Happy New Year!

It's been busy, which is why I have only some small progress to report on the book. I am going through a thorough edit of format, spelling, typos and punctuation. I am a little over 20% complete. The book cover is in progress. I have some other work to do as well, including book descriptions (very important!). That is it for now.

Wild Man Book - Status Update

The compilation of articles is complete. I've organized the book in the following way:

Chapter 1 - What is a Wild Man?
Chapter 2 - The Stories by State, in Alphabetical Order (Alabama-Nevada)
Chapter 3 - The Stories by State, in Alphabetical Order (New Jersey-Wisconsin)
Chapter 4 - The Stories - Canada
Chapter 5 - The Stories - Other Countries
Chapter 6 - Conclusion and Recap
Chapter 7 - What is Bigfoot?
Chapter 8 - Origin of Bigfoot
Chapter 9 - Timeline of Evolution
Chapter 10 - Glossary of Terms

Right now the length is a nice 76,500 words. There are some great stories. In many, people just didn't know what they were seeing. There's a classic from 1839 in Wisconsin and one from outside the U.S. Both must reads. The 'What is Bigfoot?' and 'Origin of Bigfoot' are chapters added to address reader questions about "What else could a hairy ape-like wild man be?" I'm in the process of editing it all. Format, spelling, grammar, ya-da, ya-da.

The Writing is Complete!

What's left is a lot of editing. Plus all the marketing, e.g. Descriptions of the book in various numbers of words, the design of the book cover, etc. I have the book cover art. It's my painting. The book contains over 130 articles from newspapers from 38 states and a number of countries. The articles go back to 1839 ( a fascinating one from Wisconsin in 1839). Be aware that WILD MEN (probably the title) are stories about humans and woodland ape like beasts like those huge, hairy, non-human primates that we think roam the woods of North America. Sometimes the stories make it pretty clear which is which. Sometimes not. The journalistic writing is different enough back in the 1800s and early 1900s that I've added a short glossary of terms you (and definitely me) were unsure of their meanings. I have also added a few pages on what I think Bigfoot is, man or ape since it has characteristics of both. I also delve into its possible origins. Fun stuff.

WILD MAN Book draft now at 70,000 words!

I wanted to explore this topic, the Wild Man, but had no real good idea of what I'd find. It's a matter of finding old newspaper articles and compiling the stories. I had a feeling it would be a mix of mysterious sightings of something that could be man or beast. I was right, although more man than I would have thought. As part of the book, I will be: 1) compiling statistics regarding the stories, e.g. what states, wild man description, what the average/usual sighting consists of, etc.; 2) a glossary of terms and words that I ran into that serves to show how our language, or at least our journalistic writing may have changed since the 1800s and early 1900s.; 3) as a bonus, I'm working on my own interpretation of what I thing Bigfoot is, its origins, etc.

I'm closing in on the completion of the compilation of stories.

The bookcover will be a painting of mine.

Wild Man Stories

The compilation of Wild Man articles from newspapers so far involve 36 states and two Canadian provinces. The newspaper sources are all based in the US so the stats are understandable. There are several countries as well, mostly Asian.

Newspaper language was a little different back around the turn of the century and before. Sometimes stilted, but usually amusing. Sometimes dismissive of some of the sightings and sometimes editorial in nature, but it's easy to see that wild men or similar creatures were witnessed often. Sometimes captured. Often hairy. Muscular. Large. Mostly naked.

Now at 46,000 words. Nowhere near complete.

Entries in the Portrait Exhibition at the Trescott Street Gallery, Taunton

I have emailed in two images, one each of the portraits I have done. There is a first line filter. Each of the pieces has to be accepted into the juried exhibition. The images are below. The top one I've named a Family Portrait. The bottom one is an Artist Rendition of the Wild Man of Bluff Creek.

The Three Painting I Entered in the Attleboro Arts Museum Exhibit Are:

Dropping Off and Entering Three of My Paintings in the Attleboro Arts Museum Members Exhibition

Tomorrow I will be dropping off two abstract pieces and a realistic-type painting in the member show. I've been reluctant to enter anything other than impressionistic or realistic paintings, but there is a prize for abstract, so why not? I have some experimental paintings that might catch a judge's eye.

Further, on my compilation of Wild Man stories, I am up to 30,000 words so far with quite a long way to go. I've added more articles from additional states and countries. I'm sure I'm over 20 states and close to a half dozen countries currently. While many of the stories might seem like fodder for Bigfoot enthusiasts, many others are truly accounts of feral humans running around in the forests, acting kind of nutty.

Trescott Street Gallery, Taunton Hosting a Juried Exhibit of Portraits

I am working on a portrait for a local competition to be held at the Trescott Street Gallery in Taunton. Digital copies of potential entries need to be sent via email. Juried entries which pass first muster will compete for prizes. I will be submitting a couple, one done some time ago, the other I expect to finish soon.

