Into August

"Prairie Bale - No.1" - Oil Painting - ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

Although this month has half expired, I still think of it as new.  I probably exhaust people with my lamentations of time slipping through our figurative fingers, but in my mind - August just arrived!

I just recently finished a small oil painting of a hay bale in a nearby county area planted to prairie.  It brings about many thoughts to mind.

About 25 years ago I met a farmer down in Larabee, Iowa who had hayed the prairie ground on Steele prairie (Northern Cherokee County) every summer during his youth and younger years. He talked of the amazing flowers and grasses, the Prairie Skinks, and the grassland birds...the ground had never been plowed.

 

It must have been just like the early settlers trying to make due with life on this virgin earth...imagine the smell of the fresh cut prairie vegetation, the sight and sounds of bounty back then!

 

A small plot of county land a couple miles north of us holds nothing quite as dramatic, but when I discovered the prairie planting there had been mowed and baled, I couldn't resist taking some photos and trying an oil painting of one. (SE O'Brien County)

 

Although the haying of prairie 100+ years back would not resemble the round bales of modern farming by any stretch of the imagination - I cannot resist the temptation of images of hay bales in the landscape. The Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) flowering around in the recovering native grasses give that hint of those days hearkening back to the pioneer beginnings on the tallgrass.

 

As the painting sits on my easel drying, I contemplate another perhaps...time will tell.

I have been posting fairly regularly on my You Tube Account the past few weeks...one from this week featured Cup Plants while another this week featured Swamp Milkweed.

Feel free to check them out! 

 

Consider subscribing to my You Tube Channel as well!

We seem to go from feast to famine here.  The rain shut off in early July...little over an inch of rain through some very hot and windy weeks.  Georgie has been having to hand water her two gardens, which never works as well as rain.  She has now gone through all 8 rain barrels.  We have no well here.

The pre-Christmas seeding I did on the south pasture has mostly dried up.  I don't know if the heavy spring rain here brought them on too quickly?  But they sprouted upward and had quite an impressive canopy of leaves - really surprised me.  Then the sky turned off and the heat and high winds turned on...now most of the new growth is shriveled and dried up looking.  But that pasture is mostly gravel slope...just drains too well.  I'm of the thought that the early abundance of moisture may have handicapped new plants...hope I'm wrong.

A wet Red-headed Woodpecker appreciates any rain showers as well!

 

We are getting some light showers right now - about time!  So appreciate any rain what-so-ever...

I hope everyone out there is doing well and having had a decent summer so far.  We still have about 5 weeks of it left to enjoy out there - please do!

Be good to one another, we are all in this together!

July Only Comes Once a Year...

 

Red-headed Woodpecker - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Of course it does!  I guess I'm trying to be metaphorical...or maybe melancholy?  Even I don't know.  Maybe getting older has me thinking about things too much.  I was so used to saying to myself things like "I've got to try and see those next July."  Or maybe "We really should take that trip to (fill in the blank) next summer.  I'm not quite there yet but so many things are now out of my reach - they were great ideas but now no longer in the cards.  Especially things like that long hike or trek I always thought would be great to do...even some places I've long had permission to walk with my camera are beginning to be out of the question any more.  If you haven't reached that place in your life, it is sobering when they confront you, and you realize fully, I shouldn't have kept putting it off.  That is "life".

 

 

Lately, when I'm up to it, I have been trying very hard to take each moment and have fun with it.  When I was younger, I was busy with things that seemed important.  Now I know so much of it wasn't.  And now, everything is (important).

 

Female Eastern Bluebird - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

We have had such a fun year with nature here on our little postage stamp sized acreage.  Every day I try and watch and catch things before they pass. 

 

Cottontail Rabbit...rabbits make Georgie crazy! - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Echinacea angustifolia in our pasture - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Pearly Crescentspot (Phyciodes tharos) - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

Asclepias tuberosa in the pasture here - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

 

Now I haven't caught everything with the camera or easel of course...it's just not possible.  But what I miss stays with us in other ways - the Yellow-billed Cuckoo which calls from high in the grove, we know its there as it sings for us each day.  Then there's the Eastern Wood Pewee that we also hear each day; we do see it "fly catching" from the lower branches around the yard, but often we only hear it talk to us.  

The morning chorus has been amazing.  I used to try and record it with audio equipment in past years...maybe succeeded in a small way but could never do it justice!  Always first seems to be the Robins, then the Catbirds and Mourning Doves, then the Chipping Sparrows and the Orioles and Meadowlarks and Dickcissels, House Wrens, and so many others...sleeping with the windows open is a blessing!

We have noticed those missing this year...we no longer hear the night time calling of Sedge Wrens, and this year no juvenile Great Horned Owls or summer Redtailed Hawks.  Although the Great Blue Herons returned to the Waterman Creek rookery this spring - they abandoned the rookery in June and none raised their young here.

