With apologies to Edvard Grieg, I bring you our own homegrown Mountain King....

Oh wait, before I get to that, if you read my previous post, "House for Sale: 2bd 2 ba,ac, grt view, mtn man installed..." I thought you'd like to take a look at the charming little house I told you about...

Wait, sorry, wrong one.  Vision from another life.  I spent about five years writing for that show, but that's a whole nuther story...make that stories.

I meant THIS little house, my ex's new place, the one that came with the mortgage and a mountain man, plus a lotta chicken poop.

   

But I digress...again.  Where was I? The mountain man, inspiration for my series of drawings celebrating another generation, Brokaw's Lost Generation, the faces of a collective wisdom we need to treasure.  Finally finished his portrait.  And here he is...

I don't think I can put my mountain man aside and move on to the next in the series, not just yet.  As much as he's seen in life, his boots took him every step of the way.  The boots he now has hanging on his fence, split and sun dried, a work of art all by themselves.

A sneak peek...

More to come.  Comments below...talk to me!

It may be 2010 out here in the 'burbs where I live, but a barely visible turn off Lake Manor Drive will take you back seventy years to a time when a bunch of bohemian types roamed into the hills and set up a scattered community. When the real estate developers arrived a decade or so later, they left the random houses undisturbed, built around them, and life went on.

So three years ago, when my ex went looking for a mortgage to call his own, he found himself on a winding trail, complete with strolling peacocks, a sign reading "County Maintenance Ends Here," and a flock of ZZ Tops on Harleys outside the local chapter of Hells Angels.  But hardy fellow that he is, he kept on going, edged down a narrow path and pulled up in front of what was destined to be his new home.

Quaint doesn't even begin to describe it.  Enveloped by trees, and opening onto a glorious view of the hills above the tiny community, it came with two bedrooms, two baths, a chicken coop and a mountain man.

Although he was offered the chickens as part of the deal, after some consideration, he declined, though he did keep the coop (and a lotta feathers and bird poop).  It was a minor detail compared to the rest of the property, with that cathedral ceiling soaring into the trees, and the pathway through the garden with its charming porch swing, and...oh, the mountain man?

Well, he's an elderly gentleman with a long white beard and waist length hair, who's missing most of his teeth, walks with a cane and keeps his ancient, worn cowboy boots hanging on the fence around the tiny trailer where he's lived for twenty years.  As he's quick to tell you, he was born in them thar hills and never left, nor wanted to, and has a million stories he could tell (and does) about the old days before the city folks came up and started throwing up their fancy houses quicker 'n spit.

And even though my ex passed on the chickens, the mountain man was a permanent installation, so when he signed the papers for the house, he got him as part of the package.

So when I decided to do a series of drawings celebrating our older generation, duh, where else would I go for my first subject?

Here he is as a work in progress...

He doesn't actually have anything against modern society, as you can tell by those snazzy sunglasses. Plus he says the beer these days is pretty good, and it's just a short stroll to the little country market to get himself a cold one.

I'll have the portrait finished soon (and will post it here, of course) and then it's on to the next in the series.  But I'm thinking it won't be a person...those cowboy boots...the history behind them, what they've lived through.  Every crack in the leather could tell a story. 

Tell me what you think in the comments.  About the boots or whatever else you think would be a good subject for the series.  I'd love to hear from you.

More info on the Canine Artists Guild fifth anniversary competition...it's a fun show, check it out, and don't forget to vote!

For Immediate Release

March 2010

Contact: Kimberly Kelly Santini 810-908-9003

Canine Art Guild Celebrates 5th Year with Online Exhibition

No joke - this April 1st, 2010, the Canine Art Guild (CAG) will “hang” an online exhibition celebrating their five years of existence. Titled “Dog-Gonn It!” the show is entirely made up of artwork that is 5” square.

Canine Art Guild member Catherin McMillan said “For me it was a case of thinking outside the square I usually work in. I've never worked so small before and it was heaps of fun transferring my thoughts to a smaller canvas.”

There are 48 5” x 5” gems created by guild members, viewable 24/7 at www.canineartguild.com/gallery. You'll also find links on this page to archives of the CAG's past online exhibitions.

Canine Art Guild shows are rotated every 3-4 months. This gives members the opportunity to showcase new work within the context of other canine and animal-centric artists. For buyers looking for a pet portrait artist or simply to add to their art collection, the Canine Art Guild is a key stop.

Visitors to the “Dog-Gonn It!” exhibition can also cast their vote for People's Choice Award. Cash prizes are awarded to the artists who's work garners the most votes.

CAG artists work in all mediums, e.g. paint, ceramics, pencil, sculpture, photography, and digital art, and hail from all corners of the earth. They share resources, educational experiences and marketing ideas while providing inspiration and support to each other.

The CAG offers members a private discussion forum, a profile page linked to the artist’s website, editorial privileges on the Art With a Bark blog, and participation in regularly scheduled online exhibitions like “Dog-Gonn It!”.

Collectors can browse the CAG website (www.canineartguild.com) by breed grouping, artist’s location, medium, or alphabetically.

The Canine Art Guild plans an ongoing series of exhibitions. The next exhibition, slated for summer 2010, is titled “Here Kitty, Kitty.” Clearly a twist on the expected, which in a way exemplifies all that the CAG stands for. In a tail wagging, tongue lolling, sort of way.

For additional information, please contact:

Kimberly Kelly Santini

The Canine Art Guild

346 N Anderson

Lake Orion MI USA 48362

WEB: www.canineartguild.com

EMAIL: info@...

PHONE: 810.908.9003

So I’m trying to pinpoint why I like black and white art so much.  I know it’s partly because we’re surrounded by so much color every day that its absence has a calming effect, on me anyway. Your mileage may vary.  But it’s more than that. 

And I think I’ve got it.  Even though my artwork is black and white, I use color reference photos as much as possible,

which doesn’t seem to make sense, until you realize that with nothing but light and shadow, small details might be hard to recognize.  Color has an advantage in that different hues and intensities are additional ways to define the subject. So once in a while, I need the color photo to understand what’s there, and then I have to figure out how to provide the same information with my limited black and white palette. Which adds a bit of a challenge to the project and really makes it fun.

Something else I've noticed is that people who like black and white art tend to be quite passionate about it, just as I am, and maybe for a similar reason.  They have to take that extra step and let their mind find the colors, which is not only fascinating, but makes the artwork unique to them since no one else will see it exactly the same way.  Of course, that’s only going to work if I’ve been successful in saying what I intended, so when it all comes together, the artwork becomes a kind of shared experience.  And that feels good!

By the way, if you want a really good example of how that works, stop by http://www.sibleyfineart.com sometime.  Mike Sibley is my inspiration.  He’s been doing black and white artwork of dogs for thirty years now, and in my opinion, there’s no one better.