Portraits are not my strength, but I'm having some fun with the attempt.

Attleboro Arts Museum Art Auction Last Night

We attended the Art Auction last night. More pieces than last year went up for sale and it seemed more crowded with attendees.  Very impressive, again (we went last year as well). We left a little early, but both my donated works had bids, so I won't have to go pick them up.

Last year one of mine was very actively bid on and both sold. I'm sure to hear from the Museum with the results this next week.

Wild Man book - Now up to 20,000 words

What is a ‘Wild Man’?

If you’re thinking of a wild man like I am, you’re most likely thinking of a feral man, not a wild one. (And when we’re talking about wild men, let’s be frank. We’re talking about wild women, too, even though there are far more stories or sightings of wild men than women, at least so far in my research) Feral animals were once part of a civilized or domesticated world. That’s the definition. For whatever reason, some humans decided to depart from civilization. They escape to the woods, the forests, or anywhere else to get away and live ‘in the wild’. They may often live on the edge of civilization and sometimes cross paths with it. Wild men might do this on purpose to steal food or spy on their civilized brethren. Or it might be an accidental sighting by a hiker, a farmer or hunter.

Wild men became wild men for many reasons. There were escaped convicts, runaway slaves, military deserters, criminals, insane, homeless, vagrants, and just those who were enticed by the call of the wild, wilderness, outside, solitude or whatever. Of course, there were other ‘wild men’ that witnesses thought to be too hairy, large, ape-like to be human. Sometimes the newspaper stories, based on witness accounts, were too difficult to determine whether the wild man was human or not.

I'll be making some tabulation of the sightings, but in general, it seems that wild men are naked, mostly hairy, are rugged and athletic-looking. Some are giants and really hairy. Some wear bits of clothing and carry a weapon, like a club. They are mischievous, breaking into sheds, barns and livestock pens, stealing anything that can eaten, live or otherwise. Some are confused with animals, like gorillas, or even bears.

The old newspaper articles are the most fun, because of a number of reasons. We just don't read writing like old newspaper accounts. Witness accounts are quite detailed, but likely as unreliable as current ones. Nevertheless, patterns do develop. More to come.

Check this new review of Sivapithecus Americanus on Smashwords

Review by: Belgo on Oct. 28, 2015 :  
Excellent story!!! This was a very interesting tale, yet very plausible. There was a lot of science included, which was informative but did not get tedious. I think this could be a terrific movie! Bravo, Mr. Gibson on a great story.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/535464

New Book - Wild Men (Unnamed) at 11,000 words.

Thus far, with only 11,000 words, I have complete newspaper articles from 17 states, two Canadian provinces, and a couple foreign nations. Most are older stories, i.e. early 1920s back to 1839. For those more recent I am using the headlines and a brief summary of the article.

You must know. This is not a Bigfoot book. Wild men did exist. Feral humans lived on the edge of civilization in the nineteenth century. Others were more the freak show type of wild men, while according to the witnesses' accounts, many others may have been wild animals, like those huge bipedal hairy non-human primates we all know about. This compilation of accounts will allow you to reach your own conclusion.

Starting a new book....Not Zombies this time...It's Wild Men.

The book is unnamed as of yet, but the subject will be the written accounts of the wild men of North American. The older stories of wild men have fascinated me for the last number of months. The Indians knew about them, but the new arrivals from Europe did not. Stories were passed on from mouth to mouth until newspapers began to report on them, beginning in the 1830s, as the growth in numbers of newspapers exploded. Some of these were wild men were just that. They may have been jail escapees, crazies, slaves on the run, deserters, criminals, circus and exhibited fakes or just those in search of the quiet, solitude and beauty of nature and perhaps more than one huge, bipedal, hairy primate that have stalked the forests for perhaps thousands of years.

There are plenty of stories to tell. The headlines are sometimes amusing, and outright laughable. Newspapers were often skeptical of any reports or sightings and did not shy away from disparaging witnesses as having overactive imaginations or too much to drink.

Thus far, 3000 words with many more to come.

Repair of Painting

I may be able to publish my crudely edited video of the repair, but until then here's what I did.

1. Cut out a patch of canvas big enough to cover the tear.
2. Take the painting out of the frame.
3. Apply the patch over the tear on the back of the canvas, using an appropriate adhesive. I used a medium.
4. Weight down the patch with books, making sure there is aluminum foil or waxed paper between the books and the patch so glue doesn't stick to the books.
5. Once the patch dries, paint over the front of the painting where the tear was. It's just a touch up of the small lines of the tear, but make sure the strokes, color and body of the paint sufficiently cover the tear.
6. Let it dry. You're done. Except for a small patch in the back of the painting, it would be hard to tell you had a tear.
Repairing a tear in a painting