Alex Gilford
© Alex Gilford

Thurs., 10/1/26

Jurying MY MICHIGAN: Our Rivers, Our Lakes Exhibition

These past couple months, I have been busy jurying Grosse Pointe Artists Association’s MY MICHIGAN: Our Rivers, Our Lakes exhibition. Visit the Association’s gallery at The War Memorial through 12/4/26 to check out 67 works from 64 artists interpreting the “Water Wonderland.”

Wed., 8/5/26

Shearing, July-Aug. 2026, Oil on canvas, 16" x 20", Palette: Blue-green/Yellow/Red Major Chord

I work as a Farm Maintenance Worker at a farm in Ray, MI. At the end of winter, the sheep are shorn before lambing. We had an experienced sheep shearer come down from the thumb this year to do it. I was his roustabout, moving sheep from the catching pen to the shearing area, bagging the greasy fleece, and sweeping up. It was a pleasure watching his skilled hands work and see how he respectfully handled the sheep in a manner that kept them calm-a technique that comes from years of experience managing his own herd.

Wed., 1/28/26

Michigan Annual LIII

I have two paintings in Anton Art Center’s Michigan Annual LIII exhibition. The paintings that are in the exhibition are Here for Tonight and SS Ste. Claire from Belle Isle State Park.

Fri., 11/7/5

SOLD, Here for Tonight

8/21/25, Oil on canvas, 16" x 20", Palette: Orange/Yellow-Green/Blue-Purple Minor Chord

Thurs., 9/4/25

96th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition

I have two paintings in Muskegon Museum of Art’s 96th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition. The paintings that are in the exhibition are Range Rider and Tugboats near Zug Island.

Tues., 9/25/24

Woodchuck Burrows Illustrations

Illustrations for an interpretive panel designed by Flutter & Wow Museum Projects for the groundhog enclosure at Howell Nature Center. The question mark panels flip up to reveal what is in each chamber of the groundhog burrow.

Tues., 9/25/24

Woodchuck Burrows Illustrations

Under the First Question Mark Panel: Rabbit in groundhog burrow chamber

Tues., 9/25/24

Woodchuck Burrows Illustrations

Under the Second Question Mark Panel: Rabbit in groundhog burrow chamber

Tues., 9/25/24

Woodchuck Burrows Illustrations

Under the Third Question Mark Panel: Opossum in groundhog burrow chamber

Tues., 9/25/24

Woodchuck Burrows Illustrations

Under the Fourth Question Mark Panel: Skunk in groundhog burrow chamber

Tues., 9/25/24

Woodchuck Burrows Illustrations

Under the Fifth Question Mark Panel: Groundhog pups in burrow chamber

Tues., 9/25/24

Woodchuck Burrows Illustrations

Under the Sixth Question Mark Panel: Sleeping groundhog in burrow chamber

Fri., 3/22/24

Artist Showcase at Stillwater

While guests are enjoying the horse stables, wooded trails, and serene lake view at Stillwater, they can also check-out my original oil paintings. There are almost 30 paintings on display through out the rentable cabins there.


You can see the Artist Showcase in-person, either by booking a cabin stay or by scheduling a personalized tour with Stillwater’s proprietor.


(Image credit: Stillwater & Kristen Eakin)

Fri., 12/1/23

SOLD, Petrie’s Mausoleum, Oak Hill Cemetery, Oct. & Nov. 2023, Oil on Gessobord, 20" x 16"

This painting, will be auctioned at the Ghost of Dishes Past event on Fri., 12/15 at the Oakland History Center. Proceeds will benefit Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.


I painted part of this during my live painting presentation at the History Center's Brush With Death walk at the Cemetery in October.

Sat., 11/11/23

Range Rider, 2022-2023, Oil on canvas, 26"x 32", Palette: Yellow/Blue-green/Red-purple Major Chord

While working as a Park Ranger on a wilderness trail crew in Utah and Wyoming, we'd stay camped out on hitch in the backcountry mostly sawing down trees off the trails. From time to time, we'd work alongside itinerant Range Riders, who were tasked with managing herds of free range livestock like cattle and sheep in the wilderness areas.

Sat.,10/28/23

The Port Austin Artist Residency

I was able to be a part of an artist cohort that participated in the last session of the season for The Port Austin Artist Residency. I took a few days of quiet time to make some progress on a painting I had been neglecting. The last day was an open studio meet in greet where myself and two other participating artists displayed our work and met some locals.

