Chief Spotted Elk

Spotted Elk aka "Chief Big Foot" by the US soldiers . Skillful diplomat ,Great leader , Good warrior but remembered the most by his death in 1890.  The name  Chief Bigfoot  came from to some oversized boots he wore which he got  at Ft. Bennett  .  He was the leader of the Mniconjou people who were killed here in the massacre of Wounded Knee.    After he was killed George Trager photographed him and labeled it  Chief Bigfoot and the name stuck . He is buried in the mass grave at Wounded Knee .  His group was headed to a Ghost Dance The Calvary stopped them and Chief Spotted Elk met with them under a white flag then the Calvary wanted disarm everyone  Chief Spotted Elk agreed  then during the disarming everyone and a shot rang out .  The rest is sad history.

Graphite on 11 x 17 Stonehenge warm white paper .

Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull is next in my series of famous,notable  and important Native Americans .

Sitting Bulls, Indian name was  Tatanka Iyotake.  Sitting Bull was born  into the Hunkpapa of the Teton Sioux.1830 -1831, in the Dakota Territory in the blackhills and died on December 15, 1890, on the Grand River in South Dakota

He was a  Teton Dakota Indian chief  and Holy man who united  the Sioux tribes  in their struggle for survival . He held a lifelong distrust of white men and  stubbornly determination to resist their domination. Sitting Bull joined his first war party at age 14 and soon gained a reputation for fearlessness in battle. He fought many battles beat George Custer but in the end he was forced to surrender. 

There was a Ghost Dance Movement  that started in the southwest spread to the Black hills  . Sitting Bull allowed this religious movement in his area. This Ghost Dance Movement  worried the Calvary BIA agents. They sent lawmen to arrest Sitting Bull in hopes of preventing an uprising . When Sitting Bull was about to be arrested braves loyal to Sitting Bull protested a fight ensued . Strange as it seems  Sitting Bull Died by the hands of a natives of his own tribe who were working for the government..

Now back to my art. I felt most  references showed Sitting Bull as a Defiant adversary to the white man and his world.  I softened the expression to what I would expect if he was addressing his tribe or family.  For some reason my lighting was off when photographing this on just a tad dark on the top and lower right .

This is graphite on 10 X 15 warm white Stonehenge paper 100% cotton.   Hope you enjoy looking at it I enjoyed doing it.

Afternoon storm over Chimney Rock

This sandstone monument is north of Shiprock New Mexico and just southwest of  Cortez Colorado  .  It is on the northeastern  end of the Navajo Reservation. It is an interesting rock formation.   Drove by it hundreds of times over the years.

 I have not heard any stories or myths with this sandstone monument but there maybe . 

If your familiar  with the area what direction is this view ?

This is a pastel painting on 100% cotton paper Stonehenge  warm white.  12x17 . This is done with Schmincke,Art spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastels and pastel pencils  .

Geronimo " one who yawns "

 Geronimo  " one who yawns " was my next  endeavor . Him being a legend it was a must for me to draw him. Loved, feared, and hated he fought a long hard battle against the Calvary .  His tenacity in his war deserves respect.

The use of the name while jumping out of a plane or a charge came from his exploits like rushing a group of men armed with guns while only carrying a knife and winning.

The next 2 paragraphs are not my writing but from the linked web site.

Geronimo was the leader of the last American Indian fighting force formally to capitulate to the United States. Because he fought against such daunting odds and held out the longest, he became the most famous Apache of all. To the pioneers and settlers of Arizona and New Mexico, he was a bloody-handed murderer and this image endured until the second half of this century.


To the Apaches, Geronimo embodied the very essence of the Apache values, aggressiveness, courage in the face of difficulty. These qualities inspired fear in the settlers of Arizona and New Mexico. The Chiricahuas were mostly migratory following the seasons, hunting and farming. When food was scarce, it was the custom to raid neighboring tribes. Raids and vengeance were an honorable way of life among the tribes of this region.

 http://www.indians.org/welker/geronimo.htm

He surrendered hoping to return to his homeland he spent time in a Florida prison  and in Oklahoma but never was able to return to his homeland .  


