"A COMMISSION FROM START TO FINISH"

"A COMMISSION FROM START TO FINISH"

50"X40"

I thought I would share my working process on a new commission. My clients have chosen elements from two paintings to incorporate into this new piece; a beautiful cerulean blue sky, clouds with orange and golden undertones, rust or purple mountains, and a jumbled meadow filled with coneflowers, poppies, and multitudes of other flowers.

What you see above is a basic rough working sketch.

The painting will be three quarters floral with little wisps of flowers reaching up into the sky, and the mountains will have faint hints of the back of the Sandia mountains where I live.

My next step will be to tone my canvas with a loose wash mixture of burnt sienna, cadmium orange, and cadmium red.

After that, I will complete a sketch on my canvas with loose paint. Then I will start to work on blocking in the colors in the underpainting.

My clients will also be following the process on this blog. I welcome comments and feedback!

OH, AND DON'T FORGET TO EMAIL ME TO REGISTER FOR THE FREE PAINTING GIVEAWAY ON DECEMBER 16TH!

Sign up now for the

FREE PAINTING GIVEAWAY!

Drawing to be held on

December 16, 2007

Register by sending your name and address and of course, I will have your email address.

If you have suggestions for subject matter, include those also!

"PURPLE WINDOW"

"PURPLE WINDOW"

16"X8"

SOLD
Hi everyone! I have not yet gotten totally back into painting yet due to a bad cold that doesn't want to leave me. But, duty calls - I start working on a large painting commission tomorrow. That means I have to be in the studio all day and hopefully will have a daily painting completed tomorrow night.

FREE PAINTING GIVEAWAY ON DECEMBER 16TH!!

Please email me with your name and address to register.

I haven't decided on subject matter yet, if you have suggestions, send them along or write them in the "comment" section below

. The painting will be an 8"x10" and will be shipped to the winner immediately in order to arrive in time for Christmas.

Stay tuned for more info....

BLESSINGS

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving;

full of family, friends, food, and of course, LOVE.

I am so thankful for everything in my life. Blessings to you all....

"WILD POPPIES"

"WILD POPPIES"

8"X10"

Click here to place your bid or Buy it Now

This what I like to do best - a wildly tangled but melodic field of poppies interspersed with little spots of color everywhere. Some of the small flowers reaching up into the sky, maybe towards the light. I hope you like this one. Tomorrow I am presenting a Christmas painting. Oh, and watch for my FREE PAINTING GIVEAWAY. I will give you the date and registering instructions tomorrow night....

"FIVE WITH PURPLE"

"FIVE WITH PURPLE"

8"X10"

Click here to bid

Here it is - the newest painting up for auction on eBay. I just couldn't wait!

I am cleaning my studio tomorrow, finishing up a few things, and am going to try to get to the gym before I start working again.

Be watching for a FREE painting giveaway sometime in December...

BACK TO REALITY!

"GOLDEN FIELDS"

10"X10"

SOLD

Well, Artfest is finally over!

I had a great show, sold 47 paintings and am really tired. I came home, put everything in the studio, closed the door, and didn't do one thing yesterday except lay around and read.

Today I am itching to get back to work! I can't believe it - when I HAVE to paint, I procrastinate. When I don't have to paint, I really really want to get back to it. So, I am planning on starting back tomorrow with the daily paintings and eBay auctions. I am also planning a FREE PAINTING GIVEAWAY in December. Stay tuned for that. I am also planning to do some small framed 6"x8" oils as a change of pace. For those of you who came out to the show - thank you, thank you so much for your support. It's seeing old (and new) friends that make doing these shows worthwhile.

Oh and one last thing - if anyone wants to order any ornaments, please email me as I am only doing them when requested. They are $20 each and that includes shipping.

WEEMS ARTFEST!

"AUTUMN BOUQUET"

40"X30"

SOLD

I am working on last minuute paintings right now - I hope to complete this one because I really like it. A lot of things to do!

I set up my booth today, everything but the paintings. The excitement in the air was good! I'm ready. Well, almost.

I will take before and after pics tomorrow so you can see everything in place.

WEEMS ARTFEST

November 9, 10, 11

25 cents admission Friday night 7-9pm

Friday, 10am-9pm

Saturday, 10am-6pm

Sunday, 10am-5pm

Come by and visit!

TWO MORE DAYS!!

STILL AT IT!

Today is Monday.

Artfest set-up is all day Thursday.

I'm finishing up all paintings today, tomorrow, and possibly early Wednesday morning. Then I will gather all of my show paraphanalia; rugs, lighting, signs, tables, chairs, drill, screws, and the million other little things that go along with doing the show. I will also make an inventory list, cards to put alongside each painting, and do a few last minute things. I always forget something. Oh, and I have to take a huge painting to be photographed, pick up some others that have already been photographed, hook and wire those, and take three small pieces to the framers to be framed. I'm sure there's something else. I just can't remember what!

