Monday, May 27, 2013

1st Week - Paintings from Appalachia

 Greetings from the Great Smoky Mountains....Keep Scrolling Down*****************








It has been a very productive Memorial Day Weekend here at the Smokies.  I've Started five Panels the past 48 hours and I'm going on the sixth later this evening.  Each work solves a previous works problem.  I guess that's called progress.  After 2 years w/out making art I've wondered I would still be the same painter.  Signs point to yes.  Scenic isn't descriptive enough for this part of the country.  Woodsy, majestic, rugged, giant, bouldery, i think boulderous sounds better but that's not a word i guess.

I feel like the paintings become truer the more I walk and hike through the various forests throughout the park.  For example, my first drive through the smokies inspired awe so I painted w/out really knowing the ins and outs of what I was looking at.  I painted this...

When you hike through a landscape you know it more intimately, you see the leaves of every tree, the moss covered fallen trees, the rocky slopes, the small creeks and everything that is underneath what your eye doesn't see from afar.  You begin to recognize the different tree types, hemlocks, firs and birch and all their variegations.   This is the first step to painting outdoors.  Acclamation and immersion.

Since then I've done several paintings along three trails the Ramsay Cascades trail,  Alum Cave Bluffs Trail to the summit of Mt. Le Conte and the short but steep Clingmans Dome trail culminating in 5 paintings across 19miles of trail.



Hiking back from the top of Mt. Le Conte, I ran into a group of folks traveling upward.  One of them stopped to ask how far it is up to Arch Rock, I told him from where he was about a half mile.  He thanked me, then another amongst his group noticed the painting I was carrying along with me.  He asked, "is this a painting of yours?"  "Yes" I replied.  He looked at the work quizzically as I held it in front of him.  "What type of painting is it?  To which I replied, "Oil".  Again another, longer moment of disquietness.  Then, "so you want us to imagine".  I explained to him, this isn't a depiction of reality or what are eyes already see.  This mark here may or may not represent a tree.  Try not to see so much with your eyes but with your feelings and heart.  And if that sounds to mushy then see it with your spirit and if that sounds to hippie than see it with your vibes and if thats too groovy, then don't look at it.




 

Saturday, May 18, 2013

First Painting Down


I've been apprehensive since I started this trip as to when my first painting would happen.  I thought it might be on my first cave along the Raymer Hollow trail in Mammoth Cave NP.  But no, nothing struck me at that moment.  I thought it might happen driving along the Kentucky highways cruising with the rolling hills and wooden fences.  Alas!  A sunny day in Tennessee no less.  Why not.  It was perfect.  Although the painting may not be the moment was.   Out of the 20 cars that may have passed, at least 5 people slowed down to ask if me and my gal who was sitting next to me if everything was okay or if we needed help... my folks in TN are quite nice.  Thank you southern hospitality!!  Here are a few pics from that occasion.  Finished work yet to be posted... stay tuned. 








Monday, May 13, 2013

the journey begins today

I'm moments away from embarking on a 2 part cross country road and painting extravaganza.  Keep it locked in for a good ride.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Beef Jerky Recipe

Just a week a way from starting my trip.  Can't wait to see how this whole thing unravels.  I've pretty much stopped planning and am just going to go with the flow.  I think the worst thing I can do at this point is over-think things          s o                         j u  s   t         s h  u   t   t    i     n     g             t h   e          b  r    a       i        n                         d o  w    n                          n      o        w


I do have a jerky recipe for you though!!!

Choose a flank steak or london with minimal amounts of fat about 1.5 - 2#

1 whole bulb garlic
1/2c         salt
1/2c         sugar
1/4c       coriander seed
1/4c       mustard seed
1/4c        peppercorn
3T          allspice
2T          paprika

Blitz the garlic a few times in the food processor
Add remaining spices and blitz until a uniform size.

Rub down the steak with the spice mixture and allow to cure in the fridge for 48 hours.

Slice 1/4in think.  Arrange pieces on a cooling/drying rack and dehydrate in oven @ 150degrees for 4hrs.  flip half way through at hr2.   You'll know it's done when it resembles JerkY!!