This inviting painting is the result of one of our autumn country excursions.  The unexpected appearance of a family of whitetail deer created an overwhelming enhancement to the beauty of the moment.  Times like these are life=s little rewards . . . this is why I paint. (Giclee= on watercolor paper,  printed from an original watercolor painting.)

_ Variety makes life much more interesting.  As so it applies in painting working with a variety of mediums, and a variety of subject matters. Merely by choice I broke off from my usual watercolors and indulged into Acrylic painting, at the same time enjoyed blending a variety of subject matters of landscape, wildlife, and the rustic old barn adds traces of mankind.  "Being Noticed", is a frequent scene in my rural area.  A deer will emerge from the thicket and suddenly it will notice you at the same time you notice it. There is that moment when you both stop and wait to see who makes the next move.  Fortunately my next move was with my camera.  The deer's move was to leave, then I went home and painted.

  This is different view of the old house on the Gatesville Road.  One can remember the days of the old pot-bellied coal burning stove, being covered up in Grandma's quilt, and a hot cup of cocoa . . . it almost make being snowed in a pleasurable experience.

     

  This scene I found on the lake in front of my daughter's house.
 The Canada geese are one of the most pleasurable beauties of the goose family to watch.
  Mating for life, and here as they glide by on their forage for food, tutoring their young.

Caught trespassing while I was painting, but granted immunity, I enjoyed talking with the owner of this beautiful old fishing boat as he told me of his restoration plans on ole Capt. Hunter.  He was as crusty and strong as the boat, obviously a lifetime fisherman.  I was enjoying plein-air painting along the Florida's Forgotten Coast in Apalachicola, Florida last spring when I came across this beauty.  I was never much of a fisherman, or a seaman, but have always been intrigued by the beauty and grace of these old work horses of the sea.  It is easy to see by the worn and torn work scars that these old boats have incurred that fishing isn't an easy job.  It's a honest but tedious and skillful trade that many of us take for granted as we are enjoying our oysters on the half-shell or steamed shrimp while sit back on our lounge chairs on our decks watching the sunset. The grace and beauty of the boats and marinas have been a favorite subject by artist since the beginning.

Along the shores of the great lakes are some of the most unique lighthouses in the world. For generations they have been the welcome guiding light for mariners on troubled waters. In this painting I tried to depict the peaceful warm security of the Charlevoix, Michigan lighthouse

  This old community is the real thing.  I have a painting hanging in my living room that my Dad  painted while sitting in front of this old store back in 1968.  Members of the Cottonwood church still occasionally stop by my studio to reminisce of their fond memories of this little burgh.

The great egret is one of the most stately, beautiful, elegant, birds on earth.  Once hunted to near extinction for its beautiful feathers & plumage, it is now protected and an abundant species.  Each time I see one it sets me back by the beauty.  They simply seem to be luminous against most any backdrop or landscape from which they emerge.  I'm not certain which I enjoy most . . . painting them or just looking at them. I find most of my reference on egrets in Florida or the Southern states but am pleasantly surprised when we see them in the North.  They can occasionally be found around most any river or boggy area in the country.

The Mail Pouch advertisements were seen across the country on a variety of shapes and sizes of barns.  The old sign painters made their fame with these American icons creating a favorite subject for artist and photographers for many years. You probably know where there is one still.

I remember my Grandpa, Albert Ginsberg, making this old post lamp while I was a kid back in the 1940s.  He was a tinner and boilermaker at the Beech Grove Rail Road Shops just outside of Indianapolis, Indiana.  Grandpa was very handy and skillful and would often make or build many things that were completely unaffordable to purchase for a man with a large family back in the thirties and forties.  The old lamp has stood the test of time and still remains today.  Although now only displayed on an old post as yard sculpture, the House Finches investigate it with its resemblance of a feeder.  I use it occasionally as a prop subject in some of my paintings.

  The old Shotwell estate, was one of my favorite subjects to paint in my area.  Sitting amid a stand of oak trees on the old Gatesville Road for over a hundred years it has recently been torn down joining many old homesteads becoming the vanishing American landmarks.

I love stopping in these old pit stops, but now they have almost completely vanished even from our rural areas.  I painted this general store, slash gas station, from an old black & white Polaroid photo that I took back in 1968.  It is a small town of London, Indiana, located a little southeast of Indianapolis but is so typical of community stores all over the country.  All of them have similarities but still each one unique in its own way. You could stop and gas up, go inside and grab a quick snack and a soda, then as you leave you hear the friendly slap of the screen door and on down the road you go. The 1966 Ford Fairlane parked along the side of the building in this painting actually belongs to a friend of mine who still owns it today.  This building still stands but the store has closed or moved on to a more prosperous location.

