gotta get away....

Hi all,

Well, it's October and there is a lot happening!

I just got back from a quick trip to Taos.

Kevin MacPherson, a really wonderful painter from Taos,

sent out an invitation for artists to go up and paint his famous pond.

I jumped at the chance.

I left for Taos Saturday morning.

I have to say, the chamisa was amazing all the way up north:

I stopped off in Pilar for a few pics:

I spent the night with my relatives and left

early the next morning for Valle Escondido.

The drive was beautiful and here is Kevin's pond:

I finished two paintings here using my steering wheel easel.

I have to say that using the steering wheel is a little different.
You can only put the seat back so far, 
so they look a little more impressionistic than normal:

"KEVIN'S POND"

8x10"

"ASPEN HILLSIDE"

9x12"

Such a beautiful place, I hope I get to paint there again.

Thank you Kevin, for being so generous with your time,

and your gorgeous setting!

I took a ton of photos in and around Taos, many of

which I'm sure will become paintings:

 Red chile ristras were out in full force

 Teepees against a blue sky

I've always photographed this tree.

I think maybe it died.

 The beautiful Rio Grande gorge

 Beautiful Taos mountain

 The grass was so tall you could hardly see the cows

 Gorgeous fall colors

 The horses were also enjoying the fall weather

 What a wonderful place to be a horse!

 This one didn't want his photo taken

 Village of Arroyo Seco

 Cool old Seco truck

 Old adobe with chamisa

Muted fall colors were everywhere

 Another old truck - with eyelashes

 Virginia creeper and chamisa

 The golden hour, Valdez

 More golden hour

 El Salto and fall colors

 Seco cemetery

 One little golden sapling

 On my way out of town, I stopped by the river to paint one more painting

This is the scene I painted.
I definitely will paint this in the studio
because in this painting, the colors are really warm,
when in reality, they are much cooler.

 "THE RIVER RUNS"

8x10"

And THIS is my favorite photo from the trip!

Golden trees with an adobe wall and an old blue gate.

Viva Taos!!

Tomorrow....new information about my upcoming adventure.

"THE LOS POBLANOS PROJECT"

getting back to plein air

Hi all,

Well, I have rested up from my Art Party - it took me about three weeks!

The day after the party, I laid in the recliner all day and didn't move a muscle except to go to the lady's room and get water.

The Art Party was fantastic!

We ate great food, we heard the wonderful band, Mezcla Latina

play fantastic music, we hung out, had a birthday celebration for our Nana, enjoyed each others' company, and had a 

very successful studio sale.

I let everyone know that there will probably not be an Art Party

next year because my plan is to get both of my knees done in 2020.

If that happens, after I heal, I would like to do some traveling 

 (with my husband), and also get out and do some hiking, if possible.

So, good things to look forward to next year.

I finally ventured out to do some plein air painting in Corrales.

I took my steering wheel easel and I'm glad I did, because I used it!

I found this adobe with native sunflowers but it was right next to the main 

road with lots of traffic so I painted inside my car.

I should say it's a little hard to get a good look at your painting when using the steering wheel easel because it's about 12 inches away 

from you and you can't really step back and take a long look at it.

But, I was happy with the way it turned out:

"GLORIOUS YELLOWS"

9x12'

This morning I headed over to my favorite Corrales Winery.

It was a beautiful, cool morning and I pitched

my tripod underneath a nice shade tree.

Here is my sweet little cigar box 

with my chunky paints.

This is what was on my palette today:

titanium white, permanent yellow, cadmium orange, pyrrole red,

permanent red violet light, greyish blue, permanent blue violet, 

yellowish green, sap green, blue violet, Van dyke brown, 

ultramarine blue, and turquoise blue.

If I was using a limited palette, I would bring:

titanium white, permanent yellow, pyrrole red, and ultramarine blue.

Here is my little notebook sketch

My sketch loosely translated onto the panel

My beginning block-in

Almost done, under the shade tree

My wonderfully fashionable hat

I tore my hat

Beautiful day, beautiful scene

My best photo of the day

Wonderful cosmos

Grapevine leaves are starting to turn

Finished painting:

""LAST BLOOM"

9x12"

oil

I am awaiting on word about a possible painting project,

If it doesn't happen soon, I will choose to

do something else.

I'm starting October 1st, no matter what!

Lots more plein air painting to come.

Oh, and I have a one-day painting workshop coming up on
 Saturday, March 7, 2020.
9:30am-4:30pm
Cost for the day is only $85.
It's going to be informative and FUN!

If you want to check out the workshop page and 
possibly register, please click HERE.

Stay tuned!