Buckling Down

“Buckling down” is a weird expression. It reminds me of sayings such as “nose to the grindstone”, “shoulder to the wheel”, “eye on the ball”. . . How can a person accomplish anything in that awkward pose? It was a beautiful early spring day (Yeppers, February is spring in Three Rivers). After a fair amount […]

Eight Things Learned in February

1.The most fun thing I learned is that Reader Sharon had a heart-shaped potato. 2. My friends went to Jordan and Israel, and I recognized all but one of the places just from their photos. Actually, I recognized that they were in Petra, which I knew was in Jordan, but I don’t understand the Biblical […]

Just thinking about inspiration

People love to ask artists what inspires them. This is kind of annoying, because generally speaking, artists just love to make their art, not sit around contemplating the reasons. An artist who helped me get going in oils said that what inspired him were the bills in his PO box. I’ve occasionally pondered the question […]

Just Some Stuff

These three topics are rattling around in my skull. ONE It rained and hailed rather ferociously while I was painting that indoor oak tree at my church; two days later I took this photo. Check out the first daffodils in bloom, in spite of the recent heavy cold storm. TWO The elephant was buried in […]

Indoor Oak Tree Finished

The fourth and final day’s plan was to complete leaves and add birds. So, that’s what I did, very systematically, working from right to left. Yes, that’s backward, but I chose that direction because it involved less couch moving. After studying real oak trees for awhile, I thought I could be more realistic about the […]

Day Three of Growing an Indoor Tree

I shoved the couch to the right, covered it with the tarp, and tackled the remaining branches. I forgot to take photos for a few hours, after shoving the couch back to the far left side. The next goal was to show depth where the new branches overlapped. This keeps the tree from looking like […]

The Indoor Oak Tree Grows

As I work on the tree, it feels as if I am making no progress. I finally figured out why: it is because I am painting the same stuff over and over and over. Branch, twig, twig, twig, branch, twig, twig, twig, twig… It also looks insignificant when seen with the entire wall, so the […]

Other Indoor Oak Trees

I’ve painted oak trees inside three other places. The first one was 3 stories high in someone’s living room. This was the first time such an idea was put forth to me, and it opened a new chapter in my muralizing life. The second one was painted in an empty house as the owners were […]