Daniel Ruf

Locomotives and Diesels

When I was a child I remember that my father would take me to the train station to watch those coal fired locomotives come down the tracks and after that we would get some donuts for Sunday breakfast. Since then I’ve always enjoyed seeing trains when my wife and I travel, although we rarely come across railroad scenes.

The two blog pics or from our latest trip and are iPhone shots while traveling at Highway speed. She was driving😂.

As a youth I had a nice Lionel train set which I gave away when I reached my adult years. BAD IDEA! I’m sure the reasoning was the fact that the size of my railroad set was getting larger and larger as time went on. STILL A BAD IDEA.

The moral to this story is think before you throw.

Thanks for visiting my blog site, now let’s all pray for Spring.

My photography can still be seen at Arts On Grand.

Natures Brush

My son is a college strength coach but has developed some very beautiful talents with his phone camera. He also has an interest in different abstract or contemporary art works and texts me when he comes across a picture he likes.

my wife and I were in Texas for Christmas and on our last evening there the beautiful sky that you can see above started to develop very slowly from a weak yellow color to a long developing steam of wonderful orange streaks which last for some time.

My granddaughter has always wanted to click the shutter button for as long as I can remember, but this is the first time she was tall enough to see through the view finder. Little did I know that Chris was sneaking up behind us to get this image which I will treasure the rest of my life. 
While I can’t sign this moment, I wish. I could.  Thanks, Chris.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

When it’s cold

when it’s too cold outside I’m usually going to be spending time creating some art. Since I’m out of town I took my drawing tools on our trip any painting mediums need some space and protective plastic or tarps to protect the surrounding areas.

The drawing above is from a photograph of the original drawing that I gave to my son years ago. After seeing the drawing while visiting my son I decided I should make a smaller version for myself to have at home.

After finishing the drawing I thought I might “ kick it up a notch “ by doing a colored pencil version when I return home.

Thanks for visiting my blog site and leaving comments.

Have a safe winter and beautiful Spring.

My work can be seen at Arts On Grand, Spencer, Iowa.

Enjoy The Leaves

       

                                              Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.Albert Camus

One morning I was looking out a window looking at the autumn leaves hitting the ground and realized that the previous frost had done its damage and I needed to get out to gather what pics that I could before every leaf had hit the ground. I grabbed my camera gear and ran to the truck to start my sleuthing for the autumn views.

The trip was a lot of stops and starts as I would get out, set up camera gear, take the shot, gather the gear up and place it all in my truck and head to the next opportunity, if there was one.

After cruising up and down roads I started to head back toward the lakes areas for a different scenic view which turned out to be a good decision or listening to that other voice that does tend to show up quietly at times. As you can see in the blog pic above not only did I have some nice shadows to work with there just happened to be a dock and a person to create the attraction that was needed to complete the image.

My experience over the years have taught me that the best pictures are the ones that included a bit of a surprise to fill in the blank spaces.

Thank you  all for visiting my blog site and I wish you the most beautiful Christmas this year.

More of my work can be seen at Arts On Grand in Spencer, Iowa

Changing Seasons

                         
   " Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." George Eliot

I came upon this grouping of autumn trees while playing golf at Indian Hills Golf Club near our home in Spirit Lake, Iowa. My wife and I walked this course after I became a member and found it to be quite beautiful. There are plenty of trees to provide shade on those warm summer days on the the challenging fairways, including three fairways that lead to a blind blind putting green making them all the more challenging.

The cost of membership last year was $99, and for that one can play as often as they wish during the season. I have 90 score cards to prove "unlimited play". The owner and staff are very friendly, and I believe know everyone on a first name basis.  In turn, they know me and my preference to play alone as I have a case of "wandering golf balls" and don't like to slow others hunting for my golf balls. The staff do a really great job of maintaining the course and even have flower pots along the way to add to the beauty of the course. There are also plenty of opportunities for people like me to lose their golf balls in tall grass areas that seem to easily  swallow an arrant golf ball.  Along with tall grass there are also a fair amount of sand traps making play even more challenging, but I've been lucky to usually avoid that opportunity. I use the word "usually" as I have a pretty good ability to "hop" the sand traps most of the time.

