Filed under: Art News
My last few paintings haven’t had a single bird or animal in them. No, it isn’t an effect of not finding Ivory-Bills. You might say it’s the abstract artist in me trying to break out. For several years, I’ve been doing paintings of the pebbles we see on northern Michigan beaches. They are the closest I seem to be able to come to doing an abstract. However, the realist in me keeps the pebbles authentic. I want to be able to tell if it is sandstone or granite.
"Red Sandstone Pebble" 16" x 20" Acrylic on panel
I like paintings with stories, and these stones have their own to tell. Formed 2.5 billion years ago as part of the earth’s crust called Canada, they were carried to the south shore of Lake Superior just a couple of tens of thousands of years ago. They emerge from the glacial drift already rounded by their journey, and are further polished by the sand and surf. Granites, schists, agate, basalt, and others mix with the local sandstone bedrock.
"Striped Granites" 24" x 36" Acrylic on canvas
I like the challenge of reproducing the grain, texture and colors of these complex igneous and metamorphic rocks. Unlike sedimentary rocks which seem to be composed of ground up, homogenized minerals, these stones proudly display sizable crystal grains and veins of various types and colors. Sometimes the colors are amazing.
"Wet Granite Pebbles" 11" x 14" Acrylic on panel
The colors are mostly iron oxides forming reds, yellows and ochers, but you do find greens and blues from copper oxides, and the occasional purple amethyst. Whatever the origins of the colors and forms, they seem to hold an endless fascination for me. I can sit for hours on the beach sifting through piles of pebbles, making little piles of treasures I find until biting flies or an impatient wife drive me away. Doing these paintings is an extension of that same activity.
This is the first time I’ve tried some large canvases of stones (“Striped Granites”), and I really like the scale. It has the same impact on the wall as a large abstract, but it maintains my grasp on reality. I’m thinking of working towards a show of my stone paintings, but some of these may slip away to collectors…
I spent last week down in the Choctawhatchee River area, looking for Ivory-Bills with a group including members of my art group, Masterworks For Nature, the Cincinnati Zoo, and Miami University (OH). While we had a large group, we were spread out every day up and down the Choc, exploring various tributaries including Bruce Creek. Some people were heavily camouflaged and sat waiting in likely places. Others explored for IBWO sign, looking for new areas for future stake-outs. The Cincinnati Zoo’s videographer, Pat Story, made a documentary of our trip, and we plan to have an art show at the Cincinnati Zoo based on our experiences on the Choctawhatchee (dates to be announced). We experienced record cold while there, seeing ice in the swamps, shivering through the teens in the mornings, and a chilly 50 degree high most days. It did make it to 70 on our last day. Sigh.
The Masterworks for Nature January 2010 Ivory-Bill Expedition. That's me on the far right.
We saw no Ivory-Bills, and no definitive sign. Hanging out with this group, some of whom have spent quite a long time in the field looking for this ghost, gives me a better sense of what the common experience of Ivory-Bill hunters is like. After all, I got spoiled by seeing the bird up close and personal in the first 24 hours of my very first attempt. This trip was more like the usual effort–no evidence found. Some of the more hard-core experienced types were shaking their heads wondering if it is really worth the effort. I thought it was interesting that they gave me a nod when I was present, but then went back to their skepticism. My sighting is not proof to anyone but me. It was too clear, too in-my-face to be a mistake, but it isn’t proof. I’ll keep going back to look, but I fear I missed what will likely be the only chance I’ll have to get a clear photo of this ghost.
I believe our chances will diminish as time goes on. A major airport is being constructed nearby, and will add a lot of noise to the area when air traffic ramps up. As the airport is developed, sprawl will begin to spread towards the Choctawhatchee. As more people move into the area, more weekend warriors, ATV riders, and even bird watchers will descend on the Choc. Despite the abundance of good habitat at the moment, disturbance and habitat degradation may eventually chase the Ivory-Bills elsewhere.
Ice in the swamp. We faced record cold in January at Bruce Creek
The current issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest (Jan.-Feb ‘10) has my article about my sighting of the Ivory-Bill back in ‘08. It also has an ad for the print of my painting recreating my sighting. 20% of the purchase price will be donated to Dr. Geoff Hill’s (Auburn University) project on Bruce Creek and area. National Geographic has helped them with specialized robot cameras, which may be our best chance of catching the Ivory-Bills on “film.” If you’re interested in the print and helping out, see my website at: http://www.johnnagnew.com Check the “Prints and Books” section.
