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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. -Ed Abbey  Tanglefoot Gallery, Festus, Missouri If you love nature, the Ozarks has it all. Ancient flat-topped mountains, a world of hardwood forests, clear running streams, great hiking trails, float streams, a little bit of wildness and an azure sky seldom tarnished with pollution.
I’ve been creating paintings of The Incredible Ozarks, for over 17 years. In that span of time, I’ve attempted to capture the beauty of the Ozarks from the top of its ancient mountains to its deep green valleys. I've paint the old farms and barns, the country roads, it’s bubbling creeks and streams, the seasons, the weather and most important, I attempted to capture its unbelievable beauty.  Tanglefoot Gallery, Festus, Missouri. Starting April 27th, thru June 12th, I will share with you over 50 plus paintings of “The Incredible Ozarks” at Tanglefoot Gallery in Festus, Missouri. I hope you will join me for an opening reception on May 1st, 1:00pm to 5:00pm. To make it a really great day to explore the Ozarks Mike Aehle and Joel Ferber will be playing their live Bluegrass music. Also, my wife, Diane Tessman will be displaying her fiber art along with the original Jewelry of Julie Bell and the wonderful paintings of Rick Bayers.
Mark May 1st, 1:00 -5:00 on your calendar and come to our reception. “The most colorful thing in the world is black and white, it contains all colors and at the same time excludes all.” - Vikrmn  Elephant Rocks, Monochrome 12X16 Oil When winter arrives it brings us a new world of monochrome – black trees against a gray sky above a white earth. At first it is a fun time to see and explore, but after three to four months of a monochromatic existence we are eager for spring and the return of color to our lives.  Ozark Spring Creek III, 18X36 Acrylic on Board Have you noticed how artist rarely paint in monochrome or with a very limited palette? How many summer landscapes have you seen painted in monochrome or duotone? They are pretty rare. Some artists draw in monochromes with pencil, ink and charcoal so it is not a lost art. There are a few photographers that love Black & White, but the vast majority are searching for the perfect greens and blues of Kodachrome.
Paint me as old fashioned. To this very day I’m still influenced by the Black & White photography of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Very limited palette paintings by George Inness or Giorgio Morandi will stop me in my tracks every time. As March begins and before the bright colors of spring start popping out I want to take a moment to praise the art of painting in monochrome or with a limited palette art. The more I learn about color the more I love Black & White.  Ozark Roots, 40X60 Acrylic on Canvas
To see more of my limited palette paintings take a look around on the rest of my website.
"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it; the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it. The whole story doesn't show." - Andrew Wyeth Bush Wildlife, Lake 35, Winter Panorama, 12X48 Acrylic Snow days were the best as a kid. How could you not love spending a school day building snowmen, sledding, having snowball fights, and making snow angels? As an adult, it's much easier to get annoyed with the chores a snow day brings, like having to shovel the driveway, digging your car out of a snow bank or the stress of driving on the icy roads. But why focus on the negative when we can put on our snow boots and go out to enjoy the beautiful snowy weather?  January, Ozark Winter, 12X24 Pastel As an artist and photographer, I look forward to snow days. Snow turns the grimy, gray days of winter into a beautiful landscape of white.  Sandy creek Covered Bridge, 12X12 Oil Winter is a different world. Buildings, trees, and frozen lakes briefly become abstract shapes on a background of white. My favorite summer paths and trails are seen from a different vantage point. Better still, I often have all my special places to myself. Leaving my foot print in a field of snow is a thrill in itself. With snow on the ground I feel just as vibrant and alive in the gray depths of February as I do on a spring morning, a midsummer’s afternoon or a crisp autumn day.  Wintering Elephant Rocks, 15X30 Acrylic Around the globe, winter is on retreat. Sixty years from now, winters are projected to be more like what they currently are 500 miles south. In a rapidly warming climate, winter is something to be cherished. I would even say there’s a moral obligation to get out and enjoy it while we can, before it melts away.