Wish me luck and for all of you who live in the immediate area - please come and visit me, I really enjoy seeing everyone and it's such a treat after all of the work I do.

Artfest is:

Friday, November 9, 10am-9pm (7-9pm is 25 cents admission!)

Saturday, November 10, 10am-6pm

Sunday, november 11, 10am-5pm.

I think I'm doing a painting demonstration on Saturday.

Thank you all for your support and emails!!!

STILL WET

WORK IN PROGRESS

My "big sky" painting. This is a 48x60 painting of an evening sunset with a big meadow of wildflowers. It's complete except for some work around the edges and varnishing.

Today I'm working on two 30x40 canvases; one of aspens and one of a big bouquet on a red background. I also have a 24x48 sunset vista, a 24x36 wildflower garden, and others I'm not sure I'll finish in time for the show. I will be living in the studio for the next 8 days!

WEEMS ARTFEST

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Skyscape 40"x40"

Poppies 15"x30"

Well, they're getting bigger! I have two weeks left and still lots of work to do.

I like both of these - I've been working on them the last three days. They're not finished yet; the poppies are outlined, the skyscape is not. I'm still working on the foreground. Enjoy!

STILL WET

AUTUMN PEARS

6"X9"

I'm still at it, as you can see. I took a picture of these pears from my only pear tree and have painted them once or twice. I think they turned out quite nice this time.

Today I went to the opening of the New Mexico Family Advocacy Center in downtown Albuquerque. This is a huge, brand new one-stop center for all forms of violence against women and children; domestic, child abuse, rape, etc. It is truly a unique facility - it has exam rooms, forensic rooms, play rooms, housing the police department on one side and everything else on the other. The service is absolutely free and the victim chooses which services she wants. One of my big sunflower paintings is hanging in the lobby right as you walk in. What a great support for New Mexico women and children!

STILL WET

CLOUDS OVER GALISTEO

5X5
Still working, I have about 50 small pieces now. I have a couple of big ones and I'm starting on the middle sizes today - 16x20 to 24x36. I am really missing my daily paintings though. I only have a little over two weeks left. Wish me luck!

STILL WET

"TAOS CHURCH, LOS RANCHOS"

5"X7"

Still working guys. I'm outlining a big 30"x40" floral that I will probably post tomorrow. I'm counting down the days now. If anyone would like a postcard to the show, please email me and I'll send you one. Those of you on my mailing list will be already receiving one.

STILL WET

WORK IN PROGRESS

I was commissioned to paint a painting for the opening of a new women and children's domestic violence center in downtown Albuquerque. Very short notice but a very worthy cause so I said yes. This is the painting, it has just received a nice coat of varnish and is drying. There is a tall sunflower in the middle flanked by five other sunflowers standing guard. I feel like the upstanding sunflower might be a woman coming into the shelter and the guardian sunflowers are the support that she's going to find there to help her move on with her life.

STILL WET

THREE WOMEN

5"X7"

Still so busy working on Artfest. This painting is for sale for $85. Please email for purchase information.

See you tomorrow!

Hi everyone,
Hope you haven't given up on me! I have about 40 small paintings ready for the show - the next three weeks are all of the bigger pieces. My monitor died so as soon as I get a new one, I'll post several of them. Just to let you know, I REALLY REALLY miss my daily paintings. Even though I'm painting every day, it's not quite the same as finishing a painting and posting it immediately for your viewing. Everything else is going well. Balloon Fiesta is over and the weather was absolutely incredible. Now it's on the Halloween. Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can't wait. I always say that after the Weems show is over, I'm not going to pick up a brush until the new year, but that NEVER happens!

Hi everyone,
Hope you haven't given up on me! I have about 40 small paintings ready for the show - the next three weeks are all of the bigger pieces. My monitor died so as soon as I get a new one, I'll post several of them. Just to let you know, I REALLY REALLY miss my daily paintings. Even though I'm painting every day, it's not quite the same as finishing a painting and posting it immediately for your viewing. Everything else is going well. Balloon Fiesta is over and the weather was absolutely incredible. Now it's on the Halloween. Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can't wait. I always say that after the Weems show is over, I'm not going to pick up a brush until the new year, but that NEVER happens!

STILL WET

UNTITLED

8"X10"

Hello! Still working...

I had hoped to have time to do a daily painting for tonight's blog but no such luck. I did get two paintings completed today though - a 12"x12" and a 10"x20". They have just been varnished and I will post at least one of them tomorrow.

Saw a few balloons today but most of them were up really high so couldn't get any good pictures. I'm doing two ornaments for a fundraiser that have to be picked up tomorrow, so I'd better get busy. Thanks for looking!

