Filed under: Art News
I have just begun a new mural project for the Appalachian Forest Museum (http://www.highlandssanctuary.org/AFM/AFM.htm), housed in the former gift shop of the old Seven Caves tourist attraction. The good folks at the Highlands Sanctuary and Arc of Appalachia preserve system acquired the old Seven Caves property, and have returned it to its natural state by removing the concrete trails and lights. The gift shop building from the tourist attraction is being remodeled into the museum, an interpretive center for the preserve system. There will be a series of small (4′ x 8′) murals on panels between the artificial trunks of vanished forest giants. Geoff Mowery of northeastern Ohio completed the first four panels. I will be doing two; “Lost Treasures,” depicting plants and animals that have disappeared from our eastern forests either through extirpation or extinction, and “The Living Waters,” a cross-section of a forest stream, depicting the specialized animals that inhabit it.
After receiving the narrative and species list from the project administrator, Bruce Lombardo, I began a small B&W sketch. The setting is a primeval Ohio forest, with American Chestnut trees, Scarlet oaks, Pignut Hickory, and other forest giants no longer seen in our Appalachia. Animals such as the Forest Bison, the Mountain Lion, and the Eastern Wolf prowl the forest, and a Shawnee hunting party stalk the bison.
The purpose of the sketch is to allow discussion of the composition and species depictions. After the black and white sketch was approved, I moved the mural panels to my studio and began the painting. The first step was to transfer the sketch to the full-sized panel.
After the B&W sketch was inplace on the mural panel, it’s time to begin blocking in some color.
After the base colors in certain areas are in, I can began developing some bark textures with a sponge.
After sponging in a base for the bark texture, I can begin working out the details in the bark, to define the species of tree. Detailed leaves will be added later.
After finishing the basic texture of each species of tree, I’ll begin adding other details, such as moss and lichens. Herbaceous plants, smaller trees and seedlings, and the animals and humans in the image will appear later. The garish colors you see here will be muted and more natural looking as layers of color, light and shadow are built up.
Update, 7/31/11
Things are developing in the fall forest, as more saturated colors appear, and the trunks of the forest giants are detailed:
"Lost Treasures as of 7/31/11
The foreground plants and leaves are starting to appear, and there is now a Shawnee hunting party stalking Woodland bison:
"Lost Treasures" as of 8/5/11
I suppose the title should be, “Painting Among Crocodiles,” since I didn’t use them as painting tools. Instead, I paint pictures of them and their habitat. Last winter, I spent nearly a month in Everglades National Park as Artist In Residence. One of my stated goals was to paint and draw the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), not to be confused with the American Alligator (Alligator misissippiensis). Both exist in the park, which is the only place in the world where you can see the two species in one place.
The crocs prefer brackish water and can tolerate salt water, having salt removal glands. The alligators stick to mostly fresh water. So, the place to see crocs in the Everglades is in the mangrove areas, and in Florida Bay and the Keys. They are not hard to find in the Park. Flamingo usually has a few on voluntary display, hanging out near the boat docks and canoe rental area. You can also see them in Eco Pond and Nine Mile Pond. It was in Nine Mile Pond where I had some up close and personal encounters with them.
An American Crocodile basking near the boat docks at Flamingo.
I had paddled around in Nine Mile Pond in my inflatable kayak, on my own and with a ranger-led group, and had scouted out a few likely scenes to paint from the kayak. I had seen at least one large American crocodile basking at the water’s edge, but he wasn’t in the vicinity of where I was headed to paint. Not that I especially fear these crocs, but I have a healthy respect for any predator several times my size.
A big croc basking on the shore of Nine Mile Pond
So I loaded up my gear and shoved off, headed to a nicely formed mangrove tree not far from the parking lot. As I rounded the corner near the subject tree, I surprised a large croc that had been basking at the base of my tree. He disappeared with a thrash and splash, and I figured he was gone. I pulled into the channel near the tree, tied off the boat and set up my easel.
Painting from the kayak… the paddle is supporting the French easel, my pallette is in my lap.It’s a little tight, but comfortable enough.
After I had been working for awhile, I heard the sound of a large animal drawing a deep breath just behind me. I turned quickly to look over my left shoulder, and caught a glimpse of the croc’s head diving under the water. That was followed by a powerful thrust and splash from the tail, which rocked me in the boat. Hmmm….
No, I don’t really believe the croc was stalking me. I had been sitting very quietly painting in my boat, and the croc probably surfaced nearby completely unaware of me until I turned my head and startled him. If he had really been stalking me, I believe my sudden movement would have stimulated an attack rather than flight. The only time a croc made me nervous was the day before when I was scouting Nine Mile Pond. I spotted a big croc basking and approached to get some photos. I kept a respectful distance between myself and the croc, especially since he was bigger than my boat. Even so, I seemed to upset him, and he launched himself into the pond with a huge splash. He surfaced out in the middle, and I took some photos of him swimming around. Eventually he seemed to take notice of me again, but this time he seemed curious and began to slowly close the distance between us. This time I backed off and headed for other waters. 
