Tuesday, February 26, 2013

newest daily painting

"OLD LOOP ROAD"
PLACITAS
6X6"
$75 
free shipping

You know, I've painted really BIG and really small, and I love both sizes.
BIG gets you out of your comfort zone and small brings you back down to earth.

I'm getting ready to paint some large flower pieces for an upcoming Weems show, 
so right now I'm just enjoying these little vignettes of scenes from New Mexico.

This image was taken from a plein air paint out in Placitas a couple of years ago.
You know how, sometimes you go outside and there are no clouds anywhere 
and the sky seems a little boring? 
This was not one of those days.
It was fall and the puffy clouds were just hanging over the mountains.
It was a beautiful day.
Purchase information is below.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

"SANDIA SHADOWS"
12X16"
SOLD


A commission of the Sandia mountains in progress...
I toned my canvas in a loose wash of burnt sienna and red acrylic, 
then loosely sketched the subject in paint.
I blocked in my dark shapes, hit a few highlights and 
then concentrated in the middle values.
The blue near the center is my tribute to the Rio Grande river 
without actually looking like a river.
I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and I hope that my client likes it.



Friday, February 22, 2013

FLOWER PLAY

FLOWER PLAY
6X6"
oil on hardboard
SOLD



I so loved painting these flowers!
I've been working on commissions, which I love too, 
because they challenge me in a totally different way. 
But, they're also harder because 
I'm painting to a collector's special wishes.
I just had to let loose.

I should finish my two commissions over the weekend and 
I will be painting my daily paintings regularly now.

Life is good!


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

newest commission - Canyon Women in harmony with the moon

Whew, the kitchen is done and I can breathe again.
There is one lazy susan cabinet that broke off of the hinges when someone just barely touched it. 
It wasn't glued well at the factory I guess, so they're sending another one.
I made enchiladas for the family on Sunday and everyone loved the kitchen.
It's so nice, I am definitely not used to it yet.

I have three commissions I'm working on now - 
the one above, a 12x16" Sandia mountains,
and an 8x10" poppies in a blue vase.
I also owe a friend a painting of Canyon Women gathered around a pinon Christmas tree.
She sent me two paintings of hers that I loved, one of figs and one of a cup with a flower beside it.
It's so fun being an artist and being able to trade artwork with other artists!

I have about 14 church paintings at Weems Gallery Uptown until the end of March.
In April, I have a painting for an exhibition called SEEDS, more about that later.
I will also be participating in Weems April group exhibition FLOWERS.

I canceled my membership at Curves and am going to be working with the trainers
 at Planet Fitness near my house. It's really cool because they also have a 30 minutes circuit just like Curves.
I love my Curves and especially the friends I've made there, 
but I needed to shake things up a bit in order to get this weight off of me.

That's all I've got for now.
I will post the finished balloon painting tomorrow and the sketch of the Sandia mountains.


Balloon Painting


This painting is already finished, but I wanted to show you  the day by day progress.
A client wanted a simple 8x10" rendition of my poster for the 2012 Balloon Fiesta.
And he wanted it "old school" as in acrylic with lines.
I started off by toning the canvas with my usual burnt sienna and red.
I sketched a lose composition to get the main components in place.
As you can see, my balloons are not really balloon-shaped, at this point.
Well, sort of.
I will post the finished painting tomorrow.
Oh, and I broke in the kitchen on Sunday by making enchiladas for a crowd of about 25.
It was fantastic!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

more churches

I delivered these paintings to Weems yesterday - the whole "CHURCHES" show is beautiful!
My paintings below are $250 each, framed in an antique silver speckle plein air frame and 
I believe they are discounted 20% during the show.
For more information, go to
Web: www.weemsgallery.comwww.weemsgallery.com or Email: weems@weemsgallery.com


 "HIDDEN CHAPEL"
8X8"

 "PLACITAS ROSES"
8X8"

 "ABIQUIU CROSS"
8X8"

 "TAOS LAVENDER"
8X8"

 "SAN IDELPHONSO, WINTER"
8X8"

 "MACHO"
8X8"

"FALL, SAN IDELPHONSO"
8X8"

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Church Show at Weems


Here are a few of my church paintings for the group exhibition
opening next weekend titled, you guessed it, "CHURCHES!"
I am working on three more - Taos, Macho, and Black Mesa, and hope to have them completed in time.
There's also a lovely little hidden chapel painting at Weems Old Town that
I want to include, so I will pick that one up tomorrow.
The show opens on Saturday, February 16, and I invite
you all to come down and take a look at all of the beautiful artwork!

In other news, my kitchen is done except
for the backsplash, which will go in this week.
I made my first meal last night - chicken quesadillas.
It wasn't the easiest, because all of my kitchen stuff is still packed up,
but we made do.
More pics of the kitchen tomorrow....







Monday, February 04, 2013


I am working on a series of small church paintings for a Weems Uptown Gallery show that opens this month.
The photo above is going to be a painting of Chimayo with a cross and roses.
I have been procrastinating (major), waiting for the kitchen to be done so I can feel like I'm not a stranger in my own house, but I finally decided to start working.
So....I start painting today and right when I'm really getting into it (let's really get that cerulean going on the sky), my husband comes home and wants me to go with him to drop off the sink at the fabricators. They need to make a template. So I put my brushes in the spirits (a no-no), and took off to run errands.
We did that, then we went to look at portable buildings, then grabbed something to eat at Long John Silvers.
They are in with an A&W, so we shared an old time frosty mug of root beer..
When we got home, I ran (well, not literally) to Curves to do a workout before they closed. 
I came back home and glory be - Southwest Art magazine and Art News had come in the mail today, 
so I sat down for a few to flip through them.
Then...I must have dozed off for a few because when I woke up, it was dark outside. Darn!
So here I am in the studio again.At 7:34pm. And the Bachelor comes on at 8pm.
I just sighed, cleaned off my brushes and put everything away until tomorrow.
I do like the way this one is going though..... 


Now this one....our group of artists, "LET'S PAINT NEW MEXICO", is working on Challenge 10 - creating a painting of an old cruiser rumbling down the Rim Road near Valdez, NM, which you can reach on your way to Taos Ski Valley.
The photo is courtesy of a friend and fabulous photographer, Steve Bundy.
Okay, this painting is going to be hard, I already know. I'll tell you how I know...
We usually have about 10-12 artists complete each painting, even though we have over 30 artists on our roster.
I have received about 6 images so far. And I usually do mine right away. but I know it's not going to be easy, so I am waiting til the last minute. I sketched it yesterday and the car looks really boxy. In the photo is it wider, a little more whimsical. I shall adjust while painting. So, wish me luck on this one!
The countertop/backsplash guys are supposed to be here tomorrow. If all goes well, they will complete their work and it will be gorgeous. Then Wednesday, our friend Greg will come and install the sink, faucet, garbage disposal, overhead light, and ceiling fan. 
AND IT WILL BE DONE.
I am so tired of eating out, I can't even tell you. I yearn to make my own salad.....