“The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time — a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken.” -Frederick Lenz Winter Solstice Sunset at Busch Wildlife Conservation Area, 2019, 24X24, Acrylic on Canvas Monday, December 21st is going to be a great day. Not only is it the Winter Solstice but about an hour after sunset you will be able to witness the "Christmas Star". The Winter Solstice will be the shortest day of 2020 and the longest night. It is also the first day of winter. Mankind has always celebrated the Winter and Summer Solstice. Think of Stonehenge and numerous places in North America where Native Americans would mark and celebrate the solstices. It is winter, but it is natures birth of a new year.  Winter Solstice with long shadows, Femme Osage Valley Farm, 2020 Acrylic on Canvas The Christmas Star is the conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. It is said to be the bright star that led the three wisemen to the newly born Jesus 2,000 years ago. The last time we had a winter star as bright as this was 800 years ago.  Winer Solstice 2018 at Elephant Rocks State Park, 24X36 Acrylic on Canvas We live in an era of digital time, and there never seems to be enough of it. But we should not overlook nature's time and fail to celebrate the Winter Solstice. For many years now, I have found someplace quiet to celebrate, to forgive, to be forgiven, to think about my mortality, the past and consider the future. Sometimes it’s cold; sometimes it’s overcast, but the sun will set and I know after the longest night, the sun will rise again. The days will get longer and it will be a time to awaken. Happy Winter Solstice. Garry To read more about viewing and photographing the Winter Solstice and the Christmas Star click here.  Winter Woods, 12X12, Acrylic on Canvas If you live in the St Louis region we may be in luck for witnessing and photographing a Winter Solstice Sunset and the Christmas Star. According to the Weather Channel Forecasts the evening skies will be clear. It will be cool, probably about 30 degrees after sunset. I've been told the Christmas Star should be seen about an hour after sunset. I suggest you find a flat place such as a field or park where you can view a low horizon for both events. Hills to the west could block both the sunset and Christmas Star. In the St Louis area two of my favorite locations are the Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area (just north of St Louis where the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers meet and the Busch Wildlife Conservations Area (St Charles County south of St Charles off highway 94). One of the benefits of both these locations is you can find numerous places where you can park you car and set up your photo equipment close by. It's always nice to have a warm car as you wait.
If you want to take photos a tripod is needed, especially for the Christmas Star. I like wide angle photos for the sunset and telephotos shots for the Christmas Star. I also like to have a lake or an interesting foreground feature in the sunset photos. Set your camera to AUTO ISO and the cameras exposure system will get you in the ball park. You will probably still need to make some cameras adjustments to the exposure. You may want to read up on exposure compensation in your cameras user manual if you are not familiar with it.. I hope you take a few minutes this Winter Solstice to find a quiet place to celebrate nature's years end. Let's let go of this year with a fresh start. Don’t live the same year over and over and call it a life. Starting with this Winter Solstice, awaken to a new life growing with hope and promise. "The brook would lose its song if we removed the rocks." Wallace Stegner  Ozark Roots, 40X60 acrylic on Canvas It was a cold, overcast, and there was snow on the ground that March day I moved to the Ozarks. Leaving the warm spring of Galveston, Texas wearing only a tee shirt, I wasn't a happy camper. Little did I know it would be one of the best days of my life.  My Ozarks, 24X36 Oil on Canvas I fell in love with the Ozarks. I love its rugged hills, valleys and crystal-clear streams. I love its clear blue sky and it's green, green forests. The Ozarks molded me, intoxicated me, and seduced me. I’ve moved around, but I’ve never moved out of the Ozarks. I never will. I’ve been photographing, painting and drawing the Ozarks since my high school years. Now I want to share it with you. Join me on a journey, both back in time and into the future, as I share with you "The Incredible Ozarks" in future blog posts, on my website and through social media.  