken the past 2-3 weeks!  I think I need to do a dump on my hard drive most people call a "head"!  I seem to be hobbled as to how much can actually go up there and still be retrieved without too much difficulty!

The "M12 Fall Bales" image is something I like to do; panorama shots are becoming more common...I've been doing them since around the time I shifted to digital film, and they were less common then.  There is now a myriad of software and cameras out there that automatically pull these shots together (stitch them) but I am still stubbornly plodding away - doing them the "old" way...stitching frames "by hand"...well, still with the computer, but without the automated programs.  (This shot is made from 4 individual frames.) This takes a while, but it still feels right to me.  Maybe someday the "processing" will get to me and I'll relent and go "auto" (?)...we'll see.

For now I'll still go through all these images that I shot just last week and had forgotten, or will uncover that great moment I remembered from last summer or spring - but tucked away so well I forgot where it was!  

Never a dull moment here...now back to processing...

Studio Autumn

 We can count on the Raccoons here to get themselves into trouble!

Been a lot of activity around here...the critters especially!  Hasn't been a night recently we haven't been serenaded with the Coyotes in the valley, and the night time visitors (Raccoons) to the yard are getting into mischief  here and there.  During the day we are watching the old familiar birds of summer leave us and old familiar friends, such as the Blue Jays, are becoming more and more vocal around the yard.

 Georgie counted 15 Blue Jays in the yard this morning - it's a "party"!

(No, really - that's what a flock of Blue Jays is called...they can also be called a "riot"!)

It's been a busy time digging out from under the A.R.T. weekend too.  Still working on framing orders and commissioned work and watching the neighbors take out their crops - everyone is busy around here right now!

It's been a very warm fall here so far.  We have had a couple frosts but it gets right back up into the 80's and the air's full of all the biting/pesty insects you could ever shake a stick at!  Yesterday Georgie and I finally saw a few clouds in the sky (the past couple weeks have been clear) so we decided to take a Sunday afternoon drive down along the Glacial Trail Scenic Byway south of us, since we hadn't been along it since summer.  There's a temporary web site for the trail run through the Iowa Lakes RC&D at - http://www.iowalakesrcd.org/GlacialTrailScenicByway.htm if you're interested in where it's at...the DOT is putting together a final site that'll be finished sometime in the future.

The Iowa DOT (dept of transportation) has been working to revamp signage and revitalize the byways in the state.  This includes showcasing various places and events in the region and just the natural scenic aspects of the byway area as well.  I freelance throughout the year and last spring got a contract to shoot the landscapes and activities along this byway.

The autumn colors in the NW corner of the state here this fall are not as good as in years past.  Georgie and I found ourselves trying hard to find color compositions along the roads...you know things are not good when it becomes work to find fall photographs!  The reds, burgundies, and oranges are not present along the road ways here this year...the yellows are spotty in small numbers.  

Fall color in the trees of NW Iowa are sometimes very hit and miss...sometimes it's just the luck of the draw.  I think the best autumn color this year is in the prairies! Check out this past blog showing Indian grass and New England asters for striking colors - then imagine it "en masse"!  Very satisfying color out on the NW Iowa tallgrass prairies right now!

Hope you're enjoying it!

Thank You!

"Little Sioux Valley Autumn"

photo © Bruce A. Morrison

It was a beautiful weekend during the Artisans Road Trip...the fields here were busy with the harvest and those who were able to get out into the country side enjoyed the clear fall air and warm sunshine.

Here at the Prairie Hill Farm Studio we had many new visitors, which is a good thing!  I like showing work to folks that have never been here - and people that haven't been to the farm or studio are always amazed at the beauty of our location and the studio itself.  It's great to see first impressions in people's eyes!  :)

I'm happy to say that there were several original works that found new homes this year, and I'm always glad to see pieces go to a good home...warms my heart!  You'll notice a few "Sold Signs" at the Studio's web site.  I also have some commissioned work this year which I think is great as well!  In fact I was out and about this morning gathering field material for a commissioned oil painting...autumn is my favorite time of the year to be outside.

I'd like to take a moment to say "Thank You" to everyone who stopped by Prairie Hill Farm Studio to see us.  Thank you for your patronage, interest and support!

Have a great Autumn!

