Category Archives: Wildlife

Hiking, New Painting Post, New Published Story, Wildlife

Starry Flounder in 48 North

Yesterday I received my copy of 48 North magazine in the mail, and here is my page. Always amazed when the greens print nicely, and they did this time, subtle shades that aren’t easy to reproduce. For some reason, that color hates me in print. Flounders, flatfish, are always favorites of mine to paint. These fish begin life swimming upright like normal fish, eyes on both sides, then later they get lazy and settle onto the seafloor to await food that swims by. Since predators need good vision to catch prey, the eye that faces downward migrates around to the other side. I’m not kidding, but if you’re a flatfish fisherman, you will have seen this most every time you catch one. I find them fascinating.

So here’s my story that went with the art:

A face only a mother could love. Starry flounders are just one species of 23 local ‘flatfish’. Flat because they tend to spend their time lying flat on the bottom, on either their right or left sides. Beginning life, they’re just a ‘normal’ fish that swim upright, an eye on each side of a vertical body. As they age, they spend more time laying sideways on the bottom, lying prone and just waiting for pry to swim close enough to grab. Soon, strange things happen with the growing juveniles, and it’s not just hormones. It’s a major anatomical change. One of their eyes actually migrates around their head to the other side, stopping just short of the other one. Now, the upside view has a pair of eyes looking for the next meal. These are hunters, after all, and they need binocular vision to assess distance. So, the flounder then has its same two eyes, but now they’re on the upper side of the body, like two little periscopes.

Starry flounders can grow to 36” long, or bigger than the size of a garbage can lid. At this size, they’re approaching 20 lbs and they can live upwards of 20 years. They’re often found near shore in bays or even fresh water and throughout the coastal North Pacific. They sport namesake star-like scales on both the lighter downside and darker upper side. The distinctive black bands on outer fins make it an easy flatfish to identify, and they can alter their colors to match surroundings. As predators, they often settle on a sandy bottom and wiggle their fins to cover themselves with sand and debris to hide. With only eyes showing as they move independently gazing about, and a mouth just waiting to go to work, they wait for a hapless crab or small fish to wander by, and then ‘wham’. Look for these fish as you bring your skiff through shallow water towards the beach. The fish’s outline is usually obvious from above.

I’m going to be expanding this blog a bit, adding more art from my partner in crime, Nancy Cherry Eifert, and essays on hiking and seeking wildness. This blog seems to be growing into something bigger than just art and it’s evolving. So I should too.

This next hiking season, I’m being sponsored by Six Moon Designs, an ultra-light backpacking gear company from Oregon. After hiking for decades in heavy old gear, and trying desperately to lighten my load, here’s an example of what they’re letting me try out. My tent weight just went from 6 lbs to less then 2! This is the Six Moon Lunar Solo tent. Check it out here. Or, I’ll see  you on the trail in a couple of months with a smile on my face.

If you want to sign up for my periodic blogs as emails, you can do it here.

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

And Instagram is here.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

Murals, Nancy Cherry Eifert, US Fish Wildlife Service, Waysides, Wildlife

Malheur Refuge Wildlife Painting

This is another painting I did for Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon – remember the hostile take-over by the Bundy Clan? This was that place!

I was given some nice leeway on these efforts, so I could add some mental candy, a soft sunset coming to mind here. They were fun paintings to do, because I just plan likw painting wildlife. Below is a detailed version of a section.

It can get very crowded at Malheur, as you can see below. This is one of Nancy’s photos, an amazing mass of wildlife that proves, yes, you still CAN see this sort of thing in America, but only if we pay taxes to keep it this way. Want to see this? Go to Malheur in March or April, get a room in the one-and-only decent motel – and go geese watching. You won’t forget it easily. By the way, these birds are ALL talking while they’re doing this!

Below is the reference painting I worked from, certainly not copying it, but just a ‘feeling’ reference. I did this one for The Nature Conservancy a couple of years ago at the Carson River Project in Nevada. I always liked the softness of this landscape, backed up against the High Sierra. Lake Tahoe is just over the ridge. I think the painting holds together nicely.

And below is the original refined sketch, after the rough concept drawing. This is the step before painting begins, and while it’s certainly not like the final, it comes close enough to call it good at this stage.