The Incredible Ozarks, 36X48 Oil on canvas. Let' start the adventure in the Richland Creek Wilderness area, a truly a wild place, a narrow valley filled with gigantic boulders, waterfalls, hardwood forests and most important, a wild clear running creek that flows most of the year. It is located in the southern Arkansas Ozarks, south of the Buffalo National River. It flows north and empties into the Buffalo River at “The Narrows” near Pindall, Arkansas. The headwaters of Richland Creek is a true wilderness area, one of the few left in middle America. “Above all Siddartha learned from the river how to listen, to listen with a still heart, with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgments, without opinions.” ― Hermann Hesse Confluence Sunset II, 12X24 Acrylic on board Have you ever given rivers much thought? They are always there. We cross them all the time in our travels without giving them much thought. “A river is a river, always there, and yet the water flowing through it is never the same water and is never still. It’s always changing and is always on the move.”*  Ozark Spring Creek, 6X12 Oil on board People are like rivers. We start out no more than a trickle and as we age (grow, mature) we widen and deepen. Sometimes we burst our banks, when we are full of ourselves. Other times we may stagnate or even dry out. Sometimes others want to dam us up, confine us and use us for their own purposes.  Falling Water Falls in the Arkansas Ozarks, 12X12 acrylic on Canvas I’m a river person wanting to flow free making my own way through life. Sometimes my life runs clear and true and other times it becomes muddied or even eddies back on myself. I have lived most of my life in the Ozarks and love the Ozarks because of its rivers. Every time I cross a river, or even a small creek, I slow down to take a look. I want to know how it is living in the moment.  Confluence Sunset on the Missouri River 18X24 Acrylic on Canvas Today, in our real lives, we are caught up in a flood. A flood so great we cannot even imagine our future. Envision yourself a droplet of river water, have faith this too shall pass, and we once again find our place in life.
*Aidan Chambers, This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”--Martin Luther King, Jr.  When times are difficult we need to "lean together" and find balance our lives. Supporting Our Dream These are unusual times. While our day-to-day routines have changed pretty dramatically, it’s important to remember that we can still seek joy, peace, health and beauty. I know many are disappointed that almost every organized activity you can imagine has been canceled or postponed. Every spring I look forward to the first art shows and other art related events. This year I was personally excited about showing my new series of paintings, INCREDIBLE OZARKS, at various art fairs, but that’s not going to happen. Since we are going to be out of our routines, now is a good time to break some old habits and start a few new ones. It may be awhile before you see me in public again. No, I haven’t decided to shelter-in-place. My wife and I are now artists-in-residence.  Haw Creek Falls in the Arkansas Ozarks, 16X12 Acrylic on Canvas Social distancing doesn’t mean we need to stop everything and become hermits. The Outdoors is still open for business. There is no reason we can’t go for walks, hike, explore, and observe spring coming into bloom. There is nothing more beautiful than the INCREDIBLE OZARKS spring with Redbuds and Dogwoods. With all the rain, the waterfalls are flowing, and the trees will soon begin to leaf out. If we happen across other nature and outdoor lovers, we’ll be friendly, but keep our distance.  Richland Creek, Arkansas Ozarks 24X18 Acrylic Painting. We have so many places to hike, waterfalls to see and secluded trials to take while watching the magic of winter turning into spring. The Ozarks is blessed with MDC Conservation Areas in every county. If you and your family want to enjoy spring, here are three websites to research, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources-State Parks. My favorite source for places to hike is AllTrails.com. It’s a great resource with photos, detailed descriptions, maps, difficulty ratings and reviews from other hikers. Best of all this is free. Just a heads up, while the trails may be open, many facilities are closed including public restrooms, visitor centers, and public campgrounds – plan accordingly.  Partners, fishing with a friend. 16X12 Acrylic painting. Here is a list of a few more ideas to inspire you this spring:
 Elephant Rocks State Park, a great place for children run and play. Elephant Rocks Panorama, 12X48 Acrylic painting. Staying home could be the best way to spend time with your children, and help them build confidence and character during a stressful time. No one knows how long the Coronavirus will last, but it may be the best thing to happen to you this spring. Have a Happy and Safe Spring.
Good ideas are common – what’s uncommon are people who’ll work hard enough to bring them about. |
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During the first part of the program I will discuss taking photographs with the emphasis on composition, lighting and what to look for to create paintings with visual impact. The second part will be devoted to showing how I turn my photography into finished paintings. Here is a few of the topics I hope to cover.
