Archived Works Friday! (Uh...Saturday!)

The next post for "Archived Works Friday” is a color pencil drawing from 37 years ago. As I mentioned before - I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen print) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work. I hope you'll find it interesting! 

 

Hardly any of us are strangers to color pencils...who didn't play with them as kids...they were less messy than crayons, but not as color filled with contrast and pigment as crayons were. The color pencils “of old” had wax based pencil leads and broke very easily, nearly impossible to erase and hard to get some “punch” out of!

 

My first (semi serious) attempts at color pencil were of birds of prey...I believe it was a Peregrine Falcon on a cliff above a waterfall or something like that. I have lost a clear memory of it – maybe out of self preservation! I do remember exhibiting it and some others at the first Ft Dodge sidewalk art fair when I was around 12 years old. 

 

Years later I became aware that this “second class” medium was getting more attention. People were really starting to do some impressive work with them; and the pencils themselves were a much higher quality and even more permanent than they had ever been years back. I started experimenting with them and found they were “fun”! 

 

In the mid 1980's (and earlier) the state and national conservation stamps had become all the rage and artists were going out of their way to enter into the competitions for them. The Federal Duck Stamp was the holy grail. These “stamp” artists and contests even made their way into American lore in the 1996 movie “Fargo”, where a pregnant police woman from Brainerd, MN is bent on solving some murders, while her husband stays home entering duck stamp competitions. Ha! Funny stuff for such a dark comedic crime thriller!!!

 

I decided to try one of Iowa's conservation stamp contests in 1985...I was fond of fly fishing and decided I'd do a Brook Trout, since they are actually native to the far NE Iowa cold water streams. The Iowa Brookies are pretty small delicate trout, matching the small spring fed streams they originate in. I, in all my “great wisdom” (ha!!!!) decided I'd make my Brook Trout a real hog and impress the judges! (Oh boy...where was my head?) Anyway, I decided to do the Brook Trout in color pencil, as I was getting pretty confident with this medium.

 

On the day of the Iowa Conservation Stamps Judging in Des Moines, we decided to go down and actually witness it! This was pretty exciting stuff for us “wannabe stamp artists”!!! When the Trout Stamp entries were shown I searched all through the images to find mine (of course) and was horrified! They hung mine up “SIDEWAYS!!!!” Auuughhhh! I could not say anything as the judges were not to know the identity of the artists (no artwork was signed on the front). After anguishing over what had happened, and as the judges were finishing their deliberations – another artist across the room pointed out that they had a picture hanging sideways – (THANK YOU!!!)...leave it to an artist to recognize something so obvious to any “SANE PERSON”!!!

 

The judges all stepped over to my drawing...one of them reached out and turned the picture upright...they talked among themselves for half a minute maybe, turned around and announced my big fat Brookie as the selection for the Iowa Trout Stamp for 1985!!!! 

 

This comedy of errors was transferred to the actual stamps when they were printed...I was again horrified when I received my stamps to sell with my prints – they were printed WRONG! I did NOT want to sell sideways stamps with my prints and contacted the Iowa DNR. Well...they would not reprint the stamps -there were 30,000 of them! BUT...after a bit of soul searching they agreed to reprint 300 the correct way so each of the 300 prints in my limited edition would have a correct one...I had to make an agreement that the only way someone could buy a correct stamp was to buy a print...how much dumb luck can I wrap myself in!!!!???? It was just nuts. 

 

It soon hit the news across the country that 30,000 1985 Iowa Trout stamps had been incorrectly printed and “ONLY” 300 had been printed correctly! I was busy for a couple weeks shipping prints and correct stamps everywhere across the country and even got into a bidding war over the original drawing. It was almost as crazy as a movie, but without murder and mayhem – thank goodness!!!

 

I've stuck with color pencils ever since – only the modern ones are like day and night compared to those of those crazy days in the 80's and earlier!

 

(This drawing and other archived artwork can be viewed at - https://morrisons-studio.com/archived-works/ )

 

"Brook Trout – 1985 Iowa Trout Stamp" – color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

(from a California private collection)

Prairie Landscapes and Birds - in the Studio and Our World

"Stream Side Autumn Ashes" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

After so much time spent rebuilding web sites - I've finally been spending time trying to be productive in the studio.  I've managed to tick off some ideas that have been on my to-do list...mostly color pencil works, although I'm also working on an oil at the present as well.