Thurs.,10/19/23

Friends of the Detroit River Annual Meeting

I gave a presentation at the Friends of the Detroit River Annual Meeting recapping the Artist-in-Residency partnership last Spring-Summer.


(Image credit: Friends of the Detroit River)

Thurs.,10/12/23

29th Annual Canton Fine Arts Exhibition

My painting, Tugboats Near Zug Island, took home the Honorable Mention award!


(Image Credit: Caitlin Grames)



Wed.,9/27/23

Two Views | Two Shores

Thurs., 9/28 is the opening reception for Grosse Pointe Artists Association’s two person exhibition featuring some of my feral paintings and photographs by Patrick Stieber. The exhibition is at The War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms. Patrick and I will present about our work during the opening reception. On Oct. 5th, there will be a presentation by Joel Stone, Curator Emeritus of the Detroit Historical Society, about the upcoming Great Lakes Artists Database.

Tues., 9/12/23

Brush With Death

It must be getting close to spooky season! I will be doing a live plein air oil painting presentation at Oakland History Center's Brush With Death walk at Oak Hill Cemetery this Sun., 9/17. Come check out this fun event and learn about "artistic creators of Pontiac's past."


(Image credit: Oakland History Center)



Wed., 6/7/23

Great Lakes Inspired Speaker Series

On Thurs., July 27th I will be presenting alongside Dorothy McLeer (Program Manager/Interpretive Naturalist at University of Michigan Dearborn's Environmental Interpretive Center) at Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge's Visitor Center for the Great Lakes Inspired speaker series.


"Great Lakes Inspired is an informal partnership of Great Lakes artists, managers and advocates seeking to strengthen and promote links between Great Lakes arts and science as a way of inspiring Great Lakes stewardship. We seek to educate the public on the science behind the healing properties of water, particularly the Great Lakes, using art as a vehicle," Stephanie Prechter


(Image credit: Stephanie Prechter)



Fri., 5/19/23

Live at 5

Opening remarks by the Creative Director of Northville Art House, Ryan Kaltenbach, and myself at the opening reception of the Wayfarer: Plein Air Paintings by Alex Gilford exhibition at the Art House. (Video credit: @mellowwoah).

Sun., 5/7/23

Wayfarer: Plein Air Paintings by Alex Gilford

Mark your calendars for my first solo gallery exhibition! The exhibition will consist of about thirty-eight of my plein air oil paintings and is a part of the Friends of the Detroit River Artist-in-Residency. The opening reception is Fri., May 19th, 5 PM – 8 PM. The exhibition will run through Sun., June 18th. I hope to see you there!

Sat., 4/1/23

Riverkeeper Dinner

As part of the Friends of the Detroit River (FDR) Artist-in-Residence, the painting that I created during the Live Painting Demonstration at the Shiver on the River event at Dossin Great lakes Museum was auctioned off at FDR’s Riverkeeper Dinner. Nicole LaFleur, Executive Director of the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance, cast the winning bid. All proceeds support the Detroit Riverkeeper Program.

Sun., 2/5/23

Friends of the Detroit River Artist-in-Residence

Yesterday’s Shiver on the River event kicked off the artist-in-residence partnership that I will be a part of through June 18th, '23. During this time period I will participate in public programs like the Live Painting Demonstration at Shiver on the River, a painting auction at their Riverkeeper dinner, and an exhibition of my plein air oil paintings at Northville Art House. I will be creating plein air oil paintings inspired by the Detroit River and some of the projects that the Friends of the Detroit River has been involved in there. I will also participate in stewardship activities like a guided hike and paddle and a Spring Cleanup event. (Image credit: Friends of the Detroit River)

Sat., 1/21/23

Shiver on the River

Friends of the Detroit River Artist-in-Residence: Come check out Detroit Historical Society and Friends of the Detroit River’s Eco Fair, Shiver on the River, at Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle. I’ll be there with my plein air painting set-up doing a Live Painting Demonstration of a Detroit River scene. (Image credit: Detroit Historical Society)

Sat., 1/7/23

Concerning Landscape

My plein air oil painting Shore Birch, P.J. Hoffmaster State Park will be in Detroit Artist Market’s Concerning Landscape exhibition. My painting will be in the show at Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI. There will be a artist reception for the show at Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion on Sat., 1/28 from 3 PM to 5 PM. (Image credit: Detroit Artist Market)

Sun., 11/27/22

All About The Benjamins Baby!

