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Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods goes on display at Hutchinson Center for the Arts
Diamond Knispel is an acrylic painter located in the Northwoods of Minnesota. Her work features flora and fauna in saturated, lush scenes. She uses her work to explore the emotions of daily life, using each painting to zoom in on a particular critter nestled among botanicals and butterflies as a way to give voice to…
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The Painted Turtle 2
Who doesn’t love a fancy painted turtle? I am finding I am really digging painting them. They have such an interesting smooth vs. wrinkle, bright orange/yellow vs, dark gray/green thing going on, and they are super cute to boot😍 Anyway you may have noticed this is my second painted turtle in recent months, the first…
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The Sweet Monarch of the Plains
The American Bison is such a keystone species. It is hard to imagine there was a time when they were almost wiped out. When I went through Yellowstone there were so many it seemed that they ruled the park. I was riding through on my motorcycle, considering the sheer audacity of a two wheeled object…
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Sweet Smelling Sniffer
This skunk wanders along, sniffing at the world, while the busy buzzing bees go about their business. The soft air smells so good. The pollen and fragrant forest scents floats on the breeze, bringing with them a happy hive of activity as the critters start moving about. The skunk considers his next snack as he…
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Peering from the Underbrush
You never know what secret critter may be peering at you from the wild. A sticky stick bug camouflaged in the branches, a moth sitting as still as a leaf, or a small feline watching, waiting😻 This piece is one of those paint doodles I create from time to time. Started as a lesson plan…
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The Painted Turtle
I am a slow painter. I spent years preparing my last body of work, “Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods,” and there are still pieces that I am working on that did not make it in. As I neared the end of working on the show I had this urge to paint a turtle to that…
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Aqueous Life
11:30 pm • The beavers are active again. This Beaver is joined by a River Otter under the moon, stars, and water lilies. They are in a space all their own, floating, flowing (almost dancing), as underwater critters do. The nighttime escapades of the nocturnal critters have taken over while the rest of the world…
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Starrey Nosed Gardener
10:30 pm • Somewhere in the Northwoods a Star Nosed Mole tunnels. It adeptly digs and claws through the dirt, aerating as it goes. The Star Nosed Mole is like a farmer and a fisherman. He tills the soil (from below) and harvests the odd bugs. He builds passageways in the dirt with tunnels leading…
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Fly Me to the Moon
10:00 pm • The moon is on the rise. The clear lake captures it’s beauty perfectly on the placid waters. A fish jumps here and there but they are beginning to relax. Now it is the loons turn. This bird has been making soft calls throughout the day but now it’s time for the real…
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Dusky Duck
9:00 pm • The sun is setting over the lake too. The dragon and damsel flies are zipping around after mosquitos and the frogs are feasting on water bugs. This male Mallard, aka Greenhead, watches from his spot on the lake shore. Mallards are very independent birds. The female’s hatch the eggs without the help…
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Sunset Washes Over
8:00 pm • The sun is beginning to set and the colors are mixing together. It has been a long day for this Grey Wolf. Tired and weary on the inside, this stoic wolf appears strong, confident, and in charge on the outside. But there is hope as evening comes. Maybe the Grey Wolf will…
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Lettuce Love
6:00 pm • Wild lettuce is a delicious spicy green that can be harvested from almost any local, uncultivated area. It looks like a tall dandelion but it isn’t. It is sometimes considered a weed, but what is a weed but a misunderstood plant? Humans and wild critters alike are known to munch on wild…