Category: Inspired by Nature
Nature is my muse. My art and writing are both inspired by nature.
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The Things I See at Wild Ozark
The other day as I was driving to the office for work, I saw a beaver at the second bridge. I stopped to watch it and took some video. Then on the way home that day, I saw deer, mostly …
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Often Heard, But Seldom Seen
I have a short list of critters that are often heard, but seldom seen. The spring peeper in the featured image for this post is on that list. I was thrilled to finally get to see one so I could …
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Seeking Nature and Biodiversity?
Everything about my life is influenced by the nature and biodiversity out here. When it comes to real estate, properties with soaked with both are my favorite ones to show. I’m probably the biggest tree-hugging nature lover in our office.…
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Bald Eagle | Ozark Birds of Prey series
Originally posted in 2020. I’m going through some of the older posts on my blog and refreshing them. This one really doesn’t need any changes, but it’s been a while since I’ve showcased my bald eagle painting. One day I …
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The Land Inspires
There was a time when I thought it was only this particular place I call Wild Ozark that held such importance in my life. While I do truly love this place I’m planted, over the years, through travel and difficult …
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Stalking the Wild Lady Fern
Near the top of our driveway there’s a deep narrow gully where the creek runs in the bottom. There’s a flotsam island in the middle of that, with shade-loving plants and ferns growing on it. I’ve been eyeing that fern …
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Kings River in Autumn | Ozark pigments in oil
A week or so ago, I started working over the underpainting I’d made for this scene. This one is different from the other two in a significant way. I didn’t have any reference photos when I started working on it …
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Art Inspiration Moments on a Non-Art-Making Day
Even in a day full of non-art related tasks, there can be moments of art inspiration. Equine Escapees In the mornings after I get out of bed, I go outside on the porch to have my coffee and listen to …
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Musings from an Ozark nature artist
I’m at an ‘in between’ time at the moment. Between rain showers and rainy days, between things scheduled on my calendar. And since I just finished a painting, I’m between paintings, too. But this is a great time for …
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Kings River in Spring | Ozark pigments in oil
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 …
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Kings River in Winter | Ozark pigments in oil
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 …
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Kings River | Scenes that Inspire Art
We live in the neighborhood of upper Kings River, in Madison county near the Newton county line (Arkansas). Kings River Falls are not too far away as the crow flies. The landscape here is rocky heart of the Boston Mountain …
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New Acceptance | Watercolor USA 2022
The Forager was accepted to the 61st exhibition of Watercolor USA, a national, annual juried exhibition recognizing contemporary American watermedia painting. The juror was Kevin Umaña, co-founder of The Ekru Project, a Kansas City-based artist-run gallery focused …
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Hermit Journal | Early on a March Morning
Every morning I feed the horses and chickens. Once it gets close to spring, I also begin my ‘get-in-shape’ program. Come along with me to feed the horses before I head out for a jog and walk early on a …
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Yellow-Billed Cuckoo | Rain Crow | Madison’s Earthy Art
It’s almost that time of year again when the rain crow, also known as yellow-billed cuckoo, starts calling. This is another one of those often heard but seldom seen critters that live out here at Wild Ozark. The other …
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Whippoorwill Says “Time to Plant Corn”
Yesterday evening I heard the first close whippoorwill of the 2021 season. Rob said he’d heard it the night before and wondered that it didn’t wake me up. And this week we “mowed” grass for the first time. But that’s …
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Maybe it isn’t sandstone… Bituminous Coal?
I’m often surprised at the colors I end up with when making paints. Sometimes the rock powder looks a lot different than the rock itself led me to think it would. But today I found a new puzzle. I usually …
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The Beauty of Rocks | How I Use Our Most Abundant Resource
If there’s one resource we have an unlimited supply of here in the Ozarks, it’s rocks. There are many reasons I love the rocks here at Wild Ozark. But I think I can narrow it down to the functional beauty …
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Hermit Journal Updates | Early Spring Activities
It’s been a busy past couple of weeks here at Wild Ozark. Early spring and warmer weather brings a flurry of activity here at Wild Ozark. I’ve been working on our garden, grinding more rocks, and generally just enjoying the …
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My 2021 Outlook | A Loosely Defined Path
This is probably the first year that I didn’t go through a reflection of the previous year while making plans for the coming year. In some ways right now, it feels like it doesn’t really matter anyway. No matter how …
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Nature Journal | Still the Mind to See and Hear
Summary: Still the mind to see and hear things you ordinarily wouldn’t notice. My walking meditation helps settle the audio-visual chatter. 9/17/20 Thursday | Today I stopped at the creek to gather a few rocks. Before that I’d spent the …
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A day in the life of a pigment hunting nature artist
Yesterday was a day for running errands. You can come along with me to see what it’s like on a typical errand day in the life of a pigment hunting nature artist. Heading Out Once the sun made over the …
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Thrill the Artist in Your Life with These 5 Unique Kinds of Gifts
These 5 unique kinds of gifts will thrill the artist in your life, especially if they’re the sort who loves nature, or natural and organic things. I’m a nature lover, an artist and paint-maker myself and so I’ve compiled …
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Commissions, Our New Pup, and Other News | Wild Ozark Hermit Journal
I never know what to use for a title on my random musings posts. Most of the time if I don’t have a specific topic in mind, I just start writing and then organize the jumbled mess into some sort …
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Working out the Bugs | Inventor Artist
So I’ve been working out the bugs on a new invention. I’m a creative sort. I guess you could say I’m a sort of ‘inventor artist’. Those of you who have followed me for a while have seen the various …