Still Pumping, Highway 371 North of Magnolia, Columbia County

Still Pumping

8X10, Oil on Wood
Available

Oil was discovered in Arkansas in sizable quantities in January of 1921. The first discoveries were in Ouachita County just to the east of Columbia County. Oil fields in Arkansas are almost entirely in the southern part of the state which were largely swampy millions of years ago when the Gulf of Mexico extended much further to the north than it does today. The region boomed during the 1920's as over 3000 wells pumped at full capacity and exhausted much of the supply before the end of the decade. Some oil is still being produced though as evidenced by this modern pumping station still in use. This location is on Highway 371 and is a few miles north of Magnolia.

It was not intentional but my color scheme turns out to be a nice homage to a beautiful mural in Magnolia telling some of the story of the oil boom as it related specifically to Magnolia and Columbia County. Magnolia has some fantastic murals!

Speaking of which, that painting is still in works. I'm terribly anxious to finish it but I just can't rush it. I think it would do terrible injustice to a city I found to be a gem. So, you'll have to keep waiting as I try to make it perfect...a tall order made tougher by the fact I don't like I'm doing particularly fine work at the moment. I can't put my finger on precisely what I think the problem is but they just aren't living up to my expectations.