The Keeper of Twilight ~ Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks, West Virginia :: Oil Painting + Prints
The Keeper of Twilight – Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area
36″ x 24″ x 2″ – Original Acrylic and Oil Painting on Canvas
Brian Christopher Zickafoose © 2016
Approximately 150+ Hours
About the Artwork
Hues of autumn and twilight color the sky, as the mighty screech owl emerges from a hidden nook. This fantastic scene was inspired by an overnight hiking trip at the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area with my wife and children in 2015. The haunting crystal moon was brilliant and filled the night sky with pale blue luminescence. Our heads were weary from our travels when we arrived upon our quarters. I unloaded the last of our gear from the vehicle when suddenly a screech owl’s shattering cry startled me from the tree line. I turned to look and behold, a piercing gaze caught me cold and we locked eyes for what seemed like eternity. The owl scanned my soul intently and seemed to examine every aspect of being. I began to squirm under its scrutiny and stepped hard on a twig. Snap! The sound alarmed my feathered friend and in a flash of lightning, the fierce screech owl took to the night. That was the last I saw of it. The next morning we ate breakfast ravenously in preparation for our hike through the beautiful landscape at Seneca Rocks. My encounter with the owl the night before stuck with me throughout the day and later in the evening as we rested, I sketched the initial roughs that would eventually become this painting. Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
The Grist Mill at Glade Creek: An Oil Painting by Brian C. Zickafoose
The Grist Mill at Glade Creek – Babcock State Park, West Virginia
Brian C. Zickafoose © 2014
36″ x 24″ Oil on Canvas
Completion Date: November 22, 2014 – 11:22 am
In this painting, I explore the Flemish Realism oil technique of the Dutch Masters, as taught to me by the late local artist, David E. Weaver – to whose memory this is dedicated.
David Weaver was a friend of mine over the years. He was a generous and openly kind person. Whenever I would visit him at the Midland Trail Gallery, he was always giving me art prints and different things. I never left his studio empty handed. His mentorship and teaching was a huge inspiration for my art and life path. Without him this painting would not have been possible.
The painting depicts the Grist Mill at Babcock State Park at the peak of autumn’s glory on October 10, 2014 at around 4:00pm in the afternoon. Also featured in the image are several West Virginia state icons, including two cardinals (state bird), a sugar maple branch (state tree) and a honey bee (state insect), as well as native species of wildflowers.[read more=”Read more” less=”Read less”]
I’m a true son of the hills. I was born and bred in Danese, WV, just a few miles up the road from the park. Whenever my family would get together growing up, it would always be at Babcock, so some of my fondest childhood memories center around that park. When I moved away from the area as an adult and would come home to visit, Babcock always seemed to greet me with a warm and loving embrace, as if to say, ‘You are home, my son’.
Pursuing my artistic dreams has taken me around the globe, hobnobbing in Amsterdam, living for a spell in Hollywood, California and most recently having spent a decade in Roanoke, Virginia. In 2012 I relocated my family back to the area and a year later launched the first oil painting in this series, Ancient River in Autumn – New River Gorge, WV, the predecessor of the Grist Mill at Glade Creek painting.
It was an inevitable expression of my creativity to paint this series. These great icons of West Virginia are ingrained in my memory and have become a part of who I am. Painting the Grist Mill is as much of an expression of myself as it is an interpretation of the iconography my home state. The Grist Mill is a sacred destination for many folks, including myself. This land was regarded as sacred grounds by the Indians ages before Europeans settled it and a millennia before the Grist Mill was built. So, continuing a tradition of spirituality in this area through my art is not only my heritage, it is my duty.
This video is proudly brought to you by:
Fayette County Chamber of Commerce
Marathon Bicycle Co.
