4-24 hidden retreat

 "HIDDEN RETREAT"

10x10" oil on panel

Can you tell that I'm wishing for spring?

Our highs are in the 30s for the next few days.

And that cold bites you to the bone!

The painting above is one of my favorite scenes.

A wild flower garden in a sedate adobe that 

can only be seen from the back yard.

I hope you enjoy!

#3 "DREAMING OF A SUMMER GARDEN" $85

"DREAMING OF A SUMMER GARDEN" 

6x6" oil

$85

A lovely, thick, juicy painting!

To purchase, send your name and email address 

along with the title of the painting to:

 dshadowtail@aol.com.

 I will send you a Paypal invoice

 

#1 "SUNNY DAY" $85

"SUNNY DAY"

6x6" oil

I'm starting off with a sunflower today.

Can you tell I am ready for spring?

 

To purchase, send your name and email address 

along with the title of the painting to:

 dshadowtail@aol.com.

 I will send you a Paypal invoice

                                                               

                                                                 

long time, no see

Hi all,

I can't believe it's been SO long since I've blogged.

Life just keeps putting up road blocks in front of me.

And sometimes I forget.

Anyway, I'm not going to talk about everything I've done since

I talked to you last.

I am going to share what I'm working on now.

Here are my latest paintings.

These pieces are for an exhibition at

Corrales Fine Arts Gallery

4685 Corrales Road

I am painting 10-12 paintings,

small to medium with one larger work.

Look for the following works, plus SEVEN more!

I'm painting what I want,

which is an incredible joy.

 " THE TRIO"

 "GLORIOUS SUNFLOWERS"

 "AUTUMN GORGE"

 "BLACK MESA AND GOLD"

"RHAPSODY"

I made all of the images large so you could see them better.

I'm using my Cobra oils.

I love their buttery feel.

I do not care for the way they smell.

They don't have that beautiful oil smell that I love so much.

I am slowly removing colors as I paint.

I bought too many greens while trying to match cadmium green

and sap green.

I bought too many blues too, but I adore them all.

And trying to find a perfect match for permanent rose - 

forget about it.

I am adapting though.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the clean-up!

Just a wipee removes everything.

Anyway, much more to come....

#99 "SUNFLOWER PATH"

"SUNFLOWER PATH"

8x6"

oil
$100

The second painting of my newest Challenge series.

This is a late summer private garden.

For purchase information,

CLICK HERE.

new paintings

My two newest 150 Challenge paintings

I am in the zone now.

I don't see how I can finish by July 17,

but I am not giving up!

 "ABIQUIU ARROYO"

10x8"

 #83

"BERNALILLO SUNFLOWERS"

8x8"

#82

New Mexico landscapes are just the best subjects to paint. 

For Purchase Information, 

CLICK HERE.

two new Challenge paintings

For those artists who have never painted square paintings,

you're missing something!

I love squares.

They are zen.

They are symmetrical.

The composition in these paintings has to be good.

There is no way to hide a sloppy sketch in a square.

I have several more of these 8x8s already sketched 

and may work on them today.

 "SUMMER BOUQUET"

8x8

"IN THE JEMEZ"

8x8"

For Purchase Information on these paintings,

CLICK HERE.

#106 'MORNING SUNFLOWERS"

"MORNING SUNFLOWERS"

10x8"

oil

$150

Can you feel the heat on these morning sunflowers?

I thought it fitting since we are supposed

 to have four or five 102 degree days this week.

The color of the sky is almost more appealing to me

than the sunflowers themselves.

It is warm, it is hot in places.

It resembles puffy clouds.

But it's not.

It's just HEAT.

For Purchase Information,

CLICK HERE.

New 150 challenge paintings

Hi all,

I have two new 150 Challenge paintings.

Please CLICK HERE to view the paintings 

and see easy purchase information

from Paypal.

hidden

 I took a little trip to Corrales today to scout out painting sites.

