African thunderstorm

Hey guys,

I thought you might enjoy hearing this rainstorm created in a unique way. Close your eyes and listen....

African thunderstorm

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"RIO VALLEJO"

"RIO VALLEJO"

8"X8

SOLD

I wasn't even going to paint a daily painting tonight, thought I didn't have time. I worked on two commissions today- finished them and decided to just wing it quickly off of the top of my head. I grabbed the first photo I found that had clouds in it because originally I had wanted to paint a sunset. I love this little piece! I think it's spontaneous, even with the lines and I painted it in about about an hour. Sometimes when you work quickly, the best works present themselves. Purchase information is below:

"SUNFLOWER FIESTA"

"SUNFLOWER FIESTA"

10"X10"

SOLD

This is one of the commissions that I am shipping out tomorrow. It's actually a square but in the photo, it looks more retangular. It makes me feel happy! Thanks to my collector for being patient.

"ANGEL FIELDS"

"ANGEL FIELDS"

8"X10"

SOLD

This is a whimsical angel painting. I want to develop this series further, so I am playing around with ideas. I wanted my angels to be gathering flowers at the top of a hill. I think it's pretty cute! Purchase information is below:

"JEMEZ HACIENDA"

"JEMEZ HACIENDA"

10"X8"

SOLD

This painting is from one of the photos I took on my day trip to Jemez recently. We were at a beautiful family owned combination gallery and herbal cosmetics establishment. The view I took was from the parking lot. There was a an L-shaped adobe sitting up against the mountain surrounded by vegetation and trees and I knew it would make a nice painting. I included the photo below for you to see. In the original, the house is very similar in color to the mountains and the dirt, so I had to make a few adjustments for color and composition. Purchase information is below the original photo:

Commission sketches

Commission sketch for "FIESTA FLOWERS." This painting is drying and I will post the finished piece tomorrow.

Commission sketch for "PASSAGES." This painting is also drying and will be posted tomorrow.

Next up are three commissioned paintings for "NEW MEXICO FLOWER GARDEN."

All but the varnish

This is the detail of my sunflower painting. On a piece this large, once I finish all of the lining, I have to go back, tape individual sections off, and make sure all lines are connected and there are no broken streams. Of course, I always miss something, no matter how thorough I am!

"CANYON SUNFLOWERS:

36"X36"

The finished painting before varnishing, which will be completed tonight. If you are interested in this piece, it will be arriving at one of the galleries in a few days. You may contact me by email for more information.

Tomorrow: finishing commissions and maybe a daily painting

When I was at Ghost Ranch last week, I saw this postcard and I had to buy it. What a beautiful photo - Georgia OKeefe at Ghost Ranch, just contemplating. Maybe she was thinking about what she was going to paint next. I watched a documentary on her last night and it said that she usually made her own clothes and ate food she grew from her own garden. She had a certain austere purity that I really admire. She was so sure and focused. Aah, to dream...

I am ALMOST totally finished with my big sunflower painting. I'm also wrapping up four commissions that will be mailed out this week. And I just came back from my neighbor's mom's 77th birthday party. Gonna relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. Back to work tomorrow!

THE GILLMAN TUNNELS"

THE GILMAN TUNNELS

8"X10"

a gift for Tom

I have a collector who has become a dear friend - and I wanted to paint this for him.

Coming upon these tunnels was a complete surprise and we all had a wonderful time that day.

I was just playing with this, it's not really to scale but I hope it reminds him (and Marilyn) of that day.

Finished commissions

Morning glories and a windmill

The lavender at Los Poblanos

The moon over the church at Los Ranchos


Cosmos field with Sunflowers

Hello everyone! I have to say, these paintings photographed a little dark in my studio.

Well, after the 150 show opened, I just sort of sat back and went, Whew, I'm tired. I finished up my previous commissions and have had a hard time getting back into the studio. It's very hot and muggy here now, and the weather just makes you want to stay inside and go to sleep. BUT, today I am in the studio and continuing my work on the remaining painting commissions on my list. I hope to have the first four finished by Sunday to ship out on Monday.

I have my lavender cancases toned and will start painting those on Monday. I only have a couple of weeks and hope to take about 20 paintings to the lavender festival the weekend of July 11=12. While I've been resting, my mind has been thinking, thinking, about some upcoming things I want to do. I'll explain more about that later.

Lou Diamond Phillips won on "I'M A CELEBRITY, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He was playing for his charity and it's the Art Has Heart Foundation, which I've been participating in for about the last 6 years. So that's going to be a lot of money to send underpriviledged kids to art school. yea!

Oh, and out of 150 paintings, the gallery has sold over 90...thanks everyone.

Chimayo in the rain

Just playin'!

ROAD TRIP!

A room at the Abiquiu Inn with a beautiful flowerbed

My cousin Kay and I at the pull-off spot at the Rio Chama with beautiful mountains in the background

At Ghost Ranch about 12 miles past Abiquiu

Beautiful Santuario de Chimayo in the rain

What a fun day we had yesterday. My cousin Kay and I left Albuquerque at about 9:45am. It was raining the whole way. cloudy, cool.. We stopped in Tesuque, right outside of Santa Fe, and had breakfast. The temperature was 59 degrees! Then we turned off at Nambe and drove to Chimayo. It was raining pretty good by then, but I managed to get a few photos of the church. Then we went to Espanola and turned off to go to Abiquiu. We stopped and looked at the church in Abiquiu, then on to Ghost Ranch. Everything was so green and beautiful. Wow, what a day! We had lunch at the Abiquiu Inn and the enchiladas were wonderful. All in all, it was a great day and we are already planning our next day trip. I made a couple of short videos that I will post tonight. Oh, and Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there!

