The Legend of Walking Man

Walking Man, Jonah, and The Ancient Ocean

Walking Man, Jonah, and the Ancient Ocean, oil painting on a poplar panel by Jack Baumgartner, 14.5″ x 22″, 2017

Upper panel, Walking Man striding through the arch

Lower panel, Jonah, swimming, yields to the sea monster

detail of the upper panel, with barn owl, Burr oak and cliffs.

Upper panel detail with symbolic structures

Lower panel detail of Jonah

The completion of a painting generally means a decision to stop working on it, otherwise the cycle would never end. This painting, which was begun in October of 2009 reached that generally unheralded milestone of “completion” this fall, 6 years later. Technically, the work is not entirely done, as I have yet to build the frame for it, which, especially for my panel paintings, represent a significant part of the presentation and outer composition. I hope share some of the meaning behind this painting at some future date.

Walking Man Sketches

Walking Man Eats Alfalfa Roots

Walking Man Listens To the Roots Talking To One Another

Walking Man Looks Backwards Into Time

Walking Man Hefting Bodark Roots and His Water Pot

Walking Man Encounters the Spirit of the Lord In a Night Heron

Night Heron Detail

Walking Man Finds Strength and Purity and the Morning Dew

Tools of the Mystic (The School of the Transfer of Energy Lexicon)

Ministers of Beauty (S.T.E. Lexicon)

Hyper-Symbolic Tools for Use in the Transfer of Energy (S.T.E. Lexicon)

The Living Tree

The Living Tree, 2017 Linocut, printed from three blocks, 12″ x 22.5″

Walking Man nimmt ein Sabbat

Walking Man of the Roots

Walkning Man of the Roots, detail

A Vessel, Strange and Unknown Finds Walking Man

A vessel from the earth, strange and unknown, baring forth both blood and fire, finds Walking Man

When You Spoke, guitar, accordion, banjo, and voice.

Walking Man, Root

A new drawing of Walking Man with some contextual review. And a traditional tune called The Gobby-O, played by the skin of my teeth on the tenor banjo, with spoons and guitar.

Walking Man Works At Becoming a Tree

The Unmixing of Walking Man

Walking Man on a boat in the mist

Walking Man in the Sea

The Comissioning of Walking Man into a Mystery and Problem

Walking Man and the Miracle of the Flying Fish

Walking Man in the Tunnel of the Ancient

Walking Man Recovering that which was Lost

The Legend of Walking Man

Adamant

Walking Man of the Woods and City

Of Past and Future Prints

Plenty of two-dimensional work today: First, some hand-colored prints of Jacob Wrestling the Angel of God. A few of these are available if they strike you. Next, are some studies for a large, 18″ x 12″, lino-cut of Obed Edom. Finally, a few more prints and drawings.

Four hand-colored Jacobs on the table

Hand-colored Jacob, version 1 (sold)

Color

Coloring

Hand-colored Jacob, version 2

Evening light (The Golden Corridor)

Hand-colored Jacob, version 3

Obed Edom Studies

I Chose You, Obed Edom (Preparatory drawing for a large scale lino-cut)

Cherubim and Eye

Earlier version of Obed Edom

Obed Edom with a sprig of cedar

head studies

Walking Man Becomes a Tree, sketch for copper-plate engraving

Go On, Job, Bread & Water, for sale on Etsy

Goshen Ewe-Lamb, 3-color lino-cut, for sale on Etsy

Finally and thankfully, I was engaged by the keen and mysterious richness of this astonishing poem , from Tom Hirons yesterday. As a rule, I generally do not to link to other work here, so Sometimes a Wild God represents an exception.