But what is not written about  by many narratives is his war for freedom and vengeance started with Mexico . His Mother, wife and 3 children were killed by Mexican troops . This  transformed  a trader into a warrior over night.

Villain or Hero its your decision.

This is a composite drawing of him. the headdress is from one old photo of him but younger and his likeness from another when he was old. The expression I really liked  but he was wearing a bolder hat and suit just didn't suit me for this.

This is graphite and charcoal  on 11X15 Stonehenge paper 100% cotton  the color is kraft.

 

Chief Joseph

Chief Joseph a translation of his real name is "Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain". He was considered as a  great Chief of the Nez Perce  tribe during a tough time at war with the US and forced from their ancestral homelands . 

 I used several old photos as reference for this. His face from one and the headdress is stylized from another picture. I looked at other photos to of  Chief Joseph to help me make a work of  art that I was happy with.

 

 While I was drawing and shading each feather I started thinking and remembering that many tribes at puberty a male child under goes a rite of passage to prove he is a man.  When passing the trials he gets to wear a feather.  Every notable even of heroism or feat of skill or strength was quite literally a feather in his cap.  Just like our soldiers of today with their chest full of shining buttons and pins and medals  . These headdresses were a display of  heroism not just prettys .  

Was this feather for victory in unarmed combat , a successful raid , a touche of a armed rivals and not being hurt, or stealing cavalry horses as the calvary slept or was this one from his rights of passage so long ago.  Thats some of the thoughts that travels threw my mind while I was doing this one.

 

 

 

I plan on mat and framing this one might crop it a bit but here is a what it might look like .

This was done in graphite of various degrees of hardness . It is 12 X 15  on Stonehenge paper  a 90 lbs paper 100% cotton it will last centuries if taken care of .

Thank You for looking

 

Chief Manuelito

Chief Manuelito was the main Chief of the Navajos in the mid to late 1800s. 

He told a story to his people  after the long walk. 

 He said, 
"My grandchild, the whites have many things which we Navajos need. But we cannot get them. It is as though the whites were in a grassy canyon and there they have wagons, plows, and plenty of food. We Navajos are up on a dry mesa. We can hear them talking but we cannot get to them. My grandchild, education is the ladder . Tell our people to take it."

I painted this to remember his words  as if he just climbed down a ladder and was walking away.  Those words ring true for all mankind .

I used a 1850 photo of Chief Manuelito as a reference.  (there are very few of them ) I dont know who the photographer was.  

 

Chief Manuelito education is the ladder

This is an acrylic painting on canvas 16 x 20.

Thank you for looking

 

King of the Prairie

I love these icons of the old west. But they were a staple for many of the American Indians both east and west of the Mississippi . The few areas where they didn't roam Az. Cal. Fl. the seashores and the north east.

I plan to paint more Bison and other North American wildlife  .  I kinda rotate in medium and  subjects I dont want to fall in a rut and paint only one thing and one medium .

Imagine seeing a million head herd of these Bisons .  I read that was common in the 1830s .

I was a tad off on the photograph its too light on the right side.  My lighting was too bright on that side.

This is how I think I will frame this one.

This pastel is done on 15 x 22 Stonehenge paper which is 100% cotton . Cotton paper can last for several centuries if care for. I used Blick soft pastels, Schminkie soft pastels some hard pastels and pastel pencils .


Thank you for looking

Hope you enjoyed it.

Study of a Master

I have doodled and sketched figures and portraits.  I never really worked hard at it .  I have done life drawing from taped models  but just pencil or charcoal .  This endeavor was to be a  portrait fully painted.  I chose a famous painting by Johannes Vermeer Girl with a Turban or Girl with Pear Earring.  The original is the approximately the size of canvas .

All and all I am pleased with the way it turned out.  I had many references of this painting skin shade varied with all of  them. I need to study color combinations that duplicate 1600s palette.

The young woman's clothing and facial features are convincing.  There's a few things I would do different .

This is an acrylic painting on a 14 x 18 stretched canvas.

I hope you enjoy looking at it .

