This oil painting depicts an Oregon rain forest, which is largely coniferous, showing Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, West Coast Hemlock and Western Yew. The painting features loggers of the early 1900s walking out of the woods on an old skidrow. "These roads were built in the days of horse and oxen logging, constructed of small logs to ease the drag of the logs being pulled by the animals and to keep the logs from miring down in the mud. The tools being carried by the loggers are: Springboards; usually 2" x 8" -5' to 6' long, rounded at one end where a half-moon sharpened, knife-edged steel blade was attached to bite into solid wood in the notched tree trunk; they also carried crosscut saws, and bottles of kerosene used to free saws of pitch, sledges for driving wedges and a can of kerosene. The packs were used for lunched, extra wedges, miscellaneous tools, undercutters (for the buckers) drinking water, etc." (Background information provided by the Oregon State Library, see http://osulibrary.orst.edu/libraries_and_collections/art/info.html#Brauner), Ken Brauner was born in Corvallis, Oregon. A veteran of World War II, he returned to Oregon and worked in the timber industry for 30 years. His only formal art training was obtained at the University of Oregon, where he was a student for a few years after getting out of the Army infantry., http://www.kenbrauner.com/, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
