Studies of Iceland
All artworks are signed by the artist and include a certificate of authenticity, ensuring the provenance and originality of each piece. Additionally, each work features a mounted brush on the reverse side, used by the artist to create the artwork. This detail offers a unique connection to the creative process and serves as a distinctive element of the collection.
Cold, cold, cold, but all the cozier. During a recent trip to Iceland, and what was meant to be a relaxing, much needed vacation between major projects, I found myself unexpectedly full of inspiration. I shouldn’t be surprised as I extended my first trip to Iceland by three weeks due to the overwhelming amount of creative ideas that struck me while being there. Since this trip was supposed to be one in mostly darkness, (there are only 3 full hours of sunlight during Icelandic winter) my plans consisted of hot spring siestas, warm food, catching up on the 14 books I read only the first chapter of, and much needed sleep. But as ALWAYS, the powers that be decided to flip the table on my plans, which manifested itself through plein-air studies in small scale.
Most often for me, a painting is the result of overthinking, hard work, planning, failure, corrections and more overthinking, all driven out of a desire to express some sort of something that therapy can’t seem to heal. But in this case, I found myself painting more within an inhalation, an almost playful poking rather than deliberate intensity.
The resulting seven paintings from this trip have surprised me in that they were not the result of some demons I was wrestling with, nor were they the result of my overthinking, overworking, over caffeinated self. They exist on a plain much the way a fire flickers on a cold night, cracking and coughing puffs of scented smoke, feeling a little ominous and yet calming to the nerves in the deepest way.
And because some feelings are better shared, I have made these seven pieces available for purchase from my studio with the hope that their energy will find a home and offer the same presence to others. For inquiries, please email contact@ecbaugh.com.
“Study of the Black Sands” Oil on linen mounted to panel 6x8”
Custom distressed handcrafted frame with clean lines and subtle wear. Included: glass vile with black volcanic sand from painted location.
$1,850
This painting was created only a few feet from an area of the beach that swallows men and women and children and objects. Several times a week a random wave, (they call them sneaker waves), will rush up onto the black shore and wash away some unfortunate soul who got a little too close. The waves don’t seem to care.
It baffles me that despite the many warning signs surrounding the area, hundreds of people would still stand dangerously close to the waves trying to snap some photo of themselves with nearby rocks. How many souls have been lost to these waves? The feeling I had while standing and creating this piece is not something I can put words to, but it was not serene.
“Lone” Oil on linen mounted to panel 12x12”
Custom handcrafted frame with clean lines and subtle wear. Included: glass vile with black volcanic sand from painted location.
$5,000
The beaches in Iceland feel a little lonelier, as if they have never been surfed by a tan-skinned bro, or felt the splashing of little children’s legs being chased by their pet. They feel more like the first beaches that ever existed, still steaming from a recent and nearby volcanic eruption; the waves still curious about the black pebbles as if they are meeting for the first time. I’m not sure exactly why, but it felt right, even necessary to include the lone person in the foreground, as if they are speaking the same language.
“Study of a Volcano” Oil on wooden panel 8x10”
Custom distressed handcrafted frame with clean lines and subtle wear. Included: glass vile with black volcanic rocks from painted location.
$2,700
My eyes want to burn at the thought of it; that molten meld of liquid metal and stone, spewing up from the great depths of regions unknown. Even as a child I was obsessed with volcanos and all that they come with. They build continents, pulverize anything it their path, are mythical doorways to mysteries beneath our feet and answer to no one but the belly of the earth. Why not paint them? But I must admit that I let my imagination get the better of me with this one. As much as my hopes were set on actually seeing one in its angry state, at least for this trip, they were all sleeping. But with a little creative license my painted mountain can sing spicy songs.
“Aurora Borealis” Oil on wooden panel 12x12”
Custom handcrafted frame with clean lines and subtle wear. Included: glass vile with black volcanic sand from painted location.
$5,000
I have always been told that the northern lights are a magical occurrence. Spectacularly, beautifully, inspiringly, incredibly, blah blah blah. I have seen my share of beauty in nature but, I stand deeply humbled. Imagine a sound wave scattered across the arctic cold night sky. A slithering snake of light from some distant nebula. Haunted hi frequencies in swirling harmonic hues. If they made sounds, it could be the sounds of alien arias or angelic lullabies. And just as quickly as they arrive, the green and pink ghosts vanish.
Unlike the creative liberties I took with the volcano study, I used little to no imagination with this one. A true wonder to behold.
“Study of An Ancient Future” Oil on linen mounted to wooden panel 6x8"
Custom distressed handcrafted frame with clean lines and subtle wear. Included: glass vile with black volcanic sand from painted location.
$1,850
I have always had a thing for ancient creatures. Dinosaurs and megalodons and fossils. Items in the back of my fridge… The whale is one of those creatures that I can’t quite wrap my head around. Their eyes study you with more wisdom than feels comfortable, and their size can intimidate the most sturdy. I once sang to a humpback whale only a few feet away and heard it sing back. I don’t know what it all meant but it is something I will never forget. I hope these creatures will continue to thrive.
“Study of Horse With No Name” Oil on linen mounted to wooden panel 9x12”
Custom distressed handcrafted frame with clean lines and subtle wear. Included: glass vile with black volcanic sand from painted location.
$3,600
For the past few thousand years or so (some huge amount of time) the Icelandic horse has been bred only with other Icelandic horses. They allow no other horses onto the island and if a horse leaves, it cannot return. The result is an unusual looking specimen with long hair, short legs and a house-pet-like demeanor. And since there are no predators in Iceland of any kind to bother them, nor has there been any sort of real conflict or wars or much to inflict any sort of trauma, the horses seem to be more like playful dogs with not a care in the world. Yet, seen in the vast void of the otherworldly terrain there, the contrast doesn’t seem to add up, and leaves me feeling some strange sort of way.
“The Wolf Moon” Oil on linen 8x10"
Custom distressed handcrafted frame with clean lines and subtle wear. Included: glass vile with black volcanic sand from painted location.
$2,700
I was born on a super moon. A fact that my mother constantly reminded me of when wanting to inspire a little extra effort for me to finish my homework, or get that C+ up to a B-, or when she would over-excitedly show her friend the cover of an art magazine with my work on it. A proud mom, and she was sure to let them know that her son was born on a super moon.
Well, I’m not sure of the real significance of a super moon, nor the affects it may have on birth, other than being a little extra bright that night; but I will say that during my first night in Iceland, just after the new year, some scientists were eager to declare that for the first and last time in more years than is probably true, there was to be a wolf moon lasting three nights. My first thought was, who names these things and what sort of process does it have to go through in order to be official?
Regardless, each of those three nights were something special, so much so, that even though there were only three hours of daylight during my visit, the bright moon gave enough light to see for an easy stroll around the landscape; not that I was brave enough to venture into the arctic cold night.
I did however manage to capture this little sparkle.