The pond was an artist delight.  Surrounded by dense woods and old logs penetrating the water the shore was lined with cattails and was covered with lily pads and water lilies. Rounding the bend came the family of mute swans making the scene even more beautiful and tranquil.  I used my 35mm camera to capture the scene as the swans came closer to investigate my presence.  I must have taken a roll of film for reference to get just the right pose I wanted.  Back at my studio I did my sketch from the photos in pencil first.  I then choose watercolor and gouache as my mediums as they lend themselves well in attempting the detail that I didn't want to miss out on with these pond beauties.

Outside my wife Coleen's kitchen window is this old farm bell.  Each day she enjoys the changing of the guards of the variety of birds as they stop by to investigate.  It not only works as a great visual point for them, but also creates a whole new format for paintings with each variation of bird, or different time of day, working together to give new composition for a painting.  The Cardinals always steal the show with their bright red color accenting every season.

A couple of years ago my wife Coleen and I were on a motorcycle touring vacation out west with a group of our friends. It was a wonderful experience. We always enjoy visiting a total change in environment and this wonderful country has everything an artist could ask for.  We had just finished our 3rd day of riding and were unpacking the bike in our motel parking lot in Trinidad, Colorado. Surprisingly this inquisitive bird popped out of the shrubs about five feet away and commences to investigate our Harley.  I recognized it immediately and grabbed my camera before it flew, or ran, away.  I got off several shots and was thrilled to death, this was my first encounter with a roadrunner and I was able to get some great reference photos.  I have been holding off for a special occasion to paint it and finally the timing was perfect.  My work was recently again accepted into the Settlers West Galleries Miniature show in Tucson Arizona and I thought this would be a good entry.

One day last week I looked over my shoulder to see this beautiful little bird that I have never seen before, visiting with the parade of birds feeding just outside my studio door. Quickly grabbing my camera, I was lucky to get several shots off before it flew away. Upon researching my field hooks I find it was a “rufous-sided towhee”, and to my surprise it was listed to be a common and year round resident in our area. Now how did I miss this one all these years!?

The end of a dead end road,,,,you drive back there, and say Awell, I=ll be, someone lives back here!@  The rich green grass,  the early autumn freshness,  and the deep red brick siding with the back-glow of the morning sun . . . this old place was some-ones home.  I wanted  to paint that warm feeling.

_ One of the fond memories of my childhood is the winter shows.  Especially if it snows so deep they cancel school for the day.  Even if it was to severe to travel the roads , it was never too severe to go out and play in the show.  When I saw this old snowbound home with the school bus parked by the barn, I couldn't help but imagine that even the school bus driver was sitting back in front of the pot belly stove relaxing with his cup of coffee and enjoying the "Snow Day" off.

  This old store, located in southern Indiana, was originally built in the mid 1800's and re-built after a fire in 1916.  It has served as everything from a general store,  pharmacy,  post office,  and even a buggy factory.  Latest reports it is still in operation,  now as a bed and breakfast.

  Basking in the sun along a creek in the Myakka River State Park in Florida this gator and great egret was more than I could resist.  This is nature at its best in perfect balance with beauty and the beast.  I am very fortunate to have the original painting of this to be in the Disney collection at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

This beautiful little farm, a great find and a fun place to paint, was introduced to me by an artist friend, Larry Fentz, while he, my brother Brad Buck, and myself, were plein-air painting this past summer.  The old family farm, a little south of Muncie Indiana, sit back about 300 yards from the banks of the White River near it's head.  Mr. Fergusion, the owner of the farm, described how a couple of years ago, a rare flood brought the river up to near the half way point of the barn.  All survived.  But, where I was sitting, I would have been completely submerged in water on that day.

Hiking or even just taking a walk through the woods has always been one of my favorite pleasures.  There are so many discoveries to be made when you get off of the trail, or the beaten path, and venture into the untamed wilderness.  Something I enjoy while on these excursions is when I accidentally come across a trace or a clue of the presence of human beings from sometime in the past.  It may be in the form of a foundation of a log cabin or a building, or maybe an old family grave plot lost deep in the forest.  Often we will come to a clearing that may uncover evidence of an old road bed or a trail that could have been used by early settlers or Native Americans long ago.  No matter where you are, it is always interesting to find some history of the area and learn of the early settlements, old forgotten trails, or memories of days gone by.  Treasures like these seem to peak my interest and usually make inspiring paintings subjects for me as did this meadow not far from my studio.

Don't you just love collecting old relics and treasures?  I have them strewed-about, in and around my studio.  They make great props for paintings.  I came across this old carbide carriage light many years ago in my Grandpas garage, and now it hangs on one of my sheds like a piece of art.  The Carolina wrens are fun to watch as they choose the most unlikely places to build their nest.  This old lamp must have seemed like the perfect home for them.  It certainly made a fun painting to do for me.

