Decorative wooden frame with two painted bison heads.
Side-by-side images of a bison, with the left showing a frontal view and the right showing a profile view.
Painting of a large snake with red, white, and black markings coiled on grassy rocks near the sea. Several dragons fly in the sky.
A large painted landscape featuring a coiled snake with red, white, and black scales, resting on rocks and grassy terrain. The background depicts a cloudy sky over a body of water with rocky cliffs, and dragons flying in the sky.
A detailed illustration of a coiled snake with orange, brown, and cream-colored scales, surrounded by flying insects and a desert-like landscape with rocky formations.
A painting depicting a rattlesnake with a color pattern of brown, white, and orange, coiled on rocks with flying insects around it, set in a landscape with mountains and cliffs in the background.
A detailed sepia-toned illustration of a snake coiled on rocks, surrounded by flying dragonflies and a landscape of rocky cliffs and mountains in the background.
A detailed illustration of a rattlesnake coiled on rocks, with several dragonflies flying around and resting on its body.
Sketch of a large snake with patterned scales, surrounded by two dragonflies and a bug.

This is the first in a series exploring the intersection of human and insects vis a vis the folklore that has sprung up around them through the ages. This particular painting is 10x18 inches. In the south starting as far back as the 1800s there is evidence of people referring to dragonflies as “snake doctors.” This name came from the belief that dragonflies were in alliance with snakes and that they mended or repaired wounded snakes and restored them to their original vitality, particularly snakes who had been dismembered. Who knows what moment of magic between species the original source of this folklore witnessed, but I could not resist the opportunity to tackle this subject matter myself. In my version, 2 coiling copperheads caught in a moment of mating have been dismembered by a human and these dragonflies have descended in order to serve their purpose of stitching them back together. I have been practicing painting macro images of insect specimens for the better part of a year to get ready for this series. I hope I can distill the details of the 12 dragonflies in this painting and capture their shimmering, ethereal qualities, it will be a great challenge for me since that is not my forte. There will be a full landscape, sea and sky, so this one may take awhile.

A wooden framed picture of a pigeon with a camera hanging around its neck, flanked by Canadian and British flags, with a wooden maple leaf marked "Canada" and the year "1915" at the bottom.

Underpainting a WW1 Pigeon in a charming frame from the same era. Pigeons were used in WW1 to send messages between troops with the messages coiled in a capsule like container attached to their legs. Also around the same time there was some experimentation attaching cameras to them as a sort of precursor to the drone, although I didn’t see any evidence they were used this way during the war. Interesting nonetheless. 3in x 5in, oil on panel.

Painting of three large fighting dogs with a decorative, ceremonial frame.
Painting of three large dogs, likely newfoundland or mastiff breeds, depicted in a realistic style. The dogs are shown close up, with expressive faces and detailed fur, and are wearing collars and leashes.
A framed artwork of two fighting dogs, one with a white coat and the other with a brown coat, depicted in a realistic style.
A detailed art painting of three snarling dogs with their mouths open, showing teeth, set against a dark background.
A framed painting of an eagle with outstretched wings soaring above a landscape with people and animals.

Zeus & Ganymeade Progress

A large detailed illustration of a giant eagle with outstretched wings, attacking a man. The eagle's beak is near the man's chest, and the man is falling backward. Several smaller figures are in the background, some sitting or standing, and a few appear to be on clouds above.

oil on panel. 7 in x 11 in

A large biblical scene depicting God with a large eagle, surrounded by floating angels and biblical figures on clouds and earth.

Calydonian Boar

11/19/22 - 11 in x 14 in oil on panel, laying in first color layer on this wooly boar and co.

A painting of a wild boar being chased by four dogs in a natural landscape with rocks and mountains in the background.
Ellen Tanner Ellen Tanner

Spring/Summer Wrap-Up

Plenty of loose ends to tie up on all of these works from the past 6 months or so, but the end is in sight…

Detail of Io and Argos, 8in x 17.5in. Starting to lay in flesh tones on Argos and Hermes.

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Ellen Tanner Ellen Tanner

Steady Progress

I am building up color on this painting slowly but surely. I actually ventured out with a new blue on the palette (Gamblin Cerulean Blue) to try for a new pop of color in this new one. We shall see if I can get everything to harmonize in the end.

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