A STUDY IN ROCKS

Canyon mist flowing from a cold valley up into the warm rising sun.  Not a breath of air moves through the morning, birds still half asleep sit silent.

16X20 Acrylic on stretched canvas

SNOWED IN

 

A dark cold evening deep in the Montana Rockies.  A warm glowing fire keeps everyone safe and secure.  Just five more months til Spring.

16X20 Acrylic on Stretched canvas.

DUCK - FLYOVER

This work is my second largest at 24x36.  It was fun but challenging in that I had to use the flight of the ducks to dampen the bright morning sun and yet have the reflection in the water.

24x36, Acrylic on stretched canvas.

HIGH MOUNTAIN STREAM

Here's another first.  This painting is the largest I have attempted measuring (with frame) 3 feet X 5 feet.  Acrylic is a fast drying medium, so when I started on this painting I had to work fast and completed the work in three 45 minute sessions.

3'X5' Acrylic on stretched canvas

BROOK TROUT

Come the third Saturday in May and some of the best fishing begins.  The Brook Trout is a real fighter and some of the very best eating.  This painting is my first attempt at producing an underwater activity.  I also call this painting, "HOOKED ON WORMS."

11X14, Acrylic on canvas board

Red Sky at Night

Boy did I same money for Acrylic paint on this one. Just red and black. Looks like a more difficult one to paint but actually it was one of the easiest I've done. Almost like "paint-by-numbers" draw the shapes on the red background then fill them in with black paint. The sky was a little tricky I guess.

Evening Flight

A scene right out of the deep north. Canadians coming in for a landing for the night. Canadian Geese are probably the nosiest game birds there are - this would NOT be a peaceful quiet time!

Danger Bay

Rough Seas turned out so well that I went on and tried to make the sea even worse - and it worked!

Rough Seas

Rough Seas was my first attempt to paint ultimate action on the water and it turned out pretty good.

Bull Moose

I have seen several moose in the wild around here. One cow had me concerned, her calf was between herself and me, and she didn't like that arrangement. The bull pictured would be at home way up north, around here their antlers are generally quite small.

Silent Night

I fell in love with this painting even before I finished it. A church, bathed in moon light, alone but comforting, warm and welcoming.

Winter In The High-Country

Captains Lewis and Clark found out, the hard way - winter in the high-country can is beautiful but can also be dangerous. For the most part elk, deer, moose or any other game animal that could be used as food, vacates the high plains when winter arrives and heads for lower elevations where the snows are not so deep.

Windmill

All through the northwest you can find these relics to a time long gone. Today water is drawn from underground wells through electric-run pumps and into watering systems that are completely automatic.

Lighthouse

Besides Indians and the west I also love watching the sea. Waves breaking on a rocky shore, the sun fighting through thick overcast and a lighthouse announcing a warning to advancing ships.

An Eye On The Maiden

The young buck is more interested in the white buckskin clothed young lady at the water's edge than on any advancing threat!

The Rocky Mountain Front

"The Rocky Mountains be the marrow of the World"
says Dell Gue in the movie, "Jeremiah Johnson." And how right he was!

Lakota Winter

Back in school my senior year was practically all in Art Class. I then put my art career aside when I joined the Air Force and didn't paint again for close to 40 years. Several people were instrumental in my return to painting, one of them was Jerry Yarnell, an Acrylic Artist who teaches art through his books. This painting was a result of studying these books.

Mountain Bison

Prints of this painting have been used on business cards, greeting and Christmas cards, and a matted and framed print now hangs in the First People's Ulm Piskin. A Piskin is a method the ancient Indians used to herd large numbers of bison toward and over a high cliff. Ulm is the name of the town just south of here and near the jump,

Flyover

Normally I don't do requests, but this one time I made an exception. A friend wanted a painting of a pair of Bald Eagles. The work was to be given to his granddaughter and her future husband at their wedding. My friend says that Eagles mate for life and if one were to pass, its mate would also die soon after. Hence the sign of a pair of Bald Eagles is a strong symbol of unity. (I don't know if what my friend says is true or not, but it sure sounds good!)

Maria's River Hunting Camp

This is a rather special painting. Again this one was painted from a photograph, one that I took while standing in the doorway of my camper on a cool November morning. It's Hunting Season 1995.

Mount Rainier

This is Mount Rainier, I painted this from a photograph taken from the Empire Builder AMTRAC observation window. Kim and I took the train from Great Falls Montana to Portland Oregon to visit our daughter and her family.

Over The Divide

In this painting the man in the headdress is riding an Appaloosa. This breed of animal was introduced by the Nez Perce Indians. The Nez Perce home range was west of the Great Divide.

Thanksgiving 1825

This title relays a history lesson. "THANKSGIVING 1825" was selected as a title because of the color scheme on Long Beard's Capote. Prior to 1825 the colors were solid with a black stripe. The three bands (Yellow/red/green) of the Hudson Bay "POINT" blanket was introduced after 1825.

Three Women In The Grass

Once this painting was finished I racked my brain for several days, trying to come up with a suitable title. But there was only one that fit - "THREE WOMEN IN THE GRASS" - what else?

The Race Home

My most favorite subjects are Indians and the Indian way of life (pre-white men arrival)

Best Friends

This painting hangs on the wall of the President of Rustle Reality. We gave this work to Kyle Haney for such great service. Kyle sold our home on 14th Avenue South, Great Falls, for what we wanted and in three days - What a Real Estate Agent.

The Day After Hunting Season - Closed

This is one I did some time ago. I have used this for the background of my business cards.

Broken Jars

This painting has been one of my more popular works. I have painted this one subject seven times, each time changing colors or jar design.

Alaskan Hunting Camp

Smoke rises from a camp fire in the distance. If you're real quiet and listen carefully you can hear the haunting mournful cry of a red-eyed loon

Winter in the High Country

I wanted to call this painting, "Harry Kokko Rides Again!" But there was a problem with that. You see, the closest Harry Kokko could be translated into the Lakota language was Hin Yakan Yahugapitanka, Which translatws to Hairy Coconut. And ya see, that would not do!

Spring On The High Plain

Up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, east of Glacier National Park and just south of the USA/Canada border you can find settlements of the original Americans, their homes many miles apart.

The Hanging Tree

A tree, once strong tall and the center of life, now stands deformed old and ugly.

Evening Calm

Can ya hear it? The total quiet and deep peace? A slight slapping of miniature waves against the sailing craft's wooden hull. Faint calls from several seagulls in the distance coming in to roost for the night. So quiet - so peaceful . . .

Bringing Daisy Home

Another special paintings. Pictured here is an 1899 - 1900 Finnish homestead nestled deep in the Highwood Mountains 20 miles east of Great Falls. This is also where my Black Powder Club meets in early December to hunt the whitetail and mule deer. Today this building is all but completely destroyed by the weather.

Lakota Winter Camp

The Plains Indians moved from camp to camp, one for hunting and another for "wintering." This was typical for the Sioux, Blackfeet, Crow and so on, but the Assiniboine tribe were nomadic, on the move through the four seasons.

Ringneck couple

The Ring-neck pheasant is not native to North America but was imported from the Orient. This is a beautiful up-land game bird and when prepared correctly, very pleasing to the palate.

Unspoiled Territory

A sentinel roosts high overhead, constantly on the lookout for intruders, a meal or both! Many of my works include the Bald Eagle.