Monday, May 29, 2017

Streamside series

Here's a peek at the first two from my new "Streamside" series, 
just off the easel, in the studio for (some better) light.
At least one more for this series, to begin with...maybe more.

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Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Monday, May 15, 2017

Reggies Blind

One of the great things about doing a show is the people you meet. 
During a recent one, another vendor approached me and struck up a conversation.
"Gooseman" from goosemancalls.com told me the story of his close friend and hunting partner Reggie.
Reggie passed away very unexpectedly one Autumn day. The pain of his passing was still clearly evident as 
Gooseman relayed the story of their friendship and their hunting exploits.
It seemed Reg had acquired a fine piece of swamp land that he hunted regularly. When Reg was
looking to buy that property, he told the then-owner that he would never pay a thousand dollars for a  piece of swamp, so he promptly settled on a price of $999.00.
That piece of swamp turned out to be a magical spot. You could watch the migrating flocks
split into two paths overhead. The coastal and eastern flyways.
They watched brant fly high overhead by the hundreds while an occasional eagle cruised the thermals.
Reg hunted and shot just about every legal form of waterfowl in New York from their blind in that swamp.
He saw ducks, geese, beaver, otter, eagles, crows, deer, grouse, woodcock, rabbit,  muskrat and mink
while they sat there.
After the story, Gooseman pulled up a picture on his phone. 
It was a shot from that duck blind, taken early in the morning...those mornings most people miss unless they're outdoorsmen.
I immediately said "I want to paint that," and we started talking about the specifics.
Gooseman told me how Reggie's widow, Arlene, had a birthday coming up and how he'd love
to present that painting to her. So the commissioned work was agreed on and I set off working on
"Reggies Blind"
The original now resides with Arlene, where she can see it every day and remember 
the magic of Reggies favorite spot and where his spirit lives on.
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Thursday, May 11, 2017

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Eagle Underway

If you live in the North Country, you've surely seen this great photo by Donna J Pray
of DJ Prays Photography Plus.
She's most graciously allowed me to use it for my next canvas.
Many thanks, Donna!
The new "easel screen" keeps me from having to twist my neck around 
constantly to see my computer monitor when I need to zoom in for detail.
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