Forgive the lack of communication for the past few years.
There was a serious family illness that kept me from my artwork, but things are better now.
I have had three painful experiences in my life.
Several years ago I had a wreck with a horse that broke 4 ribs and collapsed a lung. I managed to get out of the mountains and into emergency and recovered after several months.
That fox that I tried to smoke out without harming her or her babies backfired and I wound up with some serious burns. In a previous blog I went into detail and showed some photos of the burns. Fortunately, my painting hand that was burnt is still functional.
This one happened in October, 2017. I used to hunt for meat with my horses (moose) in the old days when there were no quads. Now there are quads and side by sides everywhere, lots of access roads and hunters and too little game. Also, at age 77, I found that I couldn’t stay in the saddle for very long without hurting. My old hunting buddies have passed on, are in ill health or have retired in southern places. Realizing that I would be spending a lot of time on my own in the mountains, I stocked my pick-up with everything necessary to get me out of a jam. I would be hunting on my little quad and be super cautious even though I had a Res-Q-Link device and a cell phone.
Guess what happened in October? It was almost dark, snow was down and I got ambushed.
Going up a steep slippery slope the quad, without warning, came back over on me. It just tossed me to one side and landed on its side inches away. I was in terrible pain, but no limbs were broken. I had cell service and a buddy came to my rescue. This time only one broken rib and torn shoulder muscles.
This experience created some soul searching. I have made two contributions to society. For 25 years I have helped people overcome serious emotional problems with clinical hypnosis. Check www.peacetherapy.com. I do not intend to retire because it is valuable therapy that is ignored in the north.
The other contribution is my love of realistic art, that started with the cowboy artist Charlie Russell. A year ago, I decided to specialize in portraiture. I had been a street portrait artist when younger and was always fascinated by the intricacies of the human face. Although my western and wildlife art was well accepted, I found that portraits were like a special gift…something more meaningful and personal to the person. A moose is a moose is a moose…but the human face is unique and very challenging…in fact it is the most demanding of all art forms.
So I started working with graphite pencil and colored pastel pencils and to my delight, I found that the result was very pleasing. Especially when done from photos, the art becomes a lasting memory. By producing a hand-made piece of art, I am doing my best to exceed the modern camera imagery.
After that near fatal quad accident, I was inspired to do more portraiture and less risky mountain travel alone. Finally I am no longer hurting and I appreciate that I am still here to make these contributions.
I now have more focus on portraits than ever before…it is a thrill to see the shape, form and colour turn into a pleasing image and gift for someone…and people consider it valuable enough that they are willing to pay a reasonable price for it.
Really glad to be here, pretty healthy,. and my painting, drawing hand still works and my eyesight is good.. Also, it is wonderful that people appreciate my art. How good can it get!!!
