Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts

Monday, March 14, 2022

Deeper Experience in Retrospect

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty


Deeper Experience in Retrospect
acrylic paint on canvas panel
8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm) 
© copyright Mike Kraus Art Inc.

The crucible has been lit.  And the heat is intense.  The desire to dominate what is outside when we're unable to control what is inside.  How can you know the truth in the land of fairy tales?  Our medieval beliefs conflict with our modern reality.  What is poured into the crucible determines the outcome.

How are we alike?  Why should we care?  How do we benefit working together?  Choices have consequences.  

This painting would great in a space that is dark red, orange, yellow, dark green, blue, purple, black, white, grey, beige, or wood. 

Mike Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold thousands of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Twilight Woods

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty
Twilight Woods, 2018
acrylic paint on canvas board
8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm)
201801001
© copyright Michael Kraus

I follow the winding path not knowing where I'll end up. The trees rustle in the breeze stirring up the aromas of the forest. A freshness one always has to remind themselves of in civilization. The light refracts in strange ways at this time. It's when the surreal becomes the real. 

This piece would work in a small-to-medium space that is dark red, dark orange, green, blue, black, white, grey, beige, or wood.


Michael Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold hundreds of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.




Friday, January 6, 2017

Deeper Experience in Retrospect

 Deeper Experience in Retrospect, 2017
acrylic paint on canvas panel
8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm) 
© copyright Mike Kraus

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The crucible has been lit.  It can withstand the intense heat.  But, how will the contents inside change?  Choices have consequences.  What will be the result of this experimental decision?

This drawing would great in a space that is dark red, orange, yellow, dark green, blue, purple, black, white, beige, or wood. 

For more information or custom order, please visit:



Saturday, July 26, 2014

Flight Behavior


Flight Behavior, 2014
acrylic painting on canvas
8" x 10"
© copyright Mike Kraus

"A small shift between cloud and sun altered the daylight, and the whole landscape intensified, brightening before her eyes.  The forest blazed with its own internal flame.  "Jesus," she said, not calling for help, she and Jesus weren't that close, but putting her voice in the world because nothing else present made sense.  The sun slipped out by another degree, passing its warmth across the land, and the mountain seemed to explode with light.  Brightness of a new intensity moved up the valley in a rippling wave, like the disturbed surface of a lake.  Every bough glowed with an orange blaze.  "Jesus God," she said again.  No words came to her that seemed sane.  Trees turned to fire, a burning bush.  Moses came to mind, and Ezekiel, words from Scripture that occupied a certain space in her brain but no longer carried honest weight, if they ever had.  'Burning coals of fire went up and down among the living creatures.

The flame now appeared to lift from individual treetops in showers of orange sparks, exploding the way a pine log does in a campfire when it's poked.  The sparks spiraled upward in swirls like funnel clouds.  Twisters of brightness against gray sky.  In broad daylight with no comprehension, she watched.  From the tops of the funnels the sparks lifted high and sailed out undirected above the dark forest.  

A forest fire, if that's what it was, would roar.  This consternation swept the mountain in perfect silence.  The air above remained cold and clear.  No smoke, no crackling howl.  She stopped breathing for a second and closed her eyes to listen, but heard nothing.  Only a faint patter like rain on leaves.  Not fire, she thought, but her eyes when opened could only tell her, 'Fire, this place is burning.'  They said, 'Get out of here.'  Up or down, she was unsure.  She eyed the dark uncertainty of the trail and the uncrossable breach of the valley.  It was all the same everywhere, every tree aglow...

...She was on her own here, staring at glowing trees.  Fascination curled itself around her fright.  This was no forest fire.  She was pressed by the quiet elation of escape and knowing better and seeing straight through to the back of herself, in solitude.  She couldn't remember when she's had such room for being.  This was not just another fake thing in her life's cheap chain of events, leading up to this day of sneaking around in someone's thrown-away boots.  Here that ended.  Unearthly beauty had appeared to her, a vision of glory to stop her in the road.  For her alone these orange boughs lifted, these long shadows became a brightness rising.  It looked like the inside of joy, if a person could see that.  A valley of lights, an ethereal wind.  It had to mean something."

-Excerpt by Barbara Kingsolver, "Flight Behavior." 1st ed. New York: Harper Collins, 2012 13-16. Print (http://www.kingsolver.com/books/flight-behavior.html)

This piece would work in a space that is light green, blue, yellow, beige or on wood.

For more information or custom order, please visit:




Tuesday, October 1, 2013

WE'RE OUTSIDE THE LINES!!! HAHAHA!

Who needs Flutie Flakes when you can have MariO's?  Seriously, one of the huge advantages to signing with the Buffalo Bills is the possibility of having your own cereal.  


Winding down to the last fire of the year...

Zweigle's red and white hot over an open flame.  

More home improvement.  This is the before picture.

This is the after.  Not too much.  Just painted the wall above the tile white to soften it up a little bit.  The matching yellow wall kind of burned out your retinas.  

And, a "before" of our front door.

I'm not going to call this an "after" picture because this is getting redone.  The red paint isn't sticking.  So, I'll probably have to strip it, prime it, and sand it all over again because the base is non-absorbent (as you can tell by the missing chunks on the left).  But, someday, this is what it will look like.

"Before" front door

Not an "after" front door...

Last, but not least.  Watched Gertie for a night.  I think she was looking for Dick and Marianne  the whole time.  

That's it for me until the Detroit Tiger's faceoff against Oakland A's in the playoffs starting Friday.  Might splurge and make myself some "Famous Prince Fielder Nachos."

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Mr. Gorbachev, Paint Over This Beige Wall!

Another room being painted!  Here's Megan painting the master bedroom buttercup (yellow) from beige


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Yeah for new bedroom.  That was a fun couple of weekends.  If you want to see what we did to the living room, you can visit: http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-battle-against-beige-tyranny.html


How do you celebrate a newly painted bedroom?  A bonfire of course!




Whoops, I guess I made the fire a little too big...  Exciting day yesterday.  A guy driving by my house had a gas leak in his car and it caught fire.  It's not in this picture, but you can imagine what 2,000 lbs of charcoal with a Chevy bowtie looks like...


Ruby Shoes playing in the parking lot of the main street (Commercial Street) in East Rochester.  For some reason, they played all the songs from Grease.  That reason is probably that people love it.


Rachel showing off her swimming ability.


Foot


And, what would my blog be without my baby deers update?  


This is by far the closest the fawn have been to us.  Curious little fellas and they still have their spots.  Pretty soon, they'll be moving in the house and paying rent.

That's about it.  Lots of stuff coming up over the next couple of weeks...

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

How To Build a Simple Fire Pit

Updated by popular demand.  I've decided to put up a quick post because there has been a lot of interest in how I built this fire pit.  So, here we go.

First, dig a hole the size you'd like for a fire pit.  This is about 40 inches x 40 inches with a depth of about 9 inches.

Once dug out, tamp or pack the soil tight and level (Not really seen in this photo).

Lay out the cinderblocks in a square and level.  Fill in with some of the soil that you dug out.

Next, lay some decorative bricks on top.  Once in place, dump soil or sand on top of the bricks and try to rub it into the seams.


 
TA DA!  You have a simple, cheap fire pit that is easy to maintain, easy to fix, and easy to remove.  


THANKS and please let me know if you need anything or have any questions!

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