The Winslow Homer Project

MLBob Furia

MLBob Furia

Well-known member


Since the text portion of this post is pretty long and it is fairly picture heavy, I decided make a separate posting instead of taking up a lot of space in the September workbench thread.

I figure it may be a whole lot easier to find a way to cut and paste the text from my document file and coordinate it with the appropriate picture sequence. The post in its entirety is on my "Ropes and Tools" page (link below), but I know there are many who don't use Facebook.

So here goes (Thank goodness for the "preview post" function !) :
In 2018, I became interested in doing some carved pieces that were reminiscent of the paintings of the 19th century American painter, William Harnett. At one point during his painting career (approx. 1874 - 1892), Harnett created a series of "After the Hunt" still-life paintings famous for their realistic portrayal of game and hunting equipment. Carefully composed, these portraits usually had their subject matter set against a paneled backdrop. At the time, Harnett's style of extreme realism fit paintings of a genre classified as "trompe l'oeil" ("fool the eye"). This was the look I was hoping to capture with a series of waterfowl carvings that depicted hanging game in a tableau setting. My first tableau piece featured an American black duck drake. The next centered on a mallard drake. The third piece I did in this style showcased a pintail drake; and then a double mount featuring both a carved wigeon and a wood duck drake . As my learning curve progressed with each project, I was able to attempt birds that posed a more difficult level of plumage and anatomy.




View attachment H1.jpg View attachment H2.jpg


View attachment H3.jpg View attachment H4.jpg

Re-enter the "Winslow Homer Project." Winslow Homer is yet another American painter whose work I admire. As a boy I had the good fortune to spend lots of time in New York's Catskill Mountains region; and Homer's depictions of scenes from the Catskills, Adirondacks, and the Hudson River Valley - especially those that deal with hunting and fishing themes - are some of my favorites. Because I have long been a waterfowler, a Homer painting entitled "Right and Left" has always held special appeal for me. The painting depicts a moment that any waterfowl hunter who has "been there" can relate to: a threatening, lowering sky; a wind-tossed body of water; a shadowy figure of a gunner shooting from a sneak boat as he attempts to take a pair of goldeneye ducks that have just taken flight.

Homer completed this painting in 1909; in fact, it was one of the last paintings he did before his death in 1910. It is said that he had an assistant row out into the bay and fire blank charges back toward him as he sat on shore, just so he could get a feel for the unusual perspective he chose for the piece. In his depiction, the hen of the pair has already been hit, and the painting freezes the split-second in time when the gunner in the boat swings on the drake. The muzzle flash tells us that the shot charge from the left-hand barrel of his side-by-side shotgun is already on its way toward the fleeing drake.


View attachment H5.jpg

(Continued.....)
 
Last edited:

I can't say exactly when first I conceived the idea of trying to replicate Winslow Homer's famous 1909 painting "Right and Left" as a three-dimensional carved piece, but I know it pre dated getting into carving the dead-mount tableaus by several years. Regardless of when the idea first occurred to me, about nine months ago the stars aligned to 'kick-start" the idea into reality. For it was then that the lessons absorbed over 40+ years of carving & painting decoys, combined with my more recent take-aways about the methods needed to create and paint the full-body duck carvings for the tableau pieces, made me feel I had enough information and had developed the skill-set necessary to execute something on this scale.

Nevertheless, there was still one major hurdle to overcome. I knew that even if I were successful in carving and painting the ducks for the tableau, I didn't feel at all qualified to convincingly reproduce the background painting for Homer's masterpiece onto the panel on which I'd have to mount those carvings.

The answer to that dilemma came when I approached an excellent, Toledo-based, artist/designer/painter, Elsa Furia (....who also happens to be my daughter-in-law) with the request that we collaborate on this "Homer Project" . Fortunately for me, Elsa agreed to paint the background panel that would make it all work. With a plan in place, I finally started on some sketches for the carvings in December of 2019. I would be remiss if I did not make a shameless plug for Elsa's artwork. You can view it online at these locations:

https://www.instagram.com/elf_theartist/
or
https://www.elsafuria.com/

Elsa & son Doug:
View attachment H6.jpg View attachment H7.jpg


View attachment H8.jpg



View attachment H9.jpg View attachment H11.jpg
 
Last edited:

Because of the lessons I'd learned doing the dead-mount tableau pieces, I knew there could be no definitive patterns to tell me what contours to follow as I attempted to translate Homer's flatwork portrayal on canvas as 3-D sculpture. Therefore, duplicating the goldeneye pair that would be suspended out in flight from the background portrait of the stormy setting quickly became an exercise in free-hand carving, that necessitated making decisions about what should be happening with the anatomy of both birds as each of the carvings developed.

By the end of February 2020 both carvings had been completed and were ready to be painted.



View attachment H15.jpg View attachment H16.jpg



View attachment H17.jpg View attachment H18.jpg


View attachment H19.jpg
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, a bit of a glitch delayed things for a few weeks. I went to have a cardiologist check out what I considered to be some mild "symptoms" I had been experiencing while out hunting during duck & goose season. That check-up led to a surprise quadruple-bypass heart surgery during the first week in March.

By the third week of March, I was able to return to the painting of the goldeneyes.



