Maine-Sea

Ghosts of Highlanders of Culloden Moor and the expulsions and the serpentine mermaid Morag sing to the wind and sea that I am of the Highland Clan Morrison. The breath of a snow-bond easel and the Chi of ground ink say that I am an artist. Art has a unique connection to the sea and the sea has a unique synergy with the state of Maine. It is also one of the most northerly of the lower forty-eight and half of it was owned by England as part of Canada until the mid-1800’s. It is so northern that it has a colony of Puffin Bird, an aquatic subarctic bird. I used to have a friend from there who had a very dominate personality kind of like a New Yorker. He pronounced “ar’s” as soft “o.” The first year in Houston his son who can down with him got married, and got a raise. Ironically while New England tourism has its mark on it, Maine’s main industry is making paper from its vast forest. I am actually from near the port city of Houston and grew up near a swamp.

Maine has a very interesting mythology. The first thing that one notices is the camel which is a metal statue from the desert of Maine. As it is said, it was originally a farm. The “desert” appeared because of bad farming causing the top soil to blow off showing the sand underneath. It became a tourist site in 1917 with a sand museum.  Everything is in front of the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse which was built in 1895 with the brake water coming in 1951. The first keeper was known for his duck decoys. The flag on the light house is the Acadian flag which represent the Cajuns (Acadians) which were force to leave by the English in the 1760’s. The US named the national park on Mount Desert Island after them. The boat is for Penobscot Marine Museum which is a perfectly preserved New England town from the early 1800’s.The Eye on the very bottom of the picture is the lake monster Poco from Pocomoonshine Lake which are 30 foot snakes. In front of the camel is a lobster which is what most know Maine for. It is 8” x 10,” drawn with pencil and white charcoal and completed recently.

The Name of this piece is Snowy Log over Creak which was draws with ink and Sumi-e recently.It was relatively warm by snowing when I started drawing but dropped to the teen by completion. The Sumie I added gives how cold it was.  If you are interested in buying this or any other of my work email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com to order.

Colorado-Mountain

The Calis cats which is said to have the powers of the fairy magic and magical giant wolves that roam the Highlands and feed the poor fish swear that I am Clan Morrison. Bamboo, horsehair Sumie brushes and the life-force of charcoal recognize that I am an artist. Colorado is said to be the mountain Mecca for art. This arrived because the gold strike and then the silver strike. Also, my brother is from the state. He emphasized the large German population and Yellow Cake. My senior trip in high school taken with a local Christian School was to go skiing in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I was living in Texas, and little is remembered on the lower oxygen as it is the “Mile High State.” The first day I was there, I was up to my chest in snow.  I had not prepared for drawing in the snow so I missed the opportunity to capture the beauty on paper. I also signed up for the mountain hike. In five minutes into the hike, the snow was up to my stomach and I was out of breath. In reference to the other thing, there is a black cat that owns me.

Colorado has a very unique mythology even exuding Bigfoot. Behind everything is Mount Tava (Ute:Sun)also called Pike’s Peak and the people  are Tabeguache or “People of the Sun.”   (“Ta-Wa-Ah-Gath” is another name given for the mountain.) It is said to be the place of their creation story and is considered sacred. (They are said to be the descendent of Aztecs.)  According to their legend, Old Man Coyote opened a bag to see what was inside it from which the people escaped. Zebulon Pike tried to climb it in 1806 giving it his name. In 1893, gold was found in the mountain’s shadow. It was a ski resort until 1984. Everything is on a sand dune from Dune National Park which is honored by the national park quarter. The ski boot is for the big winter sports arena. The flower is the state flower Columbine. The name given by scientist is aquilegia (Latin: eagle because its peddles look like talents) its meaning is either foolishness or holiness.  The bird on the boot is the state bird lark bunting. The weird box is the state mineral Rhodochrosite. It is 8” x 10,” drawn with pencil and white charcoal and completed in 2014.

The name of this piece is Frozen Ditch, is 9” x 12” and drawn with ink March 2014. This was drawn on a gravel road when I was in the Indiana boondocks in the winter. (It was not really that cold that day.) Frozen streams have a unique beauty as the media and the sculpting untencle are formed into one. Also, it is a forest stratteling a road or nature and civilization living in harmony. If you are interested in buying this or any other of my work email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com to order.

New Jersey- Devil

Misty magical islands off from Scotland and beautiful, angelic creatures that transform into seals when they wear a skin call me Clan Morrison. Magical fairy knolls and the fraternity and oddity of artist declare me an artist. The art Mecca of New York is completed in New Jersey as the Statue of Liberty is actually in New Jersey. Also, Benjamin Franklin’s son was the last royal governor of there.  The name New Jersey is from the British protectorate and Francophone of Jersey which is officially independent. Ironically there is some confusion about the “Jersey Boys” and people from Jersey island. (They are the only people who speak French with an English accent) But, the state, also, has a dark side. I ask my father what to put for New Jersey and he said crime rate. To hide the slums from the interstate, high green, concrete walls were built in front of them. The government is said to have caused the greatest traffic jam in American history to show its power. One should also not forget about Jersey Shore © and “Boardwalk Empire.” In regard to the first sentence, I write this after a bout of monastic meditation.  

  

New Jersey is renowned for its mythology. Everything is on the famous Atlantic City’s Board Walk. It was created in 1870 to protect the trains and fancy hotels from the sand but it was not until 1883 that the hundreds of store were allowed on it. The Boardwalk did not gain its current size and design came in 1916 and gambling coming in the 1970’s. Everything is in front of a water fall, Great Falls.  Falls are from the City of Paterson and created a place for the mill with the Society for Establishing Useful Manufacturers (S.U.M.) in 1792. The light bulb is for Thomas Edison’ “Invention Factory” in Menlo Park, New Jersey.  The plank on the light bulb stand has the symbol of the Appalachian trail which goes trough that state. The weird horse with bat wings is my rendition of a “Jersey Devil,” New Jersey’s cryptid. (Their Bigfoot flies.)The story of its origin goes that Mrs. Leed pray to the Devil when she was in labor with her 13^th child for that child to be a demon.  The creature supposedly lives in the southern Pine Barrens of New Jersey.  The cannon is for the cannon that the mythical “Molly Pitcher” manned  after her husband was incapacitated during the American Revolution as the state was the cross roads of that war which is memorialized on its state quarter. The flower is the state flower of violet. New Jersey was drawn recently with pencil and charcoal and is 8” x 10.”

The name of this piece is “Cat” and is Sumi-e on rice paper which is 12” x 18” early December 2015. Japanese have a unique obsession with cats with Hello Kitty © as an example, but is not a royal or religious symbol. It could be from the Chinese good luck, home statue of a gold cat waving its right front paw in blessing over the passers. I used my sleeping cat as the model. If you are interested in buying this or any other of my work email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com to order.