Crazy Painting

I believe I mentioned this somewhat earlier. Somehow a painting sometimes just gets away on it's own so I decide to experiment with colors which gives me hopefully some insight into how color interacts to create it's own values, lines and contrasts. I don't really try to make a good painting but the impact is what it is.

Ice Bear Again

I know, I've shown this before but since my brother Mike didn't think the bear was "fluffy enough" I did a little work on that aspect of his fur. Mike is a good critic and I have a tendancy to use too much line to delineate the anatomy of an animal. So, here you are Bro.

My Winter Duties

Haven't been on the blog for a few days (not sure anyway if anyone is reading it) because it's snowed about 2 1/2 feet the last three days so I paint in the morning until it gets light and then my snow routine starts. I clear snow off the tarp of the 1963 Starcraft cuddy cabin cruiser I have parked below and then hit the snow blower while Peg gets to her shovel duties. Wednesday night was particularly tough. It just kept snowing and by Thursday morning we had another 15 inches in the driveway. Sooner or later we were going to run out of the essential supplies, milk, beer and wine coolers, so it was time to break out. Believe me, this is excercise. Meanwhile I'm intermittantly working on what I call a "crazy painting" using lots of color and texture. Usually these don't turn out very well but this one has a certain panache. I'll show it to you soon.

Snowing-Framing-Knife Making

Now that's an eclectic title! It's snowing outside so the ski resort should be happy. I'm downstairs framing some paintings for the exhibition up in McCall in February that apparently is a lodge that is also giving a wine and cheese party with the art. I guess that's the way they do these things and it's certainly better than parking my van on the side of the highway and putting up a cardboard sign that I have art to sell. Besides it's kind of cold this time of the year. Now to a knife making tip. At one point I knew I should try to solder my guards to the blade because that's the way you are supposed to do it. No problem except I wasn't a very good solderer. So I discovered that Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy worked just fine. I've never had a guard come loose and if you get a little sloppy you can clean off the excess with mineral spirits before it hardens. Now I've also discovered JB Weld and it also makes a great substitute for solder. If it can repair a cracked engine block it can hold a guard in place. Last but not least I'm showing you a picture of a really nice bowie with elk handle I made a couple years ago in prison (that's what we call the townhouse we used to live in down in Boise). Sometimes it felt like that.

Ice Bear

Now we get to what I've been doing this week and I'm quite pleased. This painting is 18x24 and only the second one I've done of a polar bear. I guess they've become a symbol of the global warming thing but I painted it because I wanted to try some new techniques and especially show the contrast of the bear with the stark and desolate background. Most think of polar bears as white but I didn't use any in this painting. Read somewhere that they aren't really white but their color picks up their surroundings...something about the hollow hair reflecting the environment or light. It could have been more blue but what fun is that? I borrowed the title from a Bob Kuhn painting and consider this a tribute to Mr. Kuhn who passed away on October 1st at age 87, painting to the end. So Bob, this is the best I could do and you are a significant inspiration for my painting. Sometimes I get better and that's encouraging as a late starter in wildlife painting.

Knife Sheath as Art

Been busy the last couple of days so I thought I'd put two blogs up this morning. Making the sheath for a knife is as much art as anything because it should fit the character of the knife. This one is certainly the most complicated I've made for one of the elk handled bowies. Don't know where I got the idea but the double snaps are cool.

Clyde Aspevig-Crane Lake

I think every painter has heroes and their work and eventual style is influenced by those individuals so I decided to reveal one of mine. This is simply a copy of a striking landscape by Clyde Aspevig, a Montana landscape painter who is simply grand. Somehow he captures values and contrast that provides drama in his paintings. I did ok but was more hesitant in my values. It shows but I think we need to at least strive to come as close as we can to those greater artists we admire. Otherwise we just aren't trying hard enough. Also, I thought I should put something other than a wildlife painting on here for you to see. You'll never see this landscape for sale as it would be unethical to pass the idea of someone else off as my own.