finally

Back at it. Finally.

Hi all - 

I am playing catch-up here.

I've been working on my Retro Challenge paintings,

enjoying a visit from some nice out-of-town facebook friends,

photographing hollyhocks around town,

pulling weeds in the garden,

enjoying my granddaughter,

and everything else that goes along with summer.

Now I really have to sock it into high gear - 

I haven't even started on ornaments yet!

Please keep in mind that I am painting the Retro Challenge paintings 

for a big show that opens on Friday, September 26, at 

Weems Gallery on Montgomery NE.

It should be a blast!

If you want to know how to purchase Retro Challenge paintings,

please read the link to your right.

Have a great summer ya'll!

(Hint, hint, "ya'll)

Guess where my friends were from??

To see the newest Retro paintings, click HERE.

 This is painting #99, "AUTUMN AT BLACK MESA."

 These are a couple of shots of hollyhocks at a beauty shop 

near where I live. 

 Love the cool colors in this one.

It almost looks like fall with the rusts and oranges.

And fourth of July with the flag!

 This is my friend Connie from Fort Worth, Texas.

We had never met until she came for a visit and now I adore her!

She is so sweet (along with her husband John, and friends Claudia and Earl)

and we went on a day trip, ate lots of Mexican food, and had a great time.

I hope to see her again soon.

Taos Connie, remember??

On another note, this is a photo from my facebook friend Nicole,

who lives in France.

She posts the most beautiful photos and gave me permission to paint this.

And I'm going to!
Thank goodness for wonderful facebook friends....

simple things

Hi all - 

I am not writing about art tonight.

I drove around town a couple of days ago for about an hour 

and took pictures of anything that struck my fancy.

I have been mentally kind of under the weather since January 

and I just needed some simple (and beautiful) things to life my spirits.

Flowers will do it every time.

I'm making them extra large because that's how I saw them.

 Pear cactus in my neighborhood

Even the spent blossoms are interesting.

 cholla cactus  

The yellow is the old stem that held the flower. 

a yard full on Coreopsis near the Rio Grande Nature Center

 beautiful hollyhocks near Old Town

and the metal mariachis - so cool!

If they don't put you in a good mood, then I don't know what does!

Back to art tomorrow...

RAIN, FLOWERS, AND LOVE

RAIN

We have rain guys!

It has rained on and off all last night and today and

all I can say is, it is HEAVENLY.

We get excited about raindrops here -

mostly because we're in a drought and it is dry.

But this is beautiful.

It means I don't have to hand water the tomatoes.

It means my car got washed off.

And everything outside is a lovely shade of spring green.

And it is cool.....

stream right outside Santuario de Chimayo

I was going to paint today but I think that's out.

This is reading and sleeping weather.

hollyhocks from last year

Next week I am planning an in-town day trip.

To take photos of flowers and especially hollyhocks.

Old Town has some beautiful varieties and so do different neighborhoods.

Memorial Day means a backyard barbeque, of course!

I am going to attempt steaks, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes.

Normally I don't grill anything but burgers and  hot dogs, so this will be a stretch.

I don't really care about the food, I just want to hang out with my kids,

my new granddaughter, and enjoy life.

What will you be doing?

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day!!

New Retro Challenge paintings

Hi all - 

I have just finished three new Retro Challenge paintings and

I will soon be out of the 100s and into the 90s. Yay!

It has been fun so far and i hope that you all plan

on coming to see the show in person on Friday, September 26, at Weems Gallery Uptown.

To see all of the Retro Challenge paintings, so far, click HERE.

"HUMMER"

10x8"

#107

"SPLENDID V"

"SPLENDID V"

6x6"

oil on hardboard framed

$185

 This is one of my favorite floral scenes.

The yellow/orange flowers against the contrast of the purple - 

and all of the little notes of color thoroughout,

just makes me happy.

I am thinking about putting some of my oils up on auction

 while I am working on acrylics, so stay tuned!