Spider Rock

This is in Canyon de Chelly  Az. These are impressive twin spires in the bottom of the canyon. The Taller one is approximately 800 feet tall. They are not far from Canyon de Chelly ruins .  Actually the taller and thinner spire is big enough at the top to land a helicopter on. I believe there are commercials of this spire with  cars or trucks on top of it. It sure dont look like it could fit one from looking up from the ground.

There is a story with them. Being named Spider Rock the local native legend  Spiderwoman  lived at the top and taught the local Navajo people how to weave. And they do some beautiful rugs. There are other stories with these spires and Spiderwoman it is not my place to tell them I have no affiliation with the tribe.  I just love the  beauty  of the land  like the stories and legends  and like the people and culture.

This is an acrylic on a gallery wrapped canvas  10 x 20 .

Thanks for looking.

Three Sisters in the Kitchen

This is my second acrylic painting this year . But I had this in my head for a couple of years . I finally did something about it. Had some problems with glare on the lower left the shadows are too dark on the right . I needed to try outside in the shade.


The story behind this is the 3 sisters are corn beans and squash .

Depending on which tribe each one has their own legend or story .  I have heard legends and stories from many of the tribes around the 4 corners .   I am afraid I will butcher their oral traditions by mixing stories . The one I know is from back east.

 Many   years ago there were three sisters who lived together in a meadow . The sisters were very different from one another. First of the three was a little sister, so young that she could only crawl at first, and if she wanted to stand up she had to twine herself around her eldest sister  who carried her younger sister all the time. The little sister wore velvet green with fancy ribbons.The  eldest. She was always standing very straight and tall above the other sisters trying to guard them . The eldest sisters feet gets sore and hot  holding up little sis and protecting the middle sis. The middle  of the three sisters, wore a shawl of bright yellow and was running off across the field when the sun shone and the  wind blew in her face.  She wrapped herself around big sisters feet keeping them cool in the hot summer sun

There was only one way in which the three sisters were alike. They loved one another very much and were never separated. They were sure that they wouldn’t be able to live apart.

After a while, a stranger came to the sister’s field. It was a little Seneca  boy. He was as straight as an arrow and as fearless as the eagle that circled his head far above in the sky. He knew the way of talking to the birds and the small brothers of the earth, the mouse, the groundhog, the chipmunk, squirrel and fox. The three sisters were very interested in this little Seneca  boy. They watched him fit his arrow in his bow, saw him carve a bowl with his knife and wondered where he went at night.

Late that summer, the youngest sister in green velvet who couldn’t stand up without the help of her big sister, disappeared. Her sisters mourned for her until the fall, but she did not return.

Once again the little Seneca  boy came to the three sister’s field. He came to gather reeds at the edge of the nearby stream to make arrow shafts. The two sisters who were left watched him and gazed at him with wonder at the prints of his moccasins marking his trail to the field.

That night the second of the sisters disappeared. This time it was the sister who dressed in brilliant yellow and always wanted to run off across the field. She left no mark of her going but it may have been that she set her feet in the moccasin tracks of the little Seneca boy and followed him.

Now there was only elder sister was left. Tall and straight she stood in the field never bowing her head with sorrow, but it seemed to her that she could not bear to live in her meadow alone. The days grew shorter and the night grew longer and colder. Her green shawl faded and grew thin and old. Her hair once long and golden was now brown and tangled by the wind. Day and night she sighed for her sisters to return to her, but they did not hear her. Her voice when she tried to call them it was low and sad like the cold winter  wind.

But one day when it was the season of the final harvest, the little Seneca  boy heard the crying of the third sister. He felt sorry for her so he took her in his arms and carried her to the longhouse of his father and mother. Oh what a surprise awaited her! Her two lost sisters were there in the longhouse of the little Seneca  boy, safe and very glad to see her. They had been curious about the boy and they had gone home with him to see how and where he lived. They had liked his warm longhouse so well that they decided to stay there for the cold winter. And they were doing all they could to be useful.

