All of my paintings feature Ozark pigments I’ve collected by hand and processed into paints. I use titanium oxide pigment to make white for adjusting and blending oil paints made from the Ozark pigments.
When I travel, I also gather rocks from those locations. When I make paint with rocks from other locations, the scene will be one from the homeland of the pigment, and the pigment sources will be specified in my process page or product listing if they are not Ozark colors.
When you hear someone say they’re an artist, you might think all they do is paint. I guess there are some who can do that, but I don’t get to paint every day. There’s a host of other things to …
It’s not often that I get decent pictures of wildlife, let alone birds of prey. Slowly, I’ve managed to find some photographers with photos I can use to reference some of my series-in-progress of Ozark Birds of Prey. Several …
My paintings in earthy colors fit into this style. This was a new phrase to me. I’d never heard of it before and didn’t know that was even a thing. It reminds me of when I first discovered the term …
There are other plant walks in Arkansas, but this one is probably a little different. The trails we’ll follow are deer trails and logging roads. The drive to get here is gorgeous. And the biodiversity here at Wild Ozark is …
While I’m at the studio I paint when there’s no one visiting or shopping my art, or other tasks to do, I spend the time painting. This past Saturday I didn’t have any reference images on hand. Usually when I …
I got an invitation from Google to test out the new AI chatbot called Bard. So far I’ve tried it out for a few different things, mostly to draw up outlines for potential blog posts. Today I asked it to …
There are days when I’m not painting, usually when I’m between paintings or stepping back from one in progress. On Saturdays when I’m at the studio in Alpena, I always like to at least get something small done or …
Today (Tuesday 4/18/23), I started working over the underpainting I’d previously done. It was meant for the autumn scene, but I decided to use it for the Kings River in Spring because there are still a lot of autumnal colors …
The first thing on the Art-Biz task list for today was to get some good photos of the Raven. I took it outside for some photos in natural light. Here’s the final ‘done’ image. I’ll use this photo …
Today I went out to check and see if the ginseng unfurling had begun. It hasn’t. But if you want to read my update on what is up, head on over to my ginseng website. Then I hiked around …
It’s a good thing my grandkids like paintings of their critters for their birthday presents. Here’s a quick cow painting for Karter. It’s her baby Brahman.
An alla prima quick study of a Brahman calf lying in hay. Ozark pigments …
Hi there! We’ve since moved down the street to a better building. We’re on the corner of the Old Alpena Pass, 102 Main St. in Alpena. Look for our banners. We’re open from March through December.
Thursday and Friday was all about the rain, and more rain. With thunder and lightning in the area, I left the computer unplugged for much of the time. But there’s always something on my To-Do List to work on, whether …
UPDATE 5/2/23: Workshop season is here, and I’m beginning to schedule a few classes/workshops/herbwalks/orchidwalks. Some will take place here at Wild Ozark, and some will take place at the studio in Alpena. Keep up with workshops as they’re scheduled by …
For the past few days I’ve had to make a detour from my Detour for a Thirsty Raven painting. Because my art is made from natural materials, it means I have to take the time to replenish my supplies from …
Today hubs and I went over to Alpena, Arkansas where the new Wild Ozark studio space will be (inside the upcoming Alpena Mercantile). He brought his metal detector to look around the lot to see if he could find anything …
This raven painting is my largest painting yet. The substrate is a birch board with three coats of white gesso. All of the colored pigments are Ozark and locally foraged, but I use purchased titanium white pigment to make a …
Sometimes an opportunity arises and I leap at it. Afterwards I question whether or not my desire to pivot is warranted, or is it a case of ‘shiny object syndrome’. Have you ever heard of that phrase? It’s the habit …
While I’m waiting on my white pigment powder to arrive, so I can make an opaque white paint, I figured I’d experiment a little with the paints I have on hand. My white grounds came in a few days ago, …
It surprises me that I have never attempted to paint horses. All of my early life I doodled horses on any scrap of paper I could find. Eventually I got pretty good at drawing them. Dreary day art musings led …
Eventually, once I’ve made more paints, I’ll write a page on my process with that. In the meantime, for those wishing to know where I get the empty tubes for oil paints, here’s a link. I get them from Amazon, …
The new year of 2023 kicked off the first oil paintings in my Kings River Four Seasons series. The one I chose to start with first is the winter scene. I’ll rotate through them to work on one while layers …