"IN THE POPPIES"

"IN THE POPPIES"

6x6"

oil on panel, framed

$185

While I'm working in acrylics these days, 

I am posting some of my available oils.

This is a thick and textured painting of a field or meadow of spring poppies.

It looks much richer in person.

To purchase, click HERE.

"SOFT FUSCHIA"

"SOFT FUSCHIA"

6x6"

oil on panel framed

$185

Since I'm in the acrylic "zone" these days, I haven't had time to paint any oils.

And I do miss them.

There's just something about that juice texture that I love.

It is almost hollyhock season here!

This is a stand of hollyhocks against a grey adobe wall.

What makes this painting work for me is the overall soft effect and the juiciness of the negative space between the flowers.

This painting is available for purchase by clicking HERE.

"AROUND THE TREE"

8x8"

acrylic

framed

Two new Retro Challenge paintings!

To read about them, click HERE.

Lots of things going on this weekend:

birthday parties, first communions, Mother's Day -

I will write more later.

Happy Mother's Day!!

The Retro Process

HOW I WORK

These are the next three wanna-be paintings in the Retro Challenge:

a group of dancers

Canyon Women and a harvest

Chimayo in the fall

 dancers

Canyon Women

Chimayo

Most of you already know that I use a toned red ground.

I will usually tone about 16-20 canvases or panels at a time and

believe me, they are spread out all over the studio.

While the canvases are drying, I will think about what I want to paint that day.

Since they're not plein air paintings, I choose from a huge

rolling trolley of alphabetized reference photos.

Once I have my photos, I loosely sketch the scene in acrylic paint.

Even when I work in oils, I use acrylic paint for the sketching.

The color is a medium brown - purple tone.

I mix it with a lot of water, sketch the scene, 

and then blot it all over with a paper towel.

There are reasons for this:

- the paper towel removes any thick splotches of color 

that might show through in the final painting

- it also removes the harder outlines of the sketching and makes it blurry,

sort of like my own unique version of squinting.

Now, I am ready to paint!

About the Retro Challenge

"THE DREAMERS"

I am getting close to the #100 mark on my Retro Challenge.

That means I will have completed fifty paintings

 and only have 100 more to go before September 26th.

I will admit, this has been my hardest challenge so far.

My good friend and collector passed away in January,

less than two months before the challenge started.

and I didn't realize how much he affected me and my painting life.

I lost my motivation for a while.

I didn't want to come into the studio.

I didn't want to think about art or go to work.

I still have paintings in here that I've painted for him.

I miss his daily feedback on all of my paintings.

Tom was my most passionate supporter and I am completing this challenge for him.

So I am slowly getting back into it again.

I am loving the acrylics and I have missed the lines!

I hope you're enjoying them too.

I am starting on ornaments this weekend.

I hope to have fifty done by the show in September.

I'll post the progression of one so you can see how I paint them.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me when I didn't feel like doing it.

Thanks to those of you who sent me nice words about Tom.

When the going gets tough...

the touch get going.

TO VIEW ALL COMPLETED RETRO CHALLENGE PAINTINGS:
CLICK HERE

four new Retro Challenge paintings

New Retro Challenge paintings

I have been hard at work and have four new paintings for my

Retro Challenge show coming up on Friday, September 26, 2014

at Weems Gallery Uptown.

To see all of the completed Retro Challenge paintings up to this point,

please click HERE.

I am in the zone this week, so stay tuned.....

Four new Retro Challenge paintings!

To view on the Retro Challenge blog, please click here.

I'm workin'

BACK TO WORK

Man, this has been a different year for me.

A new granddaughter (happy happy happy)

The loss of a good friend (so sad)

My favorite cousin and traveling buddy moving away (sad too)

BUT - I am working on the Retro Challenge now and I am

getting in the groove.

For those of you who don't know, the Retro Challenge 

started on March 1, 2014, and will culminate with a huge exhibition on 

Friday, September 26, at Weems Gallery Uptown.

It's my old-school retro-style acrylic/ink on gallery wrap canvas.

