Beaver Creek 1

(.jpg) Cars ford Beaver Creek to enter the camp. I sat on a bench left of the entrance, and I used water, Chinese ink, and water color paper to abstract the creek starting its two-mile course along the valley.

Spring Flowers 1

(.jpg) Plots of wild geraniums (geranium maculatum) dazzled the green-and-black shade with white-and-purple petals. I used water, Chinese ink, a pen, and water color paper to make my first impression of wild flowers.

Wild Leaves

(.jpg) I chose spring, and in the unrelenting rain I said, "My tent is a ship." In my dry office studio, I drew large wild parsnip leaves (Caution: contact dermatitis may be hazardous).

Beaver Creek 2

(.jpg) The rain stopped, and I found a site where the leaves climbed the valley wall. Two trout splashed for bugs in Beaver Creek

Spring Flowers 2

(.jpg) The shade darkens on wild geraniums (geranium maculatum) as the evening continues. The scaley texture of the drawing reflects the skin of the local rattle snakes.

Fallen Tree Site, Unfinished

(.jpg) Trout fisherman stand in colorful plots of plants and flowers as Beaver Creek flows beneath them. I saw a 12-inch brown trout swimming in the dark hole under the fallen tree.

Beaver Creek

(.jpg) A color photograph of Beaver Creek at the entrance to the state park's camping area. Wikipedia

The Values of Black

(.jpg) I started with a black square as I discussed the values of black in nature and art with the resident campers on Saturday, June 6.

Eclipse

(.jpg) An eclipse demonstrated the effect of superimposing black on already eye- catching bright light in The Values of Black in Nature and Art. iStock

Dark Valley

(.jpg) A dark valley demonstrated mass and chiaroscuro in The Values of Black in Nature and Art. iStock

Gasterntal

(.jpg) Michel Schneider's black-and-white photograph of the Swiss mountain Gasterntal shows how mass inspires Swiss design and typography (see Armin Hofmann's black poster below)

Additive Colors

(.jpg) Add red, green, and blue light to make white. The digital codes are RGB or hexadecimals. The hex code for white is #FFFFFF and for black, #000000. Image from The Values of Black. iStock

Black at Mystery Cave

(.jpg) Want to see black? Visitors to nearby Mystery Cave State Park, Forestville, and 12-mile Niagara Cave, Harmony, see total darkness, when tour guides switch off the lights. Flickr

Subtractive Colors

(.jpg) Red, yellow, and blue pigments make black. The primary pigments are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, CMYK. Black's color temperature is 0 Kelvin or absolute zero. Image from The Values of Black. iStock

Mix Ink and Water Logarithmically

(.jpg) Eye-dropper ink to fill one well and water to half fill 9 wells, counting the drops. Add half of the ink to the water in the the second well and half of that mixture to the water in the third well. Repeat for all wells.

Black Poster by Armin Hofmann

(.jpg) An image from The Values of Black in Nature and Art. Armin Hofmann

Black Botanical Drawing by Jim Dine

(.jpg) An image from The Values of Black in Nature and Art. Jim Dine

Trillium 3 by Gregg Reed

(.jpg) An image from The Values of Black in Nature and Art. Gregg Reed

Study of Gneiss Rock

(.jpg) John Ruskin wrote The Elements of Drawing in the 1800's. He believed in using drawing to observe nature. Study of Gneiss Rock is a drawing that Ruskin made with Chinese ink. Wikipedia

Ojibway Bead Work

(.jpg) The traditional beadwork of the Ojibway Indians uses images of flowers, such as the wild geranium.

