Each year hunters set out to the field of their choosing; many to a local spot near them.

And each year many of them have visions of the ‘big one’ dancing through their heads.  Knowing full well, they will be fortunate if they are able to ‘bag’ a ‘descent buck’.  But, still the notion that somewhere out there roams that illusive big buck of their dreams.

For a few hunters who venture to their chosen woodlots, swamps, brush cover, prairie or evergreen thickets, after the season, a site of encouragement and… yes, even heart stopping, adrenalin pumping excitement awaits.  They are afforded the briefest of moments – a momentary glimpse – of what - might have been, what yet could be.  They see ‘their deer’. The ‘big one’.  And for the next 11 months they look forward to,  The Next Season.

This is the name of a new series I’m working on that will cover this thematic: The Next Season.

I am a hunter. Though I do not get to the field each year to track, trail or seek-to-harvest a kill, I go each season in my mind to my favorite hunts of years past.

Each year I picture the past ventures afield and live again the drama of the near miss; the thrill of the unexpected; the double-edged sword of kill and painful acceptance of the necessary cycle-of-life: predators kill to survive.  I deeply treasure each memory; each experience; and treasure of the knowledge each venture afield builds.

This – the feeling of closeness to the natural world; to ones self; to the life cycle; this is what I hope to convey through the images in this new series.

My goal is to conjure the memories from every hunter’s past – whether with gun, bow, camera or brush … yes, the barer of each of these tools is a hunter or huntress … to put you – the hunter – back into those memories.

To tilt your mind as you bask in them and build within you the inescapable desire to ‘taste them once again’.   For when we are close to the essence of life, we value it deeply.  We value it enough to insure it will not pass away, silently into the wastefulness of modern society.  Instead our Heritage past rushes to the fore and we work hard, without stopping until we know it is safe, secure and again guaranteed a place in future generations.

This is the only way our Outdoor Heritage will be preserved, as an integrated element of our social fabric and as a literal existence, filled with wild places, wild life and wild imaginations.

The Next Season series will cover all major North American species that are pursued in a ‘hunting’ manner.  As stated above, the tools that accompany the ‘hunter’ are not always lethal weaponry. But the person who enters the field with the intent to stalk, track, pursue-to-close-proximity, wild animals, is a hunter, none-the-less.

The current species on my list are:

• Large ungulates of the deer family:
  • moose, caribou, whitetail deer, mule deer, blacktail and keys deer
• North America’s only member of the antelope group:
  • the pronghorn;
• Gamebirds of North America:
  • turkey, grouse, partridge, woodcock, pheasant, quail, ducks and geese.

Next Season: Swamp Whitetail

The African elephant has been an inspiration since the first one was sighted by human eyes.  Before that, unless it was another elephant the sighting most likely engendered fear.  It does that well in the eyes of humans, too.  We have the elevated capacity to wonder and admire beauty.  The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) definitely inspires.

The Swahili word Sankalai is the word more often used to define the male (bull) African elephant.  I thought this word appropriate for this eLithograph© since it is the embued emotion I felt – and have found others feel when seeing this image – when first seeing an African elephant in real life.  Native African peoples know far better than I the impressive figure and elephant impresses, but one does not need to see an elephant ‘in-the-bush’ to be moved.

Read the short story, “Sankalai” on the Akilologos blog.  This story was written in the Akilologos style, with the ~1000 word short-story being inspired by the image.

Sankalai

• SIZE Image: 12.7″x16.2″ | Paper: 20″x16″
• PRINT Giclee w/artist dye pigments
• RUN 100 Prints | 95 (6/100-100/100) available
• PRICE $150 print only | Contact for matte and frames

The Phoenix rises again.

OOAK Digital Gallery has been ‘off-the-air’ for several months. It’s now making a come back.

Where’d OOAK go?

Well, I played around with a number of different web type designs and platforms. But when it was all said-and-done, the Word Press format CMS seems to be the best. It’s simple, works incredibly well, and is growing. So, when it comes to my art, I don’t want to fiddle with technology, I want to get my work online – viewed – and sold. Thus I’m all no-nonsense when it comes to OOAK Digital Gallery these days. At least with the online part.

Since this is a new start, I am starting over – from scratch.

This rendition will be a mixture of art, commentary, tutorial, writing and interviews. I do hope you like this version of OOAK Digital Gallery. I want it to be personal, accessible and affordable.

One of the first things our old visitors will see is the new logo. I chose the style and content of the logo more closely project the themes that fuel my work.

The style is in the Native American folklore used by the Tlingit, Kwakiutl and Haida tribes of the North American northwest.  Very simple lines, but powerful graphics. Images with a voice of nature and natural environments.  The prominance of the lines and visual typography also relay the strong graphic design influence found in my work.  The illustration of the hand bring an element of fine art method and also signifies the hand-made element of the work.

My art is influenced and heavily invested in depicting the natural world and human interface.  Fish are an important element in my life; fisheries was a major thrust of my college degree.  I also enjoy their company … and well as the places where fish inhabit.

Though I do have – and will continue to add – certain man-made elements in my portfolio – the majority of my work has a definite ‘natural bend’.

I also enjoy writing as an outlet.  I have experimented with offering a unique blend of imagery – visual and textual – for some time.  On the blog Akilologos, I present an OOAK image with short-story, haiku, or other verse built around that image.  I do enjoy the collaboration this effort affords my creative outlet.

Commercial Work

OOAK does commercial work as well.  I do commissions for commercial art – used as decoration, publication, point-of-purchase, marketing, advertising -or whatever the client desires.

OOAK sells giclee prints of the work created for the gallery.  All issues are of very short run, limited quanties, that do not exceed 100 prints.  The ‘original’ may be purchased as well and OOAK will retain the rights to publish the 100 giclee prints.

OOAK does private work, too.  If you have an image you wish to have rendered as an eLITHOGRAPH©, contact me and I will be glad to discuss your ideas.

Thank you for taking a look at the OOAK Digital Gallery.  I hope you enjoy the visit here and at our various outlets around the web.  A list where works of OOAK Digital Gallery can be found online, are in the Links listed on the right.

Enjoy the view,

les booth