The Odyssey of An Artist

The Odyssey of An Artist

“From the very beginning, being an artist was my first choice.” You can tour the most discriminating galleries, visit the most thoughtfully-curated exhibitions. As you walk these clean, well-lighted places, you stop, as much from duty as interest, to study...
Julie Jeppsen Believes Practice Makes Perfect

Julie Jeppsen Believes Practice Makes Perfect

“…I could do it if I practiced enough.” It’s not uncommon, upon meeting Julie Jeppsen for the first time, to find yourself doing a double take just a few minutes later. Let’s say you’re at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in...
Ever Ancient Ever New: The Still-Life

Ever Ancient Ever New: The Still-Life

If any art is truly timeless, it is the still-life. The still-life does not depict a moment frozen in time, a chosen instant snatched from the temporal current, but a moment outside of time, beyond its erosive reach. There is no past or future, only an eternal...
The Romance of Brandywine

The Romance of Brandywine

The men and women who studied under Howard Pyle all but dominated American illustration during the first half of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, Howard Pyle of Wilmington, Delaware, was most popular illustrator in America. He had only one...
Fishing Guide – My Short, Brilliant Career

Fishing Guide – My Short, Brilliant Career

The novelist John Gardner posited that there are really only two stories: A man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town. With all due respect to Gardner’s memory, however, I’d like to add a third: The telephone rings, and you answer it.  The caller identified...
The Day the Duck Hunters Died

The Day the Duck Hunters Died

Nothing escaped the “winds of hell” and the deadly, suffocating snows that swept across the Upper Midwest on that fateful day in 1940.

English Springer Spaniel: The Happy Medium Flusher

English Springer Spaniel: The Happy Medium Flusher

When it comes to flushing dog breeds, the English springer spaniel is a near-perfect blend of fun and functionality. If the German shorthair is the “happy medium” of the pointing dog set, the breed that fills this role in the flushing dog division is the springer...
German Shorthaired Pointer: The Low Maintenance Pointer

German Shorthaired Pointer: The Low Maintenance Pointer

In just about every respect you can think of, the German shorthaired pointer is the “happy medium” of pointing dogs. Years ago, I saw a sign near the first tee of a golf course that had a phrase in Latin inscribed above its translation in English. I don’t remember the...