This is an exhibition at Public Pool in Hamtramck, MI that will be on display from 11/26/22-12/31/22. All of the work in the exhibition is $100 and is split 50/50 between the gallery and the artist. My plein air oil painting Limestone Formations, Rockport State Recreation Area is in the show.

Fri., 11/11/22

Small Works Juried All-Media Exhibition

There are 150 works on view by 75 artists from 40 cities and 9 states in the exhibition. I have two plein air oil paintings in the exhibit: Old Oak Hollow Shiawassee Basin Preserve and Willow, Lake Erie Metropark.


You can view and purchase all the work in the exhibition online by following this LINK.



This is the price breakdown for my paintings: 35% to Northville Art House, 65% to me, and then I'll donate 10% of my 65% to the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance.

Mon.,10/24/22

Appalachian Forest Stewardship Residency

During the week-long residency, we had three stewardship workdays with Arc of Appalachia staff and volunteers on their preserves. Two of the workdays involved the removal and treatment of non-native invasive species like Bush Honeysuckle, Autumn Olive, and Multiflora Rose which are compromising the natural biodiversity of the ecosystems present within the preserves. Another workday focused on blocking off social trails (trails created by people wandering off of the designated trails) to try and prevent delicate wildflowers, like Large Flowered Trillium that take about seven to ten years to reach flowering size, from being trampled by people hiking off-trail. During the days that we didn’t have a stewardship workday I did oil paintings en plein air on the Arc of Appalachia’s preserves. I spent each evening carving a linoleum block for my regional folklore series. I was able to pull a print by the last day. (Image credit: Brent Charette from Arc of Appalachia).


Thurs., 9/15/22

Live Auction

My plein air oil painting Heron on a Muskrat Hut, Lake Erie Metropark was part of a live auction at the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance's (IWRA) 16th Annual Benefit Dinner in support of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. The benefit was at Silver Shores Waterfront in Wyandotte, MI. To learn more about IWRA, visit www.iwralliance.org.

Mon., 7/11/22

Bastille Day Art Exhibit

Check-out some of my plein air oil paintings and work by artist Cara Marie Young at Alliance Française de Détroit’s Bastille Day event at Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit. Visit www.afdetroit.org for more info. (Image credit: Alliance Française de Détroit)

Tues., 6/21/22

Woodbridge Detroit Zine

The “Woodbridge Detroit” zine is out and available around the Woodbridge neighborhood. A print of my painting, “Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery Grain Silos from Valade Park” and a poem of mine is included in its pages.

Sat., 6/4/22

Climate Change Zine

The Climate Action zine from Coin-Operated Press is out now! My The Macon Reservation painting and statement is featured along with the work of 31 creatives from around 14 countries. You can get a print or digital version of the zine HERE. (Image credit: Zine cover by Coin-Operated Press).

Wed., 4/13/22

New Studio Oil Painting

Tugboats near Zug Island, Feb. '22-Apr. '22, Oil on Gessobord, 18" x 24", Palette: Orange/Yellow-Green/Blue-Purple Minor Chord

Thurs., 3/17/22

Art + Earth

My plein air oil painting Mushwa & Hawkweed, Mouillée Creek will be a part of the Art + Earth exhibition at Belle Isle Aquarium. The exhibition will be open from April 22nd-April 24th. The exhibition is hosted by Detroit River Coalition and Belle Isle Conservancy. The goal of the exhibition is to leverage art to evoke conversation and create connection between our daily lives, our communities, the environment, and climate justice. I am so excited to have my art hang in the oldest public aquarium in the continental U.S., one designed by Albert Kahn no less.


Fri., 11/12/21

Art for the Holidays

These paintings were on display and for sale at Clarkston Cultural Arts’ Art for the Holidays event The Gateway. Proceeds from the sale of art in the show went towards the Erin Modrzynski Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Thurs., 9/16/21

Grand Re-Opening of Atelier School of Art

My St. Andrew’s Detroit on Gratiot (pictured) and Constructing the M-1 Rail paintings were included in the display for the evening.

Thurs., 9/9/21

Live Painting & Auction

I joined the 2021 International Wildlife Refuge Alliance (IWRA) Benefit Dinner in Wyandotte this year. During the event, I did a live plein air oil painting demonstration, which was included in the live auction later in the evening along with the Osprey on a Snag… painting in the picture. Three more of my plein air oil paintings done at Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge units were part of the silent auction. All paintings were sold and 100% of the profits went toward IWRA.


Photograph by Mark Messer.

