By: Jacob Hawthorne
Gallery: Schmidt Fine Art Gallery
As the old naval adage goes, “red at night, sailor’s delight”. Although there are probably a limited amount of sailors in Arkansas, we can all delight over the deep red sunset captured in A Red Arkansas Sunset by Murchison.
The passionate fiery hues displayed on this art on canvas contrast the silhouettes of the Arkansas landscape, creating a sense that autumn is fast approaching. The transition of colors seen in the cloudy sky range from a dark amber to deep orange to light yellows as the sun sets in the West. The brilliant fall colors are completely engulfed by a gloomy black forefront that may remind certain viewers of this art on canvas of an infamous autumn holiday celebrated throughout the world. It is a holiday that turns nightmares into reality, a holiday that brings the living dead to life once more, and a holiday that is the leading cause of cavities in children! SPOOKY! That’s right, it’s Halloween.
Halloween 2020 is here and all of us are wondering whether to all dress up like mask-wearing doctors or nurses. To be an essential worker, or not to be an essential worker, that is the question of the ghoulish night. A weird combination of Dickens and Poe aside, another interesting thing to consider is whether homeowners are going to willfully expose themselves to droves of potentially virus-infested children with running noses standing out in the cold. So what will trick-or-treating look like this year in American suburbs? It will certainly vary by community but the safety guidelines should certainly be followed. Parents, when bringing your children trick-or-treating this year, don’t forget to bring proper sanitation materials like sanitizer, gloves, masks and wipes. Staying clean and germ free is staying healthy and safe. Additionally, home owners should consider biting the proverbial bullet and placing a bucket outside their homes for curbside candy pickup. Even though you may put out a sign that says “one per trick-or-treater”, we all know that is a risk we must take. Oh how the times have changed, and nobody regards this better than the photographer of A Red Arkansas Sunset, Clint Murchison.
Murchison’s journey to seriously pursue photography began while still in college; we won’t tell the year to avoid dating him (around 1994). Before that, he was first introduced to photography by his father and an uncle, where they taught him the basics of photography, such as the tools and techniques of developing pictures as well as taking black-and-white photographs. Beyond that, the remainder of Murchison’s photography skills are by and large self-taught, and can be attributed to his drive for artistry and craftsmanship.
His artistic process and working style naturally evolved through the years; to date, Murchison entirely shoots digital with a Canon camera. He explains that he chooses digital due to its dynamic nature, allowing him to instantaneously review the shots, decide realtime what is working, and make adjustments on the fly to magnify, delete, edit, and more. Murchison’s favorite subjects to shoot, and the theme that ties his work together, are wildlife and nature. In fact, a majority of his photographic work centers on this theme, as he finds it relaxing and peaceful. To note, he also specializes in wedding photography to capture love in its most hectic form.
Living in the countryside, Murchison is a true outdoorsman and hunter, and following the most important rule of photography, he always has his camera with him at the ready. Many times, he garners his inspiration from fleeting moments. He says, “what hits me at the moment: the sun may just be right hitting a tree or casting shadows across some scene, and …I just happened to be there at the right moment of the day.” Murchison likes to choose his subjects and themes at the “spur of the moment and capturing scenes as they are” in order to capture his natural surroundings, whether that is a bird in flight, a squirrel atop a branch, a bright sunset at the end of the day, or a bright red sunset befalling on the Arkansas landscape.
Whether you are an aspiring photographer or an art collector in search of inspiring works to fill your home, Schmidt Fine Art Gallery is here to service you. We are a gallery for the artist by the artist. Our mission is to serve as the place for artists to simply sell art, without the overburdening of promotion, marketing and running a start-up business. We are committed to producing high-quality, museum grade products and timeless works of art that can be enjoyed for generations to come.
A Red Arkansas Sunset by Murchison is available in all sizes and formats. You can pick your own frame and finish on this piece in our customization shop. Murchison’s future photography plans include continuing his pursuit of capturing nature scenes and wildlife images as that is his main passion. He believes people are drawn to his photographic work because of a shared appreciation for nature as well as the peacefulness that the landscapes and wildlife images evoke. View all our Ready to hang Art feature art by Clint Murchison. View Clint Murchison Galleries in our ready to customize tool. View a Video Tour of Selected work by Clint Murchison on YouTube.
Schmidt Gallery was founded by Kurt Schmidt with the vision to establish a photo-centric gallery in the heart of Montgomery county, Texas. Although it is all run online at the moment, Schmidt Gallery has dreams of opening up a brick and mortar gallery in The Woodlands just north of Houston. Schmidt Fine Art Gallery was founded in March 2020 as a startup funded by All ARK LLC.
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