Print of the Week - "Wolf Tree - Bur Oak"

"Wolf Tree - Bur Oak" - open edition print

from the original oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

 

"Wolf Tree - Bur Oak" was a painting done of a Bur Oak at Southwood Wildlife Area down in Woodbury County, Iowa.  Older Bur Oaks are amazing trees and their branches characteristically reach down and sometimes even rest upon the ground.  Often you will see scat on top of these branches from Raccoon and even Fox.  You won't see these branches in manicured parks or residential yards of course - only where they are not trimmed or pruned over the years...like out in a pasture or prairie.

The term "Wolf Tree" is given to a dominant tree in a location; a tree that has no other competition.  The dictionary defines it as "a very large tree that has a wide-spreading crown and inhibits or prevents the growth of smaller trees around it".

 

Bur Oaks are favorites of mine...they survive prairie fires well with their thick corky bark, and they are slow growers for their region.  They have such character in their shape and branches.  When you see them out in the open in a prairie or oak savanna, they are very majestic looking.

 

"Wolf Tree - Bur Oak" is available as a signed open edition print with an image size of approximately 10X15" on an archival sheet of 13X17" paper.  All our prints are printed with archival inks and on archival papers for a couple life time's or more worth of viewing pleasure!

 

Thank you for visiting - I hope you'll check back again soon!  

 

Have a great August!

 

 

 

 

On The Road Again

It's been a bit since my last entry; I think we've been too buried in work here to do a decent job of keeping current. I could make this entry a continuation of the last one...oh what a tangled web technology seems to weave...but let's not go there!

Summer is in full swing on the Tallgrass in our region now...even here on our prairie remnant things are looking pretty cool. I always hate to see some things finish up and disappear but others always take their places. The Bobolinks have left to their wandering now, from the pasture here and across the road. I enjoyed their "spink/spank/spink" calling through the late spring and early summer, but they've finished up their nesting and rearing and have headed off to wander the grasslands for the remainder of the summer.

Narrow-leaf Purple Coneflower

Our native Narrow-leaf Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia) has been beautiful and held up pretty well over the past 3 weeks but is now waning...they'll stand sentry over the remnant north of the house - their drying stalks and seed heads will still be standing next spring.

We're off one project and on to another. This one has us visiting many sites in NW Iowa, to eventually add to the NW Iowa Watchable Wildlife web site. Its a real enjoyable project and one that makes me get out and away from the studio and the computer.

Along the trail in the Bertram Reservation

One location we visited last week was one I photographed on several years back, it's the Bertram Reservation east of Peterson, Iowa in Clay County. A Boy Scout camp 40 years or so ago, is now an area of remnant Bur Oak savannas and hillside prairie. The wooded trails and open vistas are a real treat. It's nice to find things again you forgot about!

Looking forward to more adventures this summer; hope you have some too!