Thurs., 8/19/21

Sign-up: Plein Air Oil Painting Workshop

I will be facilitating a three day Plein Air Oil Painting workshop through Atelier Art Studio on Tuesday 9/14, 9/21, & 9/28 from 9 AM – 12:30 PM.

Thurs., 7/22/21

ArtScape Exhibition

The Opening Reception for the ArtScape exhibition at Downriver Council for the Arts is this evening at 6 PM. Three of my plein air oil paintings will be on display and for sale.

Wed., 6/9/21

Art Mile Detroit

I am Anton Art Center's featured artist for Art Mile this year. "Art Mile is a city-wide digital art exhibition that champions Detroit's vibrant and diverse arts community by promoting public programs and online acquisitions" (Art Mile). "Visit www.artmiledetroit.com to see all featured artists or see the full collection of 19 artworks by Alex Gilford at www.theartcenter.org" (Anton Art Center).

Fri., 4/23/21

Limited Edition Print

A limited edition photographic print that is hand-signed and numbered by me is available for purchase. Contact the photographer Mark Kelly at mark@mpk-photo.com. In 2018, I designed and painted a mural on the side of Union Woodshop in the Village of Clarkston as part of the Partners in Public Art partnership between Detroit Institute of Arts and Clarkston Cultural Arts Council.

Thurs., 4/15/21

Launch Party

The Launch Party for Issue #1 of Prickly Pear Magazine is this Saturday April 17th at 3 PM EDT. The theme of the issue is "The Natural Form." My painting Drey Nests, Pointe Aux Peaux State Wildlife Area and an accompanying write-up will be included in the issue. I will be doing a reading as part of the Launch Party program. I hope to see you there!

Sat., 4/3/21

Interview in LandEscape Contemporary Art Review

I am thrilled to announce the release of vol. 56 of the online magazine, LandEscape Contemporary Art Review. On p. 208 there is a 44 page article containing an in-depth interview with me, images of some of my paintings, and beautiful photographs of me at work by Kristen Eakin. I am excited to be in the company of other talented artists from Canada, Israel, Bulgaria, Germany, England, and Iran. You can press the arrows to turn pages, use the + and – to zoom in and out (you can click and drag to move around on the page when you are zoomed in), and click on the artist's names in the table of contents on p. 2 to jump to each article.


Here is the direct LINK to the article.

Sun., 9/20/20

SOLD, Detroit River Hawk Watch, Lake Erie Metropark, 9/16/20, Oil on canvas, 14" x 11", Palette: Orange / Yellow-Green / Blue-Purple Minor Chord

This week was my first shift of the season as a Volunteer Spotter with Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge for the Detroit River Hawk Watch at Lake Erie Metropark. I painted this from memory, inspired by what I saw through my binoculars: The red sun rising over the trees in the milky sky caused by the wildfires from out west and an approaching kettle of migrating raptors swirling in and out of the haze.


Wed., 9/2/20

Sketching at Presque Isle River, Oil on canvas, 32" x 26",Palette: Blue-Green / Yellow / Red Major Chord

I finished-up this painting a couple nights ago depicting my friend, Nate Bell, sketching at Presque Isle River last year during my Artist-in-Residency at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. This is the painting that I will be donating to the Friends of the Porkies' art collection as part of the Artist-in-Residence program. It will be part of a rotating display on a gallery wall in the Visitor Center at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.

Thurs., 8/27/20

Canvas Pontiac 2020

My oil painting Rab Hamilton (See post from 4/19/20 below) has been chosen as a finalist for Canvas Pontiac 2020 out of 200 submissions worldwide! It will be printed on an 8 ft. x 10 ft. canvas and suspended on an outside wall of a building in downtown Pontiac, MI. You can still vote for the People's Choice award by going to www.canvaspontiac.com, looking at either the 2020 Handcraft or Photography submissions and giving your favorite piece a heart. Voting will be open until 4 PM on Mon., 8/31.

Sun., 7/26/20

Installation of The Werewolf of Lake Saint Clair

This is a follow-up on my post from Fri., 12/20/19. Yesterday, Jim Hillman and his Assistant, Dwayne, installed The Werewolf of Lake Saint Clair painting on the exterior wall of a house in Woodbridge Neighborhood Historic District as part of the Art in Woodbridge project. It was installed beside the St. Patrick's Trout painting, which went up in 2018. The Werewolf of Lake Saint Clair is inspired by a story about a werewolf, known as La Loup Garou, who once struck terror into the heart's of people who lived in the Detroit area as well as the boulder that bares his footprint when he stepped off of it and dove into the mouth of a giant catfish in Lake Saint Clair. That boulder still exists in Grosse Pointe Farms.


