Campbell's Treaty

Campbell's Treaty
Oil on panel, 9x12

Another late night posting - and so much yet to do for Easter dinner here tomorrow!  This is another painting from the historic Cave Hollow in Hannibal, Missouri.  This a the treaty between the indians and Campbell Senior concerning the incident where Sam Thompson shot and killed one of the indians from a tribe nearby.  I will post a link here when the story is posted, so you will be able to see it.  This is painting number 473 in 473 days.

Lover's Leap Landslide

Landslide at Lover's Leap
Oil on panel, 6x12

Trying to get my work done with a new puppy is like having a baby around again!  Everything I do must be done in little spurts - with lots of interruptions.  Today, I am capturing another of Missouri's little known events in history - the Landslide at Lover's Leap in Hannibal, Missouri.  Wanting to show the height of this landmark, I am painting on a tall vertical panel for this scene.  Using an orange primed surface, I've allowed little pops of color to show through here and there for added energy.  Painting number 453 in 453 days.  Following - the story of the event.

Terrific Landslide near Hannibal, Mo

Jan 13, 1859

The Hannibal MO Messenger states that a great landslide took place a few days since at Lover’s Leap, near that city. From the top of the bluff, for some four hundred years, the entire mass of earth has slid some forty or fifty feet, carrying in its wake trees, stumps, and everything in fact that offered any impediment to its wild career. It must, indeed, have been a grand sight to witness this awful avalanche of upwards of 100,000 square yards, whirling down the steep descent with the speed of a hurricane, and a rumbling almost to that of thunder. From ten to twelve dirt cars were smashed to pieces, and many of their axles (four inches in diameter, and of solid iron) were snapped like so many reeds, others were bent completely double, and the bodies of the cars scattered hither and yon.

Millerites Await the Second Coming

Millerites Await the Second Coming
Oil on panel, 10x8

Another slice of Missouri's history, this painting depicts the October 22, 1844 event where the followers of William Miller came together on Lover's Leap in Hannibal, Missouri.  I had to do a little research for this painting, as I had never heard of Millerites before.  These people left their fields and crops, donned white robes and climbed to the top of Lover's Leap to look east across the Mississippi for the Second Coming of Christ.  They were disappointed.  It is a curious thing to look back in history and see the events that took place, and link them with specific locations.  It seems to breathe life into the history.  Painting number 452 in as many days.

Indian Maiden at Lover's Leap

Indian Maiden at Lover's Leap
Graphite on bristol, 11x14

Plague in Hannibal, Missouri

Today's work is a tribute to the legend of the star-crossed indian lovers at Lover's Leap in Hannibal, Missouri.  This one is drawn in graphite on bristol. When I was doing so much graphite work while my dad was in the hospital, I had chosen my very favorite tools - putting them all in a narrow little zip-up bag I could keep in a tote with my bristol pad.  Having my supplies with me, I could then work whenever the opportunity presented itself.  Well, I have since unloaded that tote, and I can not find my little bag of supplies!  While it is true, I have many supplies......I totally miss my favs!  One thing I must replace is a black inktense watersoluable pencil for those absolutely black details that simply can't be attained with only graphite.  And, there is nothing like well-worn tortillions already loaded with gaphite for that great shading.  I know they will turn up somewhere......I probably unpacked and repacked that tote for a school field trip, laying the bag aside in a remote place!  This piece makes 451 in as many days.....now on to the next with only a little time before the kids come home!