I'm workin'

BACK TO WORK

Man, this has been a different year for me.

A new granddaughter (happy happy happy)

The loss of a good friend (so sad)

My favorite cousin and traveling buddy moving away (sad too)

BUT - I am working on the Retro Challenge now and I am

getting in the groove.

For those of you who don't know, the Retro Challenge 

started on March 1, 2014, and will culminate with a huge exhibition on 

Friday, September 26, at Weems Gallery Uptown.

It's my old-school retro-style acrylic/ink on gallery wrap canvas.

The kind of work I don't do anymore, except for people who request it.

It's 150 8x8 and 8x10 paintings for $150 each.

It's 50 hand-painted ornaments for $40 each.

It's 25 larger paintings priced accordingly.

It's a big artist's reception, music, food, and good times!

So, this is how it works:

You watch the paintings as they are posted here.

You find one (or several) that you like and do one of the following:

Email the gallery at weems@weemsgallery.com or Dee at dshadowtail@aol.com

or

Call the gallery at 505-293-6133 or Dee at 505-792-1030

and

Give your painting titles, numbers, and payment information.

On opening night, if no one else chooses your painting, it's yours for $150.

If two or more people want the same painting, a name will be drawn out of a hat.

After all multiples are sold, you may go and remove the painting you want from the wall.

Ornaments and larger paintings may be purchased on opening night.

 This is a larger painting I am starting today.

It's 36x36" gallery wrap canvas and will be a landscape of forest trees.

These are ornaments waiting for painting.

I will show progress on these so you can see how they are created.

They are actually more detailed than some paintings and tedious to boot.

Well worth $40!

i still haven't taken any day trips - and I am itching.

I'm thinking possibly next week, so stay tuned.

scenes from a wedding

We had our first wedding at the house last weekend.

A small one, twenty-five guests.

Lots of cleaning and sprucing up!

Below are a few photos:

 This is a view of the small courtyard right by my studio door.

The guests entered this way to go to the backyard.

 A sign my daughter asked me to make at the entrance to the courtyard.

Just pallet boards cut and painted with acrylic paint.

 The wedding area.

This bride wanted a very simple wedding with no frills.

As you can see, the grass is not totally green yet.

 The bride and her father walking down the "aisle."

 Saying their vows.

The celebrant said that she specializes in offbeat, non-traditional weddings.

My daughter Maggie and my granddaughter Sawyer, watching the proceedings from inside.

We're thinking we might have a new career path - planning weddings!

We are having a backyard wedding this weekend.

One of my daughter's friends is getting married in our back courtyard.

Needless to say, I have done no painting this week.

Instead I've been pulling weeds, cleaning flower beds, cleaning my studio,

and about a million other things to make the house and yard look presentable.

I will post photos tomorrow.

I'm also making a sign at the entry to the courtyard that says,

 "Happily Ever After Starts Here."

It should be fun - I am not actually "attending" the wedding, I will be babysitting my little granddaughterwhile my kiddos attend the wedding. 

It's small, only about 25 people. And there will be a barbeque afterwards. 

Maybe I'll be invited to attend that, lol.

I am stoked to have nothing to do but paint next week.

I also want to go to Weems and see the show of Mary Ann Weems work that opens tonight.

She's the person who gave me my start in my career and I want to support her too.  

Painting is coming along nicely. I am excited about creating my linework and have so many ideas lined up. And I am itching to take a day trip and do some painting on location!

I'll also be starting on my first large painting for my September show next week.

Postcards are ready to be mailed, so if you are not on my mailing list and want one, drop me an email at dshadowtail@aol.com.

Happy Spring!

new blog

 "SUNSET FROM SANTA FE

8x8"

#134

One of the newest Retro Challenge paintings - 

the view of the Algodones plateau coming back from a late Santa Fe day trip.

To see all of the completed paintings so far, click here.

To purchase a Retro paintings, see the link on the right side of this page.

Next week, I am starting on ornaments and my first large painting.

It should be fun!

NEW PERSONAL BLOGSITE

You guys know that I've been playing around with a personal blogsite for a couple of years.

I write there when I have time and my goal for this blog

is for it to be a personal space where I can write what I want,

post photos of what I want, ramble on about anything and everything,

and just be my personal journal to the world.