Crocodylus acutus does not have a reputation as a maneater, but it is still a powerful predator, well equipped to dispatch a soft, pink meal like myself. In my white inflatable kayak, I suppose I looked like a big marshmallow with a pink, chewy center. There are places in the world where I wouldn’t dare paddle around in such a flimsy craft with my body so close to the water. Saltwater crocs (Crocodylus porosous) and Nile Crocs are both very large species that would attack a mammal my size without hesitation. It’s been suggested that acutus just doesn’t normally have large mammals in it’s diet, so we don’t appear to them as a prey item. Nile crocs, on the other hand, have been filmed grabbing wildebeest and zebra by the nose, and tossing them over their back into the water. A well known kayaker and trip leader was taken by a Nile croc, right out of his kayak in the Zambesi River. Saltwater crocs have been notorious as maneaters as well, taking people in southeast Asia and Australia with some regularity.
("Three Young Salties" 11 x 14 scratchboard drawing) Crocodylus porosus will grow into 6 meter monsters that take humans without hesitation.
Of course, alligators get to be huge predators as well, and they do have a record of attacking folks occasionally in Florida. These are usually situations where humans have tempted gators beyond their natural aversion to eating people. Falling into the water near an alligator’s mouth is one way to stimulate a feeding response, another is to splash around among the gators in an area where people feed them. As more wild lands turn into suburbia, gator-human conflicts become more common.
“Nine Mile Mangrove” 9×12, acrylic on panel (plein aire)
I was Artist in Residence at Everglades National Park this January, and although I spent a lot of time doing plein aire paintings, I also shot nearly 3500 photographs. Many or most of these will become references for future paintings, but some are art in their own right. I apply the same composition techniques, the same color balance rules, etc. The big difference is that I have no control over nature. Much of photography is a combination of skill and luck– being in the right place and time with the right intentions. Of course, as painter I have total control, and can change things that I don’t like, but much of my painting is first visualized in the camera. I might find a landscape that lends itself to a well composed photo, sometimes a stage for some creature. I use the scene in a painting only after I have reconfigured it to suit my needs. In this way, photography is a passive art discipline, recording what we find, as opposed to painting, where we create everything from “scratch.”
Sometimes my photos are of something unusual or striking that I find in nature… often these same subjects would look too perfect, too contrived to become a painting. As a photo, we might look at it and say, “How unusual,” but as a painting, we would probably say, “That doesn’t look correct.” We accept photos as a record of reality (not so true anymore), while a painting must portray our expectations of reality.
So, I suppose that my photography and painting are blended in a way. I use the camera as a visualizing tool. I parse the images I see in nature through the viewfinder. I’m also a photo-realist. I don’t copy photos directly, but I need all of that visual information to make the scene accurate. In other words, I’m not making anything up, just rearranging things to suit my imagination and artistic sense. It is all accurate, even if the overall scene came from my imagination. This need for accuracy has its foundations in my career in natural history museums as an exhibit designer, illustrator, modeler and muralist.
Sunset lighting up thunder storms, Pahayokee
Pinelands in a morning fog. Everglades National Park
Alligator and reflections
Cormorant eye
I’ve completed my second stint as Artist in Residence, this time in Everglades National Park. What a great place to be in January, especially if you’re from the north. The locals were complaining about how chilly it was down there… but 68° felt pretty nice to me. It was 5° in Cincinnati when I was packing the car for the trip to Florida.
So, three weeks with nothing more serious than, “Where am I going to paint today?” This is a wonderful situation for an artist who normally works in a studio or at home and is constantly interrupted by the daily requirments of business or family. And, in a tropical “paradise” no less.
Now, some folks might not consider the largest swamp in the country to be paradise, with it’s requisite mosquitos, alligators and snakes, but it is for me (except for the mosquitos). I happen to love alligators and snakes, and if you’re familiar with my art you already know that. The Everglades are a unique subtropical habitat, full of life and offering some sublime landscapes to paint and admire.
Painting in the sawgrass
Because this was the dry and cool season, mosquitos were almost absent, and the temperatures were pleasant (especially compared to home). This would not be the situation in the summer months, when it would be impossible to do plein aire painting in the Glades without some sort of air-conditioned space suit. The mosquitos become so thick in the summer that a person can literally choke on them… this is no exaggeration… and the temperature and humidity hover in the range of 90°/90%. The only place comparable would be the arctic tundra, where the mosquitos get almost as bad in the summer (but not as hot).