One landscape is of some Ashes along the Waterman Creek, just south of us about 5-6 miles.  I remember the ashes being in good autumn color - these trees always seem to be one of the earlier trees to turn around here and I've often lamented that it's also one of the more abundant hard woods around here - with Emerald Ash Bore only a breeze away now, soon they'll just be a memory...

This was a fun piece to work on, kind of a struggle at times to give the ash leaves the luminosity I wanted, but all in all - the piece worked out satisfactorily.  And autumn is probably my favorite season!  It was fun doing a pleasant autumn day in our valley while warm and toasty inside during some frigid winter days! ("Stream Side - Autumn Ashes" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison )

"Prairie Sunflowers" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

The second  landscape is a little different...more of a foreground subject with a slight bokeh to the background (more out of focus). I wanted to cast more interest and color contrast on the sunflowers and let the focal interest decline behind them. I may have spent too much time trying to delineate the type of sunflowers though...they are meant to be “Showy Sunflowers”...or as some call them “Prairie Sunflowers”...the scientific name would be “Helianthus pauciflorus “. I found it a bit daunting getting the leaves the way I wanted...should have drawn them before drawing in the background...its hard controlling color pencil when drawing over previously sketched areas...so spent a lot of time on damage control. These sunflowers have been known to hybridize with other types, so all this can get confusing! I'll just call 'em “Prairie Sunflowers” and let it go at that. (“Prairie Sunflowers” - color pencil drawing - ©Bruce A. Morrison) 

"White-breasted Nuthatch - Portrait" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

I just recently finished a White-Breasted Nuthatch "portrait"...these are a favorite from the early years - actually the first bird I ever photographed up close - with my first SLR and telephoto lens...back in 1963. Winter days always seem more uplifting with the pleasant nasal calling of these little guys...they're one of the friendliest yard birds as well - often still on the feeder when bringing new seed for the day, seemingly unconcerned with my presence. I portrayed this one “head down” as they are typically seen climbing up and down tree trunks, branches, and on the bird feeders! (“White-breasted Nuthatch – Portrait” - color pencil drawing - ©Bruce A. Morrison) 

"Bobolink - Portrait" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

The last (but not least!) bird is my prairie favorite - the Bobolink! My father remembers them on the farm in the late 1920's and early 30's as the "Spink-spank-spink" bird. I get a kick out of their call and antics; a birding friend mentioned he thought they sounded like R2D2. Ha! He's right!

When we first came here 20 years ago, I found Bobolinks along several pastures...these birds are on the list of grassland obligates in most trouble in North America. I have been concerned with their situation for many years, and watched their local populations in the "neighborhood" with interest. Slowly I have noted nesting pairs disappearing in local pastures.

We've always had Bobolinks in our south pasture...until last year. We share this pasture with a neighbor and last year they took out their fenceline bordering their crop ground and plowed into their edge to gain more ground and eliminate the weed issues the fence was creating, but then they went into the pasture even more. The small pasture apparently lost too much size and the birds never returned. 

"Our" pair disappeared last year but we still had a pair directly across the road to keep their song and antics still in view. The pasture across the road had never been mowed/hayed before the 4th of July since we've been here (now 20 years). I always appreciated that! Not only does that protect nesting birds like Song Sparrows, Common Yellow-throats, Meadow Larks, Sedge Wrens, Dickcissels, and many others - but it also protected Bobolinks.

Bobolinks are curiously different birds - they are early arrivals - often around the same time the Pasque Flowers bloom on the prairie slopes. They get right down to pairing up, setting up their territories and nesting. And they only nest "once" a season. Their young hatch in late spring and fledge quickly. So many are lost to haying...if their nests don't remain unmolested till around the first of July - they are usually lost. Once they have fledged, they gather with other birds and resemble "nomads" through the middle of summer - traveling around in small flocks until heading out for their winter homes in South America.

Sadly, last summer the pasture across the road from us was mowed early...mid June. We watched hopelessly as the adult male could be seen flying around in the spot it's nest had once been. We don't know how the female fared? The male left after a couple days...their nesting season was done. Will this or another pair return to that pasture next year? It is certain their progeny won't. Gradually, bit by bit this scenario plays out across their nesting range. They are grassland obligates - in need of conservation practices. Sure, there are still pastures or small grasslands in the region that still support Bobolinks, but that does not negate the fact they are noticeably vanishing from there former ranges. I am still "sincerely" hoping that a pair will return here for another chance...