Not every year is the same..some things change, and not always as we'd wish.  Although we still have our ash trees here in the acreage and in the valley out front - there are farmsteads only a 5 minute trip from us that are losing all of theirs as I speak.  We are not far behind. 

But I will try and take in and enjoy in any way I can what is given to us each day as it happens...each day is a gift!  There is so much to see and do and July only comes once a year.

Be good to one another out there - we truly need each other.

Archival Works Friday for July (July already???!!!!)

 It's Archival Works Friday!!!

The next post for "Archived Works Friday” originated from a sighting and photograph taken in NE Kansas in the summer of 1976.

As I mentioned before - I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen prints) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work - the first Friday of the month. I hope you'll find it interesting!

I wasn't real familiar with birds of the grasslands or prairies early on...I grew up in a river valley with plenty of woodlands to explore and the birds found in that habitat were birds I grew up with.

Back in the mid 1970's we lived in the Kansas City area (Lenexa – then Shawnee), and spent what little free time we had exploring the Flint Hills and down along the eastern border and around Marais des Cygnes...all neat places. One day we were along an old railroad bed and a Dickcissel was singing away. Believe it or not – I “thought” I knew what that bird was but wasn't sure so tried getting a shot of it (shooting color slide film back in those days).

Although using a 400mm lens at the time, it was still not close enough and the slide film image wasn't the best...but there was a “seed” of an idea germinating way back then – the bird's pose was visually interesting enough to keep in my files for some future use.

It wasn't until 30 years later that I finally put an idea down on paper in color pencil...and the “study” drawing of a male Dickcissel singing was born -

"Summer Song - Dickcissel" - color pencil drawing (In the permanent drawing collection of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI) - © Bruce A. Morrison

About 10 years later I used the original sketch as a reference for adding to a prairie landscape I titled - "Prairie Song, Dickcissel" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison; now residing in a private collection in Minnesota.

I've been posting some about Dickcissels here on the acreage a fair bit this past month – I have grown extremely fond of them and have been having some preliminary thoughts in my head about doing something with them again; this time also as a tribute to this little grassland obligate. We'll see what comes of that in the near future I hope...love these little “Barking Dogs” of the Prairie!

Thank you for reading along!

Archival Works Friday...ya, I know it's Saturday, what can I say?

 

"Big Bluestem in Bloom" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

Archival Works Friday (Yes I Know It's Saturday!)

 

As I mentioned before - I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen prints) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work. I hope you'll find it interesting! Posting the first Friday of the month...

 

This Archival Works day is a color pencil drawing...my use of this medium dates back to the early 1960's. My first "Side Walk Art Fair" participation in Ft. Dodge, IA had all color pencil drawings; I think I was about 12 years old at the time and I only remember one of

them...probably a "self preservation" mechanism so I won't still be traumatized by how bad they must have been!!!!

 

The subject in the highlighted drawing "Big Bluestem in Bloom" is related to my 2 1/2 decade infatuation with "Prairies". I don't think my love of prairies is a very well kept secret - having been involved in prairie projects from the college level, public entities, and private consulting. Georgie has referred to me as "Prairie Boy" to many folks over the years (Ha!). Ya, well that's sure not where she found me - but yes, stuff happens doesn't it.

 

When we found the acreage here 20 years ago, it was the perfect fit for us...we had a few trees and a small bit of wooded habitat with nice spring ephemerals, and some great hillside gravel slopes with actual native prairie remnants...something that has become less easy to find in Iowa...only less than one half of one percent of this state's original prairies still exist. This little spot may not be on the super quality charts but even places like ours are disappearing much too frequently.

 

Something that I was hoping for in our little spot in the former tallgrass prairie was a place to work and play...it has lived up to my hopes yet has so much further to go. But we all have a lifespan...we're just making the best of what this "gift" of time has presented us. I always wanted to just walk out the door in the morning...or heck "anytime", and wander with the camera or paint brush, and record native prairie plant communities and the fauna

 

found there. It has been a wonderful gift! Every day here is a blessing! I found myself not just photographing forbs (wildflowers) and grasses, but also painting and drawing them.

 

When I'm out and about on the pastures, I often video tape things as I'm photographing them...video is just a side hobby now...I used to do video taping and editing for educational institutions, government agencies and non-profits, for part of my living, but no longer - it's simply something fun to do now.

 

The drawing in question...

 

One morning in mid summer I was out early on the pasture photographing things in the first light of the day. The flowers and grasses, insects and birds...the usual.  Later I was in the studio downloading files and editing images and sorting through the morning's video footage. As I was watching footage I came to a frame that I'd only recorded - a lot of times I'm easily distracted and forget to take stills (photographs) also (and vice versa). There was an image from the video that grabbed me - "That'd make a great color pencil drawing!".