However, I was there in the pleasant season. I spent many blissful hours sitting at my easel in very delightful wilderness settings. I finished ten plein aire paintings, and took nearly 3,500 photos. I’ll post some of my better plein aires here, and also check my Facebook page and website. All the plein aire paintings are for sale, in the $350-450 range. I’ll be producing some studio paintings (more expensive) from this trip in the coming year or two. I will be exhibiting both studio and plein aire works at the Earnest Coe Visitor Center at Everglades National Park in 2013.
"Panther Tracks" 11" x 14" acrylic on masonite. Painted on location, north of the main park road near the Pinelands area. There were panther tracks on the road where I painted... I kept looking over my shoulder as I worked.
"Florid Bay #1" 11 x 14 acrylic on Masonite. This scene changed dramatically while I worked, going from foggy and high tide to sunny and low tide over the three hours I painted. In the summer months, the mosquitos would have carried me off from there.
Painting from my inflatable kayak. It's a bit cramped, but I can rest the easel on my lap and a paddle and be reasonably comfortable for a couple of hours. In this spot, however, I was shadowed by a large American crocodile that I dislodged from its basking spot. It surfaced behind me while I was painting. I heard it take a breath, which caused me to turn around quickly, which made the croc take off with a splash that rocked my boat! .
"Nine Mile Mangrove" 9" x 12" acrylic on masonite. This is the painting I did from the kayak.
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve recently signed on with Miller Gallery of Hyde Park, Cincinnati. They will represent me in the Cincinnati tri-state area. Their current show, “Zenscapes” features some of my pebble paintings.
Miller Gallery (www.millergallery.com) is celebrating its 50th year in Cincinnati.
"Striped Pebbles"
"striped Granite Pebbles"
"Wave-Washed Pebbles"
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been distracted by other pursuits, doing art, entering shows, etc.
Some personal news:
Since the last time I posted I’ve been to Turkey. We went to visit our daughter there, and saw a bit of the country while we were at it. It’s a fascinating place both in terms of its culture and history, and in its natural history. Watch for an upcoming post about Turkey.
My scratchboard art was accepted into two shows that were juried this summer: “Crocodile Dreams” will be exhibited in the 50th annual show of the Society of Animal Artists, “Art and the Animal,” opening at the San Diego Museum of Natural History September 4 – October 31, 2010; and in the online exhibit, “The Art of Conservation,” sponsored by Artists for Conservation. AFC will also be showing my scratchboard drawing, “Three Young Salties.” A catalog will be published in addition to the online exhibit.
"Three Young Salties" (Saltwater Crocodiles) 11 x 14 Scratchboard drawing
Filed under: Ivory-Billed Woopeckers
On our last trip to Bruce Creek, I talked to a few locals about Ivory-Bills. To a man, none of them want the Ivory-Bill to be discovered in their area. They don’t have anything against Ivory-Bills, and most of the people I talked to claim to have seen the bird in the area at some point in their life. Here is their problem: “If they find that bird here, they’ll turn this place into a national park and kick us out!” I don’t think their fear is totally unfounded. Like most conservation minded people, I’d like to see the Ivory-Bill recover, but it will likely require huge tracts of land where they can remain undisturbed. This would likely mean removing the hunters and their ATV’s. While I don’t have any particular fondness for these activities (ATV’s are particularly annoying and destructive), the locals have been using these lands for generations, and their rights to continue these uses should be respected. After all, the bird has managed to survive there despite the presence of hunters. The larger danger to the birds, and one that could very well be affecting them now, is disgruntled locals shooting Ivory-Bills to keep them from being discovered. I have no doubt that this has already happened.
Like any conservation project, the local people need to be included in the management plan for it to be a real success. I think it would be possible to include hunting as part of the plan with some education about Ivory-Bills. If the Ivory-Bill became a symbol of the preservation of these lands for the continued use of the locals, they would be behind it 100% instead of trying to kill off whatever they feel threatens their hunting lands.
In my last post you saw my closest approach to abstraction, paintings that are comparatively, a form of relaxation for me. Here is the anal opposite, a large (11×14), highly detailed scratchboard drawing. I’ve been working on these crocodiles a long time. That is, the drawing has been sitting on my drawing table for a long time. I do have a lot of scratching time on it, but as my attention span shrinks, the drawing to sitting time ratio has decreased.
The image is two large crocodiles, probably hybrids between Crocodylus porosus (the Saltwater Croc) and C. siamensis (the Siamese Croc), with a Rajah Birdwing Butterfly. I’m working from photos that I took in Thailand, at Uthen Youngaprapakorn’s Samutprakan Crocodile farm. The crocs were dozing in the the dappled light of trees, with butterflies using them as basking spots. The butterfly is a species from Borneo, where it could encounter porosus.
I expect this to be my submission to the Society of Animal Artists’ 5oth Anniversary show this year.
In progress: "Crocodile Dreams" 11" x 14" Scratchboard
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