Downstream from Morrison Springs
Filed under: Reptiles & Amphibians
Three hundred million years ago, before the Appalachian Mountains were pushed up by continental collision, the first land dwelling vertebrates were living in vast swamp forests. These were quadraped vertebrates, amphibians recently evolved from fish that had adapted to life in the shallows. Salamanders, essentially. Some were giants, several feet long. These creatures continued to evolve and radiate into many new species over many millions of years. Some would develop the ability to lay eggs on land and would become reptiles, eventually radiating into dinosaurs, birds and mammals. Some would continue to enjoy life at the water’s edge. Now, 300 million years later, the Appalachian Mountains are the center of salamander diversity, with over 60 species. They range from tiny species like the Red-Backed Salamander a couple of inches long, to the stream-dwelling giants like the two-foot long Hellbender and the Mudpuppy. The Asian relatives of the Hellbender approach the size of the ancient giants, at 3 to 4 feet long. Some of these species occupy a single mountain, others range over much of the country.
A Red-Backed Salamander in my ancient stairwell
My backyard in urban Cincinnati doesn’t seem like such a likely place for these primitive creatures. Still, salamanders are abundant in the local woodlands, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that they occupy a niche in my little oasis of wilderness. Some of our neighborhood preserves have what appear to be “original” trees (200+ years old), implying that parts of the woods are virgin. Salamanders from these undisturbed habitats can refill the areas where amphibians were extirpated by agriculture or development, when suitable habitat reappears in backyards across the neighborhood.
The stairwell leading down to my basement is a damp, mossy place. I suppose I should clean out the moss, but I really kind of like it, and now I find that it is a habitat for some of my favorite creatures. The other day I happened upon a tiny Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), sitting on a step, contemplating an isopod that might make a good breakfast. It struck me that the little microhabitat he was in resembled those swamp forests of yore. Mosses and ferns were the predominant plant types in the coal swamps along with giant horsetails. A tiny descendent of those Carboniferous horsetails lives in my garden pond. I could picture the giant “salamanders” slithering about in the swampy waters, with giant dragonflies overhead. The dragonflies are still present as well. My pond and koi tub attract the winged predators, one the of the great benefits of having water in the garden. Of course, they don’t approach the 3ft wing span of the dragonflies of the Carboniferous swamps, but they are colorful and interesting nonetheless.
A Blue Dragonfly suns itself above my garden pond.
Redbacks are not the biggest or the most colorful salamanders in our area, but they might be among the most important. This is simply because of their abundance. They can account for a biomass equal to the mass of all the mammals in a given forest. This fact makes them among the most important actors in the woodland drama. It shouldn’t surprise any biologist that such a tiny, delicate creature has such a dominant role in an ecosystem. After all, the smallest creatures on earth, the bacteria, are the dominate life form. We like to think of ourselves as dominant, but we have only learned to dominate large creatures. We are still at the mercy of bacteria, who account for the most biomass of all living things on earth.
The Red-Backed Salamander strikes me as the Joe-Six Pack of the salamander world. Pedestrian in every way, they are widespread, are common, and have a dominant role in the economy of the forest floor. They are not particularly colorful or striking in any way. They are somewhat unusual in the salamander world because they skip the aquatic stage of life. They lay their eggs on land, guarding them until they hatch. The young pass through the larval stage while still in the egg, and hatch as fully formed, but tiny, salamanders. This might account for their relative abundance compared to other species. By skipping the need to return to water for reproduction, they can colonize wide areas of suitable habitat.
Other species in our neighborhood have more restricted habitats. The Longtailed Salamander and the Cave salamander both inhabit the deep recesses of wet rock outcrops.
The Long-Tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)
The Cave Salamander prefers limestone outcrops, and the deep caves of limestone areas. Spring Salamanders take after their name, and can also be seen in deep caves as larva. Some of my favorites are the Red-Spotted newt and the whole Ambystoma genus. This includes the beautiful Marbled and Spotted Salamanders, along with the Tiger, The Jefferson’s and Narrow-Mouthed Salamanders. These mostly occur in undisturbed woodlands, so they aren’t seen in or near Cincinnati except, perhaps, as isolated relict populations. Woodland streams in the area can host Two-Lined Salamanders or Dusky Salamanders, but both prefer clean water, something not see very often in streams around the city.
The Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)
Being colorful and somewhat anthropomorphic, they make great subjects for paintings. I’ve done a few over the years:
"Cave Salamander" 20 x 30 acrylic on canvas. A Cave salamander on the scalloped limestone of a cave wall.
"A Walk Across Time" 32 x 48 Acrylic on canvas. A Red Eft walks across fossils from the swamps of the Carboniferous, where salamanders first evolved.
"The Slimy Salamander" 10 x 8 Acrylic on panel.
"Spotted Salamander" 8 x 10 Acrylic on panel
My art group, Masterworks For Nature, is teaming up with the Cincinnati Zoo and Geoff Hill of Auburn University to conduct an Ivory Bill “hunt” in the Choctawhatchee River Basin in January 2010. The Zoo is bringing a videographer to film the expedition, and a DNA expert in the hopes that we’ll find potential IBW feathers or droppings. A few of our Masterworks members have been involved with IBW research for a while. John Ruthven was involved in the Arkansas search before it was made public, and was commissioned by the Interior Department to paint the bird. The painting was unveiled at Interior’s announcement of the bird’s rediscovery.
