As I make my photographic journeys through the great grasslands of North Dakota, I am drawn to certain familiar buttes and grassy slopes time and again. This is a landscape that I have photographed before, but the colors were more autumnal and more of the foreground was included in that version. It would be fun [...]
It was back to my large new badlands drawing today, and I worked on the left side from the hills down to the edge of grass. I just can’t express deeply enough my admiration for this sublime country. Every day there are more articles and letters in the Bismarck Tribune from people who are really [...]
I’ve been making good progress on my North Dakota and Montana landscape drawings, and today I started a 30×40″ pastel pencil on illustration board of the North Dakota Badlands at sunset. Golden Dakota Yellowstone River with Orange & Pink Trees Pink Grass, Montana Dakota Sunset Dream Grasslands in Purple and Red
I framed my “Badlands Grandeur” drawing today and took it over to the Bowman Library. The drawings and posters look very good over there with the books. Badlands Grandeur being Framed
Making a book is an art in itself. How I love a book that has been beautifully done, with consideration for the content as well as the visual appeal. It’s hard to imagine that real books may be replaced with digital ones. To me, books are some of the best achievements of mankind, and some of the [...]
It’s only five degrees above zero today, so it’s nice to think back to the warm and golden days of the year. I added photos of longhorn cattle, wild horses on a ridge, sunsets over the badlands, and the prairie slopes covered with autumn color to my Blurb book recently. I do want to add some [...]
I’m having a great time adding some of my favorite North Dakota photos to my Blurb book of drawings. They are a very nice complement to the drawings, and give the book a fuller dimension. These two photos are actually part of a three panel drawing I have planned for the future, “Dakota Prairie Grasslands.”
I’ve been gradually getting back to work on my pastel pencil landscapes. Here’s a progress shot of “Dakota Sunset Dream.”
Friends, family, frost . . . who could ask for more when it comes to a North Dakota Christmas? The season was full of laughter, beauty, music, and love. I’ve just come back from Bismarck, where I had the chance to help my sister work on a new house. We picked out paint samples and flooring, cleaned [...]
We’ve had lots of frosty beauty to accompany the holiday season this year. I hope you had a merry Christmas and that your New Year will be filled with the things you love. Here’s a photo from north of Bowman a couple of days ago.
Self-portrait with "Sunwondrous" on May 10, 2013.
Native sunflowers grow along the roads and in the prairie grasses of North Dakota, and domestic ones are planted by the thousands in farmers' fields. They are a natural symbol of life in our state, and I like them for the joy and radiance that can be expressed through their exuberant forms.
Self-portrait, January 21, 2012.
Bowman, North Dakota.
In the Studio with 30x40" Drawings, 2013.
Self-portrait with Art Books, 2013.
INFLUENCES: Native American views of the earth and sky, rock art in the Cave Hills, learning the names of native plants and how they were used, the artwork of Georgia O'Keeffe, Emily Carr, and Wolf Kahn, the writing of Merrill Gilfillan and Sharon Butala, the photography of Courtney Milne, and the adventurous life of Evelyn Cameron. My mother's family was from Rhame, my father's family was from Amidon, and I had an aunt and uncle in Miles City, so I got to see a good portion of the country from the time I was a child.
"Badlands Grandeur" will be part of an encore exhibit of "Cowboys and Indians" at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in Medora during the summer of 2013.
At "Cowboys and Indians" exhibit in Medora, 2012.
“Dakota Grasslands Dream” won the Best of Show award at the 42nd Annual Badlands Art Show in Dickinson in 2012.
"Deep Pink Dakota Dream" was part of the 37th Annual Invitational Art Auction & Fundraiser in 2012.
At the Custer County Art & Heritage Center, Miles City, Montana, August of 2012.
At Bismarck Art & Galleries Association on January 4, 2013.
Self-portrait at the Burning Coal Vein on May 31, 2012.
LITTLE MISSOURI NATIONAL GRASSLAND & SURROUNDING REGION
Near the Burning Coal Vein on September 18, 2012.
THE LANDSCAPE BETWEEN BOWMAN & MILES CITY, MONTANA
Near the Powder River on September 29, 2012.