_ This is where my heart is, painting the vanishing America structures like the old barns.  This one, Meadow Barn, was probably constructed at least 50 to 100 years ago.   Many of them are built with local timber, often yellow poplar because of its endurance withstanding weather, warping, or insect infestation.  The older this wood is the more beautiful it becomes an artist's delight with the grain softly protruding and the wonderful bleached gray finish.  You can see the barns evolution with its patches of galvanized corrugated metal giving a quilted design effect.  This painting epitomizes the barns in my area because it comes with the standard equipment of many Midwest barns, the basketball goal.  If only they would have built these structures on a foundation they may have lasted forever.  Now they are vanishing as they are being replaced by superior technology with the metal pole barns.

This is one of my favorite places to paint. During the turn of the century and up until the mid 1900's Furnas Mill stood here on Sugar Creek serving the community for miles around.  As WW2 occurred the area was taken to house camp Atterbury as a training camp for American troops.  At the end of the war the area was turned back to the community and remnants of the old dam is all that remains.  It now is a popular spot for fishermen, canoeist, and of course artists.  Being only about five miles from my home I visit the area often . . . you may agree, it's easy to see why.

Here is a piece of history in art. Before we had the luxury of refrigeration, or even electricity, there were other means of preserving our foods.  The Root Cellar was normally dug into the side of a hill with a heavy, well-insulated, log structure built over that.  It is designed to keep foods cool in the summer and warmer and protected in the winter. While out on a plein-air paint-out in Cashiers, North Carolina, I was invited to paint at the Bear Foot Farm property.  Among the many wonderful painting subjects at the farm was this Root Cellar.  It had to be well over 100 years old.  I was very excited to see the play of light and shadow, and contrast in textures in the stone, old wood, and grass and vegetation.  It had it all. I just love painting stuff like this. Being so enthralled, I spent a couple of days painting there.

Sugar Creek, not far from my studio is one of my favorite spots to escape and hide out for a day of uninterrupted painting. You can find me there often.  It has unending reference for painting.  This spot, just south of the old Mill Ruins is where the canoe livery drops of the canoes for a journey down the beautiful stream.  It flows east for about a quarter of a mile then makes a bend to the South and continues for about 8 miles before it branches into Driftwood River.  Even if one chooses not to paint, this is a nice pleasant place to go, drop in a line, or just sit back and enjoy a good book.

Back in 1978 when we moved to where  we now live the area was new to us and I enjoyed exploring the countryside getting acquainted with our new environment.  I came across this old  house deep in the country that just impressed me so much.  It had to be well over a hundred years old and had been sitting empty for sometime but still stood solid and strong.  What a wonderful home and studio this would make but we had just settled in our new home on the lake and was in no position to take on another project.  I took many reference shots of it and have painted it at different angles several times.  The old place has since then been acquired and the new owners have done great job renovating it.

Among my favorite painting subjects are old mills.  Such is my oil painting titled, "The Yates Mill Pond".  The picturesque "Yates Mill"  was built in 1756, and restored in the 1800s.  Recently renovated, the water-powered grist mill on Steep Hill Creek has served Wake County, North Carolina for over 200 years.  The Yates Mill  County Park is now a center for education and research, with field classrooms, boardwalks, a 20 acre mill pond, and hiking trails through more than 600 acres of habitat.  Efforts are ongoing to develop the park with and a portion of the funds from this limited edition Giclee' reproduction being donated to Yates Mill Associates, Inc.

Even as many times as I have explored the back roads and lanes around the area near my home & studio I find it is an unending resource of painting material.   With each season, or different time of day, or different weather conditions, you can always find something new to paint.  On this sunny, but cold winter morning I meandered down this little trail just after our last snow fall when I come to an opening in the woods where I could see the field and cozy farm house in the distance along the Nineveh Road. It immediately reminded me of the words in the Christmas song, "Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother=s house we go . . .@ So, I had the title . . . I had the reference . . . off to my studio I go.

 It was a hot, humid summer morning, even the gnats and mosquitoes didn't have the energy to be pesky. Slowly I crept, trying not to make a sound,  knowing all too well that even though the tiger sleeps he is always alert and easily awakened,  and even the click of my camera would startle him. I must have come as close as 25 feet from the beast,  my mouth was dry, I held my breath as to not make a sound,,,,then suddenly,  from behind me, I jumped to the loud booming sound of the zoo keepers voice,,,"hold on a minute, I'll wake him for feeding time and you can get an action shot."

A few miles from my home, down in Brown county, Indiana, is the historic Yellowwood Trail, a 20 mile, unimproved road, that follows an old Indian trail and stage-coach run across the northern part of the county. This old log cabin is typical of the treasures one will come across while hiking the ancient road. Who knows when it was built, but still stands, reminiscent of times not so long ago when this area was first being settled during the western migration. Ah yes, the vanishing America landscape.

Luke Buck's father had once advised him to paint, not to please others, but to please each artist’s
toughest critic: himself. “Satisfy yourself with a painting. If you’re happy, others will be
happy, too.” Remembering those words, when Luke Buck is content with a painting, he always
adds a personal touch to it in an inconspicuous place — his fingerprint.