I came across some beautiful subjects that I wanted to share with you.

 Beautiful sunflowers!

With an equally beautiful grey/blue background.

This will make a beautiful painting.

 This is the old Corrales church.

I posted a pic of it getting "remudded" a few weeks ago. Scaffolding everywhere.

When they removed the top layer of plaster,

they realized it had more damage than originally thought. The adobe was quite worn away in places.

They finished it though, and it looks fantastic.

Much softer and a little lighter than the old version.

 I got on a kick of finding "hidden " things.

The first is a very cool old truck.

I wish he was out in the open.

 A sunflower with a bumble bee hiding.

Well, maybe not hiding so much.

He was bending the stem over.

 A hidden gate.

I wish this was at my house.

I love it!

 A beautiful butterfly bush.

I saw butterflies hovering, 

but they were hiding in my photo.

 A cute little stuffed cow on  a mailbox.

The cow is not hidden, but the mail is.

 There is nothing hidden here that I can see.

But I think about the history of this house - 

who lived here? Why is it empty?

I'd like to know.

And look how blue the Sandias look!

 The mercado full of flowers and red chile ristras.

Beautiful things are hidden inside those walls!

 The acequia is almost hidden by the sunflowers!

Native sunflowers are rampant in New Mexico now.

Especially in Corrales.

And last, but not least:

This exhibit will be a beautiful showing of 160 plein air paintings by forty artists

who are painting Corrales this week.

Come and see them!

new small paintings

 New Small Paintings
Please click on the images to enlarge

 "DREAM HOLLIES"

8x6"

oil on panel

I LOVE this painting!

The dreamy quality just speaks to me.

Maybe I should paint under nighttime studio light more often!

"SUMMER SUNS"

8x6"

oil on panel

I am seeing sunflowers all over Albuquerque right now.

This is actually an image from a trip that some of

my collector friends took to Tuscany, Italy.

If you are interested in either of these paintings, please email

me at dshadowtail@aol.com.

Thanks!

new small paintings

"GORGE AND SUNFLOWERS"

6x8"

oil on panel
$99

 This scene is one of my favorites.

As you come out of the mountain pass, coming into Taos,

you have the most beautiful view of the Rio Grande Gorge, 

the Taos mountains, and sunflowers in full bloom.

It never fails to take my breath away.
I often wish I lived at this spot just so I could see the sunrises
and sunsets surrounding that whole area.

This painting is painted with a palette knife
and is thick and juicy.
Click on the painting to enjoy the texture.

"REACHING"

"REACHING"

10x8"

oil on canvas

It's evening and we have a few rain 

sprinkles happening right now.

It's so nice because it's not really cold.

Just soft and enjoyable.

I am making nachos for dinner (right now!).

Here is the easy recipe:

Saute organic chicken breast. Chop.

Warm organic black beans

Heat sesame blue chips

Put a layer of chips on an individual plate.

Add chicken, then black beans. 

Add onion, and as much 

nacho sauce as you want.

Add chopped lettuce, tomato,and avocado.

Yummy.

The above painting makes me excited for

spring - and the official beginning of

spring is in just a few days.

Can't wait.

I will spend the next few days painting, 

shredding papers, 

and working on taxes.

Lucky me.

On the painting, anyway.... 
Not so much on the taxes. 

CHALLENGE 3

CHALLENGE 3

Sunflowers!

I love the wall, the bricks and the way the light hits these flowers.

Feel free to crop, rearrange, etc.

I have to tell you, when I went looking through photos searching for this one - 

I came across SO many other good ones!

Not just sunflowers, but so other many great NM subjects....

I can't wait to see what everyone does!

WOW!

SEPTEMBER 1ST

I can't believe it's already here.

I have SO much to do before the 26th, it's not even funny:

finish the 150 - box

finish the ornaments

finish the large paintings

send out another postcard

prepare press releases - mail

prepare the back of all paintings for hanging

create a flyer/poster for Weems - deliver

make a list of food for the show - buy

I'm sure there's more, but right now all I

can think about it getting the work completed and ready to hang.

