Monday, April 30, 2012

Safe House Fundraiser at the St. Clair Winery

 


Some of the birdhouses in the live auction at the winery last night. 
There was quite a crowd and the food was delicious!
The birdhouses were all gorgeous and unique. Some were quirky, all had lots of heart and soul in them and it showed.










 I liked this one - a mixer part for a perch!


 This pigeon looked on a little mad I think. There was no birdhouse big enough for him...



On the way home, I drove down Rio Grande Blvd. and passed by Los Poblanos Inn and orchards. The sun was just setting and these are the two grain silos and parts of the barn. 
This would make a pretty painting.


 Isn't this pretty? This is the other view looking east toward the mountains. Same time as Los Poblanos, just turning my camera a different direction. I love the intense green of the grass and the bluish hue in the mountains. And the old cottonwood that hasn't sprouted any leaves just yet.



This is a view of one of the irrigation ditches in Los Ranchos. This will also become a painting for the upcoming 150 Challenge Show. Okay, I better get to work, lots to do today....

Thursday, April 26, 2012

New 150 paintings

 "SUNSET WITH RED"
8X8"

New  150 Challenge paintings. 
 I'm not going to post them on the 150 blog yet. 
I hate taking photos at night but I always go for it anyway. 
Then in the morning, when I take another photo, it never fails that it  looks better in natural light.

 "RAINSTORM"
8X8"
I'll be painting several of these for the show.

 "LAST SUN AT ALAMEDA"
8X10"

"SOFT LITTLE ADOBE"
8X8"

Wednesday, April 25, 2012


Dee has a new mudbaths and moonbeams blog post. 
Click on the image above to read.

www.mudbathsandmoonbeams.com

New 150 paintings


I have four new 150 paintings done now and working fast and furious. 
I also am working on a 150 flyer, my 150 postcard, and 150 press releases.
 Needless to say, the number 150 is going to be in my dreams for the next month!

To see the new paintings, click HERE or go to www.150challenge2012.blogspot.com.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Legacy Art painting


The Legacy Art event is happening in a couple of weeks and I need to decide on my subject for the painting and get it done so it will have time to dry. I decided to use this canvas, a 30x24, because I have some frames in that size that I love and need to use. I had already sketched a floral piece that I meant to paint with a red background but that will just have to wait for another day and another canvas.


 This is my block in. I decided on a peaceful mountain scene, with wildflowers roaming through a meadow. The purple could either be a shadowed pathway or possibly water.
You can still see evidence of the floral sketch underneath.

"PEACE NEAR  THE MOUNTAINS"
30X24"

This is not the final image. I shot it quickly with my digital but plan to have my photographer shoot it so I will have a good clear image for my records.
I like the way it turned out. I wouldn't mind taking a walk through this mountain meadow sometime. It would also make a nice image for a postcard.


Sunday, April 22, 2012

150 News and Weems Show


Okay, first, the news - I am gearing up BIG TIME to finish my 150 show paintings. You will see them explode on the blog daily until about May 28, when they will head down to Weems Old Town for hanging. 
But the news is that I have made them easier to view so you can choose your favorites by number. When you go to the website the paintings are all in thumbnail order and if you click on one, it flips over and tells you the number. If you see something you like, please call the gallery at 505-764-0302 and put your name on a list for that particular piece. The show opens Friday, June 1, at 5pm. We'll have lots of goodies and great music and then at 6pm, we will live auction off two larger paintings with a portion of the proceeds going to Casa Esperanza (the home away from home for people receiving cancer treatments at UNM Hospital). The show and sale start at 6:30pm. You do not have to be in attendance to purchase paintings. So if you want to see the new format for the 150 blog and see the paintings come hot off the easel, click HERE.

Oh, and I have a new post on my personal blog, "mudbaths and moonbeams. 
Click HERE to read.


 The Weems "Flowers and Still Life" Show. 
I know that's Carol Carpenter's beautiful hollyhocks.


 Sally McDevitt's newest work. These are a new venue for her and I really like the geometric patterns in back of the flowers. Or succulents.


Pretty, aren't they?



 I'm sorry, I should have gotten the artist's names.
I think I know them, but don't want to guess or misspell them.