I’m going to be expanding this blog in the next few weeks, adding more art from my partner in crime, Nancy Cherry Eifert, and essays on hiking and seeking wilderness. This blog seems to be growing into something bigger than just art and it’s evolving. So I should too.

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

And Instagram is here.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

Commissioned paintings, New Painting Post, Waysides, Wildlife

Art for Orcas – A Trail for the Mind

A second painting of the current five, funded by the Orca Recovery Plan for Washington State. This one is about the same watershed in Everett, WA as the last painting, but focuses on the way this little forest cleaned the water that runs through it. Just a 100 yards west from this location, the creek flows into Puget Sound, cleaner than when it was up in the urban city above it. Clean water helps orcas, salmon and the entire ecosystem, the the forest does this naturally, no help from us except to leave it alone.

And here’s the initial sketch, showing some of the areas where text will go. It’s simply a way to get started. I’ll show you the other three soon.

Change of pace: Fall  hiking and finding wildness.

While painting is my passion, so is hiking wild places. Always has been, all the way back to when I had to hold someone else’s hand to stay upright. So, that’s 70 years of looking for wild nature, and it’s still as important as it’s always been for my life, spirituality and sense of being who I am. We hiked a 5-mile out and back yesterday and returned feeling refreshed and with memories that stayed with me through the night – and right here on this page.

This collection of big-leaf maple leaves and probably one of the Psilocybe mushrooms is, for me, what a wild place is all about. It doesn’t have to be way out there (but that helps), alpine scree or giant mountains, but it’s more about finding places that haven’t been recently altered by humans. Just a small place will do, where leaves and the fall crop of fungi can make the place very special for me.

I may be in my 70’s, but these places just don’t get stale, don’t loose their thrill of absorbing the peace and well-being that nature brings. I’d like it very much if this short little essay resulted in a few more people out there, but if the trail is lonely, so much the better for us!

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

And Instagram is here.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

Waysides, Wildlife

Orca Recovery – Pigeon Creek

I’m now painting a bunch of art for 5 new wayside panels to be installed around  Puget Sound. Recently, Washington State decided to help the remaining 80-some iconic Southern Pod in a big way, and a tiny part of that effort is going to me for some wayside panel art for outreach at some of the locations. Rain gardens and stream restoration – and my art telling about it. I’m happy and proud to be involved.

The Southern Resident orcas – or killer whales, are a large extended family, actually a clan, comprised of three pods hereabouts. Within each pod, families form into sub-pods centered around older females, usually grandmothers or great-grandmothers – I like this structuring a lot – we could learn a few things here. They live in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea in Washington State and British Columbia and primarily eat salmon, that are also in dire straits. I’m not new to painting orca or salmon as I just finished a bunch of others at Lime Kiln Point in the San Juan Islands, so this was an easy transition.

Above is the first panel almost finished. Pigeon Creek is in Everett, Washington and the water comes from urban neighborhoods and flows down into this green lush valley where the forest slows and purifies the water before it hits the bay. People think it’s just a place to walk their dogs, but this shows it’s more, a strainer for pollutants heading for orcas and salmon.

Here are the sketches, concept first. Then below is the enhanced version showing details. It’s actually fairly true to the final art.

It’s a pretty messy riparian forest, but I made a painting out of it anyway – including Bob who showed me around on a very rainy day. I got what I needed, as you can see up top – and even put in this little bridge. I’ll show more of these panels soon.

Thanks for reading this week. Now, get out there and take a hike in your nearby forest – and tell them I sent you.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

And Instagram is here.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

National Park Service, Waysides, Wildlife

Sol Duc Falls art and salmon

Each Fall, lots of people come here to Salmon Cascades on the Sol Duc River to see salmon jump. They take a million pictures, some paint. I can now say I’m the only one that did both (with an underwater camera, too), and my art stayed behind. Here we were just out for a look at salmon, and of course saw some, but we hadn’t been here since this wayside panel was installed. Fun to see my stuff here and I thought it turned out pretty well.

Below is one of my  underwater shots, much different than what I’d imagined it would look like down there. Colorful rocks, some organic color on the big stones. This is what the salmon see as they circle preparing to make the jump.