- How to photograph Elephant Rocks State Park. What are the best times for photography; what to look for and how to take photos under a variety of weather and lighting conditions.
- I will show my final photography choices, talk about why I chose them and discuss the final paintings.
- I will discuss how I use my computer and photo editing programs to make palette choices and develop the final compositions.
- We’ll also discuss why I was motivated to spend a year painting the same subject and the importance of artists creating a body of work.
| The program will be at the GSLAA February 27th meeting. 7:00PM to 9:00PM At Concordia Lutheran Church 505 South Kirkwood Road Across the street from the Magic House. Kirkwood, MO 63122 It’s free to the public. Want more details: http://www.gslaa.org |  |
Give me the tangled shapes of nature over the orderly lines of civilization! Like beautiful twisted wood, good trails and lives well lived rarely follow a straight path.
- Jim Warnock, OzarkMountainHiker.com
Trout Fishing Sunrise, Roaring River State Park SW Missouri
I am so fortunate. When I was a sophomore in high school, I ran away to the heart of the Ozarks. Having lived in Kansas and Texas I had never experienced a place so green, so beautiful. Rugged green hills that turned golden in the fall. Clear flowing Ozark streams, towering bluffs, mysterious caves, white water riffles, and gravel bars bleached white from the sun. All this beauty topped off with blue, blue skies. the Ozarks have four distinct seasons and exploring them became my passion. I learned how to float the rivers. how to fish, hunt and to appreciate the mysteries of nature.
Ozark Spring Creek, Madison County, Missouri
I knew I was in heaven, and by good fortune I grew up to become a Ozark photographer and a painter. I have traveled many places, but the INCREDIBLE OZARKS is my home. And all I have really ever wanted to do is inhale it’s beauty, love it and share it.
 Elephant Rocks State Park near Pilot Knob, Missouri |  Femme Osage Creek, near New Melle, Missouri |
Join me on a journey, both back in time and into the future, as I share with you
"Incredible Ozarks" in future blog posts, on my website and through social media. I hope you enjoy the journey.
Trout Fishing Sunrise, 12X12, Acrylic on Canvas
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“There's just something beautiful about walking on snow that nobody else has walked on.”
-Carol Rifka Brunt
Elephant Rocks in the Winter
| Snow days were the best as a kid. How could you not love spending a school day building snowmen, sledding, having snowball fights, and making snow angels? As an adult, it's much easier to get annoyed with the chores a snow day brings, like having to shovel the driveway, digging your car out of a snow bank or the stress of driving on the icy roads. But why focus on the negative when we can put on our snow boots and go out to enjoy the beautiful snowy weather? As an artist and photographer, I look forward to snow days. Snow turns the grimy, gray days of winter into a beautiful landscape of white. |  Lonesome Highway |
 Femme Osage Creek |  Winter Woods |
Winter is a different world. Buildings, trees, and frozen lakes briefly become abstract shapes on a background of white. My favorite summer paths and trails are seen from a different vantage point. Better still, I often have all my special places to myself. Leaving my foot print in a field of snow is a thrill in itself. With snow on the ground I feel just as vibrant and alive in the gray depths of January as I do on a spring morning, a midsummer’s afternoon or a crisp autumn day.
Frozen
Around the globe, winter is on retreat. Sixty years from now, winters are projected to be more like what they currently are 500 miles south. In a rapidly warming climate, winter is something to be cherished. I would even say there’s a moral obligation to get out and enjoy it while we can, before it melts away.
| Winter is now on exhibit at Green Door Art Gallery 21North Gore Webster Groves, MO 63119 |  |
“Welcome, winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless.”
-Terri Guillemets
Winter Solstice, Mississippi River at Golden Eagle Landing, 2009 Pastel
Winter Solstice, Saturday, December 21st
Saturday will be the shortest day of 2019 and the longest night. It is also the first day of Winter. On Sunday the 22nd the days will slowly begin to grow longer again.
Mankind has always celebrated the Winter and Summer Solstice. Think of Stonehenge and numerous places in North America where Native Americans would mark and celebrate the solstices. It is winter, but it is natures birth of the New Year.