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From May 23 to June 7, 2009, I was the artist in residence at Beaver Creek Valley State Park in Caledonia, Minnesota. The Caledonia Argus, the local newspaper, announced my arrival and printed one of my previous drawings, Trillium 3. At the park, I drew black-and-white drawings using a brush and Chinese ink at sites along the two-mile Beaver Creek. The drawings are 24- or 30-inches wide.
I also spoke on June 6. My speech, The Values of Black in Nature and Art, inspired me. I started discussing a black square, reviewed my new drawings, presented a PowerPoint show in DVD, with pictures of a solar eclipse, the dark evening shadow on the side of a valley, mass, chiaroscuro, and images of Armin Hofmann's black posters and Jim Dine's black botanical drawings. I mixed water and ink logarithmically to make equal steps of black values.
Following the presentation, Patrick Kruegel assisted me as parents and children from the state park quickly and skillfully drew leaves with charcoal on news print and drawing boards, which the local lumber yard had cut from masonite for me.
Statement of Intent (November, 2008). In 2009, while I continue to develop my skills in botanical art, I will create work for a late summer exhibition with the Crosslake Art Club in Crosslake, Minnesota. I would use my time as a resident artist at the Beaver Creek Valley State Park to make finished studies for ink-and-brush drawings and prints to show at the exhibition for the Crosslake Art Club.
The series of ink-and-brush drawings, studies, and prints that I will develop as an artist in residence will be called Works for Lost Snakes. I will draw plants and flowers. Black earth tones of ink that I will mix logarithmically will provide an eye-catching and visually correct range of black-and-gray tones. Dr. János Schanda, a retired physics professor from Budapest, Hungary, is helping me confirm my formula for mixing black ink and water logarithmically to create value scales in ink drawings.
My artistic studies of plants using drawings and visual principles would contribute to a lecture and slide show about the relation of light, colors, and vision among the sun, the Earth, animals and plants. I have a master-of-arts degree in science journalism from the University of Minnesota, and I produce video, animation, and multimedia programs. I can create an eye-catching slide presentation about how my work relates to the cosmos and biology. Works for Lost Snakes not only looks at plants from the view point of young imaginations, it also recounts the history of the Chippewa Indians, who once inhabited the river side grounds of Whitefish Lake at Manhattan Beach, Minnesota. That is the location of my Minnesota vacation home. In my classroom studies at the University of Minnesota I read that the Ojibway or Chippewa Indians were members of a tribe called the Lesser Adders, who migrated from the east coast in the 1600’s as a war party. They arrived in Minnesota from the north shore of Lake Superior. Some tribe members became lost and made their home at Lake Mille Lacs, because it resembled the ocean on the east coast. I would review the Minnesota landscape and plants at Beaver Creek Valley and set up a plan and schedule to draw and paint small studies and larger finished compositions of flowers and plants. I would use artist-quality water color paper, brushes, and Chinese ink to make long-lasting drawings. Using sketches and studies, I would select and make works to exhibit with the Crosslake Art Club at the end of the summer in 2009. I would also scan and post some of the works to a web page at www.mnartists.org. Once I scan the finished works, the state park could keep copies of the works to sell or give away. I could also make a set of images available to sell or give away on CDs. I would select prints or original drawings to give away to schools, hospitals, or nursing homes for Native Americans in Minnesota. I would also donate one finished work to display and digital images of the work to reproduce at the state park. Gregg S. Reed
Works for Lost Snakes (Beaver Creek) Original drawings in Chinese ink, water, brush, pen, and water color paper created at Beaver Creek Valley State Park, May 23 to June 10, 2009. Drawings and text © Copyright 2009 Gregg S. Reed and the State of Minnesota. All rights reserved. Produced via satellite internet. Large-format black-and-white-only scans by Impress, St. Louis Park. Other supplies, services, and assistance from Museum Services, iStock, Minnesota Film and Television Board, Edina Art Center, Crosslake Art Club, Springboard for the Arts, University of Minnesota, Utrecht Art Supplies, Greatapes MediaXpress, Patrick Kruegel, Caledonia Public Library, and the Caledonia Lumber Company.
Read a draft of acommemorative artist's book, Works for Lost Snakes, here. (Also see Kinsey JL: Thomas Moran and the Surveying of the American West, Smithsonian Institute, 1992, 237 pages, which documents the relationships between American art, national parks, government, the publishing industry, theology, and fees for service.)

"This is incredible....I really can't thank you enough!!--Anne Selness, State Park Manager
"What else are you going to do to us?"--Walker Art Center
"I like the textures and the thickness of the black ink."--Cyrus Swan, Cyrus the Potter, Pine River, Minnesota
"I like what you did at the state park."--Boris Pophristov, nature photographer, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
"Fallen Tree Site Unfinished is the most fascinating. It is about process, and process is what interests people today."--Fay Miller, Museum Services
"It looks like a nice project."--Pamela Caserta, Assistant Registrar, WALKER ART CENTER
“We are trying to find out if drawing could be a part of the future of camping, to help protect the environment....Your project has gone over well.” --Anne Selness, Park Manager, Beaver Creek Valley State Park, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
"Next Artist in Residence," The Caledonia Argus, June 3, 2009, page 11:
Art: Trillium 3 by Gregg Reed
Gregg Reed will be at Beaver Creek Valley from May 23 to June 7 and will speak about the values of the color black in nature as he shows his new work on June 6. During his stay at the state park he will create a new series of black, gray and white botanical draw ings. Reed will be hosting a free drawing workshop for all ages and abilities on June 6 from noon to 3 p.m. in the park shelter building. Everyone is invited.
This is the second in a series of Artists in Residence at Beaver Creek Valley State Park, located just two miles west of Caledonia. It is also the first time an Artist in Residence Program is being held at a state park in Minnesota, according to local park manager Anne Selness. The program is modeled after a program the National Parks Service uses.
“I was trying to figure out some way to better utilize the east side of our shelter, which we recently did some updates on,” Selness explained. “We had some state people down touring the park, when I told them I was trying to figure out some way to better utilize the park shelter. One of the state folks came up with the idea of an artist in residence."

Artist

War Diary
NovoSeven Spaceship
dopo yumé at the Stone Pony (screensaver)
et al The Beatles and Friends
Ticket to Fly
Impotence, Cryopreservation, AIDS
Magic City Market Lantern Slide Shows
Piet Zwart 2000
Changing Values
Nude from the Neck Up
State Dahlia
Works on Paper: Hornets' Nest
Trees in the Wind
Canoe
Goldfish
Beta Cell
Japanese Friend
Marian
Sun Flowers
Carnival
"Two Boys in a Closet"
WIT
Abstract Cat
Freedom Stamps
Philip Goyette
Handicapped Rider at Beitostolen Health Sports Center
almanzala
Somalian Black Ghost
CIDRZ Banners
Wedding Pictures
Pictures from One Window
+ hybrid robotics
Stairwell
Scenes from a Park
Student Artist
Music Studio
Computer Art
Unforgetable Elephants
Far from Home
Twirl Painting 1
How Deep Is My Beauty
Cityscape MPLS
Art Collection
Drawing Assignment by Vasilii Kandinsky
Bags
Color Painting 1976
Balance
Drawing from the Zoo
Live Eye at the Fair
Live@Blake Series (Al Franken Campaign Posters) ('07-'08)
Biomedical Consortium Logo
Ink and Brush
Charlotte's Quilt, 1883, American
Vote Yes Minnesota
A Night to Remember
Works for Lost Snakes
www.wellstoneinternational.com
Plants from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel