a new year awaits...

Sunset on Christmas Day in Los Lunas, New Mexico

Wow, I cannot believe that 2010 is almost over! I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Mine was hectic, as usual, and as soon as Christmas Day was over, I caught a cold and have been on the couch ever since.

My oil paints from Gamblin arrived today, I'm SO excited. I decided to start out with the smaller tubes of color and chose 19 of them. After I've used them for awhile, I will cut it down to about 9 or 10. They are so beautiful I don't want to mess them up!

Okay, I'm gonna go and rest some more but I will have a post tomorrow. Happy New Year to all!

A present for my sweet Lalie, "REMEMBER THE TIME", her wedding bouquet, 36"x36"

Love you girl!

Merry Christmas Eve

We took a day trip to Madrid, NM, on Tuesday - just to get away from the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, etc. It was awesome! We ate at a place called "THE HOLLAR", which if you can believe it, has delicious southern food. We had fried pickles for an appetizer and a wonderful locally brewed root beer. This photo is a view on the only main street running through Madrid. For more info on this quaint little town, click here.

This old house looked like it was abandoned, but there was a Christmas wreath out and it said "Merry Christmas" on the front door. Hmm....

This is the little adobe Catholic church at Golden, NM. It has been restuccoed a few times and I have painted it when it was also solid white. It was so cute, they had red bows on the doors. This will be a painting one day!


This is my boy Roy half asleep with his head on the door going down into my studio. I think he's patiently waiting for his Christmas bone!
I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and eat lots of great food, and enjoy to company of friends and family. Love you all....Dee

"LET IT SNOW" last daily painting of 2010

"LET IT SNOW"

8"X10"

SOLD

This will probably be the last daily painting for this year - a beautiful setting of Santuario de Chimayo at Christmas time. Purchase information is below:

let it snow...I think

We had about 4 or so inches of snow last night. Much needed moisture - but this tree didn't think so. The weight of the snow collapsed it right out of the ground. My birds will be disappointed to see the flowing plum go. They had a nice hanging bird feeder that will have to be relocated.

My 2 year old Bella hasn't seen a lot of snow. She's looking out over the back field and I can just imagine her thoughts, "What is this wet, mushy stuff, where do I pee, and how soon can I get back into the studio and a warm blanket?" She did have a lot of fun bounding around though.
In other news: prayers for my cousin Stacy, whose dad passed away this morning - love is flowing through the wires.
I have done NO Christmas shopping yet and just want to stay inside and snuggle. I also have studio work to complete by this weekend, so better get some breakfast and get to work. Have a wonderful day and thanks to all who snapped up paintings in the STUDIO SALE.

STUDIO SALE!!

"MIDNIGHT CROSS"

11"X14" on board

$99- free shipping

SOLD

I have cleaned my studio and am offering several paintings at great prices plus free shipping.

There is a Paypal button under each one. If you wish to purchase, please click on the button, and you may pay with your Paypal account or a credit card. Thank you and I hope they find nice homes.

STUDIO SALE!!

"VALLEY ROOSTER"

10"X8"

$65 - free shipping

SOLD

STUDIO SALE!!

"NEAR PLACITAS"

8"X10" on board

$65 - free shipping

SOLD

STUDIO SALE!!

"ALONG THE ROAD"

8"X10"

$65 - free shipping

SOLD

STUDIO SALE!!

"JEMEZ CHURCH"

8"X10"

$65 - free shipping

SOLD

STUDIO SALE!!

"HOLLYHOCKS ON BLUE, TAOS"

10"X8" oil on board

$65 - free shipping

Buy this painting on PayPal
Price: $65.00 plus 00 s/h
Or, send me an email

STUDIO SALE!

"LOS POBLANOS LAVENDER FIELDS"

8"X10"

$65 - free shipping

SOLD

I am cleaning my studio and I found this quote, which is perfect for the holiday season when we all tend to get stressed and overwhelmed and want to do too much and make everyone happy:

Ring the bells

that still can ring

Forget your

perfect offering

There is a crack

in everything

That's how the

light gets in

Leonard Cohen

Let the light and beauty of Christmas, family, and togetherness into your life.....enjoy serenity, peace, and joy and forget about the perfect present.

This painting is already finished and delivered, but I can't post the things I'm working on right now because they're gifts and I can't show them until after Christmas! I just finished this poppy painting last week and I think it turned out really nice. What you're seeing is the rough stage. Lots to do this week - I put up my Christmas tree last night. It looks beautiful - all twinkly. I'll post a photo tomorrow night. I still have not bought one Christmas gift yet. Some people may be getting New Year's presents this year!

a found painting...