The little sister in green, now quite grown up, was helping to keep the dinner pot full. The sister in yellow sat on the shelf drying herself for she planned to fill the dinner pot later. The third sister joined them, ready to grind some meal for the Seneca family’s bread. Ever since then the three sisters spend their spring and summers in the field together, and their winters in the longhouse, helping to feed the family of the little Seneca boy. And the three sisters and the Seneca have never been separated since.

 

 This is the preliminary sketch 18 x 24

 

Acrylic on 22 x 28 gallery wrapped canvas.  

 

Shiprock a side rarely seen

This view of Shiprock  is from the southwest looking northeast .  The vantage point we found is half way up the Lukachuka Mountains.  In this vantage point you can see the volcanic dikes running northwest  and south. Local legends those are the wings from the great bird that brought them there.  The other peak is a Mitten also.

This is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas 18x 24

Here is a older couple  both are of Monument valley .  That is one place that truly inspires me.

This is an acrylic  16 x20

 

 This on is a pastel   9x12

I did these 2 in the fall of 2012  .

Last years totem pole

This is another  monumental  rock formation from Monument Valley  this formation is called  Totem Pole and Yei be Chei dancers . The height  and diameter  amaze me. If you are there at the right time of the year and be at the right place the sun will rise between the Totem Pole and the  Yei be Chei dancers beautiful  framing the sun.

 These types  of southwest formations have so many artistic  possibilities .  I have been inspired by formations like these since I was a Child.



 I painted this October  2012. Acrylic on 16 x 20 canvas.

Mittens in The Morning

Mittens in The Morning

If you can be there at sunrise in Summer  months . And at the right spot you can watch the sun rise between  the Mittens The right weather it is a perfect stage for a glorious sunrise. These are in the Monument Valley a Navajo  Nation  Park . These monuments are near 600' tall and many are sacred to the Navajo  People. I love drawing or painting the huge rock formations of the Southwest.

I am always in awe of how pretty it can be and how many years it took nature to carve these out. This is on colorfix paper forgot base color  9 x 12 . I think I used every brand of pastels I have.  This painting was finished October  or November .

I have always loved the adobe   mission churches and fell in love with this famous New Mexican church in Taos  New Mexico. Its San Francisco de Assisi  Mission Church in Taos  I love pastels thought I would give this old mission church a try in pastels. This church  is a New Mexican icon because of its shape and its historical significance .The Franciscans started the construction of the  church in 1772 and finished in 1816. The mission church is a National Historic Landmark.  

I started this pastel on March 11th  while I was kinda down with a real bad cold. Dabbled  with it for the next couple of days . Finished it on March 13 I am pretty happy with it. But what makes this so special to me later that day I heard on the news Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope and chose the name of Francis after St Francis  of Assisi  .  Providence , circumstance , prophetic or just one of those things that make you go hmmm ?  Thats for you to answer for your self.

I took my photo of  San Francisco de Assisi looked at other pictures  made a change of time and added a sunset . This is the result . 

I decided I like  a toothy support for pastels. The the support is a 100% cotton paper  with a gesso and marble dust painted on it first. It was an experiment  recipe for the ground was from other artists this recipe worked very good I believe it was found on http://www.wetcanvas.com . 

This is on a 8x12 paper with hard and soft pastels and a few pastel pencils.
Hope you enjoy viewing it

Here is one of this years paintings. I love these monumental  rock formations of the western United States . These monuments are Ideal to explore and  display lights and darks, sunlight and shadows. Early morning or late evening this mountain will cast a shadow for miles that makes a wonderful subject for a painting.

This depicts a sunrise after the desert monsoon  season when the desert grasses turn green the vegetation is usually dry and straw colored instead of green . I have painted   this monument  before this is the best so far.

Shiprock in the Morning

 Here I tried to capture  the sunrise  right as the sun rises and is bathing the the mountain and the whole plain in a warm light golden color contrasting to the darkness of early morning shadows.

This monument is a Sacred  Place to the Navajo  Indians. It is beautiful  as well as a sacred site. This mountain is in the NW part of New Mexico on the Navajo  Nation just west of a town that takes its name after this mountain.