BALLOONS!

My cousin and I got up early this past Saturday morning for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. It takes place about a mile from my house and is so close I can hear the National Anthem each day. We followed the balloons to Corrales, about 5 minutes away and spotted all of these balloons. Of course you can't photograph all of them, this was only a small portion. Only 350 balloons went up that day due to winds. There are 700 balloons in all. I think we're going to a special shapes "Glodeo" on Thursday night. That's where all of the shape balloons (Darth Vader, Bumblebees, chile ristras, haunted house, stage coach, etc.) stay on the ground at the balloon field and light up. There's music, entertainment, a fireworks show, and great food. The sight is absolutely amazing and if we go, I'll post pictures.

I'm still painting like crazy, coming along though. I'll post a new one tonight. Have a great week!

STILL WET

A Trio on Red

Hello everyone! I'm still working away. Tomorrow I start on 12"x12" and 12"x16". I had to take time out early this morning to go to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. they say it's the most phtographed event in the world and I believe it! We drove to the village of Corrales because that's where they were drifting (all 700 of them), and took a few photos. I'll post a couple tomorrow.

STILL WET

UNTITLED

5"X7"

STILL WET

UNTITLED

I have to say, I really like this one. I love painting skies and I think this sky works well with the mountains in the background and the hills and juniper in the foreground. The reddish orange you see in the sky are part of the unpainted toned canvas. Keep watching!

STILL WET

UNTITLED

8"X10"

I am having fun now.

Started small and am working my way up.

Today I am working on squares - 10"x10" and 12"x12".

I am painting aspens, chile fields, a gate, the Jemez mountains, poppies, a window with geraniums, and an old hacienda. We'll see how far I get! It's not the painting process that takes up so much time, it's the outlining. See you tonight...

STILL WET

UNTITLED

16"X8"

This is a new painting for my show in November.

I am pretty much painting nonstop now.

I think this one turned out quite nice!

WEEMS ARTFEST WORK IN PROGRESS

Hi everyone,

These are unfinished works for Weems Artfest. They are outlined but not varnished, so they don't have that shiny stained glass look yet. I am painting like crazy now, working from small to large. I am in the "zone" and just creating one after another. It's stressful but also fun and I always think some of my best work comes from being rushed. Hope you enjoy. I'll post more tomorrow!

ARTFEST

"PURPLE HAZE"

5"X5"

I decided to try something new this year for Weems Artfest.

I started working on my smallest paintings first. Next week I will switch up. I hate deadlines but I guess I work better under pressure because I always seem to know just how much time I have left in order to get all of my work done. I also think that my work is much more immediate and fresh if I don't plan everything out so much.

All of the works that I post this week will be for sale at Weems Artfest in November. If you see something that really calls your name, email me for purchase information.

"AQUARIA"

"AQUARIA"

Call for purchase information

When I finished this painting it reminded me of beautiful flowers floating in water. I thought of the ocean floor and I visualize the poppies standing strong against the slowly moving current. If I think about the background being sky, I think of the poppies reaching for the heavens or just gently undulating in the wind. Gives me a tranquil feeling.

"AUTUMN WILD"

"AUTUMN WILD"

9"X12"

5 DAY AUCTION

Click here to place your bid

SOLD

I love this painting! It makes me feel like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all rolled into one. Before I started painting, I loved to garden (still do, just no time) and always brought in bouquets from outside that were filled with fall colors. This painting makes me want to curl up with a good book, warm blanket, and roaring fire. I'm also finally back to painting in the studio, busy getting ready for the show in November, have an art event this weekend, and just came up with an idea for my April show. Good night!

"SANCTUARY"

"SANCTUARY"

9"X12"

Call for purchase information

This is not something I normally paint, the inspiration actually came from a magazine photo - my brain was dead from all of the house painting and I just needed something to paint that made me feel good, used warm colors (since today is the first day of fall), and I just went with it. I love how the painting makes me feel like I'm looking into a cocoon or a special altar site. I really like it. Be forewarned, the ebay auction only lasts for 5 days! I have two more paintings for the next two nights, so stay tuned...

"KACHINA ORNAMENT"

"KACHINA ORNAMENT"


Hey, you guys, I didn't drop off of the planet, I am VERY busy painting - not the kind of painting you think...

I've been painting ceilings, walls, cabinets, closets, baseboards, etc. Everything associated with painting a house. I have a cousin who just moved back here from Georgia and we're getting a house ready for her for a few months. I plan on getting back to my favorite kind of painting the "artist" variety and should be back at work on Monday. I miss my studio. The image above is one of my ornaments. Stay tuned!

