It is the second Saturday since my retirement, and I have the latest redtail hawk painting complete. Perhaps it is more like the famous quote by Leonardo da Vinci, "Art is never finished, only abandoned." In this case, the deadline for entering this painting in the Indiana Art Club's annual show (Indiana Artists Club  ) is Monday, so I've run out of time and so, abandoned it is. This is a juried show that I've only been accepted into once, and that was the year they cancelled the physical show due to Covid. 

I went through my usual stages with this painting. I'm at first excited and hopeful, as I put in the first details and get past the hesitation of starting. I then struggle, have serious doubts about the piece. Then after some time, look at it, see where I can improve it. Then step back, neither hating nor loving it, and consider it complete. My wonderful wife, Leigh, titled it, "Hunter's Gaze".

I've also found out Friday that my colored pencil drawing "Redtail Hawk" was accepted into the Minnetrista annual juried show, (36th Annual Minnetrista Juried Art Show – Indiana Fine Art Exhibition in Muncie, IN — Minnetrista). So, another redtail hawk will send me and my wife to Muncie. 

The remaining redtail to find its fortune is "Regal Redtail", an 8" x 10", oil painting that I still need to find time to varnish. I expect to have it try its luck at the Hoosier Salon annual exhibit. (Annual Exhibition – Hoosier Art Salon ). 

So, without really planning on it, my artistic fortunes will ride on the coat tails of these redtails. Of course, I plan on creating more work in the weeks ahead and my entries might change or expand. I am hopeful that these pieces will leave our home and be seen beyond these walls. 

Friday marked my final day clocking out from my job, though I’m still deciding whether my retirement officially began then or will truly begin when I wake up Monday morning and don’t head to work. Either way, this new chapter feels less like an ending and more like a long‑awaited beginning.

For years, painting has lived in the margins of my days—tucked between family responsibilities, work hours, and the quiet moments I could steal for myself. Now, for the first time, I can give it the time and attention it has patiently waited for.

I’m currently finishing the last piece of a four‑painting commission, and alongside it, I’m working on a black‑and‑white hawk painting for the Indiana Artists Club annual juried show. This hawk is especially memorable to me. The reference comes from a photograph I took in the mid‑1990s of an injured bird rescued and sheltered at a nature center. Revisiting that moment through paint feels like giving the bird a second life—one that will live on as a painting in someone’s home

Pursuing animal painting is a new direction for me, after discovering the work of artist Mark McKenna. His ability to capture the essence of the animal while creating such a painterly feel opened a door I never realized. Joining his animal portrait group on the Skool platform has already begun to reshape how I see and approach this subject matter.

Retirement, it turns out, isn’t about stepping away from work. It’s about stepping toward the work that matters most to me. I’m excited to see where this path leads—and grateful to finally have the time to walk it.