Welcome Artist Randy Freeman to the Tasting Room
We welcome Randy Freeman as the latest artist featured in our Tasting Room. His work will be installed there through the end of November. Randy writes about himself:
I was born and raised in Iowa and learned to hunt and fish at an early age. I have always had a wide variety of interests, the art on display among them. At the age of twelve I became a self-taught taxidermist and enjoyed preparing ducks, pheasants, fish, dear heads, and even one pronghorn antelope head. I have played trumpet since the age of eleven. I like to listen to music, play vintage jazz on my vintage horn collection, dance, tell jokes, and have always been interested in cars, airplanes, and boats. I am an Air Force veteran, worked as a machinist after leaving the Air Force, then obtained my bachelor’s degree in engineering, and started as a Radar Engineer at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1978. I rediscovered my love for art while working on a Radar upgrade in Hawaii in 1988. I attended two semesters of Life Drawing at Allen Hancock College in 1990 and retired from engineering in 2025.
My art is all about life and I am particularly interested in eyes. My style is mainly photo realism, and my current medium is soft pastel. I enjoy the vibrant colors and textures that can be obtained with pastel. The method I have developed consists of layers of pigment blended to provide the contrast, color and texture I am after, and uses no spray fixative. I find that fixative alters both color and texture. That is why I double-mat my work and frame behind glass. If my paintings are not exposed to direct sunlight or excessive ultraviolet light and are protected from mechanical shock and vibration, I find they can be quite permanent.
Here are some personal notes about the pieces on display:
“Blue” is a quick nude study completed in life drawing class and is a charcoal drawing on blue pastel paper.
In “Dawn Patrol” a Black-Shouldered Kite perches on a dead live oak limb in the early morning light, preparing for an early morning hunt. They hover over tall grass and watch for movement by small rodents.
“First Dip” captures the moment, only a day after hatching, when wood duck chicks take the leap of faith from the nest hole to follow mother into the water for their first swim. They have sharp claws on their toes since they may have to climb several feet from the bottom of the nest to reach the nest hole in order to make the leap. After jumping, these amazing little creatures exhibit the instinct for flight. Without feathers, they extend wings, tail, and feet to stabilize their decent to the ground. They are capable of swimming and feeding themselves as soon as they reach the water, but the drop from the nest may sometimes be as high as fifty feet.
“Kristin” is a portrait completed for the Santa Barbara County and Mid-State Fair art shows in 1991. It took first place in the Amateur Division in both shows.
“Lorin” placed third in the Professional Division at the Mid-State Fair in 1993. 2
“Morning Flight” depicts a mated pair of Wood Ducks searching for a suitable nest hole in the early morning as the mist begins to lift over their wetland home. Wood Ducks will nest as close to water as possible; they need to get hatchlings to water and food quickly after they leave the nest.
“Sandra 2”, the second in a series of three portraits of this beautiful lady, took first in the Amateur Division at the Santa Barbara County and Mid-State Fair art shows in 1989. It was my first year of art competition.
“Sandra 3” placed first in the Amateur Division contests at the Santa Barbara County and Mid-State Fair art shows in 1990. The first portrait I completed of Sandra was given to her in 1989. That one was entered in a national contest (photos were submitted of the painting), but it did not make the cut for judging, likely because it was assumed to be a photograph (that’s my story).
”Self-Portrait 2” was completed in life drawing class as the second of two self-portrait homework assignments. I was told not to use photographs for reference as I had done the first time, so I set up two mirrors (used the second reflection). This painting was intended to portray a day dream (I have always enjoyed flying in a sailplane, and had a wonderful weekend trip on a sailboat that I will never forget).
“Stubble Spoils” portrays a typical winter strategy for survival in the Corn Belt for ring-necked pheasants: scratching up left-over field corn from under the snow. One of my favorite fall and winter activities in Iowa was the pursuit of pheasants for the table. They were also one of my most often prepared mounts. They were fascinating to watch as well. This painting took more than one hundred ten hours to prepare due to the color patterns, but these birds are a wonderful subject to paint, and I plan on doing more of them.
“The World Is My Oyster” was the first of two self-portrait homework assignments in life drawing class. This first assignment was to have a message. I had a photograph taken of me for reference. The oyster shell was then added along with the earth using the famous Apollo 11 portrait of the big blue marble as reference.
“Thirty Minute Study” was completed in life drawing class. We were given thirty minutes, a long time by drawing class standards, so I broke out the pastels and started blending.
Randy Freeman