 

"Big Bluestem in Bloom" - color pencil drawing was born from a still frame in the video footage.

 

I have since been inspired many times in a like manner from other footage as well in past years...some landscapes, some flora and fauna.

 

If you've followed me this far and haven't nodded off or just plain zoned out and left, I'm going to leave a link here for a video I edited together 9 years back...it's of a walk down Waterman Creek about 5 miles south of the studio. During this walk I was inspired to paint two landscapes from the footage you'll watch. The video is here -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f8oqe68WJw

 

After you watch this video, go to my web site at the following link, it will take you to my Archived Works page. There are two oil paintings there that were inspired from footage in the video. The link is here -

https://morrisons-studio.com/archived-works/

 

(I'm really making this too easy!)

 

The first person that gives me the name of one of the 2 paintings inspired by footage in this video, will win a free signed print of that painting.  Just the first person, responding  to this story...just give me "one" of the painting titles and you win!

 

Thanks for hanging in there and good luck! (See you next month!)

Archival Works Friday - N0. 8!

"Archival Works Friday" No. 8!

The next post for "Archival Works Friday" hearkens back 12 and then 7 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!

This post involves acceptance and rejection. Acceptance - something every artist craves...heck, something every human being craves! And rejection - something we are all familiar with at some time in our lives, unless amnesia's involved.

As far as art is concerned, I first became acquainted with these "rival aspects" back in art school. I remember so well, the class critiques...your work was put up for display in front of the class and sometimes other students were respectful and kind (or sympathetic) and then there were times you'd wished you overslept and missed class!!!! The most dreaded critiques were from visiting professors; you could seriously doubt your choice of career after one of those. But being critiqued wasn't just a learning experience, it was also character building - you sure learned what other artists thought about your work! Ha! It got pretty hairy at times - a lot of fragile egos out in the art world!

It takes many years for some of us to find ourselves...to really start to believe in oneself and create your own "look" or niche. But you also realize that your work is not for everyone. That can be a form of rejection to some, but hey you can't please them all and that's just the way it should be. Wouldn't it be boring if everyone liked the same thing! I could rattle off some very "commercially" successful artist's names that I wouldn't want on my walls - its all personal taste right?! But to have someone like your work enough to "invest" in it is something that makes all those years of plying yourself worthwhile.

Acceptance and rejection are always a fact of life for artists - even for old ones! I'll share a story of acceptance - then rejection - Then overwhelming acceptance. It was neat...then disappointing...then very gratifying.

 

"July in the Valley" - plein air oil painting

(6X8")

 

The example in question began with a small 6X8 plein air painting of the valley out in front of the house and studio one July 12 years ago The sky was just amazing to watch, as it so often is out here. I titled the small painting "July in the Valley" and was very pleased with it. Plein air painting (sometimes termed "pochades") are paintings done outside at the actual location, and are often done just as "studies"...sometimes to "test the water" for a larger painting maybe to be done later on.

This small painting was spotted on the studio gallery wall and purchased by another artist from eastern Iowa, a retired architect. I was very pleased this person was so taken by this small painting! Acceptance is good!

 

"July in the Valley" - studio painting

(12X16")

 

A couple years after this sale was made I had another visitor to the studio. This was a local/area person that had been to the studio before and a former customer. (I'll keep this customer "vague" so as not to shine a light on anyone.) The visitor remembered the small plein air painting that had been sold to the artist I mentioned, and the visitor knew I was thinking of doing a larger painting in the studio of this same scene. I told the visitor that I would alert them when the painting was finished and that they had first dibs if they wanted it. Well some time passed and I finally got to the painting, eventually finished it, and notified the potential client. The potential client came out to the studio and I showed them the painting, the painting was accepted and was purchased. Now it would be normal and nice if things ended here. But several weeks later the client called and asked if they could return the painting...they sounded uneasy but I graciously accepted the return and refunded the purchase price. I felt bad but could tell the client was embarrassed...I won't go into their reason but it was a bit "out there". But that's life right?! Rejection is not fun.

Rejection can often cause a person to question things...is the painting a good work? Am I missing something? But I've learned over the years to not get too rattled when things don't come out quite like I expected.

The studio painting took it's place on the studio wall, right along with other paintings - for the next couple years.

Down the road I submitted this painting, along with two others, to EMC Insurance Corporate office in Des Moines for consideration for their Corporate Art Collection of Iowa Artists. EMC has a neat way of adding artist's works to their collection - they let their employees vote on their choice! After the works submitted for their collection had gone through several EMC employee committees to narrow down the choices - I was notified that "All 3" of my paintings had been over whelming accepted!! Again - acceptance is good!!!