View attachment H20.jpg View attachment H21.jpg



View attachment H22.jpg View attachment H24.jpg


View attachment H25.jpg


View attachment H26.jpg


Sometime in May, I delivered the sealed panel the birds were to be mounted on to Elsa at her home studio; and, by the end of July, she delivered the completed background panel back to me.

Needless-to say, she "knocked it out of the park." Selection of a frame that complimented the colors in her painting came next.




View attachment H27.jpg View attachment H29.jpg


 
Last edited:
Bob,

I saw the first "installment" here and waited until you were done before it even felt right to reply. Your work is outstanding! Beyond that, I am just in awe. Kudos to both you and your daughter.
 
Bob & Elsa

Better send Bill Gates a email/picture of your fantastic collaborative effort. He's a big fan of Homer's seascapes, and didn't bat an eye when he paid over 30 millon for " Lost on the Grand Banks" back in 1998.

How unique when 2 family members both have this high level of talent, are able to work together, and complete this intricate project.

Hats off to both of you.
 
Good morning, Bob~


Wonderful project! Collaboration at its best.


Homer has long been one of my heroes, too. As a duck hunter who has spent many a day picking up a big rig in a heavy sea, The Herring Net has always spoken to me. Several prints of his works hang throughout our house and inspire us daily.



View attachment Winslow_Homer_-_The_Herring_Net_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg



The fisherman could be wrapping anchor lines around a bunch of Broadbill stool instead of picking fish - and I can feel the boat rise beneath them as they are bent to the task before them.


All the best,


SJS









 
Bob

Winslow Homer himself might not have been able to pull this one off. Certainly he would be honored by your take on his work. Do you feel as though your work has ascended to another level? I would argue it has. When I first opened your post I was dumbfounded by the creativity and execution. You and Elsa have created family heirloom and probably more. Thank you for sharing.

Eric Patterson
 

Bob & Elsa,

A major endeavor, collaboration, and accomplishment by two very good artists.

The WOW factor is way up there.

Hopefully the work will stay in the family, and passed down from generation to generation.


Ya did Good, after yer new "plumbing" and gift of being alive. A true story woven into art, maybe noted on the back. "Lots of heart in this work..."

I did look for signatures. [;)]

Two Thumbs UP!



Best regards
Vince
 
Bob,
You really out did yourself on this one.
Incredible work by both you and Elsa.
 
Thank you, all.

Gary: The painting Gates bought ("Stranded on the Banks") was the only privately owned Homer known to exist. Guy whose family had passed it on for generations was in his 80's. Guess he figured he couldn't take the painting with him, and that the folks in his will might appreciate the $$$ more. I don't think Bill will be looking in on duckboats any time soon, nor is it likely he'll follow me on Instagram; HOWEVER, Elsa has a little boy who's the apple of my eye, and I'd like to think of it hanging in his household someday, long after I'm gone ( but not before I've had my opportunities to take him out chasing the ducks & geese with me [;)] ).
He was here this weekend:


View attachment CATman (816 x 612).jpg

Eric:
Don't know about "ascending to another level." I do think that the way I've approaced decoy making and painting for an extended period of time (long obedience in the same direction? ) has come to a point where I'm seeing the positive outcome of that stubbornness about emphasizing and choosing both methods and projects that have interested and energized me..... + I listened to a LOT of what Joe Wooster told me that had nothing to do with tools, mediums, and how-to's in general.
Here's three :
- "Leave something to the viewer's imagination."

-"Stop promoting; start carving."

-"Carving for money is a lot like drinking beer. The heady feeling you savor is all pissed away by morning."



Vince:
"Look at nature, work independently, and solve your own problems," Eh? Truer words were never spoken.
 
Last edited:
I am fortunate to have attended Phillips Academy in Andover, MA which has a huge collection of Homer originals and prints from Harper's.
 
Great stuff!

I grew up in the next town over from Homer's studio at Black Point in Scarborough. My sister got married at the Black Point Inn, and you could throw a rock from the porch of the Inn to the roof of Homer's studio, which is still there, now as an adjunct site to the Portland Museum of Art. https://www.portlandmuseum.org/homer

I've spent a lot of time chasing black ducks, geese, whistlers, striped bass, mackerel and soft shell clams around Black Point, and I think I know the spot where Homer painted this. (Though truth be told, that view of crashing surf with whistlers screaming by could be just about any piece of the Black Point shore.) Nevertheless, "Shooting Rock" is right out there in front of old Winslow's porch, so I like to think I am right.

Bob, between owning Homer's studio and a good number of his original works, the Portland Museum of Art has a pretty serious Homer jones. In fact, they are just about to open an exhibit on Homer and Frederic Remington: https://www.portlandmuseum.org/mythmakers It might be worth your time to contact them and see if they have any upcoming events where you might be able to give a talk or display it.

I wouldn't know where to start to connect you to them, but you may through some of your art or decoy contacts. I'm pretty sure that me, John Kirk, and Troy Fields would all be there to admire it.
 
Jeff~


Isn't it true that you are in fact gunner in the painting? Did you drop that second bird????


More important: I have long heard of Prout's Neck. Unfortunately, Homer's studio there closed when we hunted with Troy Fields a few years ago. What is the relationship of Black Point to Prout's Neck?


All the best,


SJS





 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top