Misty Morning on the Mountain to Sea trail

This is one of those paintings where everything went well. 1st, the hike on the Mountain to Sea trail was beautiful. Next, back in my studio each part of this painting came out great. The background has many layers, the tree line fades in and out of view, and the fallen limbs have a wet feeling. Perfect. This is a framed watercolor painting, 8 x 10 for $490. You can see the trail blaze on the tree second to the right. 

 

Thanks to Everyone! - Fall Open Studio

 The Open House was great fun. A big thanks to everyone who stopped by. I sold quite a few paintings and drawings. I will post what is still available after Thanksgiving. It was fun to chat with so many folks about art. Maura even had some of her new pillows on display. 

The drawing above is from the Mountain to Sea Trail in North Carolina. You can see the trail blaze, a white circle, on the leftmost tree. It is still available. It is a graphite drawing 8 x 11, framed, $390 plus shipping. 

The Wedding Tree at Thistle Meadow Winery

If you need a break from the heat, wander up to the mountains to the Thistle Meadow Winery in Laurel Springs NC. It is about an hour and 1/2 north of Charlotte. You can have a picnic there under this tree next to a stream and sip some of their great wines. Many couples have gotten married under this tree over the years. This is a color pencil sketch. 

Three Interpretations

 

On one of my favorite hikes along the Mountain to Sea Trail, I ran across this tree besides the trail. I've interpreted the tree in three ways to date. One is a straight drawing, one a realistic watercolor painting and one is a simplified colored pencil drawing. Fun to add and subtract limbs and details in the various images. 

Wil Bosbyshell December Open Studio

During December my studio at the Charlotte Art League is open Wednesday to Sunday 12 to 3. My Tree Series and other landscapes are on display. Drop by safely! 

The Charlotte Art League, 4100 Raleigh Street, Charlotte

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas!

 

Christmas Trees from Boyd Mountain Christmas tree Farm in Waynesville, NC. 

All these drawings are 8 x 10, graphite on paper, $190.

Black Eyed Susans on the Mountain to Sea Trail

This field is so beautiful, I have returned several times to it. It is along both the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Mountain to Sea Trail. The field is full of flowers and grasses. These are color pencil sketches I have completed recently. Some are my normal level of realism, but others are more abstract and simple. 

Nature Reconsidered Exhibit Juror's Statement

 

It was nice to win 1^st Place in the Nature Reconsidered Exhibition. The Juror's Statement by Myles Calvert, Assistant Professor – Printmaking, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Winthrop University is very well written. 

Considerations such as warm paper hue, make this graphite drawing / textured rubbing, a stand out work. Gestural marks, which are seemingly spontaneous are, in fact, carefully considered and logically placed. Areas of intense detail allow for a restful area of photographic calm, before moving to texture-heavy offerings of what a tree should feel like. The drawing allows for artistic freedom but does not fall short of pairing a refreshing use of positive / negative space and stimulating the mind to what branches may even smell like. A familiar image ratio combined with unusual cropping, dictates a contemporary expression of a truly explored and historical subject.

This statement reminds me of how my friend Don Michael can write about art! 

 

Pencil Sketches as part of my Tree Series

I am excited by the pencil sketches that I am doing as part of my tree series. I just love the simplicity of pencil and paper. I am also enjoying teh hikes I am taking along the Mountain To Sea trail as part of my "research". 

 

Mountain to Sea Trail Drawing...is it finished?

I have considered this drawing finished a few times. Here is my 1st stopping point. The grass in the foreground is still very light; no clouds and the barbed wire disappears behind the trees. This wonderful field is along the Blue Ridge Parkway where the Mountain to Sea trail runs besides it. 

Returning to it a second time, I added the nails and other hardware to the fence post, then darkened the grasses. I thought I was done, again. 

I spent some time with the drawing again and decided it was not complete. I added the clouds and blended the foreground grasses together in some places. I then added more discarded hardware and the Mountain to Sea Trail blaze to the tree. Am I finished...we'll see. 

 

Mountain to Sea Trail Color Pencil Drawings Part 2

Just having a great time with these pastel sketches. They are 7 x 10 inches, so an easy small size. I am trying to complete in one or two sittings at my studio. For this one, I got down in the weeds or wildflowers so to speak! 

Mountain to Sea Trail Color Pencil Drawings

Maura and I went hiking along the Mountain to Sea Trail near Sparta, NC. This is where the trail runs along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Easy access! Then we went to the Thistle Meadow Winery in Laurel Springs for a glass of wine! Wonderful day. 

These are fun patels in my sketchbook. More flat areas of color than my normal paintings. 

Mountain to Sea Trail painting

This scene was so beautiful that I had to paint it. It is hard to do as a watercolor because the light green field in the mid-ground. But what the heck, I tried it anyway! The filed was full of a grass with a purple or lavender bloom. This is along the Mountain to Sea Trail where it runs along the Blue Ridge Parkway. A double whammy of greatness. 

Why Draw Trees?

Why Draw Trees?

Climate change, the accessibility of drawing, and universality with trees are the factors that inform my current drawing series. 

Travelling across Alaska while in the army, and my residency in Hungary led me to explore the impact of humans on the landscape. Trees grant us our existence on Earth. Without them we do not have a future. Most people see trees as the proverbial abstract forest; I see them as individuals. Each tree has a personality and a story to tell us. 

My drawings center on the interaction between the texture of the bark, the natural design of the limbs and depiction of the scars left by time and weather. I look for deep shadows in the knots and patterns in the bark. I draw to transform natural detail into massive, solid shapes, achieving unique perspectives from an up close and personal vantage point. 

When I draw a tree, I get close up and study the detailed textures, bark, branches, etc. Older trees show the scars of living and time, just like people. A broken or twisted branch is beautiful in the story that it communicates. 

I have been working in graphite as my primary medium since 2008. My process is as follows. I travel to locations where there are older trees like the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Pisgah National Forest or locally north Charlotte’s Ribbonwalk. There I observe the trees and spend time with them. I sketch on location, sometimes using rubbings of the bark’s texture. I also photograph the tree for future reference. 

On return to my studio, I use the sketches, texture rubbings and the photos to draw very detailed close-up drawings in graphite. I include the living, dead and broken branches. Before I put marks on the paper, I score the paper with rough objects like rocks, etc. This scoring shows up as white texture in the dark values of the final work. I then apply the graphite in values light to dark. At various times in the process I randomly make marks on the paper with graphite or other instruments to emulate the bark imperfections and variations. 

On observation, the viewer can literally see the divine, through the divine proportion in the bark and branches. I emphasize the ratios found naturally in branches that result in the wonderful asymmetrical balance that stimulates and fascinates our unconscious minds. My drawings are heavily focused on a full range of light and dark values and include as much of the tree’s individual personality as possible. As in nature, some branches of a tree are almost invisible until you get really close. I reward the viewer to get up-close and linger with my drawings. 

 

I want viewers to develop a more personal relationship with trees, leading to greater understanding of their importance in the ecosystem.