All Bark

Off the west coast of Ireland near Galway are three islands that make up the Aran Islands – Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer – which I think are populated by about 850 people. So being a lover of Irish music, I discovered this amazing song from a native Aran Islander and I even learned it on guitar and can now say that I speak a bit of Gaelic. Erin go Braugh.

The family all went down to Farwell which is about 90 miles away just to get away. I live in a place most people come up to. I counted 1800 cars I passed from Buckley to Clare going south from vacations up here on the weekend. There are many towns I pass when traveling and I see these little diners in these small towns but rarely stop. Is it a dive? Is it safe? This time we made it a point to stop. As the kids were looking on their cell phones for the perfect local hangout in Harrison, MI,… Read More »

The acrylic of San Xavier is almost finished. The painting is not that far off from the original photo I took of the west tower that day. The clouds did actually look like white doves flying around the top. I just helped them along a bit in the painting.

I just heard that Leigh Perkins passed. Leigh was a brother and uncle to two of my dearest, closest friends and was also a friend. I love people with a good sense of humor and he had it. He came from a family that was very successful and he could have spent most of his days just hunting and fishing. But his father advised him to make something of himself and after working the mines in northern MN, he went out and bought a little company called Orvis in the early 60’s and made it into the company it is… Read More »

The second stage of San Xavier.  Last time I visited was about a year and a half ago. Inside is fairly ornate and services are still held there. My fondest memory is when several friends dressed in friar clothes with cameras around their necks and posed in front as if they were tourists. It was for a local ad campaign I believe. I sure hope they got permission to do that. It was back in the early 80’s so the statute of limitations has long expired.

This is the first stage of the new acrylic of San Xavier Mission and yes, there will be wildlife in it, albeit subtle. San Xavier was built in the late 1700’s just southwest of Tucson and is called the white dove of the desert. It is an impressive site to see a gleaming white church building against the landscape of the desert.  This is will be a 25″ x 25″ acrylic.

Yesterday would have been my third child’s 21st birthday. We had a plum tree planted for her that started blooming almost every year on the day she was born, with the last petals falling on the day she left us. This year, our other plum tree is shedding a bit early. A nice carpet of pink.

I got off Facebook recently. Probably a poor marketing move. I had close to 700 followers and 200 friends – many of whom I had no idea who they were. I soon realized that posting some new piece of art was shadow banned so that the same 20 people saw it. After 10 years, I figured that to get 50 people to see it, I had to pay. I am a slow learner.  I also learned that I was the product and it wasn’t the other way around. So if I looked for fishing lures, a ton of ads started… Read More »

Fall may very well still be my favorite season, even though I am at the age where I don’t like what comes after it. We’ve already had some snow up here in Northern Michigan in mid October and they say this winter will be colder than the last few. It is bittersweet to watch the leaves turn and then fall, and one tree in the backyard seems to do it all in one day. I often take video of it because they just  – well as they say – fall like leaves. Falling Leaves

One of my favorite artists and friends passed away a few years ago. George Northup was someone I just instantly liked.  We met at a plantation dinner party just before the Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival. He was somebody and I was nobody. It was my first national show. But he took the time to chat with me and eventhough I was not exactly on his level, he acted like it, giving me advice and helping me understand how the art world works. Eventually I started an on line art site and invited him to be on it and he immediately… Read More »