Autumn Begins!

Yes, this evening at 10:09 pm (central time) is the Autumnal Equinox.  And I just learned it's also the Harvest Moon!  I think I remember the first full moon after fall begins is the harvest moon, and by coincidence the moon is full tonight - that hasn't happened in 19 years!  Pretty cool!

Well...we won't be seeing the moon tonight here because we're  having our last stormy day and night of the summer (remember it's still summer till after 10 pm tonight!).  We've been squeezed between some big boomers most of the afternoon...either slipping past us to the east or north.  Hearing that they've been dropping walnut sized hail and larger, we weren't disappointed to be missed! (knock on wood)

Addendum:  well we just got nearly an inch of rain and marble to quarter size hail...all in about 10 minutes...still "feels" like summer!

 "Rain Shaft"

2 1/2 X 3 1/2" (6.4 cm X 8.9 cm) miniature color pencil rendering © Bruce A. Morrison

(Click on image for larger than life size image) 

In honor of the last day of summer I've done a miniature piece entitled "Rain Shaft"   the piece is a color pencil on hot press paper and will be part of a few miniature pieces here for sale during the 2010 Artisans Road Trip coming a week from this Friday (Oct 1st, 2nd and 3rd).

I like doing these small miniatures but I also like doing pieces that can be a spring board for larger works down the road and I think "Rain Shaft" would lend itself wonderfully for an oil or larger color pencil rendering.  That's the way storms look from Prairie Hill Farm during the spring and summer - they can be quite impressive and larger than life!

Like to own your own original work?!  Hey, miniatures are in everyone's budget...and I throw in the easel to boot  :)

Stay safe in the storms and enjoy the fall to come!

Hope to see you here at the studio during A.R.T.!

Nearing the Equinox

 "Night Pasture - Great Horned Owl"

8X24" color pencil rendering - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for larger view)

Summer is just about a memory now.  I'm sure we'll still have plenty of nice days to come "hinting" at what we selectively remember fondly of the past season...but autumn is in the air and the Monarchs have left their roost here at Prairie Hill Farm (see "A Tallgrass Journal" blog) and are well on their way to Mexico!

We're still enjoying the invertebrates of this season though - minus the mosquitoes, black flies and the soon to come hoards of Asian Lady Bird Beetles.  It's a philosophical exercise in "justifying" those bugs that torment us!  But this is the season of goldenrods and asters...and there are still many butterflies, "friendly" wasps, bees, and spiders to see on the prairie!  

We've been enjoying the sounds of the season here very much.  Each night has been bringing the late summer insect serenades, the neighborhood Great Horned Owl has been hooting from the yard by the house around 3-4 a.m. each morning and the Coyotes in the valley have "sung" numerous times for us this month!

I'm going to share our Great Horned Owl, serenading insects and one lone (distant) Coyote calling for it's friends, with you.  I posted this audio snippet with friends on Face Book and I'll share it here on the Prairie Hill Farm blog too.  If you are an e-mail subscriber to this blog you'll need to visit the physical blog or my Studio Face Book page to view/listen!

"Night Noises" - © Bruce A. Morrison

Since Google's blogspot doesn't have a really easy way to post simple audio files, I'll share it as a video file.  The image used on the video is a small "detail" of the image posted at the beginning of this blog...one I shared about 3 years back on this very blog.  It is of the pasture across the road from us, depicted at night in late summer - a moon lit landscape with a Great Horned Owl passing through in flight...maybe (?) on it's way up to Prairie Hill Farm to spook a rabbit or skunk out of cover for it's dinner!

This artwork original sold at the Artisans Road Trip back in 2008 but I do have signed open edition prints of this work for sale at the 2010 A.R.T. event this year.  I also have many new works (photographs, drawings and paintings) this year and would love to share them with you at the 2010 Artisans Road Trip coming up in just 2 weeks!  We'll share a lot of mouth watering treats from Georgie's kitchen as well!

Why not go on a early autumn road trip the 1st, 2nd or 3rd of October and stop by the studio here at Prairie Hill Farm?!!!  Even take a walk through the late Tallgrass Prairie here too and enjoy that air we all remember in the fall!

Enjoy the "Night Sounds" audio video and stop in for some day time memories if you're in the neighborhood!!!