 This is not floral, but my friend Esta Bain's pieces were also on exhibition. She makes these beautiful "ladies" I have two myself and a big nativity scene that I absolutely love. Her prices are very reasonable.


 Gee, I wonder who this belongs to? 
A 30x40" big chaotic mass of black-eyed susans and coneflowers.


I believe this is Kandy Tate's piece. Really made me think of spring. 


 A Dee Sanchez painting, 40x30" "Spring Meadow" flanked by beautiful iris. 
I'm unsure of the artist


The piece on the left is by artist BC Nowlin. 
He usually paints Native American scenes, so this is a departure from his usual work.


 I believe this is a watercolor by David Drummond. 
Isn't this fantastic? I love how the colors flow together and you can just feel the light.


Here you can see two of my painting, along with a few other pieces - 
one I think by artist Kathy Glidden.


This is my friend Michelle Chrisman's work.
 She's a plein air painter and uses a knife, but she also paints florals. Great show!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Weems Show opens tomorrow

8x10"

These are just a few of the paintings I have in the Weems Gallery group show opening tomorrow at Lousiana and Montgomery NE. The show is titled "Flowers and Still Life" and from what I saw when I went to take my paintings in, the show is going to be fantastic. Lots of great floral art - and some wonderful still lifes too. 
The show opens at 10am. For more information,please call 505-293-6133.

 30x40"

 30x40"

 12x16"

30x40"

Friday, April 20, 2012


I had so much fun today! 
Goldie and I left early for my paint out and interview at the Puye Cliff dwellings, outside of Espanola. It was cloudy almost all day and we even got rained on a little. We stopped and had breakfast at our favorite place, the Tesuque General Store. Then we headed to the cliff dwellings, got a little lost in Espanola, and finally made it for the painting and the interview. The dwellings were amazing. I wish I had taken more photos. The holes you see in the photo above were where the dwellers carved holes into the rock. Then they went inside and made holes over that for vigas to hold up rafters for their house dwellings. I always thought they lived inside the cliffs. I  brought home some brochures so I can read up and be better informed. 
 After taking a few shots, I set up my little plein air spot and you can see my canvas below. 
As soon as I started painting, the clouds started gathering. I worked fast, did the interview and then it started raining. We gathered up all of my painting supplies and climbed into the cars and were off. I will have to finish this at home. But I like what I have so far. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see one of the forty foot ladders that leads to the midway point.    
Those cliffs are high!


 My rough sketch. I'm using a canvas that I had intended to paint something else on, but I ignored those old lines.


 Blocking in the darks (there aren't many!), the lightest lights, and more notes of color.


 The sky (it changed as it thundered and lumbered over us), and color notes on the cliffs.
This is what I will be bringing home to finish in the studio.

    
Other photos from the trip: the gathering storm


 Low rain clouds over the mesa


 This is so New Mexico. We loved it!


 We actually drove around a little bit and found this big beautiful plateau. I wondered if it might be Black Mesa. The only reason I know about it is because someone once asked me if I had ever painted it. This plateau is big, beautiful, and very mystical. We saw it, and went inside the gas station to ask what it was called. The lady goes, "You mean that big old rock out there? That's Black Mesa."



San Idelfonso. 
This is one of the most beautiful little churches in New Mexico. To go to Mass and have the Black Mesa as your backdrop - that would be fantastic. I have painted this church only once from a friend's photo and now I can paint it as many times as I want!  
And I also love the white crosses in the landscape.
What I want you to also notice is the range of blues in the mountains on the left.
Beautiful.



 Another view of the church. 
This is from the other side and it has the prettiest turquoise windows.
Look at the hills behind it and the mountain range. 
Pictures just don't do justice to what we saw today.


 I have to say that the clouds were pretty spectacular.
As a painter, I would prefer clouds over solid blue sky any day. 
The ever-moving and changing clouds make for great photos and even better painting.


Another view of the range of colors in the landscape. I love the different shades of green in the foreground, the meandering shades of oranges and browns in the middle ground and all of the blues of the mountains and thunderclouds in the background.


Headed back home - it was a GREAT day! I am totally inspired now.