I read last year that Bobolink numbers have become so low in New England states that in Maryland some regional farmers are being given a stipend or payment for not haying before July. I don't know much about this effort or what other plans (if any) are being considered to help this bird remain on its former nesting sites for the future? I don't want to sound alarmist, but I am concerned, and so are conservationists and ornithologists familiar with the well documented decline in our grassland birds.

I realize that our birds are all in decline, recent reports from the past couple years are not promising. I'd like to believe that we can still do something, but being a small witness to this firsthand is hard on this old birder's heart. (“Bobolink – Portrait” - color pencil drawing - ©Bruce A. Morrison)

It's still February but much warmer than usual and very dry...we've only had two snows this winter and the last one is about 50-60% gone.  It makes for better farm chores for sure but we are still in a drought here...I sure hope March and April bring good rains!

Have a great February out there - please be good to one another!

 

 

 

Friday - Archived Works Day!

 

"Autumn Migration, Red-tail Hawks" 

pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison 

(from a South Dakota private collection)

 

Here's the second posting for "Archived Works Friday”...OK, I realize its Saturday but did post on a couple other social media platforms and forgot (!) my blog!!! This time its a pencil drawing from 35 years ago. As I mentioned before - I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen print) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work. I hope you'll find it interesting!

 

I had a long, long relationship of just plain awe and admiration for birds of prey...I built my first (and last) “mew” when I was 12 years old, behind the garage in the back yard. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mews_(falconry) My first sidewalk “art fair” drawings were birds of prey, also at age 12. I spent too much time in the timber searching out hawk nests and never grew tired of lying on my back on a hillside along the Lizard Creek valley watching birds of prey soaring on a thermal or migrating through in the fall or spring. While doing so, I did try and squeeze in some experiments with bal-chatri, or "hair umbrella", an old East Indian idea – I carried a small home made one and a “volunteer” English Sparrow (House Sparrow) around in it on my long hikes to watch hawks. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal-chatri) I also devoured “The Falconer's Handbook” by Howard Smith, as nightly reading before bed...

 

I always had trouble drawing things that didn't hold still for extended periods of time (that just wasn't my gift)...Audubon worked from skins that he and his parties “shot” - I couldn't do that! (Didn't want to anyway!). I saved money from my Des Moines Register paper route and eventually got a camera and lenses to get pictures of the birds to draw from...this was in 1962...I'll save more of that for another post.

 

The posted drawing here was probably my first “serious” try for drawing hawks (Red-tails in this example)...I never forgot those carefree days idling on the hillside gazing up and this drawing was prompted by those memories. And although the scenery was very similar, I drew directly from the hillsides and valleys I became familiar with after moving back to NW Iowa, where we've lived for many years now. Hillsides and valleys along the Little Sioux River just south of our studio a few miles.

 

Now we can enjoy the same sort of view here off the studio deck, or a park bench on one of the hillside pastures...full circle? I haven't indulged in pencil (graphite) for a few years, but still admire a good pencil rendering when I see one!

 

(This drawing and other archived artwork can be viewed at - https://morrisons-studio.com/archived-works/)

Fridays - "Archived Works" Day!

 

"Low Water Morning" - oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison (from a private collection in Maine)

 

I've decided to try and make Fridays an "Archived Works" day. I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen print) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work. I hope you'll find it interesting! 

 

This first posting will be a summer one - lets warm things up please! It's a small oil painting of the creek across the road from our home and the studio - Waterman Creek. I'll get into a background on the creek's name some other time, but it has a lot of history with "known" Native Americans...as far back as the Mill Creek culture of 1200 A.D. and earlier. The oldest known "remaining" Native American crop field in Iowa is just behind this view depicted...maybe 3-400 yards. 

 

I'm cognizant of these things when I'm out hiking - and I'll add that this is private property that I've been given permission to walk - making it even more special because I am less familiar with the landscape and its much more of a privilege to be there.

 

If you grew up near or on a creek or stream, you can relate to the draw of it all...the sounds of the water rippling over and around rocks, the occasional flash of minnows, a water strider or two in the back pools...a crawdad on a clear bottom, or a frog jumping in ahead of your gaze. They are a magnet to me. 

 

When I walk a creek, it brings back so much that I can be completely distracted from "adult" things and usually that means my mission of finding composition, color, movement and light...something to paint, draw or photograph. It's a shame I've become so serious...I tell myself to just chill and find a rock to sit on...just close my eyes and listen - take it in and hang onto the moment. 

