Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Woodies


Today is cold, cloudy, rainy and very reminiscent of the days I spent standing waist deep in my waders pass shooting Wood Ducks with my buddy Roger.  We'd set a few decoys of course, but these fast flying little guys usually paid them no mind at all.  As they would come whistling through the trees we'd blast away, and I'll never forget the day that I got a triple - three shots and three drakes down.  Shown here is a detail from an oil painting I must have done 20 years ago.  Ah...the memories.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Back to the future

 

Except for a few old friends, most of you know very little of my previous lives, and that is probably a very good thing.  Way back in the olden days of the early seventies, when Ms. Shirley and I bid adieu to the US Air Force, we were faced with a dilemma.  How is Alan going to support us?  Well Shirley’s dad saw an ad in the paper for an apprentice goldsmith, and thinking that that that just might be the ticket to free up his spare bedroom and get us out on our own…he passed it on to me.
I applied for the job and lo and behold they hired me.  I went to work for what is called a trade shop.  That is a place that does ring sizing, stone setting and general jewelry repairs for local retail jewelers, and I was apprenticed to their senior goldsmith to learn the craft of turning precious metals into artful designs that the ladies would wear.  I got pretty good at it, but when my instructor began withholding information and techniques in fear that I might learn too much and be a threat to his income – I went out on my own.  That was back in the day when original, one-of-a-kind jewelry creation became the rage and I developed a good reputation for turning it out.  Which led to a rewarding multi- year career as a retail jeweler and wholesale supplier of fine gold jewelry.
Fast forward to the present.  As if I don’t have enough to do, I am revisiting my past.  Yes, I’m getting back into jewelry design.  I broke out the rusty old tools, grabbed some wax and started carving.  You may have heard of lost wax casting . . . well, what you see here are the original wax models - in various stages of completion - of some pendants that I will be soon casting into sterling silver.
So, stay tuned for the finished products, and if anyone knows of a good and cheap source of midnight oil, please let me know!  And know that the next pictures will be MUCH better.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Spring Creek Brown

Spring Creek Brown
 
The original of this painting measures 16 x 20 and is available, framed.
If you are interested in a limited edition print they measure 11 x 14 and are printed on
100# Archival paper.  The edition size is 100 and they are available for $50.00
This series, entitled Native Faces, includes the Spring Creek Brown,
the Southern Appalachian Brookie, the Westslope Cutthroat and the Redband Rainbow.