STAR WARS

I had the privilege of being asked by George Lucas to create an image for the new book he was planning on publishing. He asked me to create a new bounty hunter holding a light saber. I designed a new lights saber and then asked him, "How does a bounty hunter end up with a light saber?" His response: "He kills a Jedi". Here's the piece that was included in the book "STAR WARS IMAGES". He liked it so much that he bought the painting. It's over five feet long and about three feet high.

Sand Creek Arch

Last year I was commissioned to design and build a forty foot arch over Main Street in down town Sandpoint, Idaho. Sandpoint is historically a fishing community and tourist town. My proposal consisted of using recycled materials - used highway signs for the fish and used steel I-beam pilings for the structure. There are 92 fish swimming over Main Street now. Many of them are pivoted so that they move in the breeze, giving the illusion of a swimming school of fish. It was a fun project.

Two New Pieces

This a painting Nelson just finished and sent to Morris and Whiteside. It's called FISH'N. Ask our son Michael, the model how cold the water is, Nelson didn't paint the goosebumps.

This is not a model but a true authentic cowboy thus the name AUTHENTIC COWBOY. A few years ago we were able to participate in a large roundup on the Utah/Idaho border and got some great photos. He is the real thing.

Any Opinions?

So here is the big boot that Nelson painted off the red background study from my last post. There are no shadows to ground it but the leather is remarkable. The painting is six foot long.

This is the boot with the red background. It was a real challenge for Nelson, he just couldn't get a deep enough red to satisfy him. I loved it, even serious art can have an element of fun and red is a great color. I always say it's the only "true color". The kids gave mixed reviews and Nelson was so so. He sat on it for a week and decided the red just wasn't right so he went with a dark background.

I have to admit the background really lets you focus on the leather which is some of the best he has ever painted. The ground shadows are there but the photograph doesn't show them well.

I would love your opinions.

Playing With Color

Nelson has been using color in some different and bold new ways. This is a small study he finished this week . He has started the large piece and is getting close to working the red background. He will be using the deep red on the left over the entire painting.