Priority Ambulance Service
Cathedral Cafe
Secret Sandwich Society
Video Credits:
Produced by: The Green Touch Group, LLC
Oil Painting by: Brian C. Zickafoose
Music: “Banjo Funk” by Brown House Media
Music Licensed through: AudioJungle.net
Video extras: Xia Yasmine Zickafoose and Zenna Yvonne Zickafoose
Filmed entirely with GoPro Hero cameras and mounts.[/read]
Ancient River in Autumn :: New River Gorge, WV :: Painting + Prints + Greeting Cards
Ancient River in Autumn :: New River Gorge, West Virginia
Original 36 x 24 x 2 Inch Acrylic and Oil Painting on Canvas
By Brian C. Zickafoose
Visionary artist Brian C. Zickafoose re-envisions the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia in his latest painting, Ancient River in Autumn. This unique perspective offers a surreal westward view from Fayette Station of the ancient New River winding below the iconic arching bridge, as autumn’s brilliant colors subdue the luscious mountain landscape. Now you can bring this beautiful painting home. Both available size formats are easily framed and make a great gift for any West Virginian. Grab yours up while supplies last!
The Tree of Music in a Land of Enchantment :: Prints
About the Artwork
This enchanting acrylic painting titled, The Tree of Music in a Land of Enchantment, was penned and completed in 2008 by artist Brian C. Zickafoose. The Tree of Music was featured on the cover of the Home Grown Music Network Spring/Summer 2008 Catalog and followed by a limited edition Ringer T-shirt run, which has since sold out. Now you can bring this beautiful painting home as a limited edition print in multiple frame-able sizes and styles. Grab yours up while supplies last!
Funk Generations :: Painting + Prints
About the Artwork
Funk Generations :: A New Age by Brian C. Zickafoose
Original Painting (2004) – 22 x 26 Inch on Paper
Funk Generations :: A New Age was the initial installment of the Phunk Phenomenon Painting Series in 2004. This mixed media painting is mostly acrylic paint, with the face and hands done in pastels, and highlighted in metallic ink, this beauty shines bright with DNA helix strands weaving the funk of ages. In 2010, Zickafoose teamed with Paula Mandala Caldwell for the Funk Re:Generations Print Series as seen below. Purchase the limited edition, signed and numbered print. Edition of 250.
Funk Re:Generations by Paula Mandala Caldwell
I AM the Light of the World :: Painting
“I AM the True Vine, I AM the Bread of Life, I AM the Light of the World.”
Launched in 2007, this painting represents the first of a series of images that will be featured in my upcoming Re::Creation series. These paintings will attempt to illuminate the religious philosophy that I’ve developed throughout my life and experiences.
From my earliest memories of youth, I recall having an intense spiritual awareness and fascination for the mysteries of the universe. While the strict Christian upbringing served by my family should have reinforced my standing, the empty rhetoric and dogma of modern Christianity left me feeling diluted by unanswered questions. I sought answers.
Venturing forth on a mission of discovery, I vested hundreds of hours pouring over nearly every religious text and doctrine available. Then, I researched the art of religion. From the primitive cave paintings at Lascaux to the abstract musings of Bosch and beyond. If a man ever had a revelation or inspiration about God, I sought to pick the bone clean.
The perspective that emerged from my research was a tapestry far more colorful and intricate than anything I had previously conceived. I envisioned in my mind’s eye that all living things are connected on a higher plane and that the vast network of life combined is only a fraction of what the being we call God really is. I made the realization that man, being burdened by fear, and prejudice, could never fully grasp God’s entire being.
We suffer a great amnesia of our divine origin. Through this series of paintings, I hope to probe the core of modern religious structure, tearing away the archaic framework of old school and rebuilding our house anew with a higher conscious of mind. Reawakening.
And now the challenge of illustrating these ideas awaits me.
I have composed a poem to accompany the piece that reads as such:
I AM the fire and I AM the sword,
Broken bread of my flesh redeems the world.
I AM one beside one and one beside one,
Through me into this world you come.
I AM the Path of truth, for my Will be known,
Through Me you’ll pass when my glory is shown.
I AM the Creator and I AM the Trinity,
The fruit of my flesh, is the born of the tree.[/read]
Purchase this print in 16×20 size on Economy Matte.