2017 A.R.T. Artist Bruce Morrison's Artwork at the Lost Island Prairie Wetland Nature Center this Summer!

"Spring Bobolink"

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

2017 Artisans Road Trip artist Bruce A. Morrison is displaying his artwork this summer at the Lost Island Prairie Wetland Nature Center on Lost Island Lake north of Ruthven, IA.

"Dickcissel"

color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

The natural wetland areas around Lost Island are a particular favorite of the artist; commingling the wetlands and the tallgrass prairie "is the best of both worlds"!

"Big Bluestem in Bloom"

color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

The Lost Island Prairie Wetland Nature Center gives the public an appreciation and basic understanding of the wetlands and offers opportunities to enjoy the beauty of these natural treasures.  One of the goals of the Lost Island Prairie Wetland Nature Center is to give to give visitors the information and skills needed to make wise decisions regarding our natural resources, to become better stewards of the land and to make an impression that will last a lifetime.

Catch the showing of select artwork of Bruce Morrison on display July through the end of August - and take in the beauty of our wetlands and prairies while you're at it!  A win -win!

See You at the Side Street Gallery in Arnolds Park!

Artists to meet and greet at the Side Street Gallery's

Open House Saturday - June 20, 2015!

"©" the artists work shown - upper left - clock-wise: Linda Fries, 

Timothy J. Arand-McIlrath, Barb McGee, Deb Manly, Holly Zinn, 

Karen Ruddy, Marisa Sidles, Irene McCoy, Bruce Morrison, (center) Hank Hall.

Meet and greet artists of the 2015 Artisans Road Trip this Saturday (June 20) afternoon (Noon-5PM) at the Side Street Gallery in Arnolds Park, Iowa!  Stop by and see the works of the artists, ask questions or just join in celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Side Street Gallery and the retirement of the gallery founder Mari Stewart!  The Side Street Galley will close for the season in July and open again next spring under new ownership.

 

Plan a day at the Lakes - there is plenty to do and enjoy!  And be sure to stop by the Side Street Gallery and enjoy the best artwork the region has to offer!

 

Hope to see you there!

2014 Artisans Road Trip Artist Bruce Morrison at Clear Lake Arts Center Exhibition

(top to bottom)

 "M12 Bales" - photograph, "Sun Dogs and Barn" - photograph, 

"Summer Memories" - oil painting

Images © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

2014 Artisans Road Trip artist Bruce Morrison was invited by the Clear Lake Arts Center to participate in the exhibition "Salute to Agriculture".  

Morrison works in several different mediums, from photography to painting, drawing and serigraphy. His subject matter is the landscape and flora/fauna of the tallgrass prairie region of NW Iowa.  "Agriculture was the biggest benefactor of the prairie soil and it certainly becomes a frequent subject in my landscapes as well.", says the artist.

The "Salute to Agriculture" exhibit is being sponsored by Sukup Manufacturing and runs through March of 2015. 

Morrison and his wife Georgeann live on a small prairie remnant in SE O'Brien county where Bruce works from a brooding house/sheep barn studio they remodeled some years back - retaining the "character" of the building's past (in keeping with its agriculture heritage).  You can learn more about the artist by visiting - www.morrisons-studio.com

2014 A.R.T. Artist Bruce Morrison at Neal Smith's J.N. "Ding" Darling Art Gallery!

All images © Bruce A. Morrison

 

2014 Artisans Road Trip artist Bruce Morrison will be exhibiting a solo showing of "From the Tallgrass" at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge's J.N. "Ding" Darling Art Gallery from July 1 through August 21st.

 

The Neal Smith NWR is one of the largest federal refuges in Iowa - this refuge is solely dedicated to the Tallgrass Prairie. "The mission of the Refuge is to actively protect, restore, reconstruct and manage the diverse native ecosystems of tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, and sedge meadow. These were the native habitats existing on the Refuge’s 5600 acres prior to Euro-American settlement."  In keeping with the focus of the Neal Smith NWR, Morrison's exhibit will feature works in keeping with our state's natural heritage of the prairie.

 

Bruce has spent the past 40+ years painting, drawing and photographing in the Tallgrass Prairie and Prairie Pothole region, and has also worked within the scope of prairie restoration/reconstruction and education of this nearly vanished natural heritage, making it the focus of his work through the years.

 

The Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge is located adjacent to Prairie City, Iowa - just 22 miles east of Des Moines.  You can find out more about the refuge at their web site - http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Neal_Smith/about.html

 

Morrison's works have been published throughout North America and his artwork has exhibited throughout the United States, Canada and overseas.

 

Check back again soon for more about the artists of the 2014 Artisans Road Trip!

 

 

2013 Artisans Road Trip Artist Bruce Morrison

The artist working on his latest painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

2013 Artisans Road Trip artist Bruce Morrison works from his rural Hartley studio, a former brooding house/sheep barn which they completely renovated in 2007.  Morrison is an artist of our regional natural heritage; the majority of his work depicts the landscape, and flora and fauna of our region.  "I like to work on the landscape in my 'neighborhood' - where I live and work.  Its great when people see a place they recognize; sometimes a place with a personal meaning or memories."