The kind of work I don't do anymore, except for people who request it.

It's 150 8x8 and 8x10 paintings for $150 each.

It's 50 hand-painted ornaments for $40 each.

It's 25 larger paintings priced accordingly.

It's a big artist's reception, music, food, and good times!

So, this is how it works:

You watch the paintings as they are posted here.

You find one (or several) that you like and do one of the following:

Email the gallery at weems@weemsgallery.com or Dee at dshadowtail@aol.com

or

Call the gallery at 505-293-6133 or Dee at 505-792-1030

and

Give your painting titles, numbers, and payment information.

On opening night, if no one else chooses your painting, it's yours for $150.

If two or more people want the same painting, a name will be drawn out of a hat.

After all multiples are sold, you may go and remove the painting you want from the wall.

Ornaments and larger paintings may be purchased on opening night.

 This is a larger painting I am starting today.

It's 36x36" gallery wrap canvas and will be a landscape of forest trees.

These are ornaments waiting for painting.

I will show progress on these so you can see how they are created.

They are actually more detailed than some paintings and tedious to boot.

Well worth $40!

i still haven't taken any day trips - and I am itching.

I'm thinking possibly next week, so stay tuned.

scenes from a wedding

We had our first wedding at the house last weekend.

A small one, twenty-five guests.

Lots of cleaning and sprucing up!

Below are a few photos:

 This is a view of the small courtyard right by my studio door.

The guests entered this way to go to the backyard.

 A sign my daughter asked me to make at the entrance to the courtyard.

Just pallet boards cut and painted with acrylic paint.

 The wedding area.

This bride wanted a very simple wedding with no frills.

As you can see, the grass is not totally green yet.

 The bride and her father walking down the "aisle."

 Saying their vows.

The celebrant said that she specializes in offbeat, non-traditional weddings.

My daughter Maggie and my granddaughter Sawyer, watching the proceedings from inside.

We're thinking we might have a new career path - planning weddings!

We are having a backyard wedding this weekend.

One of my daughter's friends is getting married in our back courtyard.

Needless to say, I have done no painting this week.

Instead I've been pulling weeds, cleaning flower beds, cleaning my studio,

and about a million other things to make the house and yard look presentable.

I will post photos tomorrow.

I'm also making a sign at the entry to the courtyard that says,

 "Happily Ever After Starts Here."

It should be fun - I am not actually "attending" the wedding, I will be babysitting my little granddaughterwhile my kiddos attend the wedding. 

It's small, only about 25 people. And there will be a barbeque afterwards. 

Maybe I'll be invited to attend that, lol.

I am stoked to have nothing to do but paint next week.

I also want to go to Weems and see the show of Mary Ann Weems work that opens tonight.

She's the person who gave me my start in my career and I want to support her too.  

Painting is coming along nicely. I am excited about creating my linework and have so many ideas lined up. And I am itching to take a day trip and do some painting on location!

I'll also be starting on my first large painting for my September show next week.

Postcards are ready to be mailed, so if you are not on my mailing list and want one, drop me an email at dshadowtail@aol.com.

Happy Spring!

new blog

 "SUNSET FROM SANTA FE

8x8"

#134

One of the newest Retro Challenge paintings - 

the view of the Algodones plateau coming back from a late Santa Fe day trip.

To see all of the completed paintings so far, click here.

To purchase a Retro paintings, see the link on the right side of this page.

Next week, I am starting on ornaments and my first large painting.

It should be fun!

NEW PERSONAL BLOGSITE

You guys know that I've been playing around with a personal blogsite for a couple of years.

I write there when I have time and my goal for this blog

is for it to be a personal space where I can write what I want,

post photos of what I want, ramble on about anything and everything,

and just be my personal journal to the world.

I keep having trouble with google - things like passwords 

and not being able to get where I want to go.

SO, I have moved my personal blog to wordpress and changed the title slightly.

Instead of mudbaths and moonbeams, it is now called "mudbaths or moonbeams.

It will be ready to roll soon.

