roaming around...

ROAMING AROUND

This morning I woke up early and had

to be somewhere around 10am, so I 

thought I would head over to the Los Ranchos

grower's market.

This market is where I sold my very first ornament

and my very first painting.

I think the painting was an 11x14" and I

sold it to my neighbor for $35.

I can't even remember which ornaments I sold,

I was just so happy that actual people were

interested in what I made!

So when I went to the market today, 

I was really going to see my good friend Jillian.

She and her husband Kerry have been gardening like crazy 

and have the BEST tomatoes.

It was Flower Days at the market and

there were a of cut flowers.

 sunflowers and plums

 look at all of those yummy vegetables!

 onions galore

 look at the beautiful gladiolas!

 a tub of sunflowers

 I think this is a lovely photo

 Jerusalem artichoke blooms. Who knew?

 My friend Jillian and her husband Kerry.

I bought $8 worth of tomatoes and ate three before I got home.

They sold out of everything!

 beautiful still life of sunflowers

 little bouquets

 After I left the market, I went by Los Poblanos.

The sunflowers were blooming right beside the road.

 look at those puffy little clouds

 more suns

 a peach tree ready for harvest

 Cosmos are still in bloom.

The yarrow is spent.

 my favorite giraffe

 The ditch banks are starting to change color

 lilly pads

 Can someone tell me what this is?

It looks like sweet peas but I know it's not.

 Daylilies are in bloom!

 Roses and bachelor buttons are still blooming.

 Trumpet vine

 cattails

 My favorite photo of the day.

The softness of the sunflower leaves and the mountains.

I may paint this tomorrow.

 another nice scene

 The house with all of the phlox and cannas.

So pretty!

 The fields are planted!

I think there's corn and chile.

two horses enjoying the grass

 trumpet vine shadows

 more trumpet vine shadows

 the old Corrales church.

 An up-close look at what is in the adobe.

Mud, rocks, straw.

So cool.

window view 

After photographing the church,

I headed back towards home.

It was already getting hot and

I needed to prep a bunch of panels.

All in all, a great day!

What did you do today?

in the studio...

IN THE STUDIO.....

"OVERLOOK"

8X8"

oil

My first studio painting in a while!

This was from an image taken during a paint out up in Questa, NM.

I fell in love with this canyon and the river at the bottom.

This is a place called Sheep's Crossing 

(didn't see a sheep crossing anywhere)

 in the Wild Rivers Recreation area.

Richard Alan Nichols did a demo at this location

 and his work enticed me to buy some new paint colors:

Cobalt Blue and Radiant Violet.

I haven't popped them open yet but will soon.

Gosh, I just love painting landscapes.

There is something so special about our state - 

the open skies, the vast mesas, the vegetation,

the water (for which we are so thankful),

the canyons and ridges, the formations,

I could go on.

I never get tired of painting New Mexico!

This painting is part of my 150 CHALLENGE, 

which will be finished by my ART GARDEN PARTY

happening Sunday, September 3rd.

I hope!

back in the flower field

 BACK IN THE FLOWER FIELD

 I had a chance to paint this past Sunday with my friend Barbara Clark.

We painted at one of our favorite gardens in Corrales.

I found a shady spot under the trees and set up my gear.

As I was setting up, a mama turkey

and four babies walked into my line of vision near the tomato plants.

They were SO cute!

The babies, I mean.

The mama just stared at me like she meant business

and I better not come any closer.

I didn't.

And I forgot to get a photo!

 This is my shady spot under the peach trees

 I did not want to get out of my bed on Sunday morning and almost didn't go.

I grabbed a limited palette - 
titanium white, cad yellow light, alizarin permanent, and ultramarine blue. 

 Man, I did not realize how hard it is (for me) to 

work with a limited palette.

There are some light magenta-looking hollyhocks 

in the background and if someone can tell me how to get that

color with only those four colors, let me know, because

I say it's IMPOSSIBLE.

You need a permanent rose, or a quinacridone magenta!

THIS color!

This was a beautiful hollyhock and

I didn't paint it because, 

well, I couldn't make it happen.

 coming along

"EARLY MORNING"

6x8"

I actually like the finished painting.

It has a soft, impressionistic feel.

I tried adding some magenta but it looked out of place.

Maybe a limited palette has its good points!

I finished that painting and wanted to paint 

something bigger but I didn't want to move

my chair out from the cozy shade.

As I looked around, I spotted Barb painting away.

She was in a little field of hollyhocks, coneflowers,

and other wildflowers.

So, she was my next subject!

I am sketching and blocking in here.

The painting has too much yellow but I was tired

of mixing greens and will do more work in the studio.

Not sure if this one is finished yet.

I will sit with it for a while.

So Barb and I were both happy and energized

when we finished. 

I hadn't actually painted since Questa on June 24, 

so I needed to get back to it.

Now on to the next one!

a look back to move forward

A LOOK BACK TO MOVE FORWARD 

There are times in the life of an artist

where you don't paint.

You just don't.

It could be a creativity block.

It could be no time or energy.

It could be no motivation.

It could be that it's too hot or cold in your studio.

Anyway, I haven't painted since my

plein air trip to Questa, which was on June 24th.

That's a long time for me.

So, to get myself motivated, I thought I

would post some paintings I've done in the past,

mostly for commissions or fundraisers.

Some were painted in my old acrylic style and

I noticed that there are a lot of flower paintings.

It's interesting to see that I was doing more studio

work instead of plein air work.

Things just keep on changin'.

 a landscape commission

 sunflower commission

 working on balloon poster painting

 black and white dahlia painting

large sunflower commission

 starting a 150 CHALLENGE show

 fundraiser painting

 commission - ditches of Los lunas

 fundraiser painting - Chama River

 working on Weems Artfest poster

 birdhouse fundraiser

 Balloon coffee mug painting

 floral commission

 floral commission

 commission for Santa Fe hotel

 commission for a doctor's office

 hanging the tryptich

 another landscape/floral tryptich

 sunflower commission

 gate and hollyhock commission

 Sandia shadows commission

 hospital commission

 floral poppy commission

 Christmas commission of wedding bouquet

 fundraiser invitation card painting

 large floral painting

 sunflower commission

 Sandia mountain commission

 large floral painting

 another floral commission

 evening sunset over the Sandia mountains

 landscape commission

 painted chair for fundraiser

 Placitas commission

 large sunflower painting

 work in progress for fundraiser for New Day

 hospital commission

 Taos commission

 Chimayo commission

 ballet shoes for fundraiser

Finished shoes

 a show organized in San Francisco by my friend Tom

 Balloon Posters

Artfest Posters

 My friend Tom checking out paintings
(miss you Tom)

 Playing with postcard styles for my "Swept Away" show

 Little Michaela at my first outdoor show
(She is thirteen now!)

 Artfest paintings

Artfest Helpers - thank you!

 John Corbett at Artfest

Artfest Helpers - thank you!

 Set up for a show

Robyn and her painting

 Helpers at Balloon Fiesta - thank you!

 My first 150 CHALLENGE show

 My second 150 CHALLENGE show

My loyal followers - thank you Judith and June!

 working

 getting ready for a studio tour

painting of Puye Cliff Dwellings
Gifted to the Santa Ana Pueblo for Balloon Fiesta

commission in the works

This is only the tip of the iceberg of everything I've done over
the last 15 years.

So if you ever get tired and think you can't do it - 
Guess what? YOU CAN.
AND YOU HAVE.

Art is life, guys.
I'm going to pick up my brush and go make some.