Mankind has always celebrated the Winter and Summer Solstice. Think of Stonehenge and numerous places in North America where Native Americans would mark and celebrate the solstices. It is winter, but it is natures birth of the New Year.
Winter Solstice, Alone, Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area, 2011 Acrylic
Yes, I know we live in an era of digital time, and there never seems to be enough of it. But we, as humans, should not overlook nature's time celebrate the Winter Solstice. For many years now, I have found someplace quiet to celebrate, to forgive, to be forgiven, to think about the past and consider the future. Sometimes it’s cold; sometimes it’s overcast, but the sun always sets and I know after the longest night, the sun will rise again. It's a time to awaken.
Sunset at Elephant Rocks State Park, Winter Solstice 2018, Oil
This Saturday, find a quiet place and take a minute to celebrate natures years end. On Sunday, wake up to a new year growing with hope and promise.
Happy Winter Solstice.
Garry
Happy Winter Solstice.
Garry
Frozen Island, Busch Wildlife, Lake 35, Winter Solstice 2017, 2019 Acrylic Painting
“Everything that is made beautiful and fare and lovely is made for the eye of one who sees.” -Rumi
Partners, 40X30 Acrylic on canvas
I Have twenty of my favorite paintings on exhibit through December at the Soulard Coffee Garden. If you have never been there Go Now. I can’t think of a better place to take a friend for coffee, breakfast or lunch. It’s a place to sit back, drink an epic Bloody Mary and be with friends. Enjoy my art and the excellent food. I'm displaying my paintings of people, landscapes and still-lifes, just so I can show show you the subjects I love. Make sure you wander to the area upstairs as well as the main floor to see all the paintings.
Soulard Coffee Garden, the kind of hangout that encourages lingering; you'll probably be late getting to wherever you're supposed to go.
Happy Holidays,
Garry
Happy Holidays,
Garry
“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination” -Roman Payne
Hawksbill Crag, 24X18 Oil on Canvas.
I was fifteen years old. It was a cold, overcast, and there was snow on the ground that March day I moved to the Ozarks. Leaving the warm spring of Galveston, Texas wearing a tee shirt, I wasn't a happy camper. Little did I know it would be one of the best days of my life.
I love the Ozarks. I love its rugged hills, valleys and crystal-clear streams. I love its clear blue sky and it's green, green forests. The Ozarks molded me, intoxicated me, and seduced me. I’ve moved around, but I’ve never moved out of the Ozarks. I never will.
I’ve been photographing, painting and drawing the INCREDIBLE OZARKS since my high school years. Now I want to share it with you. Join me on a journey, both back in time and into the future, as I share with you "My Ozarks" in future blog posts, on my website and through social media.
Let' start the adventure at Hawksbill Crag at the very head of the Buffalo National River, in NW Arkansas. Hawk's Bill Point is a small rocky point where you can overlook the entire headwaters of the Buffalo River. If you hike a couple hundred yards you can get this dramatic view of the point and the overhang. It is at least a hundred feet to the ground below. This painting is based on a photograph taken in the early 1980's and recreated as a painting in 2013.
I love the Ozarks. I love its rugged hills, valleys and crystal-clear streams. I love its clear blue sky and it's green, green forests. The Ozarks molded me, intoxicated me, and seduced me. I’ve moved around, but I’ve never moved out of the Ozarks. I never will.
I’ve been photographing, painting and drawing the INCREDIBLE OZARKS since my high school years. Now I want to share it with you. Join me on a journey, both back in time and into the future, as I share with you "My Ozarks" in future blog posts, on my website and through social media.