LITTLE FOUND PAINTING

I found this little painting when I was rearranging my canvas and I can't even remember its name! I think I painted it for a plein air event. It was from the Elena Gallegos area up near the tram. If anyone is interested, it's available for purchase for $65. I think it's 5"x7" and is acrylic. Email me, let me know, and I will send you a Paypal invoice. Shipping will be $5.

Also, I have some birthday photos to post, but lots of things to do this morning, so that will be later. Enjoy this beautiful Monday!

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!

Wow, I am 56 years old - well, technically not until 8:42pm this evening, but I am going to enjoy

the day fully. It's funny, I am REALLY happy right now. I may not be the perfect size, there may be things I want to accomplish that I haven't, but I am healthy, and my family is healthy, and that's all that matters. I love the quote, "Just to be is a blessing...just to live is holy."

I LOVE Christmas - today I'm getting my tree, meeting up with my daughters, art store, maybe a favorite thrift store, exercise, maybe going to dinner or having dinner in. Tomorrow we'll decorate the tree, then do massive amounts of shopping over the next two weeks (well, not too massive). Then on Christmas Eve, we'll put up luminarias, get some tamales, and just hang out and enjoy the season. I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes I got when I opened up my computer! I LOVE you all - family, friends, collectors, you make my life complete. I'm going to capture the day on camera, so I'll post some photos tonight. Bye!

The Chimayo painting is SOLD.

If you would like one created for you, I am painting a couple more for people in the next few days.

Send me an email and I will send you a Paypal invoice.

"SANTUARIO IN SNOW"

"SANTUARIO IN SNOW"

8"X10"

SOLD

I finally fit in the time to paint a Christmas painting! This is Santuario de Chimayo, one of the most beautiful churches in the world. I would love to see it in snow and I would love to see it on Christmas Eve. Someday. Purchase information is below. If you are interested, click on the Paypal button.

finished commissions

Los Ranchos Holiday Shop and Stroll...

The cute little screech owl at THE FAT FINCH shop.

My little prissy hat at the junk store

A little old antique tricycle. We had a great day! I bought a cross (for my birthday) - I'll show it later. I also bought three felt stuffed birds to go on my advent wreath, three bird ornaments, and a soup pot that had a ladle and six little soup bowls. It was so interesting and I just couldn't pass it up. I'll post it later too.

what a fun day...antiquing!

A barn owl at THE FAT FINCH shop - he was absolutely beautiful. They also had a little screech owl. I'll show him later. The trainer said he really doesn't screech at all. Beautiful shop.

My cousin and I went to this little store - it was actually more a junk store than an antique store. We started trying on hats and started laughing and could not stop. I had tears coming out of my eyes. Everyone should have a good belly laugh once a week!

I can not describe how beautiful this was. This is at Alameda Greenhouse near my home. They had several rooms like this, it looked like a FIELD of ponsettias. They also had white ones, pink ones, and some lemon and orange trees - with FRUIT ON THEM! It was fantastic and really put us in the Christmas spirit.

Click on the photos for a large image view.

a good day...

MEETING DAY

I went to Albuquerque Museum today to attend the Plein Air Painters of NM Annual Business Meeting, which included an artists' materials swap, a nice luncheon, elections, and a painting demonstration by artist Robert Kuester. It was fun! I sold an easel and some paints and bought these two art books. The business meeting was nice because we only do that once a year and catch up on everything.

We also got a great update on our new, much more interactive website that is really going to streamline everything plus give members much more scope to add input.

The lunch was nice; homemade potato chips with dip, salad with "real" greens (I always judge a place by their salad), three types of sandwiches, and little mini cupcakes for dessert. And we have 191 members! That is just awesome, especially considering that we are only three years old. I met some people I had only talked to online before and saw some old friends and met some new ones. These meetings always leave me so inspired and energized -just knowing that there are like-minded people out there who give their heart and soul to make art and work to encourage others with this great plein air group. Let's go paint!

Tomorrow...it's all about antiques!

new work...and ramblings

"SERIOUS SUNS"

8"X10"

SOLD

"MOUNTAINS AND FLOWERS'

8"X10"

SOLD

"NEAR THE BRIDGE, TAOS"

9"x6"

SOLD
Hello everyone! I would've posted sooner but darn it, I came down with a cold three days ago and have just been laying around. I took some homeopathic ZiCam (this stuff that you spray in your mouth every three hours) and today I feel a lot better. I actually got some work done.

The paintings above are works in progress and have no linework yet. Two are spoken for and one is available. If you are interested, email me. I will probably have the lines completed tomorrow.

