inspiration: St Louis Zoo and Art Museum

I am just back from a road trip to St Louis, MO, where my family had a beautiful reunion. I got to see my father and all of my siblings and their kids, plus a lot of family. 

One special treat while in St Louis was going to Forest Park, the site of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition and centennial celebration, but more commonly known as the 1904 World's Fair. You can read more about the fair here.

As we walked around the zoo and the art museum, I kept humming to myself the song, "Meet Me In St Louis." Appropriate, since my grandfather's name was Louis and he went by "Louie" and it was this grandfather's children and family that gathered... 55 participants!

I loved the zoo (and not just because admission was free!). Their gorilla habitat was wonderful and I spent a lot of time observing these majestic animals and sketching them. It was tough to sketch them, though, because every time one of them got close to the observation window, he would sit down with his back to us people. It struck me as an act of utter contempt. Wow. 

The art museum was grand all together, but especially grand in its huge entrance hall.

I especially enjoyed this Monet painting.

And this Modigliani.

St Louis is a special town and I look forward to going there again. Maybe next time, it won't be 92 degrees with 90% humidity. That was a little hard to take. The best part of the trip was seeing my father again. I am not sure that he knew me, but I knew him, held his hand, talked to him and loved the chance to see him again.

Love you, Dad.


"Meet Me in St Louis." Maybe you will hum the theme song, too.

Monkey Business

These are not self portraits!

Okay, now that we're clear on that (no wise cracks, please), I can explain why I am painting gorillas.

I have always loved observing wildlife but wildlife art often leaves me cold. I do not want to count feathers and render animals in a photo-realistic way. I admire artists like Robert Bateman who do that beautifully! It's not for me.

I do not want to paint "cute" animal paintings, either. Enough said.

But, I have been thinking that maybe I could try to paint wildlife in a way that expresses how I feel about all living creatures: excitement, wonder and delight. What you see are my fledgling attempts to do that.

I observed these gorillas at the San Diego Zoo. For hours I stood and watched their community interact with one another and with the observers. I studied their faces, their hands and feet, how their bodies moved. It was amazing!

I have no predictions about my future painting subjects, but I guess that animals will continue to interest me. Time will tell.