New Painting - Sand Shrimp

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These creeps have been burrowing through mud flats since the supercontinent Pangea began breaking apart, and the first flowers bloomed. I can find living ones and fossilized ones within 20 miles of each other.

Mud, or sand shrimps are widely regarded as a supurb fishing bait for salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon. A nightmare to keep on a hook, use an egg loop, Miracle Thread or a similar elastic thread.

My reference specimens were dug near Seaside, Oregon, taken home and photographed.

9” X 14” Acrylic on Panel

Detail

Above: A Freshly dug, live shrimp, I pumped fresh from a mudflat.

Opposite: Claw parts; carpus, propodus, fixed finger and dactylus of a fossilized shrimp I found along the Columbia River.

Shrimp anatomy and natural history reference - https://depositsmag.com/2017/07/04/the-abundant-yet-understudied-fossil-record-of-ghost-shrimps/

DIY Fish Head Mount

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Borax + water and a lot of drying time yields a pretty nice, do it yourself head mount with a lot of personality. Another nice ling out of Depot Bay, Oregon.

Images on Polaroid film.

Lingcod Reference Cast

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Molding and casting a lingcod head half cast for reference.

This ling was caught outside of Depot Bay, Oregon in June. The head was removed during filleting, cleaned and bedded in fibre. The mold was cast in paster and cast in fiberglass resin.

The finish, cleaned up with a Dremel, primed and slightly antiqued by dry brushing with acrylic paint.

New Painting

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Slashing its extraordinary tail, a thresher shark breaks free from the water.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the thresher shark is one of the most spectacular fish in the sea. I’ve had this picture in my mind for around 2 years. Originally I wanted the shark to be hooked in the mouth, with the line trailing off to the right, out of the picture, to an unseen sportfishing boat. I changed my mind for two reasons, 1) I thought the line became too distracting and broke the composition flow, and 2) is there any reason to fish for sharks anymore? I don’t know but I doubt it. So I imagined this shark slashed at a school of baitfish, and its momentum caused it to break the water’s surface, and for some really lucky reason, you were there to see it.

* I stole the brownish sky color from Winslow Homer’s Gulf Stream.

*Now available as a print.

Plover Decoy

I carved a small Ringed Plover decoy from basswood, following an Anthony Hillman pattern. I painted it to look old and weathered. Then we went to the beach.

Home Film Development

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I was recently successful developing my own b/w negatives at home using the Ilford Simplicity Starter Pack. I developed two rolls of Kodak T-Max 400. Previously I would have had to drive 60 miles to Portland to have them done. It feels good to have done it myself. I really enjoy the process and the anxiety that comes with it, to figure out the chemistry and timing, and finally to pull the negatives from the reels and hold them to the light to see the images for the first time. It’s all very satisfying.

Saber Toothed Cat

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Drawings and animation of a Saber Toothed Cat skull. Pencil on newsprint.

Molding and Casting a Starry Flounder for Reference

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I caught this small Starry Flounder while Surfperch fishing. It was hooked deep and wouldn’t have survived if I had released it, so I decided to keep it and make a half cast for reference.

Cleaned and dried.

Placed in bedding material to midline.

Plaster negative dried and sealed.

Resin positive.

Hooded Merganser Reference Cast

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Towards the end of last duck season I shot a very nice Hooded Merganser drake. I made made an alginate mold, and poured plaster. The result was a finely detailed, beautiful cast.