Below is the original sketch, the third design that the park eventually approved. That bottom fish is about life-sized in the final panel.

And here’s a little backstory about all this. In the 80’s, I was visiting parks to paint them for my gallery and others I was represented by, sold all I could produce, and then one day a collector of mine who also ran Redwood National Park told me in casual conversation: “Listen, you come to my park, you paint her, and then you take the art away. Why not keep the art in the park for others to enjoy?” It changed my life and was one of those few life-moments I can point to as a turning point. I did what he suggested, and it’s been a meaningful ride for me ever since doing just that. On the Sol Duc Road alone you can see 25 of my paintings along the way in the 17 miles up to Sol Duc Trailhead. 300 in the California redwoods. And it’s an amazing bunch of memories of working for and with people who only want to do what’s best for nature, not their own pocketbook. From Alaska to Florida – it’s a legacy I don’t take lightly.

Here’s the salmon cascades, but without the salmon. Just didn’t time the photo at the right time. It’s a good jump, but they all seem to make it eventually.

And at the end of the road and a short hike to the falls, but here’s the rebuilt cabin, the 1939 Canyon Creek Shelter at Sol Duc Falls. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places.  And the falls that stop all fish from getting to the upper reaches of the Sol Duc River.

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

Washington State Parks, Waysides, Wildlife

Fort Worden State Park panels

Wow, I get to paint something local for a change. And the scenes are local, but these were actually painted on a picnic table on the other side of the Cascades at Lake Chelan State Park a few days ago.

These are two of six paintings for a trailside project at my local park, Fort Worden State Park, funded by the Friends of Fort Worden and state parks. The trail wonders beside Chinese Pond and then into a mixed-age conifer forest. These trail panels will be like a little gallery in the forest. It’s been fun to work on something much smaller than what I usually do. I’ll have more soon.

This second painting shows the pond in winter, Nootka roses without leaves or flowers, green grass and flocks of migrant widgeons. There was discussion of the deer – too close, too big, but if anyone has been to Port Townsend, they’d understand how critical it would be to add this one species – THE species here in town. Love them or hate them, it’s life for all of us here.

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

Murals, National Park Service, Wildlife

Fort Matanzas National Monument – Florida

Fort Matanzas National Monument is getting an Eifert painting.
I was recently in Florida, south of Saint Augustine at Fort Matanzas National Monument. Boy was it hot. So hot, some of the rangers actually carried towels to help dry off, the humidity was so amazing. Of course, a big camera is a big help, so it stayed cool in the car – and then each time I got out – BANG, the humidity would hit that cold camera and I couldn’t see out of it for five minutes.

I was there to research a mural that’s coming along now for the back or their park map. So, each year, some 650,000 people will get to take an Eifert painting home with them when they visit.

I got the job done, met some great people and came back to the cool Northwest – 30 degrees cooler – and have started down the path of building one of these big paintings. While the original idea was to show the nature of this place, an ecosystem very much like what it was 200 years ago when the fort was active, we veered course at the last moment and now I’m painting it as if it IS 200 years ago. As far as the wildlife is concerned, it’s about the same – amazing for a place surrounded by humans.

Above, I’m getting a royal tour by some guys that have been here decades. Between them, I’ll bet there’s 60 years of experience here – and the fourth was so smart I kept saying ‘ahhh’, or ‘ohhh’ when I realized she was far brighter than me. That’s a LOT of knowledge going along with me to help, and I really soaked it up. It’s what I do this crazy stuff for, the experiences – and this was a good one.

Here’s a view from the fort top, overlooking cannon that actually fire and looking out on the inlet it guarded. It’s a landscape altered by hurricanes, but it’s also the ONLY undredged river inlet on the entire eastern side of Florida. I let THAT sink in a bit, then sharpened my pencil.

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

People Paintings, US Fish Wildlife Service, Waysides, Wildlife

Malheur – Swans and the Wadatika

This could be Malheur National Wildlife Refuge – possibly 1000 years ago when the Waditiki Indians lived here, fishing and hunting the marshes during high water periods. It’s from the perspective of the Trumpeter Swans, Canada geese and ducks the Indians hunted. Looking down through the birds you see the tule and cattail houses and boats, and people going about their daily lives. I like the feeling of a gigantic landscape with a very few humans touching the land lightly. How things have changed!