There will be a fairly large number of people involved (2 dozen??), so we can coordinate efforts to cover a large area at any given time. Our trip in 2008 was successful in that two of our members saw the bird, but we know it slipped by others because of gaps in our coverage. Finding active nest holes is the main objective, other than photographing the bird (always the top priority). I’ll post more as the expedition is planned in detail, and of course, a full report after it happens.
Watch for my article about my 2008 sighting in the January-February issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest.
My recreation of my 2008 sighting of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. Giclee canvas prints are available, with sales benefiting Geoff Hill's Ivory-Billed research. The original painting is also available, with 20% of the sale price benefiting Hill's research. See www.johnnagnew.com for details
Filed under: Art News
Some of my most recent paintings will be on exhibit this month at the Cincinnati Nature Center (http://www.cincynature.org/) in a show by Masterworks for Nature (www.masterworksfornature.org). November 21-29 in the Rowe building. This show is a benefit for the Nature Center. Original paintings, prints and books by the artists of Masterworks For Nature will be available for purchase.
I will exhibit a mix of plein aire and studio works. Here is a sampling:
"Autumn on the Pond" 14 x 11 Acrylic on panel, Plein Aire
"Ivorybill!" 20 x 16 acrylic on panel
"Harvest Time" 12 x 9 acrylic on panel
"Au Sable Point, Michigan" 11 x 14 acrylic on panel, plein aire
Filed under: Art News
My exhibit of plein aire paintings of Hamilton County parks is over, although some of them are still on display in a case outside the gift shop of the Sharon Centre. Many were sold at the show, but some of my favorites are still available.
I had first experienced experienced the pleasures of painting en plein aire a few years ago, although over the course of my life I’ve done the odd watercolor during my travels. Six years ago I participated in a painting workshop in Wyoming with the Susan K. Black Foundation, and bought a French easel and found that I really enjoyed painting en plein aire. I haven’t taken it seriously until my project with the County Parks. That project got me outside with my easel at least once a week over the course of about 10 months. My term as Artist In Residence at Pictured Rocks in September sealed the deal. Spending an idyllic 3 weeks painting in beautiful places made me think a lot about doing it a lot more. Since my return, I turned out two more paintings for the Hamilton County exhibit, and a couple more at the large cemetery & arboretum, Spring Grove Cemetery, just a stone’s throw from my house.
A plein aire painting done at Spring Grove Cemetery
Nearly the same scene, different day at Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati
Being able to sell my paintings done en plein aire definitely affects my desire to do them. I do, after all, make my living with my art, so it isn’t just about what I enjoy doing the most. At first I wondered if there could be a market for these paintings done in an afternoon. After all, my signature style has always been a very tight, highly detailed photo realism. These paintings could take several weeks to complete, and cost thousands. Especially in this economy, it is hard to sell big expensive paintings, so the 9×12 and 11×14 paintings selling for a few hundred have gone pretty well. The fact that they are fun to do, and are usually done in a beautiful spot (as opposed to my cramped studio) also fans my desire to do them.
Our local landscape just doesn’t excite me as much as the shore of Lake Superior. I suppose anything new is always more interesting, but it really is more scenic up there. Of course, if you really look, there are paintings almost anywhere you go, but the fact remains that some landscapes are just more interesting than others. So, I hope to travel more with my easel. My stint as Artist In Residence at Pictured Rocks has inspired me to look for more national parks with A.I.R. programs. I will look west and south of Ohio. Everglades National Park is another spot with which I have been familiar a long time. The parks of southern Utah’s canyon country are also high on my list.
Since I am not a winter-tolerant person, I’ll be spending more time in the studio as our weather deteriorates. My scratchboard drawings are calling me…
Filed under: Art News
My exhibit of plein aire paintings of Hamilton County parks opens this Sunday, October 18th. There will be a reception from 1-4 pm, where I will be doing a demonstration painting. The opening is at the Sharon Centre in Sharon Woods Park, on Rt. 42 south of I-275 East. (north of Cincinnati) The show will remain open until October 25, 10am-4pm.
I’ll be exhibiting some of my plein aire paintings from Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along with my paintings of our own Hamilton County Parks.
I hope to see you there!
The Lake at Miami-Whitewater Forest, 10 x 20 acrylic on panel
West Entrance, Miami-Whitewater Forest, 11 x 14 acrylic on panel
"Buckeye Falls, March" 11 x 14 Acrylic on panel
Wetlands Trail Meadow, Glenwood Gardens 11 x 14 acrylic on panel
What a way to experience a national park. Doing “plein air” painting in wonderful natural settings is just an incredible way to really soak in the essence of a place. I just finished 3 weeks as Artist In Residence at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula), and it feels as if it has been burned into my memory. Staring intently at a scene for hours, deconstructing it in your mind and reconstructing it in paint is a good way to make a pretty firm visual memory of a place. I also experience and visualize places through photography, but it is just not as complete a way to incorporate a place into yourself as painting can be.
