Painting Birds



Jukey in the Jungle--Boynton Health Services-Uof MN

 Jukey in the Jungle is hanging in the Eye Department at Boynton Medical Center at the U of MN. As a graduate of the university, I donated this painting while I had a show in the gallery there. Isn't the Eye Department the perfect place for this colorful jungle scene? I really had fun putting my silly parrot in an imagined scene. I needed something for the right hand corner and painted some flowers like I had seen at the Vet Clinic. I am certain the people in the waiting room must have thought that I believed them to be real while photographing them from a couple of angles. Oh, the life of a painter! We are caught in odd moments of observation or worse--taking photos of plastic plants--anything for our art.






African Bee Eaters

Does the composition for the African Bee Eaters look a bit like the Mount Kenya painting in the post below? This was painted as a commission for an esteemed retiring professor. They gave me a list of birds that she liked and I picked the European Bee Eaters, because they are very colorful and I had actually seen the African version while travelling there. I started a composition of seven birds that had a corporate team look about them. One bird seemed in charge with others clustered about the leader, but something wasn't working. The background was too fuzzy and painting the twigs they perched on would have required the steady hand of Neil Sherman to carry it off.  I made a bold move and restarted the painting four days before the deadline. All was painted wet on wet and the flying bird was added on the third day to round out the composition. As fate would have it Dr. Joseph and her husband had also seen these birds in Africa. It was a reminder of their trip there. I am so grateful I listened to the little voice in my head and trusted that I could make it work.

Zebras and Mount Kenya

Zebra Close-up

Nancy Winter and I took a fabulous trip to East Africa in 1999 with the Board of Directors from the Oakland Zoo (that's another story). One of us took this photo on location and so for a significant birthday, I painted it for her. She has displayed in over her mantle these 10 years.

Old Painting

As another significant birthday approaches for Nancy and with the knowledge that my painting abilities have improved tremendously, I was able to wrestle the painting away from her under the condition I would only work on the zebras. Well, you know the rest of the story... I immediately tore off the protective cover on the back and removed the professional frame and got down to totally repainting it. I love its new look...but will Nancy? I hope that I get another shot at revising it in 10 more years. Happy Birthday Nancy!

Island on Hemlock Lake

Had a beautiful day paddling on Hemlock Lake in Central Wisconsin in late September. The Vacation Group, as we call our ourselves, has been together since we were in our 20s. We had a lot of fun checking out the Bunk House and reminiscing about Blue Gill weekends when the yard was full of tents and we looked good in little bathing suits.

This painting belongs to Julia Anderson and Rob Plunkett and will reside in Minneapolis until Rob's family discovers the painting and insists that it gets moved to the lovely log cabin on Hemlock Lake. I have visiting rights!

Not Just Any Apple

A co-worker handed me this apple--a random selection from a bag he had purchased at an orchard he had visited. I turned it around and around admiring its color and shape. I decided to do its portrait. I discovered it to be much more challenging than I had originally thought. Its voluptuous top and delicate tapered bottom rivaled any life drawing in difficulty of execution. Next the color changes were distinct, but had lovely transitions from one color note to the next. I painted, I struggled with transition. I painted again. I scrapped the paint away and started the passage over again. After two evenings of trial and transition, I completed the apple painting. A friend who stopped over and saw it sitting on an end table declared that at first she thought it was a real apple. It is a real apple to me. It represents the apple in paint that I held in my hands and slowly turned around and around to admire its beauty. Paintings to the artist are experiences that we choose to honor and recall. That Apple, The Place, The Season.

L'Homme Du Sunset

Hi. I'm back and able to post on the blog again. Apparently some glitch in the system--computer or brain--and couldn't manage to publish anything, but I persevered.

Working on a new style. More care with the finish. Maintaining a painterly look.

This painting has a new home with the John Colwell family.

Happy New Year!

Wings & Water

 I started this painting 6 years ago. Got it blocked in and then seized up and put it in the attic. With an additional 6 years of observation and painting experience under my belt and help from Instructor Richard I completed the 4' x 3' canvas. I hope it speaks to The Moment--sun going down, wings leveraging, water splashing, and birds about to settle into the water. A place, time, event.

Most of the decisions for this painting were with what to do with the water. Too many darks and plants on the water competed with the elegance of the birds. Once again simplicity wins out in "what to leave in"/"what to leave out."

This is my entry for the juried fine arts show at the MN State Fair. They take about 1 in 5 entries. Cross your fingers that they like this painting as much as I do.

Hotter than Blazes

 

There is always that weird subject matter that you try your hand at and then wonder what am I going to do with this painting? Where can I put it in my house that could startle or humor someone at its discovery? This one moves around the house for my own amusement. It is the "portrait" of a Mexican good luck skeleton, which I don't understand, but local Mexican artists probably sell a number of them as objects of curiosity. Certainly could sell some toothpaste. I had to restrain myself from adding a bit of starburst sparkle to his nice set of choppers. (I posted 3 new paintings today--see more below). 

Life Drawing

 

We have had a number of rainy Saturdays, so this sketch was completed at one of them. Skye is a fabulous model and can stay motionless longer than any other human I have ever met, which makes it infinitely easier for the artists who struggle to do justice to her form and beauty.

Peonies

I took time to enjoy the beautiful peonies in my yard by bringing indoors a couple of bouquets. I can't judge if it was the whiteness or the amazing fragrance that delighted me more! Their presence filled my kitchen and gave it a simple elegance. I took up the challenge of painting their white volume complete with ridges and ruffles with some success. I regret, along with lilacs, the short spring season of their blooms and fragrance adding beauty and fragrance to my outdoor living space.

