Spring has finally arrived in Alaska, suddenly and in force it seems. My artwork is still in winter, though. This year winter seemed especially long and cold, but lots of snow and the icy Inlet have given me a good amount of ideas and inspiration. I like the limited elements of this particular landscape, and the restrained range of values. This sketch is serving as a study for a piece I’m working on now. Spring outdoors, but still winter in the studio.
It’s a beautiful time of year here in Southcentral Alaska, with longer and brighter days and everything covered in snow. Clear days bring blue skies and views of distant snowy mountains. On overcast days and when snow is falling it can seem like there’s no chroma at all. I was on skis in fog one day where snow on the ground seemed to merge confusingly with mist and frost on trees, and the surprise of a patch of bright yellow in the monochrome. It was the beak of a bald eagle as it perched high on a battered black spruce. Perfect days for finding inspiration that’s especially ideal for rendering with ink wash.
An alert little western wood pewee, 7” x 6”, black ink wash on watercolor paper. I’ve seen plenty of eastern wood pewees back in NY but hadn’t yet gotten a positive identification of the near-identical western wood pewee since coming to Alaska. One warm, sunny day back in early June I decided to check a trail where I had a possible but unconfirmed pewee sighting the summer before. We hiked up the trail out of dense woods and into a brushy, open hillside where a wildfire had occurred some years before. It’s a great spot for wildflowers and for butterflies. There was lots of bird activity too, including singing Wilson’s and yellow-rumped warblers and little pine siskins. Then suddenly, a small gray flycatcher flitted down onto a branch. After a look from side to side it was gone again. It took some waiting and watching for better views before I felt confident that I had found at least one pewee, and maybe two. Better still, I watched as one flew up onto a nest in the branches and settled down. And in exactly the same spot I thought I might have seen one the year before. With the frozen stillness and snow of December, a delicate little flycatcher now seems of an entirely different world.
Study in black ink wash on watercolor sketchbook paper, 6” x 4”. Another sketch for my motif of migrating geese, this time with more of a focus on composition and a more careful handling of the dry grasses and muddy ground.
Study for a new motif, in black ink wash on watercolor sketchbook paper, 6” x 4”. In late April, as snow and ice receded after a long bitterly cold winter, there were reports that large flocks of geese had arrived on the mudflats at the coast. Eager for signs of spring after months of winter and scarce birds, we hiked out on the Coastal Trail through woods to Point Campbell. The sounds of distant geese could be heard from nearly a mile away, and the din grew as we got closer. On the mud and ice of the flats in low sunlight of late afternoon, hundreds upon hundreds of geese of four kinds were present foraging and at rest on their long northward journey. Canada and cackling geese were in the vast majority, but a conspicuous group of snow geese were present along with an occasional greater white-fronted goose. The throngs of geese scattered among the gray-brown dry grasses were a welcome, thrilling sight. Ideas for new artwork have been simmering ever since, and here’s a first distillation of the motif.
We've finally been enjoying the first signs of spring during the past couple of weeks - returning Eastern phoebes and chipping sparrows, the first flowers and green buds starting to open. Two years ago we were in Germany in late April, and I spent some very peaceful hours working outdoors in pastel at the edge of a small meadow. Looking back at these pieces is making me impatient to get outdoors and sketch again this spring.
Tomorrow's the official start of spring but it still looks and feels like winter here. I always think of dark-eyed juncos as "winter birds" since they show up in fall here and are around until spring.
One of my favorite bird sightings of spring and fall is of spotted thrushes. There's something wonderfully poetic about these shy, reclusive birds that are well known for their beautiful songs but not often seen. This autumn I found a couple of Swainson's thrushes in late September and then spent lots of time observing hermit thrushes in October and early November. I've been working on some ideas for compositions with hermit thrushes for a number of months now and had been looking forward to seeing them this fall, so I was grateful for long views with some patient waiting and watching. Back in the studio I did some sketches in brown-gray hard pastel in an effort to work out natural poses and firm up my sense of proportions: And now I'm on to some new work that incorporates hermit thrushes. I've got lots of photos of the thrushes I've been watching - here's one of my better shots of a hermit thrush in October.
With beautiful autumn color here this weekend - but cold temperatures and strong winds - I did a pastel indoors using some of the trees visible through the living room window as models. First, working out the composition and values with brown-gray hard pastel. And then smudging and layering in soft pastel (photos by my wife). The finished pastel, 10" x 8".
My wife and I were thrilled to be able to visit Fort Worth, Texas, last week for the opening at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas of an exhibit of new paintings by Deborah Paris depicting Daphne Prairie. The show was beautiful and it brought together a large and enthusiastic crowd. A couple of days later, we had the pleasure of making a visit to Daphne Prairie with Deborah and exploring the places that inspired her paintings. Daphne Prairie is a real treasure - 1,000 acres of unique, protected tall grass prairie that showcases the rich diversity of grasses and wildflowers that once covered the area. We had the very good fortune of enjoying it on a beautiful day with spectacular clouds overhead and countless butterflies. Later that day, I did two small ink sketches from memory to capture my impressions of the place. With Deborah Paris at Daphne Prairie (photo taken by my wife). Two sketches in India ink on watercolor paper, approximately 4-1/2" x 3" each. A monarch butterfly, one of the many beautiful butterflies of a number of different kinds we saw.
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Artist's NoteA blog for sharing my recent field sketches, information about materials, and thoughts on art and nature. Archives
May 2021
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