 

This painting was done more as a "study", a term meaning it may or may not be revisited another time as a larger, more in depth work. I was happy with the color usage and play...it was a drought year that summer and the creek was easy to walk while running so low. This little painting now resides in a private collection in Maine.

 

(This painting and other archived artwork can be viewed at - https://morrisons-studio.com/archived-works/ )

 

"Low Water Morning" - oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

Merry Christmas from the Studio!

Well the web site had been fully revised and launched! 

My website has been in need of updating for longer than I care to admit, so nearly this entire Fall has been devoted singularly to that. The address is the same - www.morrisons-studio.com

The web site will now automatically format properly for desk top, lap top, tablet and mobile device viewing, and be enabled for SSL - making it a secure site from here on out; all big steps I needed to take. It will also be much easier for me to update in the future - no longer doing html the old way will be a joy after doing it "manually" the past 25 years!

Surprisingly the studio sales have been fairly robust during all my chaos this year - the "originals" (paintings and drawings) have sold so well I have a lot of work ahead of me to fill empty spots on the gallery walls this winter!!! A lot to be grateful for! Thank you "Everyone" for your interest and support!

 

Merry Christmas!

I would like to sign off here in thanking everyone that has visited the studio this and in past years.

I hope each one of you and your families were able to celebrate your Christmas in a special and cherished way.

ALL my Best Wishes to you in the New Year!

 

 

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving Out There!

 

"View from Brian's Overlook, Sunrise No.1"

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

4 months!  Good grief, what has happened to me?!  Well..."Life" I guess.  It's been a late summer and fall full of work, family and those other things that crop up I suppose. 

 

One thing I decided to finally take up, while working with creating a web site for a local private non-profit organization, is to update and upgrade my own business web site...this has been so involved, with my own site, that its taken most of my "free" time since September.  There is more involved in replacing an existing site these days than to just build a new one!  I have just finished this upgrade but will not be able to launch until I finish backing up the more important e-mails from the past 20 years on my older business web mail.  Once I launch - everything from the old "legacy" web mail will be gone - period.  So much of it can be gone as far as I'm concerned but as I work through it, I'm finding so many important things I don't want to lose track of!  Hopefully these will be backed up in the next couple weeks or sooner.

 

Below Bluffy, Upper Falls on the Wenesaga River

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

One thing I snuck in during the summer months was some personal painting time...I wanted to take a break from the requests I've had, the commissioned work and just the neighborhood artwork and do some painting just for myself.  I hadn't really done that for a long, long time and there were images of the northwoods Georgie and I had loved so many years ago that I wanted on canvas.  A person has to shake out those cobwebs and get them worked out, or they'll stay stuck in those far corners of the mind - besides I really wanted to paint them and not allow those memories to be lost.  

 

These are personal but I'll show one memory that I was very pleased with in recreating something precious.  The "Upper Falls" as we always referred to it, is on the Wenesaga River of the Red Lake District in NW Ontario, Canada.  My wife's family spent decades of summers up there and when I became part of their family, I spent several years visiting with Georgie.  

 

This scene was several miles up stream from the family cabin but was a favorite spot...so wild in character and a great fishing hole to boot!  There was a trail on the east side I loved walking and photographing along.  The left side of the painting has a darkened space in the shoreline that represents an old Chippewa Indian's "Line Cabin".  The Indian that trapped this system of river and lakes, had several small cabins along the trapline that he would take refuge in should he be caught out in bad weather, or need to make a stop for shelter for the night.  The forest has since claimed these small one room cabins and the spruce bough bed frames he constructed for a day or night's respite.

Now back to work on other things here in the studio and back on the acreage.

"Back Water Autumn"

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

The Fall here in the valley was surprisingly nice, despite the second severely dry year in a row.  But we had some surprising little gifts of rainfall this Fall...too late for the gardens or the orchard...or the neighbor's crops but very appreciated!  The small ox-bow back water nearby (seen above) actually raised an inch or so, staving off a complete dry down.  It's going to freeze to the bottom this winter I'm afraid though...its barely 2-3 inches deep all the way across now.

