Stormy Tornado Sky

I'm no weather expert, but I know whether or not I like what I see. I was most impressed with the cloud formations near Indianapolis Indiana yesterday. Like the beauty of a wild beast, stacks and layers of stormy colored clouds crossed overhead. Once the lightning had well passed I was tempted to venture outside with my camera (visit my fine art portfolio to see results). I don't recall having seen anything like these clouds in the Midwest except from my nightmares of the Super Outbreak of tornadic activity back in 1974. The colors were made even more intense by the setting sun, and though a warm solar glow was added, the light also revealed that cliche sick tornado green.

Twister Passed, by Tree Pruitt (see below).

Here in Indy these two mixing severe thunderstorms shown in my photographs tossed out large hail, at least one possible tornado, and did prompt several reports of funnel clouds across portions of central Indiana before moving on to my former home of Ohio. I'm sure the warning sirens were sounding off well where I used to reside in Clermont County Ohio, which just last year had been beaten up by Hurricane Ike. Near to that location is the weather station in Wilmington, which was able to visually confirm a twister last night touched down right there! It was a strange sensation watching these storms move from my new home to my old. As much as I revelled in awe at the cloud formations and distant violent lightning, I hoped with all hope that no one was being harmed by these amazing skies. Before the sun finally set, a rainbow arched across the grassy field.
I've chosen a few photographs from yesterday to manipulate for art prints, but I'm also working on putting the entire set of unenhanced images into a public photo album for free viewing; please do check back for more information.

1. My portfolio


2. Image shown above available as prints, posters & art shoes for women at... Art & Shoes Skyscapes Gallery


3. http://www.theindychannel.com/news/19612463/detail.html


4. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/severe-storms-spawn-tornados-in-miami-valley-141297.html

*Original art images ©Tree Pruitt, unless otherwise indicated. Contact the artist prior to ANY use or for purchase information.

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Sociopolitical Goya

The Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya (30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) has been regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. The subversive and subjective elements in his art provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, including Picasso. Known as a chronicler of history, Goya produced numerous thought provoking paintings, drawings, and etchings such as the one shown here.



The etching includes the title of "No se puede saber por que", which translates as "No one knows why", and it is one example of many sociopolitical artworks produced by Goya where the artist portrays the unexplainable horrors of war; indeed no one knows why such acts are performed by one human upon another of kind. A publication from 1914 further explains Goya on this matter...

"About the greatest of human illusions he has no illusion. In drawing after drawing he states without mincing matters his conviction that to fight is after all only to murder. I think that it is this insistence not merely upon strife but upon murder that gives these drawings a character of horror more emphatic than that of any other representations of warfare. And it is not only against the barbarousness of war that he utters his passionate protest, but also against its tragical illogicality. It is not the business of art to attempt to solve the problem of pain or to hazard guesses at the riddle of the universe, and that Goya showed a just sense of its limitations in preferring to exhibit slices of life rather than to attempt an interpretation of the whole. He tosses us these raw and palpitating fragments and leaves us to digest them as best we may."

See my Squidoo Lens, About Sociopolitical Art, to learn more about social and political expression in the arts.


*Francisco Goya. (2009, May 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:23, May 20, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francisco_Goya&oldid=290994967

*The New York Public Library Digital Gallery
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1109956

*Goya - Disasters Of The War, originally published 1914
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles22/goya-13.shtml

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Dance with the Moon ACEO Painting Series

I've been enjoying painting a series of ACEO's (miniature art cards) based upon the theme of dancing naked in the moonlight. One of the first things new neighbors will ask upon learning that I'm a Pagan is, "Are you gonna dance around naked under the Full Moon"? I generally reply with a chuckle, and explain that not all Pagans or Wiccans skip around nude (though I might) and usually don't do it at all in open suburban backyards. Each time the question is posed I get the sense that folks might wish -- just a little bit -- that they could be so open as to dance naked with the Moon, so I began this series of quick little paintings in honor of letting that wild spirit break free!

Shown above is card #1 Dance with the Moon, which features a long haired woman stretched back in motion. She's shaping energy for magic between her hands, while a naked branched tree watches from a hill in the landscape background. The painting is almost abstract in style, with thick brush stroke texture, which lends to the sense of motion in dance. Each in the series will have a similar style with a dancing figure, the Full Moon, and may or may not have a tree in the scene. Each painting should stand well alone as an individual, but a group together would create a coven of dancers in motion; should be cool!

I'll be adding card #1 to my fine art store soon for purchase. Each card is made with acrylic paint on quality Strathmore water color paper. They'll come with a clear protective sleeve and also a black edge top loader frame. I hope visitors enjoyed viewing this peek at the first Dance With The Moon painting and will come back again to see the next two cards in the series.