I have a huge wordpress manual and if I ever get time,

I'm going to learn all the ins and outs of wordpress.

Once I finish that and am totally wordpress "smart", I will move my art blog there too.

Until then, I will just keep writing and posting photographs of my life and activities.

I hope you will join me on my journey.....

LIFE AND WORK

Life is just rolling right along.

I've been busy with the retro Challenge, getting my back yard cleaned up and

ready for a wedding this weekend, enjoying my new granddaughter, trying to work out, 

going to physical therapy for achilles tendonitis, and am itching to get out on the road again.

The Retro Challenge is going well. I've mapped out a schedule that (hopefully)

will let me finish a few weeks before the show opens at Weems, so I can catch my breath.

It was harder than I thought, especially at the beginning - painting with acrylics again.

My acrylics are looser and much runnier than oils. And dry out faster.

And once the painting is actually done - holy crap, 

it's still not done, I have to do all of the linework!

But as I see them on the wall, I am starting to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Why have a challenge is it's not going to be a little tough and stretch your capabilities?

I am planning a day trip soon, actually several of them.

I will probably take my plein air oil gear

and take tons of photos for the acrylic paintings.

The thing about using photos for painting - 

some artists do and some artists don't.

For me, if I use a photo, it takes me right back to that beautiful 

place and time and after the initial block in I put the photo away

and the painting takes on a life all its own.

I consider my photo a jumping off point for creativity.

For retro Challenge paintings - 

To view all completed paintings click here.

The Weems Show is in September.

If you see a painting you like and want to have, follow the 

instructions in the link on the right hand side of this page.

Viva Spring!

139 "HIDDEN VIEW"

"HIDDEN VIEW"

10x8

#139

acrylic/ink on gallery wrap canvas

This is my newest and I have to admit, I'm a little behind schedule.

More later, I just wanted to get it posted.

140 "TAOS FLOWERS"

"TAOS FLOWERS"

8x8"

#140

LOVE this church.

To read more about the painting, please click here.

new Retro painting

"MORADA MEADOW"

10x8"

acrylic/ink on canvas

I loved layering different hues of purple throughout this meadow.

If you'd like to read more about the painting and go to the Retro Challenge blogsite,

click HERE.

new retro paintings

 149

 148

 

 147

I am finally getting in the groove - whew, it has taken what feels like forever 

to embrace the linework again.

Now I am loving it!

I am almost finished with 146 and will be posting that tonight.

My main goal for Saturday is to sit down and make a big chart

showing how many weeks I have until September 26.

Then I will spend time dividing up my larger paintings

and ornaments into those weeks - mainly so I don't have a million 

paintings and ornaments to do close to the show opening.

I also am making labels for my postcards for the first time!

I have always written my postcard addresses by hand.

It seems more personal and when I'm writing,

I'm thinking back to that person and the painting they bought,

and the experiences that we had then and have shared since then.

Some clients are first time buyers, some are one-time buyers,

and some are fanatical in their collecting.

I love them all! 

I am also organizing my first day trip of the new year and I can't wait.

I think it's going to be a loop - Tesuque, Chimayo, Truchas,

and back down through Abiquiu and Black Mesa.

That's taking on a lot for one day, I may end up having to tone it down, but we'll see.
I'm trying to hold off until spring is really here so I can see lots of green in the landscape.

I will be taking photos for the retro Challenge and plan to take
 my oil plein air gear so I can paint out on location.

I am really missing that right now.

I also want to set up a small plein air group to paint my neighbor's back yard.

It will soon be full of larkspurs and roses and wildflowers.

Bill's Yard

Thanks for watching and supporting my work!
To see all of the Retro challenge paintings, click HERE.

Remember, the Retro Challenge show opens Friday, September 26, 2014!

150 "OVER THE FENCE"

 "OVER THE FENCE"

10x8"

acrylic/ink on canvas

#150

To read more about this painting and to view

all 150 Retro Challenge paintings, please click here

or go to www.deeretrochallenge.blogspot.com