A day at the office. Working on Au Sable Creek
We were provided an old farm house as housing, and were quite comfortable. My normal way to experience a national park is by camping. That can be a lot of fun, but there is a lot to be said for a kitchen, a shower and a bed at the end of a long trail. Maybe it’s because I’m edging toward the far end of my fifth decade that the ground just isn’t as comfortable as it used to be. Maybe it’s the modern conveniences in the kitchen. Anyway, this trip might have spoiled me. I’ll be applying to more parks.
Home, sweet home during my stay at PRNL
My typical set-up, with a chair and my French easel. Nice view from my office, don't you think?
Being comfortable, well fed and well rested probably boosted my endurance. I’m usually ready to head for the barn after a week or two in a tent, but I gladly spent the entire 3 weeks painting happily on a trail somewhere in the park. It was just idyllic. The park staff kindly provided perfect weather, and everywhere we looked there were paintings waiting to be done. The commute to work every day began in the car, but quickly switched to trail or kayak. Traffic was generally light. Typically, I’d find a spot and sit down to paint while Pat took off on a trail. She covered over a hundred miles during my 3 weeks of painting. After Labor Day, we saw so few people out in the park on trails or beaches that it began to feel like our own private park. It’s true that I normally pick out of the way spots so as to avoid people while I work. It is not so much that I am annoyed by people talking to me, but it is an interruption of limited time. When people do talk to me, I often continue working, which might appear rude to some. Painting in spots that keep me isolated allows me to concentrate more fully, and remain “in the zone” if there is one for painters. The one disadvantage of working in isolated spots is the increased chance of surprise wildlife encounters. Having a bear look over my shoulder while I’m working would be a bit disconcerting, although my usual encounters are more benign and welcome (not that I don’t like bears). I’ve been visited by otters, eagles, deer and other fascinating creatures. Sitting quietly in one spot is a great way to see wildlife, as many hunters will tell you. After a long day in the wilds and after supper, we’d head back out for an evening on the beach watching the sunset, or listening to the coyotes and wolves singing at the rising moon. When the moon waned and disappeared from the evening sky, we could see the Milky Way in its full glory, and even our nearest galactic neighbor the Andromeda Galaxy, visible without a telescope (2.8 million light years away!). It was a hard job, but…
Sunset on Lake Superior
The Milky Way, a 30-sec exposure
The results of my artistic efforts were mixed. I was pretty happy with about half of the 12 paintings I produced in the 19 days of work. Paintings of stones, a successful studio series inspired by Pictured Rocks, were not so successful as plein air paintings. I did better with landscapes and water.
On September 23, I gave a program to the public and park volunteers. I displayed the paintings I had finished during my stay, and lost my best efforts to sales and a donation to the park. This is the eternal curse of the artist; having to repeatedly sell your favorite children to make a living.
My commute to work, traffic was light.
My "studio" at Legion Lake. What a way to make a living.
"The Coves" 14 x 11 acrylic on panel
"Au Sable Creek" 11 x 14, acrylic on panel
"Au Sable Point" 11 x 14 acrylic on panel. A misty gray morning on the point. That's the lighthouse poking above the trees in the distance.
I had one scratchboard drawing, “New Guinea Crocodile,” in this year’s “Art and the Animal,” the annual show of the Society of Animal Artists (scroll down to “Shows This Summer” for an image). I was honored with the “Patricia A. Bott Award for Creative Excellence.” Thank you, SAA judges!
I seem to be doing well with scratchboard drawings (this is my second award from SAA for a scratchboard). Perhaps the competition is thin in scratchboard because few people have the patience for extreme tedium, uh, I mean detail.
Filed under: Art News
I was honored to be chosen as this year’s Artist In Residence at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I’ll be there September 3-23. If you’re in the neighborhood, pay me a visit. I’ll be painting at various places around the park. At the end of my stay I’ll do a talk about my work and travels, and I’ll have a show of the paintings I do in the park (Sept. 23rd, 7PM, @ park visitor center). Of course, I’ll post some blog entries while I’m there… if I can find wi-fi!
Pictured Rocks is one of my favorite spots (See “Chillin’ On The North Shore,” February, 2009), and has inspired lots of paintings. The masthead of this blog is a painting of the lakeshore at PR. Here are a few more:
"Little Beaver Lake" 11 x 14 acrylic on panel (plein air)
"Superior Beach" 5 x 11 acrylic on panel
"Beach Pebbles" 10 x 10, acrylic on panel
