Archive for April, 2016


I just finished my first charcoal drawing of Munsey and I’ve started to work on the next  charcoal drawing, which is of Boda.   Most of the charcoal drawing is created with powered charcoal and feathers.  the feathers work very well for making subtractive and additive mark making.  I love using feathers because they don’t leave as sharp and controlled of mark on my paper when I’m drawing.  I also create three layers of marks when creating the bears fur coat.  When it comes to drawing I hyper focus on producing extremely detailed work in my compositions.

This summer my Kodiak Bear charcoal drawings , greeting cards, photography and photographic books will be for sale, along with my Intaglio prints, collages, lamp-worked beads and assemblages at my art studio during the 2016 North-Woods Studio Tour.aDSC_9099 copy 15-11-10

The public is invited to attend the 18th Annual Student Art Exhibit sponsored by the student body at UW-Marshfield/WoodCounty.  The art exhibit runs from April 11th- May 15th,2016.  Gallery  450 Hour  Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Gallery 450 serves as a teaching gallery with the UW-M/WC art students and the community, continuously using the current display for study.  It also serves as a place for professional artists from Central Wisconsin and beyond to showcase their artwork while sharing their expertise

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I spent 6 hours photographing the cubs on April 17th.   Munsey and Boda  each weigh about 230 pounds.  When the cubs arrived in October of 2015  Munsey was 120 pounds and Boda was 130 pounds.  As Munsey’s weight is slowly catches up to Boda, Munsey has become equally aggressive and will initiate some rough housing.  Munsey also feels more confident about   grabbing a chunk of watermelon from Boda and  Munsey is the cub that has discovered  how to retrieve chunks of pineapple from the bottom of the swimming pool.  At this time it’s easy to identify Munsey because he has a darker brown coat of fur while Boda has a honey blond  fur on his rear quarters.

A selection of 19 different photographic greeting cards of the cubs and my first photographic book titled  Munsey & Boda  9 to 13 months, is now for sale and if anyone is interested please contact me.  The book has 20 pages of full color photographs that are dated so the reader can see the development of cubs as they are growing.  The book also offers a variety of information about the cubs and their weight and  other information that describes the  weight changes and characteristics of the cubs as they’ve developed since they arrived in October 2015.

Munsey is in the water retrieving the pineapple, while Boda walks in the edge of the pool.  Munsey captures his pineapple!

The staff at Wildwood Zoo hide snacks for Munsey and Boda in a variety of places throughout  the JP Adler Kodiak Bear Exhibit and Woodland habitat area to challenge the cubs to problem solve and learn new skills.  Munsey is shown in the center photograph attempting to reach a banana that’s been placed out of reach!  Munsey did capture the the banana by jumping up and grasping it from the crevice in the rock where it had been placed.

Boda is shown in the photograph climbing the tree to retrieve his pineapple. One of Boda’s strengths is in tree climbing.

 

Zoo guests are entertained by watching the cubs play tag with each other, swimming, bathing  or taking nap in the Woodland habitat area.