Joni Wins a Photography Award
Category Archives: New releases
Fresh from the foundry
2015 was a very adventurous year for me. I began to realize my long-time dream of creating bronze sculptures! I’ve always known that a sculptor lived inside of me and finally got a chance to see for myself what this kind of journey is like.
Here are the results of my first two bronzes. I’m happy to say that BOTH pieces have been accepted into the Society of Animal Artist’s Hanna Gallery show in Texas this spring! The dates for the show are: May 17th – June 26th. Hanna gallery is located on 208 South Llano Street ~ Fredericksburg, Texas
The piece below is entitled “Airborne”. It was inspired by a friendship that I had formed with a mature wild white tail buck. The size of this piece is 16″ x 16″ x 5″.
The piece below is entitled “The Sushi Bar”. It was inspired by the hundreds of hours that I’ve spent out in my kayak watching birds. Great Blue herons fascinate me. They are a study in patience, stealth and grace. The size of this piece is 18″ x 12″ x 5″.
2012 Wildlife Art Calendar
Announcing my new calendar for 2012. Visit my online store to purchase.
“Play” time!
After the concentrated effort needed to prepare for an art show, it can feel so good to unwind after the show is over. I took a short time to “play” with oils, deciding that fun would come in the effort to loosen up mind and body and just wildly swish paint all around!
I did a few studies, and gave myself time limits on each one (of about two hours), to force my brain to edit visual information and paint from the heart. The pieces are small, simple and splashy. The following are the results:
This next one took a wee bit longer…a little study of my crazy dog Kippy…
Spots on the Rocks
I haven’t done a painting from my trips to beloved Africa for awhile so I decided that the time has come! The Cheetah has the distinction of being my favorite of all the big cats. What an amazing specialist they are. They are poetry and grace in motion. And even when lounging on a rock pile or termite mound, they still exude a fragile, perfectly designed power. This Cheetah only seconds before was lounging on rocks, dozing in what is left of the late-day sun. But a hunter can never fully sleep. A sound in the distance interests the cheetah enough to sit up and take notice. Is it time to stretch those long lean muscles in preparation for a 60 mph dash for dinner? Or is the sound insignificant, warranting one to go back to napping again?
“Spots on the Rocks” Acrylic on masonite (12″ x 18″)
Hot off the Easel
I’ve been painting up a little storm this fall and winter. Below are some new paintings!
This first painting was inspired by time spent on my beloved kayak this past fall. Belted Kingfishers are one of my very favorite birds. They are notoriously difficult to photograph, as they are flilghy and frankly kind of spastic. They love to tease and taunt photographers. I’ve been very lucky to get fairly close to some of them in my boat.
The Kingfisher below is a female. She has just caught a minnow in a cove on a nearby lake. She will gulp it down VERY quickly so that other Kingfishers in the area won’t have a chance to steal it from her!
“Maid of the Mist”
(Belted Kingfisher) 11″ x 14″ acrylic on masonite.
“Here Kitty-Kitty”
(Cougar) 11″ x 14″ acrylic on masonite.
This painting was done to pay tribute to one of North America’s great predators. The epitome of secrecy and stealth, cougars are now being found in areas far east of where they are normally expected. They can live right under our noses without our notice.
“Breakfast Berries”
(American Robin) 9″ x 12″ acrylic on masonite.
I often refer to robins as “mind their own business birds”. They are in just about every backyard east of the rocky mountains. Although common, I think they are beautiful birds and love their way of staying out of the “drama” often caused between other bird species. Robins just go about their business and stay out of trouble.
This painting was inspired by watching robins gorging on berries this past fall. I loved the idea of doing a painting that used largely one side of the color wheel (red, orange and yellow). This Robin is just about to snatch a berry. If you blink, you’ll miss it! 🙂
2011 Wildlife art wall calendar
My new wildlife art calendars for 2011 are now available. The images included in this years calendar are viewable below.
Calendars are available for purchase through my online store. Enjoy!
The King’s Dragon
I never know where a painting idea will come from. Any artist will tell you that they get inspiration from life experiences. I guess that I’m no exception. It can take years for an idea to come to fruition as it percolates in the back of my mind. Then finally, I will decide that the time has come to pull the idea out from my imagination and recreate it with paint.
Several years ago my husband and I were taking a leisurely walk around a small lake in a nearby park. I’ve always admired an abstract sculpture that sits beside the lake. The artist created this sculpture by welding scrap metal pieces together to form a kind of serpent-like creature. Over the years rust has given the sculpture a wonderful patina. We strolled past the serpent on that day as we have many times. Suddenly out of nowhere a Belted Kingfisher flew up and perched right up on the top of the serpent’s head, using it as a vantage point over the water. I didn’t have my camera with me that day, but that image has stayed etched in my mind ever since.
I decided to redesign the serpent to be as it would if I had sculpted it myself, using the idea of old rusty metal. I wanted it to be more dragon-like to give traction to my idea. It was fun to come up with a three dimensional sculpture idea based loosely on one that I had already seen. The result is my painting “The King’s Dragon”.
“The King’s Dragon”
Male Belted Kingfisher, (detail)
Upcoming NatureWorks show
With the annual Natureworks Wildlife Art Show only two short weeks away, I’ve been painting like a crazy woman. I must apologize to people who regularly check in on my website for the loooong span of time with no updates. But I have a surprise in store for all of you. I am in the process of doing a complete website overhaul. Most of my design work for it is done. My dear techy husband is the one who makes the magic happen. I am hoping after the show that he and I can find some good, quality sit-down time together to implement all of the changes.
In the mean time, I will post my feature piece for the NatureWorks show here. It is a rather large painting for me, at 24″ x 36″.
“Sun-Kissed Orange”
New Computer Screen Saver for Windows
For computer users who love wildlife art, I want to announce the release of a new screen saver featuring a collection of my wildlife images of animals from around the world. This screen saver runs on Windows operating systems. It is available for download in my online store. Below are just a few examples of images included in this collection. Images appear one at a time and fill your screen with the wonderful beauty of nature.
2010 Calendars
I want to announce the release of my first wildlife art calendar. This wall calendar features animals and birds of North America. Shown below are each page of the month with the cover at the top. The calendar is available in my online store or by contacting me directly.
Enjoy!
