Paintings from my 22 years in Antarctica
Scott Hut circa 1906
This was my take on a painting done by Edward Wilson back in the day, before the Scott expedition expired.
Cape Evans circa 1912
I think this is the Endurance ship at Cape Evans (or not; my Antarctic history is a bit gauzy). Another one of my takes on Edward Wilson's watercolors.
Lake Fryxell in the Dry Valleys
Emperor Penguin and Chick Head Shots
Emperor Chick
I learned a lot about penguin feet when I did this one.
Emperor and Chick #2
Adelies always think we're penguins because they have no predators above the ice (and we're dressed in black and white) so they can't run towards us fast enough...before getting a few yards away and giving us the "bird eye" when they realize their mistake.
Another stunned Adelie penguin who has just realized something doesn't look right.
Marcus Horning's penguin jumping onto the ice shelf from the Ross Sea.
Fat skua outside of Building 155, the location of the McMurdo Galley . Skuas would wait for someone with a tray of food to leave the building and then attack. Note drop of saliva on beak.
Skua feet on top of a recycling dumpster outside of Dorm 209. The word "skua" was used both as a noun and a verb in McMurdo to describe the "skua" piles of discarded items at the ends of the dorm hallways, as well as a verb: "Whoa, check out these brand new Carhartts I just skua-ed!"
Alan Campbell came down to McMurdo on an NSF Artist grant and I went on a kick copying his amazing Winfly (August/September) paintings of Mt. Erebus. The colors at that time of the year are are genuinely neon surreal.
Firey Erebus Campbell Imitation
Mt. Erebus is a live volcano that's about 20 miles from McMurdo, always smokin'!
Another Erebus Campbell painting copy
I was starting to get bored with just copying Alan Campbell's work
So I threw a few more Karen Joyce accents onto it.
LSD Penguins circa 1972
I finally got sick of just copying Alan Campbell's work but I used his palette for this one of Erebus and some confused visitors. Oddly, this was my most popular painting when I sold them at the McMurdo Craft Show.
Foram for Sam
Too many paintings of charismatic macro-fauna out there, so I did this one of a single-cell organism, the giant agglutinated foraminifera for Dr. Sam Bowser, who was down there studiying them. These little guys cover the ocean floor in McMurdo Bay.
Wu's Weddell Seal
One more charismatic macro-fauna, the ubiquitous Weddell Seal. This one is taken from a Norbert Wu photo, the fabled filmmaker and photographer.
Andy Warhols's Weddell Seals
Not sure if I need to credit Andy Warhol here, but I had a good time creating this one.
Leopard Seal eating an Adelie penguin
Well-known predator of Adelies and occasionally the legs of researchers studying them on the ice edge.
This never happened
A Leopard Seal eating a researcher who's wearing the classic United States Antarctic issue uniform of black windpants and white bunny boots, which makes us look like penguins.
Arriving in McMurdo on a blustery 40-below day
Everyone turns around and takes this photo as they arrive for the first time on a C-17 from Christchurch New Zealand, so I did a painting of it.
Fuel Lines in McMurdo
McMurdo Station is blighted by its industrial grit, but on occasion you can come across a scene where the fuel lines comport themselves nicely into a composition with Ob Hill in the distance.
Fish Huts stored on the road to Scott's Hut
The carpenters up at the Foldaway built these fish huts for the scientists to take out onto the sea ice, painting them in marvelous colors, a gorgeous pop on a monochrome continent.
Handcarry - Orange Bags going to McMurdo
Everyone has to stuff all their baggage into two orange issue bags to get from Christchurch to McMurdo. I was once famous for being able to stuff myself into one as "Hand Karen."
Scott Hut out in the field
Copied from a painting on the back of one of the Science Planning books circa 2008. Provenance unknown - anybody help here?
Starry Night Over Ob Hill
Made into a nightlight and sold in the store at McMurdo
Tina Green's World at Siple Dome
Siple Dome is a two-person field camp in the middle of nowhere Antarctica. I sent my friend Tina Green a picture of the famous Andrew Wyeth painting, Christina's World, and asked her to try to pose on the ice road to Siple in that position. She said it was almost impossible but this was the result.
Southern Lights over Mt. Erebus
This was taken from a cigarette paper from the era of the Great Explorers (Scott and Amundsen).
My version of Penguin Species
I think this would make a good T-shirt.
Monkey God Brews Up a Fun Storm
The NSF brings down a couple of artists a year (or at least they used to...) to McMurdo, and this particular year it was Michael Bartalos, the creator of the unbelievably beautiful Jazz Stamp.
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/michael-bartalos
I got him some graph paper and we sat up in the window of Dorm 209 and I did this painting. His masterpiece is hanging in my kitchen.
PET PORTRAITS - Leo the puppy
I also do pet portraits - I'll fill those in later. This website has been a pain in the tookus to build so I'll publish it now and see if anyone can see it.