Two new daily paintings!

"LAND COLORS"

8"X8"

SOLD

My second daily today! I'm playing catch-up a little. I am going on a day trip tomorrow, which will be total fun and relaxation (hopefully), and I'm planning on coming home so inspired. I am missing a day of work, but I do need a day to just goof off. I am already working on my commissions and finishing them one by one and I have my larger 36"x36" that I started at Old Town that I want to finish too, so I am basically organized and moving along. I have a cool idea for a group exhibition next March that I will fill you in on later....anyway, wish me luck for tomorrow and hope I get lots of good shots for painting. Purchase information is below:

"STROLLING WITH THE MISSUS"

"STROLLING WITH THE MISSUS"

10"X8"

SOLD

I love roosters and I found an old photo of these two and I knew I had to paint them. It's always the male who has the beautiful plumage and the strong little female who lays all the eggs! Anyway, I hope you like it. I do. Purchase information is below:

"JEMEZ HILLS"

"JEMEZ HILLS"

8"X10"

SOLD

My daily painting is done - the first in a while. It's so nice to get back to it! I'm happy with this one, it reminds me of Jemez quite a bit, I've never seen red hills like this in any other place. I am going back soon. There was a little stand there selling Indian bread (bought some) and some delicious flat little pies that were baked in the outdoor hornos. Mine was pumpkin and my friend got cherry. They were so good. I don't think I could come close to duplicating the taste at home. Anyway, I hope you like this newest painting and purchase information is below:

"JEMEZ HILLS"

"JEMEZ HILLS"

8"X10"

work in progress

FINALLY, a daily painting in the works! I am finishing up commissions but I was really feeling the need to paint something new and since I just took a trip to Jemez....here it is!

It should be finished tomorrow. Saturday is my day trip to Tesuque, Chimayo, and Abiqiui, I am so looking forward to that. I will take tons of pics and hopefully some video. Goodnight!

works in progress

Commission - the lovely lavender fields of Los Poblanos

If you look closely. you can see where I've started the link work.

Commission - windmill and morning glories at the Botanical Gardens

Well, I got my studio a little cleaned up yesterday. I also cleaned my fridge and all of my bathroom drawers and cabinets! I got rid of two big bags of old, outdated STUFF. It is amazing how good it feels to clean and get rid of things that you don't realize bog you down. Right now I'm headed to the gym, then back home to finish up these paintings, and then try to finish my big sunflower so I can take it down to Old Town before this weekend.
I am excited about the upcoming drive to Tesuque, Abiquiu, and Chimayo. I can't wait to do some major picture-taking. I'm hoping it's semi-cloudy. Just have to wait and see....have a great day and I hope to post some finished work tonight.

Old Town painting

It was a beautiful day for painting last Saturday on the plaza at Old Town. It stayed cool and cloudy all day long with lots of local people and visitors from other states wandering about.

This is the rough sketch and placement of the sunflowers during my painting demo. I really had no preconceived ideas about what I was going to paint until I got there. We had been to Jemez, so I decided to paint red mountains (although I forgot my red, so they're a little subdued at this point), along with a sunflower meadow.

JEMEZ WITH SUNFLOWERS"

36"X36"

Here is the finished underpainting. It took about three hours to get to a good stopping point. Now the painting is in my studio. I will work on it a bit more, refining the flowers, adding red glazes to the mountains, and putting in shadows and highlights. Then the line work begins. I am hoping be finished sometime next week. Then I have two 48"x60" canvases to think about!

Hello everyone!

I'm just checking in tonight. Tomorrow I will post the large work in progress that I started down in Old Town and hope to finish early next week. I went down today and picked up my easel and met a photographer there who was shooting the 150 Challenge Show for an upcoming magazine article, so that was kind of fun.

I also bought several canvases today for a few commissions and will also start doing some paintings for the upcoming Los Ranchos Lavender in the Village Festival. I am going on a day trip soon to Tesuque, Chimayo, and Abiquiu, New Mexico, as a relaxing getaway after getting ready for the show. Then I head to Taos for a five day Paint-Out, then on to San Francisco to watch my husband and mother-in-law play basketball in the National Senior Olympics. THEN I start getting organized for Weems Artfest in November. Last year I took quite a few paintings, so there will be a lot to do! I may create another blogsite for you to watch those paintings.

I am also going to try my hand at creating my own website. I have an official site, but I want to be able to do the work myself, and input events, new work, etc., in a more timely manner.

These are some ideas running around in my head;

Do another challenge of some sort

Look for a studio space around other artists

Paint a whole series on the Town and Women of Willard, NM, complete with story and paintings

Create a whole new body of work and look for representation outside of New Mexico

Have home studio events, complete with food, good friends, and collectors

Curate a show of my own and invite other artists to participate

Do some teaching or workshops with kids

Get together with a poet and create paintings around poetry

Start attending live model classes and focus a bit more on drawing

Do a whole series of shows around small framed oils

Do a whole series of nudes

Create huge paintings of large floral and forest scenes involving really loose paint and lots of drips

Any other ideas??