*Original art images ©Tree Pruitt, unless otherwise indicated. Contact the artist prior to ANY use or for purchase information.

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Painting Spotlight

Le Morte D`Arthur, or The Death of Arthur, is a mysterious still life oil painting that was added to my online portfolio early on, and it has recently been brought to light again by a fellow artist.

Le Morte D`Arthur

Dear friend to all and fabulous artist, Armando Salas, chose my canvas as his pic of the day in a special ArtWanted.com member gallery! Each day members of the site who browse the work of others can choose a single image as a top or favorite of the day. Artwanted then catalogs them for browsing by date so that future visitors can see these spotlighted artworks. I'm really glad Armando enjoyed another visit to my portfolio, and I sure hope others will stop by too; comments are welcomed!

Below is a small snap of the page showing "Le Morte D`Arthur" among other artwork from Pics of the Day: 05/10/09

Visit ArtWanted.com!

Visit my store for ACEO mini prints.
A miniature print of the painting, Le Morte D`Arthur, or The Death of Arthur, in ACEO size format is available. ACEO's are fun and affordable little works of art that are great to collect in an album, use as a book marker or gift tag, and they look wonderful mounted in a frame for a contemporary home decor.

Thanks for visiting!


*Original art images ©Tree Pruitt, unless otherwise indicated. Contact the artist prior to ANY use or for purchase information.

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Shorebirds painting & ACEO print

Though I no longer live in the Pacific Northwest, I still keep tabs on my old home of Hoquiam Washington. While visiting the city website I was reminded that the Spring shorebird migration has recently past for this year.

My first encounter with the migrating shorebirds in coastal Washington State inspired a small painting years ago that the Spring season brings to mind.
Though at first glance, "Shorebirds Feeding" may seem like an abstract painting, a longer inspection reveals the swirling forms of birds and beaks. When the tawny brown birds twist in the sunlight their bodies throw back a myriad of muted color by reflection and shadow, adding to an illusion of abstraction. The original painting is on 9" x 12" mounted canvas and is acrylic paint. The collectible ACEO mini print of "Shorebirds Feeding" (shown at left) is printed with Fuji inks on Kodak paper and is the standard ACEO size of 2.5 x 3.5 inches (baseball card sized).

I used to live only but a short walk to where the new viewing platforms have been built for this annual migration where thousands of long billed birds stop over at the Grays Harbor estuary to fatten up before heading off to the Arctic. When we rented our house there we had no idea it was such a prime location for an artist slash naturalist! I compared sea weed to algae, sketched ship wreck debris, collected lichen, studied wildlife tracks, painted misty mountain views, and walked alone with my dogs among the shorebirds. Now, according to the City of Hoquiam website, "People from around the world come to view this event of hemispheric importance. The Shorebird Festival works to bring people together for this incredible natural phenomenon."

What, you may ask, is so incredible about a bunch of birds? First, let me say, you really have to experience the event to gain the full impact. My personal experience involves a simple walk along the rocky beach. Other than my dogs and an occasional seagull there wasn't a creature to be seen on the shore. One bird with a funny long beak landed nearby. Then, before I could even get a good look at the first, I was immersed in a cloud of birds! Thousands of birds suddenly appeared at once, swarming after bugs (eat your heart out Alfred Hitchcock)! At times I could only catch glimpses of the dogs because the layer of birds was so thick. That, my friends, is an amazing experience! I can't say that everyone visiting the Shorebird Festival will have such a close encounter with the feathered kind, but a good time is assured. The peak in migration typically occurs the last week in April. The 14th Annual Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival was held this year between April 24 - 26 in Hoquiam, Washington. Visit the site for the festival for information about next years events. http://www.shorebirdfestival.com/




*Original art images ©Tree Pruitt, unless otherwise indicated. Contact the artist prior to ANY use or for purchase information.

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Ganesha Indigo Flow Added to Portfolio

I've just added this digital manipulation, "Ganesha Indigo Flow", to my ArtWanted.com portfolio. If you visit there, you'll see a close-up image of the digital effects, which shows best at full size.

DESCRIPTION: Photomanipulation collage, by Tree Pruitt, that combines elements of nature and spirituality in a contemporary presentation. The elephant headed Hindu God Ganesha (or Ganesh) sits holding the Golden Ball of enlightenment filtered through hues of indigo over a flowing granite stone like background. Style of digital manipulation lends the image a dream like, painterly, quality overall.

* Shop for fine art prints, including canvas choice options & custom frames, as shown to the right.




*Original art images ©Tree Pruitt, unless otherwise indicated. Contact the artist prior to ANY use or for purchase information.

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