Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you believe it is the last week of November???!!!  As the Lt. Commander on Star Trek (George Takei) always says "Oh My!"

This day is always welcomed when it arrives, it just seems to come faster and faster each year...I still adhere to the theory that the earth must be rotating and orbiting faster each year you get older!

It has been a busy year for all of us, with many things to be thankful for, and I do hope it has been for you as well.

This Saturday we're gearing up for Small Bussiness Saturday, something we like to do each year...instead of mega box stores celebrating Black Friday for a frenzied shopping experience that only benefits huge corporate coffers in a place far, far away - Small Business Saturday is something for the local folks...your family and neighbors :)  all this stays in the local area and economy!

Another fun event coming up is the area's Holiday Open House - come join us down in Peterson, Iowa this December 7th, at Barb McGee's Gallery on main street! There will be something for everyone with many artists and works available!  This has become a repeat event the past few years and is a great way to make the rounds in downtown Peterson; and take a short scenic drive down to Rocking M Pottery as well!   Hope to see you there!

I am thankful for many things - more than I can count.  But one thing I am truly thankful for is all my family, friends and neighbors...and all the great people I have met here at the studio, whether clients or just folks who appreciate what I do here all year long.  

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Woodland Winter"

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

Its nearly Thanksgiving here!  Its definitely not winter but I posted the image above because it actually reminds me of years past in late November here in NW Iowa!  If you looked out the window or stepped out onto the studio's deck right now you'd either think it was early spring or fall...it is so pleasant out!

I took the photograph above at Woodman Hollow, a state preserve south of Ft Dodge, Iowa, along the Des Moines River, some years back.  The shot was from what you'd call a small Goat Prairie along a ridge within view of the river below.  This same ridge in the summer had a nice small compliment of prairie flowers and grasses; its a wonder the timber hadn't yet taken it over.  Looking through the branches and late hanging oak leaves, across the ravine toward the neighboring hillside of timber and sparse openings, creates a very satisfying, and almost "decorative" view of the winter season.

The photograph is also in the spirit of the coming Holiday season, and the exhibits I'm working with during the next few weeks.

Christmas in the Gallery coming to Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa on December 4, 2012 through January 5, 2013.

Over 20 artists will transform the exhibit gallery into a decorated shop of art gifts - from small decorations, cards, jewelry, and pottery, to small and large unframed and framed prints, photographs and paintings. The theme is just like it sounds - Christmas, the holidays and the winter season!

"Winter Stubble, Bales"

oil painting -  © Bruce A. Morrison

I'll have several brand new winter themed signed cards available, as well as 2 brand new note card collections - one a new NW Iowa Scenic Card collection of "Winter themed" photographs; the other will be a new Artwork Note Card Collection, also "Winter themed"! I'll also have several new framed silkscreen prints and photographs, as well as some winter themed NW Iowa landscape drawings and paintings available - such as "Winter Stubble, Bales", the oil painting illustrated above.
 

I'll also be in Peterson, Iowa for a Holiday Open House on December 8th. I'll have work at Barb McGee's Gallery in downtown Peterson...will be fun spending some time with friends there!

And right now I'm participating in the final exhibit of the season, with the Artisans Road Trip in Clear Lake, Iowa at the Clear Lake Art Center.  It started today and runs through January 5 of 2013...a great bunch of artists! 
 

I won't be taking in Black Friday sales this year but will be here at the studio for anyone needing to do Christmas shopping!  I don't like the idea of crushing crowds and elbows kneading their way to special buys, like on Black Friday. I Do Like giving my business to local small businesses though - that money stays in the communities we support and benefits my neighbors as well as my own family!
 

I will be open during the next day - Small Business Saturday - you can count on that!  And we do appreciate your business and support, on any and all days throughout the year!!!

I want to wish you all out there a wonderful November, and a Happy Thanksgiving!  Be good to one another and enjoy your friends and family this week and always!

  

Valley Fare

"Morning Light on Waterman"

12X16" oil on mounted canvas - SOLD

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

Its not winter here yet...which is unusual for this time of year.  Well, it was 5 degrees above zero (Fahrenheit) when I started this morning, and the trees had a neat little coating of ice glistening in the morning sun - but still no snow.  This is somewhat unusual for here...yesterday I was reading a report about how our area is experiencing its second driest season on record.  Yesterday's ice was the result of about .01" of wind driven mist...that's about as good as the moisture "machine" can do around here right now.

But I've been working on warmer themes in the studio anyway, no matter what it decides to do in the valley outside.  This was a piece I've been working on for some time and depicts the Waterman Creek below us as it flows just south of here.  The morning I was there experiencing this actual scene, it was still and pleasant with the morning sun burning through the trees, trying to awaken the sleeping stream still tucked away in dawn's shadow.

Portraying an image like this is very subjective...how can one be "objective" about an emotional/personal experience such as this?!  There is some symbolism here and it is personal for me...I do that sometimes but do not usually talk about it; I want the art work to stand on its own and for others to have their own experience within it.  I have said it before - I do like an image I can drift through; I think I have given the opportunity here.

Thanksgiving is coming up very soon!  I'm supporting Small Business Saturday this year, instead of Black Friday!  As a small business, I provide things that cannot be found on typical Black Friday fare.  But I want to put a call out there for all artists - studios and galleries...we do what we can to provide beauty and substance to the world out there.  Support your local artists and galleries! 

Happy Thanksgiving out there next week!!!