The Santa Fe, Canyon Road, Tesuque, Abiquiu, Black Mesa, Ghost Ranch, El Rito Expeirence

Oh wow!

I just got back from two days of painting, picture-taking, 

sight-seeing, town exploring, and much more.

And boy, am I tired.

  I am posting these pics for a couple of days for you to enjoy.

 Clay women at Jackalope Pottery in Santa Fe 

 The cross section 

I bought two.

 Rose garden in the Canyon Road neighborhood 

 Beautiful gate on Upper Canyon Road 

It was the upside down pale pink roses that attracted me.

Does this upside down thing mean something?

 What ARE these?

They look glorious against adobe walls!

 An old wagon in front of Jackalope Pottery 

Love the cut-out heart.

 Yellow hollyhocks 

You know these will become a painting.

 Star York's playful horses in front of one of the galleries 

 My favorite sculpture on Canyon Road 

Don't you love the shadows on these faces?

 The contrast of this elk against the orange of the flowers and the blue of the windows.....

 Simple orange lillies against an adobe wall 

 Pot of flowers against a gallery wall 

This guy hangs out all around the Santa Fe Plaza, waiting for people who are tired of walking.

Cool stars and chairs 

Colorful newspaper stands

The beautiful church in the heart of Santa Fe Plaza.

The Algodones plateau in spring 

 Alfalfa fields in Bernalillo

Could be hay, I don't know the difference.

 Beautiful red bushes and the lovely porch at the Abiquiu Inn 

Had to have the huevos rancheros.

 A beautiful cross at Black Mesa

 The San Idelphonso church at Black Mesa

 The very tall ET-like hoodoos at Ghost Ranch

Look at those beautiful colors.

 Abiquiu Lake and Pedernal 

The lake water looked really turquoise today.

 Colored rock formations at Ghost Ranch

 A beautiful old building in El Rito

Wouldn't this make a cool studio/gallery?

 This is actually a working restaurant in El Rito!

The clerk at Ghost Ranch said she had dinner here the night before last and it was good.

Should have checked their hours of operation.

 An old window with fake roses in El Rito

 beautiful Descanso near the water in El Rito

 Old adobe right on the street in El Rito

This one is occupied.

 Old old house in El Rito 

Occupied 

They also have an art studio tour every year.

I'm going to go this year!

 Beautiful old restored church

 An old barn

Someone had strung grapevine wreaths across the front of the gate.

I love this photo.

It shows the old original tin roof before they came out with the new stuff.

The gable is beautiful.

And the colors with the cream-colored adobe, yum.

Hope you enjoyed this little slice of life vignette of New Mexico.
Oh, and to see the newest 145 Challenge painting, CLICK HERE.

122 "SANTA FE FLOWERS"

"SANTA FE FLOWERS"

6x6"

#122

For viewing and purchase information, 

CLICK HERE.

"SUMMER ASPENS"

6x6"

#123

SOLD

"TREES...AND OTHER THINGS"

48x60"

This painting is part of the group exhibition "MONSTERS AND MINIS" at Weems Gallery.

I guess you can put it in the "monster" catagory!

Weems Gallery Uptown

www.weemsgallery.com

505-293-6133

 The view of the Sandia mountains yesterday on our way to Santa Fe.

The clouds were awesome!

I'm taking photos with my little back up camera through the windshield 

and let me tell you, it's time to go for the new Canon bells and whistles...

 Some photos from the Museum Hill Cafe in Santa Fe where I attended an event yesterday.

 Does anyone know what this flower is?

it looks like a poppy, but grows on a bush?

I'd like to know, it's beautiful.

 A close-up view.

 The bush itself.

 A window box.

This would make a pretty chaotic abstract flower painting.

 A view from the cafe.

There are mountains in back of me, and this view in front of me.

You can see that it's clouds and there are mountains in the distance.

Pretty spectacular.

It's called Museum Hill and there are probably 3-4 different museums all gathered in one place. 

Okay, Happy Father's Day today!

Lots going on next week, I'll keep you posted.

new 145 painting

"ALL ABOUT THE RED"

6x6"

#121

SOLD

two new 145 Challenge paintings

Two new 145 Challenge paintings:

 "SUNS AND COSMOS"

6x6"

#126

TO PURCHASE CLICK HERE

To view all 145 Challenge paintings CLICK HERE.

"SUNFLOWER BOUQUET"

6x6"

#125

SOLD

new 145 Challenge painting

"THOSE ABIQUIU COWS"

6x6"

#127

  PURCHASE INFORMATION, CLICK HERE.

I love this painting!

After about a total of two hours of painting, tweaking and taking photos,

looking at them, tweaking some more, etc., I love it.

My original photo was pretty bland, so I had to imagine.

I am itching for a trip to Abiquiu so bad I can hardly stand it.

Soon!

In other news, I have 20 people signed up for my dinner at the end of the Challenge.

It's happening September 29, costs $49, 

and half of the proceeds go to New Mexico Dogs Deserve Better.