 

We've spent quite a bit of time this Fall picking seed on the part of our north pasture that has done well despite the drought.  This went on for about 6 weeks - waiting for many late fall forbs and grasses to finish.  And we've both spent a good deal of time mapping out a remaining section in the northwest corner to seed this winter.  We haven't done a winter seeding in some time...its not always easy getting a good burn in the fall; the brome can be a nuisance when it refuses to dry down enough for a burn.  And then it snows before you're able to get anything done!  Seeding must find some good ground contact and burning is the only way to do this on sloped and uneven ground.  We tried seeding the South pasture a few years back, in the Spring after a burn, but the success was not what we needed.  Every Fall burn I've ever been involved in were the most successful in germination.  That long period blanketed in snow...the freezing and thawing, is the natural way things happen anyway - why not embrace it!  Now we just hope most of the seed is viable.  We had so many plants that didn't even break dormancy this past summer because of the absence of rain.

 

Now its a waiting game...we want to broadcast seed just prior to a good snow event and cold front to set the proper stage of conditions.  In the meantime its back to the studio and working on more ideas in my head than I have time left on this Earth to possibly execute.  

 

But hey, that's a lot to be grateful for. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving - and a grateful Winter ahead!

 

 

 

 

 

It's Been Worse...Throw a Bit of Fun Into the Mix!

It's getting on into the end of July and a lot has transpired in the pasture.  Its still very dry and warm...especially this week...temps in the mid 90's and a dew point that's nearly subtropical!  We got lucky about 2 weeks back and received  a little over one and a half inches of rain.  VERY grateful for that!  But still hauling water to the gardens and several smaller/newer trees that are showing stress.

I got a new toy a couple weeks back too...an older electric golf cart!  I am breaking speed records for water hauling now.  It is everything I thought it'd be - useful AND fun!

 

I call it the Prairie Schooner...been "sailing" all over the place in it and does it ever climb hills well!  Both Georgie and I take it for a spin daily. carries 4 buckets of water in the back and a short filled one on the floor in front...when there's no well, and hoses don't reach 100's of feet, this is the next best thing and the ride cools you off too!

Even though its been quite dry (still in a "severe" drought) the pasture's plants have been doing their best.  We're finding things are shorter in stature than "normal" years...and some plants have actually not bloomed and may not this summer now.

But here's a few that have been showing up since the last posting...

 

Wild Four-O'Clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea) with a nectaring Common Looper Moth (Autographa-precationis), along the road fence line on our native pasture. These almost always get past me (the Four-O'clocks), and when I seem to remember to look - they're about spent! I also see these Common Loopers often here...I guess their larvae feed on many things here like the asters and the verbena, as well as many other forbs. Plus I see the Eastern Bluebirds feed on the larvae frequently - everybody benefits! (photograph © Bruce A. Morrison)

 

 

 

The Narrow-leaved Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia) has bloomed all over the pasture but now going to seed. When we first moved here 20 years back it was the only purple coneflower I could find in the entire county "and" in adjoining counties...Waterman Prairie here had only E. angustifolia. But now we're seeing E. pallida everywhere in the roadsides - even in our ditches since the county planted them about 12 years back. The inset shows a native bee collecting pollen...and I'm still trying to figure out what type it is. Although its nearly impossible to see in this image, there are 4 insects on the inset image blossom...the bee, two fly species and a very large ominous looking insect (beetle?) hidden underneath the bee. Didn't see it until I was processing images! (photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison)

 

Lots of milkweeds blooming in the pasture here, this one often overlooked as its fairly diminutive...but the White-lined Sphinx Moth finds it just fine. This is also likely the most numerous "Asclepias" out here...they pack themselves in tightly together in large numbers, but blend into the undergrowth well. Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) SE O'Brien County (photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison)

A few more from the pasture...(top left to right) Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea), Lead Plant (Amorpha canescens) and White Prairie Clover (Dalea candida)...things are going to seed fast. (photographs - © Bruce A. Morrison)

 

Top left - then clockwise - Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium), Ox-eye Daisy (Heliopsis helianthoides) with Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum), Grey-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), and last -  Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa).  Because of the current drought, the Rattlesnake Master has mostly gone dormant...out of the entire pasture only one has bloomed this summer so far.  The Culver's Root, the Bergamot and the coneflowers are doing fine...the plants are shorter but still blooming well.  (photographs - © Bruce A. Morrison)

 

Its been worse...hot and dry, but we're still fortunate compared to others - and we're making the best of it!

Wishing you a safe and peaceful summer out there!  Be good to one another.