Grosse Pointe Historical Society has an excellent version of the story that inspired this painting on their website: LINK   

Tues., 6/16/20

Stay Safe, Stay at Home, Stay Creative

During this strange time while the world adapts to COVID-19, it has been fascinating to see how the creative sector has devised ways to engage artists in new ways. A number of local art centers (like Scarab Club, Anton Art Center, and Paint Creek Art Center) have been putting together online exhibitions, either as an alternative to an actual exhibition that was planned or as a wholly new online exhibition themed around the current health crisis. These online exhibitions can sometimes have a geographic reach beyond what you'd typically see in a physical exhibition.


Today, there was an online art event called Stay Safe, Stay at Home, Stay Creative. It was organized by the OuiArtist programming team of Cultural & Arts Management students at Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea. It featured pictorial and video art created by artists in Pachuca Mexico, Caen France, Seoul South Korea, and Detroit U.S.A. The videos were posted to the OuiArtist Youtube channel that was created for today's event and the pictorial art was placed in a virtual gallery on a website called Artsteps.

 

My painting, Rab Hamilton, is in the Artsteps virtual gallery. I have placed the link below. When you go to the virtual gallery, give it some time to fully load. My recommendation is to start off with the Guided Tour option. You can press the "Play" icon and it will walk you up to a work of art and a window will pop-up with information about the work of art (like a gallery label). You can press "Pause," read the label, "X" off of it to see the work better, then hit "Play" again when you're ready to navigate to the next work of art. Once you get used to being in the virtual space, you can navigate manually if you'd like.


OuiArtist Artsteps Virtual Gallery: LINK




Fri., 5/29/20

An Lanntair Sketchbook Project

Over the past few years, I have engaged in some online daily art initiatives like Inktober and The 100 Day Project. In many ways, drawing is a skill that benefits from consistent practice and it requires upkeep. I often compare it to playing an instrument. In addition to connecting with other artists far-and-wide, being a part of these programs has been a great encouragement for me when it comes to maintaining my own drawing practice.


An Lanntair is a wonderful, "…hub for creativity and the arts…" located on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. This year, they put together a program called the An Lanntair Sketchbook Project. They shipped each participant a blank sketchbook, are emailing one drawing prompt each day for thirty days, then at the end of the thirty days each participant is to send the sketchbook full of drawings back to An Lanntair. There will be an online exhibition of all of the participant's work and they are planning to have a physical exhibition showing all of the actual sketchbooks at An Lanntair after the COVID-19 lockdown lifts. 


I am posting some of my sketches for this project on the Sketchbook page of my website. The image posted here is a sketch of a Selkie that I drew from imagination in response to the twelfth prompt, "An imaginary sea creature."  


An Lanntair's website: LINK

An Lanntair Sketchbook Project: LINK

Sun., 4/19/20

Rab Hamilton, April 2020, Oil on canvas, 32" x 26", Palette: Red-Orange/Yellow/Blue Major Chord

I’ve been utilizing the current Stay Home. Stay Safe. Save Lives. Executive Order to spend some uninterrupted hours on this oil painting of my relative Rab Hamilton. He is a prawn fisherman and mountaineer living in Cuil Bay, Scotland. On my last visit to him in 2018 he took my fiancé, brother, and I out in his boat onto Loch Linnhe and Loch Leven and showed us how to pull-up the creels, gather the prawns, bait the creels with salted herring, and shoot them back out into the water without losing any fingers. 


His mouth is caught open, whether it is to tell you the Gaelic name of each of the hills that rise up from the shoreline and beyond, to belt out a sea shanty to a green horn fisherman who is new to “the outdoor life,” or to regale you with tales of past mountaineering expeditions. His nose is rosy with the brisk November wind coming down from the mountains and off of the water. His etched crows feet are evidence of a life lived with an authentically rugged spirit for adventure. His gaze is cast off into the distance, perhaps tinged with dread for the collapsing fisheries aggravated by the undiscerning gluttony of the large scale commercial fishing operations— a threat to his way of life as, “the last of the hunters.” A sole proprietor whose line of creels is guided by experience and knowledge of the loch and who takes only what is ready to be gotten. It is a look which knows that, “the seas have had enough.”


Prawns crawl out from the creel and into the tangled rope below. Crabs, an octopus, a dogfish shark, and other sea life swirl around him. Anticipatory sea gulls wheel above his head hoping to make a meal out of the unsought creatures as they are thrown overboard, intent on resuming their life in the watery depths. These cycles revolve and feed off one another, echoing the natural pursuit of living off the land, in a manner of speaking.  