Meanwhile, I painted in Corrales this past week - plein air!

I was so excited to be back out in the field, it's been 7 months

since I touched a tube of oil paint.

I only got to go out three times for about two hours each time

but I came back with three paintings that I love.

One was painted sitting in a big field of sunflowers during the 

hottest part of the day, surrounded by bees.

The second was painted at the Corrales Winery during the last light of the setting sun.

what a beautiful and peaceful place - hanging out with 29 other plein air painters.

The last was painted at the Corrales mercantile portal.

I was sitting under the portal, looking at a big pot of flowers and also 

painting the little adobe across the street - which was separated from me

by a big main road of traffic.

These paintings are all available for purchase.

They will be going to the Corrales JAZZY STARRY NIGHT event in a few days.

If you are interested, email me at dshadowtail@aol.com

Meanwhile, back to work!

Thanks for watching...

 "AMONG THE BEES"

8x10"

$285

 "SANDIA SHADOWS"

11X14"

$425

"UNDER THE PORTAL"

10x8"

$285

DP1 "MOONLIGHT FLOWERS"

"MOONLIGHT FLOWERS"
8x8"
oil on hardboard
$99

SOLD

  

Whenever I take a break from finishing a big project, 

I always want to start up again with sunflowers.

They are so beautiful and yet mysterious - 

always following the sun. 

Providing food for us and the birds.

It is a joy to begin painting again.

I will be offering daily paintings from now through Christmas.

These pieces are unframed and shipping is $10.

If you want to purchase, just click on the link above.

It will take you to the Paypal link and you can purchase

with your Paypal account or any credit card.

I have beautiful inspiration photos from Taos and Chimayo,

so I feel like I want to paint forever...

I am working on two shows, finishing up some ornaments,

some winners' gifts, and a couple of commissions.

Love to you all.

A Day in Corrales

 A Day in Corrales

I am among thirty other painters participating 

in the first ever Corrales Plein Air event.

We have descended on the village of Corrales for five days of artist bliss - 

finding the perfect spots to paint,

lugging all of our painting gear around,

a kick-off party on Monday evening,

five days of painting,

a Quick Draw competition this wekend,

and an exhibition opening at Gathering Artists Gallery on Saturday.

A few scenes of life in Corrales:

 red chile ristras, of course

 an old red truck - gotta have one of those

 a view from my car of one of the long winding Corrales dirt roads 

 This is the first spot I picked to paint - the old Corrales church.

 My beginning block-in. 

I ended up taking this painting home and scraping it all off.

It just felt really washed out and blah.

 Some of my fellow painters

 The Sandia mountains and the chile fields

 I'd like to say this is a meadow but it's not.

It's a beautiful planting of cosmos in front of someone's house.

 My favorite house in Corrales.

I painted it!

 One of the ditches overflowing with native sunflowers

 A cool old wagon

 Now this is what I call free range chickens!

This guy came out and his chickens all ran to him.

He started throwing grain all over the yard and those chickens went crazy.

I'm thinking he had about a hundred chickens. 

And a really cool chicken coop.

 A beautiful panoramic view of the Sandia mountains.

 I peeked into someone's gate, very very pretty.

 More painters, these artists are painting in the courtyard of Casa San Isidro,

a really old adobe house filled with all things vintage New Mexican.

 Another painter near the old church.

Sunflowers that I painted today.

All paintings are supposed to be 80% plein air,

which means I may do a little finessing in the studio in the next few days.

 Corrales always has the coolest scarecrows.

I couldn't NOT paint him!

One of the houses I painted.

These are not my usual colors.

Oh, they are the same paints I always use.

They just mix differently when you're out in nature.

Takes some getting used to.

Tomorrow I will talk more about my tools and my plein air experience.