"BOUNTIFUL"

"BOUNTIFUL"

10"X8"

Click here to bid

I consider this the last blooms of summer in a nice old terracotta pot against a beautiful adobe and an old wooden turquoise window. This was taken from an old photo off of Canyon Road.

I'll be house painting tomorrow so you won't see a daily painting, but I may post something else.

ART AND CRITIQUE

Click on the image above for a review of Dee's painting "Night Church."

http://www.artandcritique.blogspot.com/

WORK IN PROGRESS

"BOUNTIFUL"

10"x8"

This is my last painting for the week and it will be up for auction tomorrow night. It's a pot of flowers next to an old turquoise window. I've already started the outlining process, can you spot the lines? I actually am painting the inside of a house this weekend. Quite a change from what I normally do! It's a lot of work, but should be fun.

To read a review of Dee's painting "CLOUDS OVER TAOS," click on the image above.

WHAT'S ON THE EASEL

"NOW YOU SEE IT"

36"X48"

This is a work in progress that will be up for auction at Weems Artfest in November. Take a good look now because it won't look anything like this when it's completed. I've had this piece in the studio for a couple of months. It's been underpainted but I couldn't figure out why I didn't like it. Finally I figured it out - the adobes need to go and it will become a meadow filled with all kind of flowers. I need to have it completely ready to go by September 24, which means a few intense days of outlining on my part. Hopefully it will be beautiful. I'll have it framed, and it will go to a nice home and make some money for several different charities. I will post updates once I start working on it. When it gets near completion, maybe someone can come up with an appropriate title.

"Ristra Moon"

"RISTRA MOON"

8"X10"

Click here to bid

I was looking through photos and came across a pic of a great restaurant at the village of Chimayo that had long strands of red chile hanging from the roof. I added cottonwood trees from a fall drive through the town of Bernalillo and the rest is my imagination. Hope you enjoy!

Click on the link below for a review of Dee's painting "Night Suns." See if you agree...

http://artandcritique.blogspot.com/

WHAT'S ON THE EASEL

"SENTINELS"

30"X30"

Weems Gallery Eastdale

There are two versions here, the sketching and underpainting above and the final painting before varnishing below.

Tomorrow I'm working on clouds with aspens.

"AUTUMN GLADE"

"AUTUMN GLADE"

12"X16"

Click here to bid

SOLD

This is a beautiful hidden glade deep in the mountains and I'm sorry, but my digital just doesn't do it justice. It's much more vivid and colorful. I usually put the paintings directly into my scanner so you get the full color effect. I will shoot it outside tomorrow and see if I can get a more accurate color representation. I'm still very fond of it.

"NIGHT SUNS"

"NIGHT SUNS"

10"x8"

Click here to bid

SOLD

I love these sunflowers at night. Pretty dreamy, if you ask me. I think maybe I should have called them "Night Bloomers." I haven't officially titled the painting yet, so I may change it.

My next auction painting will probably not be until next Saturday night. I really have to get busy on paintings for Weems Artfest in November. I need about 40 pieces for the show. They are organized and I know what I'm painting. Alot of them are in the underpainting stages. I will be posting them for your viewing. If you need pricing and purchase information on any of them prior to the show, please email me.

"THE ORCHARD"

"THE ORCHARD"

8"x10"

Click here to bid

No longer available

This painting is close to me. I mean REALLY close to me. This little orchard is just around the bend from where I live. It is beautiful in the spring, beautiful when it's full of peaches, and even more beautiful in the fall when the leaves turn. That's the Sandia mountains in the background.

"QUIET BREEZE"

"QUIET BREEZE"

8"x10"

Click here to bid

No longer available

This is one of the finished paintings from last night. It has a nice somber peaceful quality, makes me want to think "quiet" thoughts. Later I will post a couple of works in progress for the gallery for your viewing.

FOR CHRIS

" HOLLYHOCKS, CANYON ROAD"

SOLD

"MUTED MOUNTAINS"

"MUTED MOUTAINS"

9"x12"

Click here to bid

SOLD

You may notice this little painting from a few days ago.

I added lines to it and I'm torn as to which I like better. Lines give the painting more of a stained glass look. Either way, every time I look at it, it reminds me of my plein air painting trip on the old Turquoise Trail.

"THREE REDS"

"THREE REDS"

8"x10"

Click here to bid

SOLD

I LOVE this painting! It was quick and bold and free. There are actually two paintings up for auction tonight; this one and last night's work in progress. It's right below.

Enjoy and welcome to "poppy world!"

"POPPY WINDOW"

"POPPY WINDOW"

10"X8"

Click here to bid

SOLD

Tonight's completed poppy painting.

I like the contrast of the red poppies with the turquoise and blue sky.

"NEW MEXICO EVENING"

"NEW MEXICO EVENING"

8"X10"

Click here to bid

SOLD

Here's another chance for this little beauty. With lines!