It felt like a win for me, especially since multiple people and committees had "wanted" this painting...sure, one person thought it wasn't right for them personally after a while, but now it was a favorite of many, over and above a lot of other artists that had submitted work! And, oh ya - they also wanted my other two paintings as well...that was REAL acceptance!

So now my studio painting "July in the Valley", and the two others, are part of the EMC Insurance Corporation's EMC Art Collection (as well as one other from 3 years earlier), and I still plug along and strive to do my best. But I know that whatever I do...painting, drawing serigraph or even my photography - aren't everyone's cup of tea, nor do I expect them to be. And I also know that having work purchased by clients is a very good feeling, one that will never grow old.

Thank You, all of my past and present friends and clients, for giving something from my life a good home!

Archived Works friday - No.4!

Post No. 4! The next post for "Archived Works Friday” comes as a pair from the mid 1980's. As I mentioned before - I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen prints) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work. I hope you'll find it interesting!

 

Back in the 1980's I experimented with floating bird blinds; the kind you take pictures from. I took my first one out to a favorite marsh. it was a floating "bass buddy"...maybe I'm not getting the name right but it was essentially a nylon zippered slip cover that fit over an inner-tube, with a seat sewn in for the "occupant". It made a "bobber" out of the wearer! It was actually made for a fisherman to wade and float around on small ponds and fish from it...I guess the idea was to make you more mobile and get you out to where the fish were without a boat.

 

I got the brilliant idea that I could use it as a floating bird photography blind. I made a dome of chicken wire mesh and covered it in cattails which I tied to it - trying to imitate a muskrat hut. Great idea huh!???? I wore chest high waders and walked the blind out until I lost contact with the bottom, then just kind of bobbed around and "paddled" with my feet...took some getting used to but eventually made my way to a clump of reeds and anchored my feet around them to try and hold still.

 

It was kind of hit and miss that first try out on the marsh...muskrats would swim by and look at me like "what on earth!?". Thankfully none tried to “enter” the hut!!! An occasional Yellow-headed Blackbird would land on top of me - where I couldn't get its picture of course! The neatest encounter this first trip in the blind was an American Bittern - I had never been so close to one before! It was up clinging to the rushes trying to get a better look at this "thing" (my blind) - it was probably thinking "This wasn't here earlier!?". I did my best to get shots with the camera but it was difficult with the blind bobbing with every move I'd make.

 

This was back way before digital cameras. I didn't even have auto focus back then and shooting Ektachrome E-6 film that I'd process myself. The photos didn't turn out too bad. The Bittern's body was somewhat hidden by the reeds as it climbed along. As I looked at several of the slides I picked some out and created a composition from them - trying to portray the bird among the rushes without it's features being so obscured from view.

 

I first did a detailed pencil sketch, and was fairly pleased with it...but I was looking for something a bit more "graphic" in presentation and decided to do a serigraph (silk screen print) of it. I won't get into the details of that process this time, as its very lengthy. I had been accepted into the international "Birds in Art" exhibition the year before with a pencil drawing and thought I'd try entering again with a serigraph...I wanted to prove to myself that the acceptance the year before was not just a "flash in the pan".

 

The design was drawn directly on separate screens from the original pencil composition and broken down into solid colors...the exhibition deadline was fast approaching and I was having great difficulty registering colors and getting everything to look like I wanted. I finally managed to get one that I liked and hurriedly got it entered in time for the deadline.

 

It was accepted! I was over the moon and beside myself... once again being included in the prestigious international Bird Art exhibition "Birds in Art". Rubbing shoulders with artists from every continent was very humbling - I could see how far I had to go to even measure up to what work I was seeing.

 

As a side note on my maiden voyage on the marsh - when I had been out on the water, the wind had come up from the south and soon I had white caps! I was a good 100-150 yards out from shore and the wind was taking me to the other side of the marsh! It took all of an hour, or more to fight my way back to the landing. Completely played out, I drug myself into the car and turned on the radio - it was giving high winds/watercraft warnings for the day! NO KIDDING!!???

 

I revised my "floating blind" design - used marine plywood with foam filled pontoons, a lighter camo covered chicken wire frame that sat on top, and a platform for a tripod "head" to affix the camera and lens...so much better! (and safer) Still have it today...hanging out in the studio shed. Just need the time and "energy" to take it out again into the marshes...sounds like "The Old Man and the Sea" revisited to me!

 

"Rush Lake, American Bittern - Study" - pencil drawing - ©Bruce A. Morrison (from an Iowa private collection)

 

"Rush Lake, American Bittern" - serigraph - ©Bruce A. Morrison (from the Permanent Collection of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI)

 

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

 

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!

 

 

 

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