I finished this painting a few days ago for Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon. This is one more of that series I’ve been working on seemingly forever, but this one I truly enjoyed, because there was so little guidance from anyone involved. This is another fairly big wayside, 60″ wide, that will be part of 3 at the Buena Vista Overlook south of Burns, Oregon. Here it is in the final form.

And here’s the original sketch of the main painting. Getting the feel of a made-up place, because who knows what it really looked  like then, what the Indians looked like, what they did or how many there were. I think I got it.

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

Murals, US Fish Wildlife Service, Waysides, Wildlife

Malheur – Buena Vista Overlook

I’ve been working on art for Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon, a continuing effort that’s finally coming together. This wayside panel I just finished is going there, telling the story of springtime water vs. fall desert. It’s been interesting to compare the two scenes – which is a completely fabricated scene. No such place exists, yet it’s at Malheur in many places.

This view is of the spring snowmelt season there, when water from the local mountains fill up this grand valley with ponds and marshes. These lakes are only a couple of feet deep at most, many are less, but the place is crammed with birds either nesting or on their way north. It’s possibly the single most important wildlife refuge in the West.

And this scene shows the same place a few months later. The lakes have dried to an almost desert landscape and the lush foliage of spring has yellowed. It was interesting to figure this out – just the cattails were challenging to understand their life-cycle.

And here is where this and two other waysides are going – Buena Vista Overlook. My new paintings will replace these old and tired ones atop a stunning view of the valley below. These are big panels, each five feet wide. They needed to be big to compete with the scene.

Call this my small effort at using art to fight our current culture of White Terrorists in America. This is the place the Bundy Gang of Thugs took over a few years ago in a Right-wing attack on our heritage. Remember? Yes, this place is OUR heritage – and then the Trump administration  pardoned them when they were sentenced for their crimes. Not enough said – but if you want to save what’s left of these places, VOTE for nature!

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

Commissioned paintings, Murals, National Park Service, Wildlife

Wind Cave NP Site Visit

What’s this big guy doing on our hood? Attacking a brand new rental car – starting with licking the bumper and then advancing to the really fun stuff. Damage! See that foot-long horn (one of a pair) on top of a 2,000lb creature with the manners of a child? I loved every minute of it.

Here we were at Wind Cave National Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We’ve been on a site visit, researching, photographing and sketching for a new and really interesting project. Wind Cave has one of the most amazing caves we’ve ever been in, 150-some miles of it, and also super high-quality mixed grass prairie up top with hundreds of bison, elk, pronghorn, deer and prairie dogs. A feast for our eyes.

This is pre-sketch drawing number 8, placed in the design grid on the back of their new map guide. 750,000 people come here each year and this will be the handout they all take home.
And this is drawing number 1, beginning with some vague notion of underground vs. above ground prairie and Black Hills. Compare this to the top one and it shows how things progress and evolve in my head as I do these things on location – no studio time, no time to think, just draw – and then I have to present this as a program to park staff at the end.
Nervous? I used to be but it’s just life on some higher level now.
National Park Service staff and me, left, at the highest point in the park. We were discussing how often this location gets struck by lightning, which was happening. Photo by Nancy, who took hundreds of others. Melinda, next to me, came from the East Coast to help on this.

Stay tuned as this painting develops. It will be about 5′ x 4′ and be filled with many more critters, flowers and details – especially in the cave where some of the most interesting hang from the ceiling (no, not bats). If you follow me, you’ll see the entire progression from this messy beginning to a finished ‘thing’. 

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.

Stay tuned as this painting develops. It will be about 5′ x 4′ and be filled with many more critters, flowers and details – especially in the cave where some of the most interesting hang from the ceiling (no, not bats). If you follow me, you’ll see the entire progression from this messy beginning to a finished ‘thing’. 

Thanks for reading this week.

Larry Eifert

Here’s my Facebook fan page. I post lots of other stuff there.

Click here to go to our main website – with jigsaw puzzles, prints, interpretive portfolios and lots of other stuff.

Nancy’s web portfolio of stunning photography and paintings

And here to go to Virginia Eifert’s website.