Veda Flying Free

My 42 year old Amazon parrot is now flying free. His time on earth is done and he has now gone on to the Place of Eternal Flight and Freedom. For him everyday was about discovery, joy and exuberance. His eyes were bright; he delighted in being part of the flock (people). He loved being social and participating in full voice, trying new foods (chicken was a favorite-irony there!), flight training and being outside his parrot mansion (very large cage). Oh, yes, and watching his parrot movie while I was at work.

I believe I learned more from him then he ever learned from me. I marveled at his iridescent feathers, wing construction and movement. He taught me about bird ways and boundaries. I taught him to fly. He taught me great respect for his intelligence and clearly voiced his daily joy and then his pain the last year as he had to be coaxed into expressing an opinion. I finally agreed to let him go.

First Snow again

If this painting looks vaguely familiar, I repainted as a commission for Sandy and Mike, who are not only appreciative patrons, but, my sister and brother-in-law. A very nice combination and as long as I bring beer over, I can visit the paintings anytime I want. This particular painting has been a wonderful experience for us. They are having fun framing it and refreshing their living room by picking up some new colors in the painting. As an artist I have been dreaming of this moment.

On a technical note. I bought raw cotton canvas, sized, primed, toned and stretched it for a beautiful surface for this particular textural painting. I was happier with this panel then the pre-primed linen I have been buying and stretching myself.

Painting Outdoors

I am supposed to be packing for a trip up north to ski and paint, instead of blogging. Happy to be back out in the field again. Have been spending the winter painting from photographs and doing still lifes. While both are OK and I get some valuable "brush time" there is nothing like being outdoors. You are living totally in the moment. You are observing the light, wind, shadows, clouds while making value and color choices to capture your observation before the light changes. It is quite exhilarating! Actually, very much like rolling a kayak. Relax. Tip over. Position the paddle, and slide up on the back of the boat. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But it is always fun to keep trying and improving form. 

Rafters Moves to Iowa

Rafters the Giraffe is moving with his family Faith, Ben and Little Benjamin to Iowa to start a new life! He is in his second generation of watching over the Worley Family. This is a painting of Rafters that was made to honor the arrival of Little Benjamin! Best of luck Rafters and take good care of your family!

Oil and Water

Oil and water are only a good combination if you are talking about salad dressing or the image in an oil painting. Here are three large format paintings that are about water and movement. They all feature the same goose moving through water at Springbrook Nature Center. The challenges were different in each painting. Reflections, balance/weight of bird in water, the color of his reflection and showing/feeling speed in movement. I have a fascination of all these elements plus birds and water. Hopefully, there will be a lot more studies when water is again in liquid form.

Happy Thanksgiving

I had fun growing these pumpkins. While the rest of the garden respected their boundaries, these guys were a menace to the neighborhood. I had to go out and hack the vine out of the lilac bushes and off of the garden fence. I gloried in the new orange blossoms everyday. And now, instead of being pumpkin pie, they will continue to entertain me all winter with a layer of ice and a topping of snow.

The darkness of night adds a unity to a painting...and a new degree of difficulty. Is the cast light the correct value? I can't see any orange, but will they "read" as pumpkins without it? What color of light am I casting from the headlamp over my hat?

I completed this painting about 11PM and turned to see my next door neighbor drinking wine and watching this unusual outdoor sport from the warmth of her kitchen window. I was under an umbrella pitched at an angle in the snow while sleet was watering my driveway. She is used to these observations.

Three Moods of Lake Pepin

I felt good about the fact that I balanced kayaking and painting. Here are the three paintings that I completed during a beautiful fall weekend in October with Inland Sea Kayakers at Hok-Se-La campground in Red Wing.

The one on the top is early morning. The above was done in 20 minutes after dinner in rapidly fading light. I like the raw authenticity of it. Plan to do some winter night scenes with this method.

The one above was more successful before I took it home and decided to push the color. I find that my best sketches are on location without "studio work." Who needs a studio when you have the whole outdoors to play in!

Autumn

Autumn is blasting in with fabulous weather and color. Here is a scene from Fort Snelling Golf Course. There was a bit of adventure with this painting that included a historic building, seeking some outdoor privacy and a police car. Yikes!

Green to Go

Green is quickly being replaced by the lovely colors of Fall (I know it is out of style to Capitalize, but I think seasons warrant Capitalization), so thought it was time to post a couple of August paintings before they were totally irrelevant. This painting is special to me. It has the hand of Joe Paquet on it. View his website to see what plein aire paintings with correct values and character of line look like.

STOP

I am seeing a lot to paint in my neighborhood--all the undiscovered relationships between trees, houses, and sidewalks, and even trees with stop signs. It occurred to me that the tree was not complete without its connection to the stop sign. The angle doesn't matter, these two elements are connected.

The only reason that this is important is that a couple of years ago I painted several Home Portraits and was asked to remove the big tree in the painting so the front of the house could be viewed with the glory of the front garden displayed. No one had ever witnessed this perspective of the particular house, so the painting looked wrong, despite winter reference photos and cast shadows from the aborted tree. So I guess relationship matters even to stop signs and their tree buddies. I confess that I tried to leave the stop sign out, but, well, something stopped me.

The Lightness of Being 1

Oblivious

How easily
We divide and conquer the hours,
Relegating and naming them:
This, as important...that, as unimportant,
This, for the body...that, for the soul,
Believing
We have somehow become
Wise,
Self-disciplined,
Masters of our lives.

But surprisingly, at the far end
Of a long life's march,
We begin to long once more
For the days when
Time was a river, and we
But a small and insignificant leaf
Afloat on its surface,
Oblivious to all
But the flow and touch
Of the water.

Copyright  Sharon K Sheppard

I thought Sharon's poem and my painting would make a good pairing. Relax, let your head roll back, close your eyes and think of floating on water....(not of multi-tasking)....Um-m-m-m-m...