It feels really nice to get back the small paintings - I do really miss working on them every day.

I made an advent wreath too! I bought a grapevine wreath at one of the hobby stores for half price and went around the yard today, cutting small pieces of rosemary, holly, pine trees, Japanese bamboo and a few other things. It looks nice and smells really good. Now all I need are advent candles.

SUNFLOWER COMMISSION

I am almost finished with the large sunflower painting. I've taped off the sections and finessed the lines until I couldn't focus! Tomorrow morning I'll go over the whole thing one more time to double check that everything is cohesive and connected and then I will put the first coat of varnish. I'm not going to post it on the blog because I want my customer to have the first peek at it. After they see it, then I will post.

ART MATERIALS SWAP

I'm getting ready for the annual Plein Air Painters of NM luncheon this weekend. It's really cool because we're also having an Art Material Swap during our meeting, a cool lunch, a vote for officers, and also a plein air painting demo by someone, I forget who, (my bad) but he must be pretty good to be doing a demo for all the plein air painters! I plan on taking a couple of plein air easels, some paints, and a few books. Hopefully I can sell or trade them and find a few treasures myself.

CHRISTMAS

There's a lot going on this weekend - all of the antique stores near my house are having their annual Shop and Stroll. Every store has food and drink, lots of people, and good discounts. I think Corrales is also having their own Shop and Stroll this weekend. Man, Christmas is coming way too fast! But I do love it. I am already sick from eating so much food though....ugh.

DAILY PAINTINGS

After this sun painting is finished, I have a couple of small paintings I need to work on, and I am going to try to paint a daily painting or two. I am missing my little 8x8s and 8x10s! Stay tuned...

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving was awesome. So much food...we went to my sister-in-law's house by the river. It was her first Thanksgiving in her new house and we all brought food.

Two turkeys, two stuffings, two mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, Italian green beans, corn, cranberries, sweet potatoes, fruit salad, fudge, brownies, pies, etc. I did take a nice walk down to the river afterwards though. I went to Weight Watchers on Saturday and gained .2 pounds, which is not even half a pound and I worked out almost every day since then. I know I ate too much fudge though. I should hand over the "fudge reins" to someone else in the family! Oh well.

WORK

Right now I'm working on finishing up a large sunflower painting full of tiny little lines. I should be finished in a day or so. Then I move on to a couple of 8x10s (one is suns and one is mountains with flowers), a 6x9 (also sunflowers), a 12x16 (gardenias with butterflies) and then I am going to stop for a day or so and take a breather. I still have more work lined up, but I want to stop painting on the 10th. December 11 is my birthday and that's the day I get my Christmas tree and start preparing for Christmas. I have a couple of family ornaments to make too.

I hope you're all doing well. Thanks to everyone who came and supported me for the show. It was fantastic and I am still feeling the effects of all your love and well wishes. More later....

sunflower detail

This is detail of the linework going into the "SUNFLOWERS WITH CINNAMON" painting that I'm working on. This is a happy painting and I can't wait to see it finished, I'm hoping to have it completed by Sunday.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I'm working out, then baking chocolate chip pumpkin cookies, biscochitos, and fudge. That will probably take up quite a bit of my day. I will post photos!

Anyway, more later.....

commission

"SUNFLOWERS WITH CINNAMON"

30"X24"

This is a sunflower painting I'm working on and I'm liking it so far. When this one is done, I have two 8x10s to complete; one is sunflowers and the other is mountains with flowers. I also have a 12x16 piece with gardenias and butterflies. That will be interesting because I've never painted butterflies or gardenias. I've been thinking about the lines amd I don't think the gardenias will have any lines because they're such a light color. We'll see when I get to that point.

Oh, the photos I have posted below - we went on a day trip Wednesday. First to Jemez, which was beautiful with all of the red hills. And the Gilman tunnels. Then on to Los Alamos. We saw deer and passed by Valle Caldera, the huge nature preserve. And then we went on to Chimayo, which was absolutely beautiful. There was no one there, we were the only travelers at that time. The sun was shining down on the mountains and the church seemed so serene and spiritual. I mean it always seems spiritual, but it was just really beautiful. And there was a moon coming up over the mountains. I took lots of photos so you'll be seeing some paintings of that coming up. Then we went to eat at the newly reopened Rancho de Chimayo restaurant. It was burned in a fire a few years ago and is now beautiful again. I had shrimp enchiladas on blue corn tortillas with a pesto green chile sauce, with white cheese and black beans. Yum! But the sopapillas!!!! Oh my gosh, the hottest and fluffiest things I've ever eaten. We even brought a couple of them home. I would go back and just have sopaipillas - along with the wild honey locally grown in NM. Wonderful day.

