In the studio with artist, photographer and instructor Robert Louis Caldwell

Presenting... "Weighted (Carolina Wren) " "Weighted (Carolina Wren)" Oil on 1/2 Maple Panel 18 x 24 You may find yourself asking, “What is that bird perched on?”  This painting was inspired by my travels to Oklahoma, particularly my 2010 visit to Tulsa when a friend of mine took me out into the fields looking for pumpjacks. Ever since my first visit to Oklahoma I have wanted to somehow incorporate a pumpjack into a painting. Now you may be asking what is a pumpjack? A pumpjack is the overground drive for a reciprocating piston pump in an oil well. It is used to mechanically lift liquid out of the a well and is very common in oil rich areas like Oklahoma. The prime mover, commonly an electric motor, of the pumpjack runs a set of pulleys to the transmission which drives a pair of cranks, generally with counterweights on them to assist the motor in lifting the heavy string of rods. The cranks raise and lower one end of an I-beam which is free to move o...

My demo painting... During the opening of the " Out on a Whim " exhibit at Lovetts Gallery on March 17, 2012 I will be working in the gallery on this painting above. The piece isn't quite ready for paint yet but since the demo isn't until Saturday I will have plenty of time to finish the under drawing on my way out to Tulsa, Oklahoma. And even though it isn't done yet I can already start feel the nice deep shadows of the "I" beam and the great textures of the rusted metal. Yes! More rusted metal! The reference for this painting came from my visit to Tulsa last March when a friend and I went out in the eastern fields of Tulsa looking for different and interesting things that I could paint. And now that I am headed back to Tulsa for the opening of the exhibit I thought it was a great time to start painting this particular piece. By now you are probably asking yourself what is the Wren perched on? Any thoughts?  

 Two works in progress... So I have started two more compositions before starting to push some paint on the previous two compositions that  I have ready.  I have these ideas bouncing around in my head and I just needed to get them down in my sketch book and worked out which inevitably leads me to preparing a board with gesso and then starting the under drawing. The on that I am working on currently (above) is of a Scissor-tailed flycathcher from Oklahoma perched on the handle of a very large oil drum, agian from Oklahoma. Can you guess where this is going once its finished? This is not a usual perch for this bird but its the oil drum with all of its textures and the simple geometric shapes that it creates that interests me and thats why I am painting it. I checked with several sources to see if a scissor-tail would perch on such a spot and most of them said yes so I feel confident moving forward with this painting. One other piece that is now ready for paint is ...

Work in progress... A quick update on the "Dam Painting."  I have finished drawing in the under drawing and believe that it is now ready to have some color added to it! Although I more than likely will not do that for a couple of more weeks, after school starts back in so that I can have larger blocks of time to paint. Until then you can see the finished under drawing below and I will get to work on the next under drawing for another painting, this one is of a beautiful roof line from Charleston , South Carolina.

Work in Progress… “Dam Painting ( Great Blue Heron ),” Oil on panel, 30 x 40 – Under drawing stage (in progress) I have wanted to paint this scene from the moment that I was standing at the base of the Keystone Dam which is just outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma over 2 years ago. I spent a morning there capturing as much reference as possible of White Pelicans and Great Blue Herons that where fishing at the bottom of the dam in the spill way. This dam was huge and I was just awed by its size, it helped that I was at the base of the dam looking up and over the great expanse of it. Couple that with the fact that you know that there is all this water behind that great wall of concrete exerting pressure against the other side of it makes you feel small. It was this feeling of being small, positioned at the base of this huge edifice exerting an immense sense of pressure behind it in this painting that I wanted to convey in my composition.. It has taken me almost 8 months of playing with th...

Presenting... "Keystone King (American White Pelican) " Graphite pencil, 6 x 10 I finished this drawing up early this week, sealed it, matted it and got it into its frame. This drawing is slated to go to Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma in March for my Solo exhibit and painting demonstration, ironically the reference for this piece came from my visit to the gallery last year. I have not created a graphite drawing in awhile and it was nice to do so, as you'll read below as soon as I saw the reference for this piece I knew it had to be a black and white piece. I really wanted the extreme white of the pelican to pop off of the paper so I had to push the background back some to accomplish this. I did that by making the water darker than it was and taking away all highlights in the water. Off to start the next piece! In March 2010, I was visiting Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a painting demonstration and was fortunate enough to take a drive through the cou...

Back in the Studio... I have been away from my studio for several weeks now and am just now getting back into the swing of things. I have a painting started on my easel but have away from it for so long now that I’m not sure where I left off. So with that in mind I am getting back to work not standing at my easel but sitting at my drafting table working on a drawing of a White Pelican. I captured the reference for this while I was out visiting Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma last March. I was told that Bald Eagles had been spotted up at Keystone dam and that is why I had drove to the dam. I was pleasantly surprised to see five white Pelicans, instead of the Eagles, at the base of the spill way looking for some breakfast. This was my first time actually observing White Pelicans in the wild and was thrilled to have the chance to capture some reference, actually a lot of reference! The image below is the beginning of my new drawing of one of the White Pelicans. This piece was b...

I have only really been in the "fine art world" for about 4 years now, you know the world of making a living and working full time as an artist. So far it has been a rollercoaster ride of adventure and discovery! The one major thing that I have discovered are all the great people in the art world. Over the past three years I have met some of the best wildlife artists in the world and I now call them my friends! Now with all these social media networks we all keep in touch almost on a daily basis, either talking about random things in the world to asking some advice on a current piece of art. I went kicking and screaming into Facebook but as many of you probably know by now, I communicate through Facebook almost every day. Back in April fellow artist Morten Solberg posted a "status update" referring to a statement that one of his children made about being an artist, the conversation stream was very meaningful. One of the comments was from my friend and fantastic ar...

Once again I thoroughly enjoyed traveling out to Tulsa, Oklahoma visiting with my fellow artist, friends, collectors, and art enthusiast! It was an extremely busy week, first with a LIVE painting demonstration at Lovetts Gallery and then exhibiting at the 2010 Natureworks Wildlife art show & Sale. The Lovetts Gallery Live painting demonstration was a great success with visitors in the gallery and people tuning in on the internet on “Over the Artists shoulder” my Ustream channel . Thank you to Jack and Waylon of Lovetts gallery for giving me the opportunity to paint at the gallery. I enjoyed answering all the questions of people in the gallery and from around the world on the internet. This was the first time that I have done a live broadcast and honestly was a bit nervous about it but overall I believe that it was a great success and look forward to doing it again. Jack and Waylon, you have a beautiful gallery, again thank you for that opportunity! Set-up for Live paint...

Time to get in the truck and drive out to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a gallery visit at Lovetts Gallery and then to exhibit at the Natureworks Wildlife Art show & Sale . Live painting demonstration Lovetts Gallery 6528 E. 51st ST Tulsa, Oklahoma February 24, 2010 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. I will join Lovetts Gallery Wednesday, February 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., for a live demonstration. The piece above, "Ramsey's Porch (Mourning Dove)," is in the under drawing stage of the painting process and will be the painting that I will work on while at Lovetts Gallery . If you can’t make it to the gallery for the demonstration then please visit me throughout the day on my Ustream channel, “Over the Artists Shoulder” where we will be streaming the demo all day. For more information about Lovetts Gallery , call 918.664.4732, visit http://www.lovettsgallery.com/ or find them on Facebook and Twitter . Please visit Robert's news page on his website for more details. (Map to...