I keep having trouble with google - things like passwords 

and not being able to get where I want to go.

SO, I have moved my personal blog to wordpress and changed the title slightly.

Instead of mudbaths and moonbeams, it is now called "mudbaths or moonbeams.

It will be ready to roll soon.

I have a huge wordpress manual and if I ever get time,

I'm going to learn all the ins and outs of wordpress.

Once I finish that and am totally wordpress "smart", I will move my art blog there too.

Until then, I will just keep writing and posting photographs of my life and activities.

I hope you will join me on my journey.....

LIFE AND WORK

Life is just rolling right along.

I've been busy with the retro Challenge, getting my back yard cleaned up and

ready for a wedding this weekend, enjoying my new granddaughter, trying to work out, 

going to physical therapy for achilles tendonitis, and am itching to get out on the road again.

The Retro Challenge is going well. I've mapped out a schedule that (hopefully)

will let me finish a few weeks before the show opens at Weems, so I can catch my breath.

It was harder than I thought, especially at the beginning - painting with acrylics again.

My acrylics are looser and much runnier than oils. And dry out faster.

And once the painting is actually done - holy crap, 

it's still not done, I have to do all of the linework!

But as I see them on the wall, I am starting to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Why have a challenge is it's not going to be a little tough and stretch your capabilities?

I am planning a day trip soon, actually several of them.

I will probably take my plein air oil gear

and take tons of photos for the acrylic paintings.

The thing about using photos for painting - 

some artists do and some artists don't.

For me, if I use a photo, it takes me right back to that beautiful 

place and time and after the initial block in I put the photo away

and the painting takes on a life all its own.

I consider my photo a jumping off point for creativity.

For retro Challenge paintings - 

To view all completed paintings click here.

The Weems Show is in September.

If you see a painting you like and want to have, follow the 

instructions in the link on the right hand side of this page.

Viva Spring!

139 "HIDDEN VIEW"

"HIDDEN VIEW"

10x8

#139

acrylic/ink on gallery wrap canvas

This is my newest and I have to admit, I'm a little behind schedule.

More later, I just wanted to get it posted.

140 "TAOS FLOWERS"

"TAOS FLOWERS"

8x8"

#140

LOVE this church.

To read more about the painting, please click here.

new Retro painting

"MORADA MEADOW"

10x8"

acrylic/ink on canvas

I loved layering different hues of purple throughout this meadow.

If you'd like to read more about the painting and go to the Retro Challenge blogsite,

click HERE.

new retro paintings

 149

 148

 

 147

I am finally getting in the groove - whew, it has taken what feels like forever 

to embrace the linework again.

Now I am loving it!

I am almost finished with 146 and will be posting that tonight.

My main goal for Saturday is to sit down and make a big chart

showing how many weeks I have until September 26.

Then I will spend time dividing up my larger paintings

and ornaments into those weeks - mainly so I don't have a million 

paintings and ornaments to do close to the show opening.

I also am making labels for my postcards for the first time!

I have always written my postcard addresses by hand.

It seems more personal and when I'm writing,

I'm thinking back to that person and the painting they bought,

and the experiences that we had then and have shared since then.

Some clients are first time buyers, some are one-time buyers,

and some are fanatical in their collecting.

I love them all! 

I am also organizing my first day trip of the new year and I can't wait.

I think it's going to be a loop - Tesuque, Chimayo, Truchas,

and back down through Abiquiu and Black Mesa.

That's taking on a lot for one day, I may end up having to tone it down, but we'll see.
I'm trying to hold off until spring is really here so I can see lots of green in the landscape.

I will be taking photos for the retro Challenge and plan to take
 my oil plein air gear so I can paint out on location.

I am really missing that right now.

I also want to set up a small plein air group to paint my neighbor's back yard.

It will soon be full of larkspurs and roses and wildflowers.

Bill's Yard

Thanks for watching and supporting my work!
To see all of the Retro challenge paintings, click HERE.

Remember, the Retro Challenge show opens Friday, September 26, 2014!

150 "OVER THE FENCE"

 "OVER THE FENCE"

10x8"

acrylic/ink on canvas

#150

To read more about this painting and to view

all 150 Retro Challenge paintings, please click here

or go to www.deeretrochallenge.blogspot.com