Let' start the adventure at Hawksbill Crag at the very head of the Buffalo National River, in NW Arkansas. Hawk's Bill Point is a small rocky point where you can overlook the entire headwaters of the Buffalo River. If you hike a couple hundred yards you can get this dramatic view of the point and the overhang. It is at least a hundred feet to the ground below. This painting is based on a photograph taken in the early 1980's and recreated as a painting in 2013.
 |  Original Kodachrome Photograph. 1986 |
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To add Hawksbill Crag to your collection, CLICK HERE
Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature. - Friedrich Nietzsche
Elephant Rocks Autumn I, 15X30 Oil
| It’s going to be a beautiful weekend to drive down to Elephant Rocks and Johnson Shut-Ins. Sunny, but cool both Saturday and Sunday. You can spend the day exploring the autumn colors then join me for an exhibit and reception of my paintings, PAINTING ELEPHANT ROCKS – ONE YEAR, THIRTY PAINTINGS. On Saturday, November 2nd, there will be reception at the Battle of Pilot Knob Historic Site (five miles from Elephant Rocks) from 4pm to 7pm. Come see my exhibition. Free snacks, drinks and good conversation. On November 3rd, from 1 to 3PM, I will give a talk about my experiences spending a year photographing and painting Elephant Rocks. I will discuss how to photograph the rocks through the seasons, what time is the best, what to look for in a photograph and then how to turn the photos into paintings. If you have photos or paintings of Elephant Rocks bring them along to share and discuss.  Elephant Rocks, Autumn II, 24X36 Acrylic Paintings of Elephant Rocks State Park is a new series of landscapes created over the past year by artist Garry McMichael. It is a series of paintings of a unique granite geological formation located in the Arcadia Valley about 1.5 hours south of St Louis. There is nothing quite like this rock-strewn landscape anywhere else in Missouri or Mid America. Giant boulders of pink granite rocks appear all over the landscape and in the nearby Ozark hardwood forest. Throughout the centuries, green and gray lichens and mosses have only added to their shape, texture and beauty. It's a painting project I’ve been working on for over a year to capture the state park throughout the seasons. PAINTING ELEPHANT ROCKS – ONE YEAR, THIRTY PAINTINGS will be on display from November 1st through 30th. Additional Elephant Rocks paintings will also on exhibit at the Fort Davidson Café just across the street from the Historic Site. Good food and wonderful paintings.
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Painting Elephant Rocks will be on exhibit
Starting November 1st
At Battle of Pilot Knob Historic Site*
Pilot Knob, Missouri
Exhibit will run from November 1st to 30th
Reception, November 2nd 4:00pm to 7:00pm
* located 5 miles from Elephant Rocks State Park
If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” Marc Chagall
| Elephant Rocks Moon Watcher 24X48 Oil on canvas |
On a couple occasions I have referred to Elephant Rocks as Missouri’s Energy Vortex. It’s one of the reasons I go there, time and time again. I want to experience it in all its seasons and moods. I love it just before sunset when it’s quiet, and I have it all to myself. I love being there on a busy Saturday afternoon, when its filled with a bus load of children, laughing, screaming as they jump from rock to rock. I like experiencing it alone on a cold, blustery winter day just to be reminded life ain’t easy. It’s also why I’ve spent the last year painting Mid-America’s high energy place.
| Elephant Rocks, Summer Two 24X36 Oil on Canvas |
Have you been to Sedona, Arizona? It’s world famous for its energy vortexes. I’ve experienced the famed energy vortexes of Cathedral Rock, Oak Creek Canyon, Bell Rock and Buddha Beach. Yes, the red rock country of Sedona is absolutely beautiful, but the only real energy I’ve found was being expended by the Chamber of Commerce and the local businesses in their attempt to seduce tourist to come there and spend money. Five dollar a car parking just to see a panoramic view of the Sedona skyline. Thirty-minute waits to drive five blocks through Sedona's packed downtown on a spring weekend, overpriced hotels and tourists tripping over each other hiking to Buddha Beach. Is that the type of energy vortex you want? Give me Elephant Rocks. It’s quiet, its free and it's beautiful.
| Energy Vortex's are really within each of us. If you want to experience an energy vortex all you need is a quiet place where you can hear your heart and feel a breeze on your face. That’s what Elephant Rocks offers. It's a far better place. | 
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This blog is an edited version of an article written by Vicki French Bennington, Executive Editor for Gazelle Magazine. To read the whole article visit:
https://gazellemagazine.com/natural-beauty-strength-stability-rocks/
https://gazellemagazine.com/natural-beauty-strength-stability-rocks/
When decorating your office – whether that be at home or away from home – think outside the box. Think outside. Think rocks.