*Note: Painting referenced many photos taken by Grant Gilford.  

Sun., 3/1/20

Flora of Michigan Art Exhibition

My painting, American Lotus, Lake Erie Metropark, will be in the Flora of Michigan Art Exhibition at River Raisin National Battlefield Park. The art exhibition will coincide with the grand opening of the new Visitor and Educational Center on Sat., May 8th 2021. If you've never visited the River Raisin National Battlefield Park before, it is a great place to learn about the January 1813 battles of the War of 1812, which played a major part in shaping this region as we know it today.

Sat., 2/8/20

Album Art for New Dada Trash Collage Album

After a hiatus of about six years Dada Trash Collage is releasing a new album this year called Crowded Wound and I am excited to continue this collaborative partnership with Billy Freed that began with the illustration of the band’s first album, Lions to Lightening, in 2009. As an illustrator-by-training, a music-lover, and an avid reader, projects like these are a great pleasure for me to work on. I enjoy letting the music under my skin, deciphering and reinterpreting the words, letting it simmer, and then transforming the invisible sounds and story lines into a visual image.

Sun., 1/26/20

Key for the Village of Clarkston Mural

In 2018, I designed and painted a mural on the side of Union Woodshop in the Village of Clarkston as part of the Partners in Public Art partnership between Detroit Institute of Arts and Clarkston Cultural Arts Council. Union Joints created a short time lapse video of the mural project. You can see the video here: LINK.


The mayor of the Village of Clarkston, Eric Haven, asked the Arts Council if there could be a key that shows the buildings in the mural. About a week ago, I created this key that shows all of the buildings as well as the native flora & fauna depicted in the mural. I sent this to the Arts Council and the Clarkston Community Historical Society, who has the original preliminary watercolor painting in their collection at the Clarkston Heritage Museum. My hope is that this key can be used as an educational tool to learn about the human history of Clarkston and the natural resources in the region.

Sun., 1/12/20

Michigan Annual XLVII

My Constructing the MI Rail oil painting was accepted by Juror Salvador Salort-Pons to be included in the Michigan Annual XLVII exhibition at Anton Art Center. This portrait will be for sale during the run of the exhibition with a portion of the proceeds going towards the Art Center. The Opening Reception and Awards Presentation will be Sat., 1/25, 2 PM – 4 PM. The exhibition will be on display through Thurs., 2/20.

Tues., 12/24/19

Christmas Eve

This morning I went walking around the marshes at Lake Erie Metropark, searching for a Muskrat hut to paint. Before I even made it onto the trail, I spotted an adult Bald Eagle perched high-up in the branches of a dead tree. As I got my binoculars out, the eagle took flight. When I got it in my sight, I realized that there were two. Both were adults. They flew out over the marsh making a wide arch and then they both swooped back into the tree. One had a fresh catch in its talons. I started to walk around the perimeter of the marsh, surveying the many Muskrat huts and seeing a couple Muskrats along the way. One hut in particular caught my eye because it had a Great Blue Heron standing right on top of it, craning its neck around. I quickly set down my gear and began sketching the scene onto my canvas with a stick of willow charcoal. As I worked on the underpainting, I saw about four different Great Blue Herons atop Muskrat huts, trumpeting to one another. While I finished-up and began walking, the sun slowly started to come-out and warmed everything up. I decided to hug the Lake Erie shoreline and take a seat out on a peninsula to do some bird watching and practice some of the skills I learned this past fall at Detroit River Hawk watch. Amidst the many different Gulls and Geese, I identified male adult breeding and first winter Buffleheads and Common Goldeneyes diving down and popping back up in the bay. After feeling like the day was already perfect enough, I began to head back to my car. Before I reached the lot, I was surprised to spot a Red Fox warming itself against a sun splashed red brick wall. Keeping a distance, I sat and watched it napping and lazily cleaning itself as comfortably as a house cat in a sunny windowsill.

Fri., 12/20/19

Loup Garou

Long ago, there was a werewolf who roamed the Detroit River region. One day, he was chased to the shores of Lake St. Clair, where he evaded capture by diving into the mouth of a large catfish. All that remains is his footprint, pressed into the stone that he jumped off of. That stone still exists today in Grosse Pointe Farms, although moved from its original location. To the right is the mock-up for a new design that is inspired by this story that I will be painting on a 6' x 4' panel for Art in Woodbridge.