If you want to come and enjoy a dinner under the cottonwoods with me,

 send your reservation check to:

Dee Sanchez, 403 Camino del Bosque NW, Albuquerque, NM  87114

I will also be painting in Santa Fe later this month for the 

PAPNM event Plein Air Santa Fe.

Five days of exploring that great city. Yay!

I hope to come back with some great studies, some finished painting, 

and 1000 photographs for future reference.

So, today is a painting day, have a great weekend, and I think my 

next painting should be flowers on a red background.

Sunflowers or autumn bouquet?

.

128 "LAST LIGHT"

"LAST LIGHT"

6x6"

#128
SOLD

New Mexico artist Dee Sanchez presents a

 NEW MEXICO DINNER

UNDER THE COTTONWOODS

To benefit

NEW MEXICO DOGS DESERVE BETTER

WHO

People who loves dogs and want them to have better lives

WHAT

A fun-filled New Mexican Fiesta Dinner

WHEN

Sunday, September 29, 2103, 1-4pm

WHERE

Under the cottonwoods at Dee’s north valley home

FOOD

Guacamole, salsa, queso, beans, flautas, enchiladas, sopaipillas, and dessert

EVENTS

Music by Mezcla Latina

PRIZES

$2000 Dee Sanchez painting giveaway and Door Prizes

COST

$49 per person, limited to 60 people (half of all proceeds to benefit NMDDB)

TO REGISTER

Call 505-792-1030, email dshadowtail@aol.com, or mail check to: 

Dee Sanchez, 403 Camino del Bosque NW, Albuquerque, NM  87114

The New, the Old, and Animals

The newest 145 Challenge painting:

"COLORES DE BAILLA"

6x6"

#130

For more information about this painting, click HERE.

It has been an interesting week so far.

I walked outside my front door yesterday and the neighbor's cat has made herself

at home on my sidewalk.

Now I don't mind if she comes over.

She lays in my bushes, on the cool ground, and she chases bugs and lizards.

One might even assume that she lives here.

She has this sassy little attitude like, "Human, what are YOU doing in my space?"

But, she makes me mad.

She won't let me come near her.

Oh, she'll let me talk to her, and say sweet nothings, but if I make a move - 

she is up and gone.

Rude Cat.

 Rude Cat

 Gorgeous bachelor buttons my cousin and I found while driving around Corrales on Monday.

 Vintage Painting

This is the back of a painting one of my collectors brought to me.

She wanted it cleaned up, varnished, and framed.

This painting was painted in the 1930s by her ex-husband's grandmother.

She had no money back in the day, so she painted on whatever she could find.

This happened to be a piece of uneven linoleum.

The beautiful thing about this painting to me, is how she covered it.

She cut a piece of muslin and wrapped the canvas like a present.

To keep it straight and tight, she sewed  thread from side to side.

After 80+ years, it is still as tight as a drum. Amazing!

 Thread keeping the muslin tight.

 Corners cut and sewn.

 The framed and finished painting.

Beautiful!

 Oh, speaking of animals - 

A raccoon has taken up residence in one of my trees.

I don't know if the dogs chased him up there or he just wanted a better view of the yard.

We tried to get him to come down but he was having none of it.

We are keeping the dogs in the courtyard and studio to encourage him to come down.

If he's still up there tomorrow, I don't know what I'll do.

Call the fire department I guess!

 "THE SCARF"

6x6"

#131
SOLD

My first figure painting of the Challenge.

If you would like to read the story behind this painting, click HERE.

145 Challenge - Figures

FIGURES

The time has come and I don't think I'm ready.

Figures.

The one area where I feel a lack of mastery.

Mostly because I've always spent most of my artistic life painting 

landscapes, florals, churches, sunsets, pears, maybe a few animals, etc.

Leave the figures to the portrait artists and people who really like painting people.

Not me.

Figures are scary to me.

I would like to be be able to treat them just like a landscape,

blocking in shapes and shadows, not paying attention to the fact that there is 

a PERSON or PEOPLE in there and I have to make them look like

a PERSON or PEOPLE. 

NO! 

But I'm going to give it my best shot.

I am going to try to complete two figures a week for the 145 Challenge.

If they don't turn out, well, you probably won't be seeing them!

So bear with me while I experiment with painting people.

Oh, and I figured if I gave them titles, I would have to finish them!

"WAITING" 

This is a woman standing next to an outdoor flower shop.

I have painted this once before.

Maybe I can do better this time.

 "BEAUTY"

My first nude.

I'm a little scared.

Do I try to use Old Master techniques? Nah.

Do I try to be patient? Nah.

Do I just go for it and sling paint? YES!!

Even sketching is hard. 

I have art books on anatomy.

Do I want to use them? No.

Do I want to know every piece of sinew and bone in the human body? No.

I want my figures to have wonderful curves and lines.

To heck with structure.

 "THE JEWELRY SELLER"

This is a beautiful older woman straightening her jewelry 

under the portal at old Town.