Building Trust, 18X36 Acrylic and Cairn in the Morning Mist, 48X24 Oil in a office setting
While rocks may not seem like a first choice for decorating, you might want to think again. As far as artist, photographer and blogger Garry McMichael is concerned “Rocks definitely rock.” And few things show strength and stability as much as the symbolism created by rocks. Remember the saying, “solid as a rock.”
As far back as he can remember, he has had an interest in rocks and geology. “Rocks have personalities, just as family and friends do; rocks are people I know,” he said. “Some are bright, colorful and make me laugh. Others are secretive, dark and foreboding, keeping all their secrets to themselves. Some rocks are as smooth as a new baby’s skin, while others have sharp edges and carry the scars of a million years.
“Some rocks work together, forming teams, stacking together, while others are loners. Like people, rocks fail, they crack, they slowly erode and they break under natures heavy hand. But don’t ever underestimate a rock. They have strength and the ability to endure in a way that people can only wish for. We can learn a lot from rocks,” he added.
As far back as he can remember, he has had an interest in rocks and geology. “Rocks have personalities, just as family and friends do; rocks are people I know,” he said. “Some are bright, colorful and make me laugh. Others are secretive, dark and foreboding, keeping all their secrets to themselves. Some rocks are as smooth as a new baby’s skin, while others have sharp edges and carry the scars of a million years.
“Some rocks work together, forming teams, stacking together, while others are loners. Like people, rocks fail, they crack, they slowly erode and they break under natures heavy hand. But don’t ever underestimate a rock. They have strength and the ability to endure in a way that people can only wish for. We can learn a lot from rocks,” he added.
Winter Solstice Sunset, 24X36 Acrylic in a living room setting.
McMichael’s body of work, “Mystic Cairns” is a series of paintings of rocks in the form of still-lifes and rock-strewn landscapes.
As an avid student of still life painters and their subjects, McMichael said he is always intrigued by the subjects that are chosen. Most still life painters select everyday things such as fruit, flowers, simple utensils and kitchenware.
“In the 18th century, it wasn’t uncommon for painters to create paintings of the game (rabbit, quail, fish) they hunted for nourishment. They would often include their trusty musket and knives in the paintings.
One of Garry’s favorite still life painters is Giorgio Morandi, a well-known Italian still life painter whose subject was wine bottles, tin cans, bricks and simple boxes, all painted white, gray or black. He painted hundreds of them in his little apartment by the light coming in his windows. They were all titled Natura Morta, with the year each was painted as part of the title. Georgia O’Keeffe was famous for painting bones, horns and antlers, with and without the New Mexico landscape.
As an avid student of still life painters and their subjects, McMichael said he is always intrigued by the subjects that are chosen. Most still life painters select everyday things such as fruit, flowers, simple utensils and kitchenware.
“In the 18th century, it wasn’t uncommon for painters to create paintings of the game (rabbit, quail, fish) they hunted for nourishment. They would often include their trusty musket and knives in the paintings.
One of Garry’s favorite still life painters is Giorgio Morandi, a well-known Italian still life painter whose subject was wine bottles, tin cans, bricks and simple boxes, all painted white, gray or black. He painted hundreds of them in his little apartment by the light coming in his windows. They were all titled Natura Morta, with the year each was painted as part of the title. Georgia O’Keeffe was famous for painting bones, horns and antlers, with and without the New Mexico landscape.
 | “I first saw rocks stacked on top of each other on a Canadian fishing trip,” McMichael said. “They are called ‘cairns,’ and have been used for centuries to mark a trail. I saw them again as works of art stacked on the North Shores of Lake Superior.” Like Morandi and O’Keeffe, he was immediately attracted to painting these cairns because of their simplicity, textures and gracefulness. Not only does he paint them as still-lifes, he’s beginning to see them as part of the landscape, and rocks in general, as the landscape. |
Click Here to see more of my Mystic Cairns paintings or my Elephant Rocks paintings.
Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work. ― Stephen King
Richland Creek, Buffalo River Country 24X18 Acrylic on canvas
| Let me tell you about “talent”. In college, I had a close friend who was also a photographer and very “talented”, maybe more talented than I. We both loved NW Arkansas and the Buffalo River County. We literally spent weeks floating the river together. Through the years we went separate directions becoming professional photographers. He moved to Jasper, Arkansas near the Buffalo National River where he earned a living doing photography and other odd jobs, but he only did what was needed to get by. He liked smoking pot and drinking Arkansas moonshine a wee bit. I too, moved to Arkansas. I worked every day, first for a newspaper and then as a freelance photographer for national editorial magazines. One day I got a call from National Geographic contracting me to spend a week photographing the autumn colors of the hardwood forests in the Buffalo National River region. To work for National Geographic and photograph the fall colors of the most beautiful place in the Ozarks was a dream of a life time. Since my old friend lived near the Buffalo River I dropped by telling him of my assignment and asked if he would like to spend a couple days together as I worked in the area. I told him where I would be camping and asked him to join me that evening. He did join me, and on a cool crisp autumn evening we had dinner by the campfire, reliving old times and drinking just a bit too much. Later in the evening my friend informed me I didn’t deserve to be doing this assignment. After all, he was more talented, a better photographer than I, and he knew the Buffalo region better. He’s proclaimed he should be shooting for National Geographic. Never mind I had been sending samples of my work and developing a relationship with National Geographic for years, just hoping to get this opportunity. It was an uneasy moment, and we were old friends. I let his comments slide as we decided to call it quits for the night. But the next morning I suggested this wasn’t going to work out and we needed go separate ways. I would go on to do several more assignments for National Geographic. My friend was died in car accident a few years later. So much for “talent”. It’s totally worthless unless you are willing to put a lot of effort into it. |
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping… -Simon and Garfunkel
Rainy Morning Blues 36X36 Acrylic on Canvas
| I am so fortunate. God gave me the gift of imagination. All my life I’ve seen ideas, opportunities, things that others don’t. As an artist I can go to a location and see subjects, compositions, light, color, and contrast as few do. It’s not just talent and training, it’s a gift. But imagination, concepts and ideas are just half the battle. The secret is “follow through”. Concepts and ideas without “follow through” have no value. Consider an entrepreneur, like the late Steve Jobs, without follow through Apple wouldn’t exist. Show me one person whose life hasn’t been affected by the follow through of Steve Jobs. It’s the same with artists. Monet’s Water Lilies would not exist without his obsession to paint them. The same can be said about the hundreds of paintings of Norman Rockwell’s nostalgic Americana, or Georgia O’Keeffe’s Southwest Landscapes, or Mark Bradford’s contemporary America. Follow through, it’s the gift of all great artists. Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again… |
To create one’s own world takes courage.” Georgia O’Keeffe
Kanab Sandstone Cairn (study) 12X12 Oil on Canvas
Why do I paint rocks? Don’t think of them as rocks. They have personality just as family and friends do; rocks are people I know. Some are bright, colorful and make me laugh. Others are secretive, dark and foreboding, keeping all their secrets to themselves. Some rocks are as smooth as a new baby’s skin while others have sharp edges and carry the scars of a million years. Some rocks work together, forming teams, stacking together, leaning on each other, while others are loners. Like people, rocks fail, they crack, they slowly erode and they break under natures heavy hand. But don’t ever under estimate a rock. They have strength and the ability to endure people can only wish for. We can learn a lot from rocks.
"Whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done” -Van Gogh
Double Arch Cairn, found in Arches National Park. 30"X40" Acrylic on canvas.
The hardest decision an artist makes is when is the artwork complete. I firmly believe any artist worth his salt is always seeking perfection. Unfortunately, if that were our goal we would never complete a painting. At some point we have to make the decision our art is “good enough”. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve changed a painting or restarted one, sometimes years later, because it wasn’t good enough. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve thrown a painting into file cabinet or the trash because it wasn’t good enough.
Seeking perfection is part of the process being a great artist.
Seeking perfection is part of the process being a great artist.
Garry McMichael