So, I cleaned my studio yesterday! And my closet! And went through a bunch of magazines. And a couple of drawers. I always get in the mood to clean after a show is over. I am working out again and am going back to Weight Watchers tomorrow. I know, it's close to Thanksgiving and the holidays BUT I am going to try to maintain and lose a little too.

Gotta run - enjoy your day and watch for a daily painting soon.

guess where I went yesterday....

I'll tell you tonight! I am working on paintings all day and editing photos later...

thoughts

The fields near the river by my house. Pretty, aren't they?

Good morning everyone...Weems is officially over and I have to say, I had a blast seeing all of my friends, family, collectors, and new friends too. I rested yesterday, went to the gym last night and am thinking about what I'm going to do next. This week involves antiquing, a day trip, nice get togethers and just relaxing. I have several paintings I am still working on and a couple of new small commissions to finish up too.

WANT A PAINTING?

I will paint from now until December 10, so if you have anything you want or need....email me soon! I have room for a couple of small commissions between now and then. December 11 is my birthday and that's the day we get our Christmas tree and start celebrating the holidays. I'm looking forward to that. I have a new son-in-law in the family this Christmas, so that will be fun!

WEIGHT LOSS BLOG

Just so you know - I am deleting my weight loss blog and will incorporate parts of it into this blog, along with any worthy photos I take. I want to simplify and streamline everything into one blog to make it easier. I am going back to Weight Watchers on Saturday and will work to maintain and maybe lose a little though the holidays and start work on losing the next 50 pounds. Working out and trying to lose weight has become just something that I do, like brushing my teeth or flossing so I think I can cover it here from time to time.

DAILY PAINTINGS

I am starting my small paintings again and may put them up for auction on eBay, just for a change. That's how I started my daily paintings four years ago and it worked out very well. There will probably not be a painting available for purchase every single day but I will aim for about four per week and I will try to post something every day, whether it's another work in progress, a video, etc. Thanks to all of you who have supported me by buying my little paintings.

THE NEXT 150 CHALLENGE IS COMING!!!

Starting January 1, 2011, I will begin a new 150 Challenge. I will have a solo show in June at Weems Gallery. It will work this way: I will paint 150 paintings in 150 days and they will all be $150. There are three major differences this year! The paintings will all be oils, they will all be framed, and most of them will be painted on location all over New Mexico. The paintings will range in size from 5x7 all the way up to a couple of 16x20s, which will also be $150 each. I will create a new blog - untitled as of yet - and post the paintings as I complete them, starting at #150. Nothing will be sold until the show opens, but if you see a painting you like, you may call the gallery let them know you want it. If more than two people end up wanting the same painting on opening night, we will do a coin toss to determine the winner. Online customers are encouraged to call. I have never framed my work before and have painted in oils occasionally but this will definitely be a challenge for me. I will be out of my comfort zone for sure! But that's what a challenge is all about and I hope you will follow along with me. We will have a grand opening reception the first Friday in June with food, great music and I will send out postcards in May advertising the show.

Okay, I have a full day planned so I will see you later!

Artfest photos...

My friend Tom and I in front of my booth

Little paintings

Another wall

ARTFEST is over! More later...

Artfest photos...

"SUNSET AT ALGODONES"

SOLD

Nice view of my booth

Me and my sweet Emily

made my day....

After a long day getting ready for Artfest, came home and this made me smile. Thanks, my facebook friends!

fat birds...

"WINTER BIRDS"

in progress

16"x16" I think

I am posting this at almost midnight - I've been wanting to do a whole series on fat birds and this is the first one. As you can see, I have some practicing to do on my birds, but I like him!

Dee's Artfest paintings...

"HOLLYHOCKS ON GREY"

24"x18"

Good morning everyone - first of all I want to say that my viewers have been getting some spam emails sent to them from someone who is not me! My brother in PA (who is a computer whiz guy) is fixing the problem. I apologize. Please don't open anything that does not look like it's from me.

Second of all, I am getting ready to head to Artfest to set up all the paraphenalia that is my booth. Afetr that, more work and tomorrow, hanging the paintings. I will be taking photos of work and posting as I do an inventory I will not send you every post, I will just put them up on the blog. I'll touch back in tonight.

Oh, this painting turned out so pretty, the photo doesn't do it justice. It's from a photo I took somewhere on this beautiful grey adobe background. Hope you like. Bye!