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

Wow!!! Below is a review on Lovetts Gallery's blog about my recent painting that I shipped to them late last week, I am speechless! A Little Rusty Robert Louis Caldwell doesn’t paint anything he hasn’t seen in person. “Every time he's been to the gallery, he goes out taking reference photos,” says Jack. In fact, he’s been saving for a trip to Africa . “Robert has been raising funds to take his trip to Tanzania in four or five weeks. He was hoping he would be able to raise enough funds to go for 14 days,” says Jack. “He had to shorten his trip. He’s never been to Africa. That’s a monumental trip for any wildlife artist. He was so committed to going that he shortened his trip so he could go no matter what. “When he returns, he’ll be working primarily on African safari paintings, because, again, he’ll only paint what he’s seen in person.” Until then, however, he’s working on more local subjects. On a trip to Lovetts Gallery in 2010, he photographed a counte...

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...