Morrison is a painter and photographer.  Many of his paintings rely on photographs Bruce has taken for refreferences to work from - such as with his painting "Murder Along Little Waterman" (seen working on above).  This particular painting depicts a small flock of Crows (called a "murder") gathering along a small stream-side pasture - an actual site just 2-3 miles north of his studio.  Bruce also paints on location, generally for studies to use for larger studio works at a later time.

But photography is important as a medium to its own for Morrison as well; landscapes, flora and fauna photography are all taken seriously as both artforms and for publication in books, magazines and calendars.

"Murder Along Little Waterman" - oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

You can learn more about Bruce's work on his website at - http://www.morrisons-studio.com, and weekly to bi-weekly happenings from his studio blog at http://prairiepainter.blogspot.com.  Or even more often on Face Book at https://www.facebook.com/Bruce.Morrison.Artist

 

"Murder Along Little Waterman" and other works of Morrison's and other select artists of the 2013 Artisans Road Trip, will be showing at Arts on Grand in May for their upcoming exhibit "Iowa's Natural Heritage".  More on that in our next A.R.T. Blog - please check back!

 

 

Prairie Painter - Painting from Studies

 "September Dawn, Little Sioux River"

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

"Prairie Painter" is the handle I use for my business blog - http://prairiepainter.blogspot.com - I think it fits since I do paint the prairie out here :) My business is art, and my artwork is painting, drawing and photography. I've been a member of the Artisans Road Trip since the very first one back in 2004...I did take a year off while building our studio here in SE O'Brien County, but have been a constant supporting member and participant.

We've been introducing members and talking about exhibits for the 2012 A.R.T. and I thought I'd change things up a little and describe my painting process when working from painted "studies", in this case a small oil painting started on location, then finished in the studio. These small "studies" are often used as a platform to work from, to paint a larger finished work in the studio.

The painting shown here is actually from a plein air study I did not too terribly far from the studio about 3 years back. The piece was started outside on the site, but had to be finished that day in the studio because the conditions changed so quickly. The study can be seen and read about from that original blog from September 17, 2009 - http://prairiepainter.blogspot.com/2009/...

Plein air studies are a natural step for a painter...first you do small color studies (paintings) on location, and these serve as guides for further work in a larger "finished" painting - done later in the studio.

I sold the original plein air study of this painting just a couple months after I did it in 2009 so I had to work from an image file I scanned of the original 6X8" plein air study. That still worked just fine...I wasn't trying to laboriously duplicate the small original, but instead work off of the "impression" the original piece offered as far as lighting, color and composition. The finished piece is unmistakably done from the original, yet is more refined to reflect my interpretation of that morning...the fog or haze rising off of the river as the early morning, late summer sun, breaks through the atmosphere upstream.

You can see other work I've done at my studio's web site -
http://www.morrisons-studio.com

Thank you for visiting our Artisans Road Trip blog during the year - be sure and check back for more artists of the 2012 Artisans Road Trip!

From the Tallgrass...an Exhibition

(click on image for a larger view)

A solo exhibition of prairie artist Bruce Morrison’s paintings, drawings and photographs will be hosted by the Witter Gallery in Storm Lake, Iowa. “From the Tallgrass” is a familiar theme for Morrison, who paints, draws and photographs the prairie remnants and locales from the region he lives and works from. Many of the more than 60 works in this exhibit have never been publicly exhibited before.

The 2012 Artisans Road Trip artist works directly from the landscape, as well as the flora and fauna of the tallgrass prairie. “I seek out and paint, draw or photograph actual locations.  I like to ‘document’ as well as ‘celebrate’ the natural and cultural heritage of our region. The prairie made this region what it is today, and I feel compelled to celebrate that heritage.” remarks the artist. You can follow the artist on his weekly blog (http://prairiepainter.blogspot.com).

In the exhibit you will see oil paintings of landscapes done in the “plein air” tradition (on location), or in a more traditional style, done in the artist’s rural studio.  Exhibit visitors will also see very rich landscapes of a smaller scale done in a laborious method in color pencil, as well as intimate and panoramic photographs, and a small, never before exhibited, collection of large format silver gelatin prints.

Morrison works as a professional artist out of his rural SE O’Brien County studio. Bruce and his wife Georgeann remodeled a former sheep barn/chicken coup on their property, to serve as Bruce’s workspace and gallery.  “A great way to re-purpose a piece of our cultural heritage!”  said the artist.

The Exhibit, “From the Tallgrass”,  runs from April 5 through April 26, 2012.  There will be an artist’s reception at the Witter Gallery on Thursday April 5th from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. - the public is invited!

The Witter Gallery is located at 609 Cayuga Street, in Storm Lake.  You can contact the Witter for more information at 712 732-3400.

Just Wait'n!

 "Riffles, First Light"

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

Please excuse the title's slang, but that about sums up this moment for the 2012 Artisans Road Trip. The entries are in and the names of the 2012 participating artists is in the process of being drawn up.

This is also that time of year when artists of the Road Trip are busy with studio time and other work needing to be tended to during the winter "lull". I don't know about everyone else but I've had difficulty keeping to my studio's easel schedule because of the great winter weather we've been having! Just standing on the studio deck overlooking the valley here has been a distraction - that warm sunshine is bringing on spring fever!

 Hopefully we'll have names to announce and some glimpses at our 2012 artists in the near future...right now we're just wait'n!