NorthwestArkansas

SOLD -through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2009.	Flying the Flags 18 x 24 inches acrylic on panel If you get down into the creek bed at Devil’s Den you will find saplings trying to get a foothold. They will grow until there is another flood and most will be wiped out. Lee Creek can really “get up” and be a lot more destructive than most people think. This painting is about these young trees “Flying the Flags” as winter draws near. Maybe they’ll be here next year. Maybe they’ll grow old enough to withstand most of the winter floods. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - via Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR. 2007	Sycamore Clipper on Lee Creek 16x20 inches acrylic on panel It is easy to determine which way is down stream on Lee Creek …the trees in the creek lean or point downstream. This particular sycamore has taken up residence in the middle of the creek on a gravel bar, or rather, a boulder bar. The more I worked on this painting, the more I thought the sycamore looked like a clipper ship. I liked the way the tree had almost compacted itself into a symbol for a clipper creaking in the wind as it sailed down the creek. You could see the bowsprit and masts all compressed into the hull which seems to be plowing through the boulders and rocks. I almost wished I had painted it with those huge sycamore leaves blowing in the wind. Perhaps another time. Click here to enlarge image.
For Sale at the Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR.	Edge of the Break 16x20 inches acrylic on panel Up a ways from Lee creek there are places that just break off. Landslides create infant or juvenile bluffs. This is one that is right above one of the many trails at Devil’s Den. Erosion is completing what the break started. Now, I don’t paint like Cézanne, but I enjoy his work. This painting, like Cézanne’s, is “flatter” than what I normally end up with. There is less depth in this painting because that’s the way place is and because I kept “depth” at a minimum. Many people have complemented me on my ability to represent depth (And I’ve worked hard to understand how to show all three dimensions.) but sometimes it’s fun to flatten a painting out a bit. Click here to enlarge image.
	Slime on the Altar 16x20 inches acrylic on panel My wife tells me that this title is a hindrance and most people react negatively to those words together. I can understand that but this canted rock with algae blooming on it most of the Spring and into the Summer is one of my favorite places in the Den. Slime on the Altar is a title that fits…at least for me. It is a pretty miniature waterfall when it rains and I love the dripping slime which is almost jewel-like at times. Perhaps you will be able to overlook the title. Click here to enlarge image.
	The Crash Years Later 20x16 inches acrylic on panel This tree crashed to the ground years ago but strangely has remained nearly intact. You can almost imagine the tree as it was when still alive. It is located right beside one of the most heavily traveled trails in Devil’s Den and just past the Devil’s Icebox. Some people praise me because of the detail in my work and others belittle me for the exact same thing. I would like to point out that this painting is very loosely done…particularly in the background. It’s the image that counts, not detail. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - via Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR. 2005	Tricklin' 16x20 inches acrylic on panel On the main hiking trail at Devil's Den is a waterfall. It's a part-time waterfall mostly. Some seasons don't see much activity beyond drips. At the base of the waterfall is a wooden bridge for hikers. Whatever water there is begins tricklin' down through the rocks and boulders on its way to Lee Creek. It divides and pools up here and there before it does a subterranean trick and disappears under a gravel bar before reaching Lee Creek. The painting's view omits the actual waterfalls (there are two... well maybe one and a half) and concentrates on the compositional elements of trees, rocks and the water from the waterfalls. It's one of those gray, soft days of winter when you can actually hear the trickle of water. Click here to enlarge image.
	Stone Sandwich 16 x20 inches acrylic on panel I can’t even remember where exactly this fractured boulder is located. The original impetus for doing the painting was the twin pieces of rock and the two semi-parallel tree trunks. Not much to start a painting on, hmmm? Of course, I was interested in the patterns formed by the moss and lichens on the rocks in particular. I also was intrigued by the way the white on the rocks stands out. The four vertical tree trunks were interesting to me as well since it gave the impression of a bed (the boulders could be seen as the mattress and springs…see?). All of the intersecting “lines” made it visually interesting in a cubistic way. I spent quite a bit of time getting the blanket of leaves just right. There’s more here than meets the eye: you just have to look…hard. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - from Artist's personal collection 2005.	The Three Finger Tree 16 x 20 inches acrylic on panel This is a young tree sheltered by a full grown adult. However, I don’t do paintings based on sentimental metaphors. I was taken by the overall abstract design that is created by the bold, dark shape of the “three finger tree” overlapping the background. Then the patterns created by the youngster against the textures of the bark really got my artistic juices going. The relationships between the leaves and bark and the leaves and the background and how that changes from the dark background to the light one was visually stimulating. I don’t even know what kind of trees they are. In this case, it was unimportant. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD - via Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR. 2008	Lichen Forest, Devil's Den 16 x 16 inches acrylic This is the sort of thing that you see everywhere in Devil’s Den. I worked on this painting for months and laid it aside…coming back to it nearly a year later. I sawed off the left hand side of the panel and adjusted the accuracy of the rocks and trees. Nobody but me would notice the lack of accuracy, but the relationship of the parts are important for me to be able to finish a painting. Then I concentrated on the patterns of lichens that cover the rocks which give the rocks an appealing softness which also is a part of the reality of Devil’s Den. It’s sort of like painting great big sponges lying on the ground nearly buried in the leaves. Click here to enlarge image.
For Sale at the Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR.	Exposed Roots 16.5 x 16.5 inches acrylic 2006 Along Lee Creek you will find many trees with exposed roots. As the years and floods go by, some get exposed more and more until they are finally swept away in a really big flood. This sycamore tree used to be north of the bridge and within the main area of Devil’s Den Park. If you look closely, you can see some rocks that had become entangled in the roots of the tree. And even with ballast like those rocks, the tree was ripped up and swept away. The trunks and roots are bruised and broken by other tree trunks and rocks caught up in the floods. Being a tree along a creek in the mountains is not an easy life. Click here to enlarge image.
For Sale at the Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR.	Slow Flame acrylic 2006 Trees that live along Lee Creek have a rough time. They get flooded and frozen…not to mention the occasional drought. During the floods they get banged and crunched by floating logs as well as boulders of varying sizes. Almost all of them have their roots excavated. The reason I call this Slow Flame is that the roots look like logs in a fire and the area where the bark is broken off looked like flames to me. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD -through Cantrell Gallery, Little Rock, AR 2009.	Ridge Storm acrylic 2006 There is a dead eastern red cedar on the bluff as you hike out to Yellow Rock. I found this tree early on but never could figure out how I wanted to paint it. This one is covered in lichens and moss and has pretty much turned a silver-gray. It doesn’t actually sit by itself and there are several oak trees close by but for this version I decided it would be better alone. The storm happened somewhat accidentally…I just darkened the clouds to blend in with the ridge and it started raining. Naturally, lightening was next. Click here to enlarge image.
SOLD -through artist's personal collection, 2010	Creeping Shadows 18 x 24 inches, acrylic 2006 Click here to enlarge image.