I haven't played golf since high school, with the exception of a few rounds in the past with a friend, so I'm happy that my wife encouraged me to start playing again. Actually I think it's her way of getting me out of the house.

Thank you for following my blog site, and you can find more of my work on my wall at Arts On Grand in Spencer, IA

 

Winter Entertainment

"Taking pictures is savoring life, every hundredth of a second" Marc Riboud

Iowa winters can be very "charming" if it involves a sunset or sunrise, otherwise it's probably one of the most difficult seasons to photograph. That being as it is I have a "bandaid" for the problem. 

During my senior year at Principia College I was required to develop a senior project that would be on display on some wall, in some building in the art department. I decided to do some sort of wildlife drawings or paintings which would involve my getting to know an artist at the St.Louis Zoo.  I can't remember is name, but the experience was a real heal to being able to finish my senior project.

Fast forward to 2022 and I find myself using these forgotten tools for graphite drawing to push myself through the winter months in Iowa. Like any other art or sport having a long layoff requires a long recovery time lean how to handle a pencil or brush to achieve an acceptable result, as above. It also takes a good camera and long lens to capture the subject as well.

I'm glad I've gotten back to using my finger, brain and camera to achieve a mental thrill over the Winter season.

Spring IS just around the cornerThanks for joining me here and you can view my work at the following galleries;

 Arts On Grand in Spencer, IA as well as the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji, IA.

 

Is March Fading?

"Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever...it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything."  

Aaron Siskind

It's been a long time since I've refreshed my blog site, but it's been a pretty ugly winter here in Iowa with little snow and precipitation and the miles of skeleton shaped trees leaving us to wonder if Spring was ever going to show up. Right now on March 29 we're still wondering if Spring is getting any closer. There are some indications with some little sprigs starting to break the surface and my yelling "not yet, not yet". Both myself and my camera are aching to see wild flowers showing us with tulips, coneflowers and many others blasting through the surface of the earth and developing into beautiful heads of color.

I'll wait and my camera will have to wait, but being anxious for Spring cannot wait any longer. Let's have the "fireworks" of flowers...the yellows, reds, purples and many other colors be out of control in showing off their Spring beauty.

Thanks for joining me here and you can view my work at Arts On Grand in Spencer, IA as well as the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji, IA.

What's This?

"Art is the desire of a person to express Themselves, to record the reactions their personality to the world they live in."  Amy Lowell

Years ago I was fortunate to be able to take an art course given by Hank Hall in our community. Hank has a unique approach to art and can run the range from "traditional" art to a more abstract presentation.  A year ago I decided to take a visit to the abstract world by using some of the techniques that I learned in Hank's workshop. One of the results is the blog image for todays post.

The art you see is a combination of colored pencils, ink pens, acrylic paint, cotton balls, Crayola's, an old toothbrush and, finally, my thought process. It required many hours and procedures as well as a lot of trips up and down the stairs of my house after getting a new idea or procedure for the art.

The most important, bazaar, and exciting thing I learned is that while doing the process of creating this I realized that the art itself leads one to the next phase of its development.

I'm sure that this is a bit much for many  people to understand, but the more I worked on this piece the more I listened and would, sometimes, be led to the next step. 

Things have changed in that I not only do this type of abstract work but I continue to do my photography as well as beginning a relationship with watercolor painting, which was my passion in college.

Thanks for visiting, stay safe and enjoy winter

Take the time...take a walk!

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Close up

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea,

and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." Lord Byron

When I saw this iPhone close up of leaves on the floor of a forest I was astonished about the eye popping color that existed as well as the details and textures that came with the capture.

All to often I believe that we lose sight of the loveliness of small parts of our world as we spend more time looking forward than looking down at the delicate space beneath our feet.

Take the time...take a walk!

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Autumn Passage

"Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower"  Albert Camus

Yesterday morning I visited the edge of East Okoboji Lake to watch another sunrise break the sky into multiple shades of color when I noticed the remaining leaves of summer that were backlit by the morning light. It was a reminder that Autumn was fading fast and its colors dwindling. In just a few months this landscape will give way to an iced lake and a white covering of snow. With this in mind I spent the rest of the day capturing every hint of color that I could find and rejoiced in each gift found.

Thanks for visiting my web blog and enjoy the remains of color that Autumn is giving to us

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org