Taos Colors

The weather here in Albquerque is definitely cooler.

Which makes me think of Fall.

Which makes me automatically think of Taos.

I'm headed there soon and I wanted to show you how Taos 

looked when I went in the middle of October two years ago.

If these don't want to make you take a trip to Taos and Arroyo Seco,

then I don't know what will.

Enjoy.....and get ready to follow me on another Taos adventure in a few weeks.....

 Rio Grande gorge with chamisa

 drive on the way through Taos pass

 valley of Valdez, near Taos Ski Valley

 Arroyo Seco - a rainbow of fall colors!

 descanso with fall trees and Taos mountain with cloud cover

 red chile ristras and dahlias

 what a contrast of colors!

 road to an adobe that's over 100 years old

 famous Arroyo Seco truck with Virginia Creeper

 golden colors with adobe

 cloud cover

 pretty horses

village of Valdez - look at that gold!

The Party's Over

My 145 Challenge is done and my dinner is over!

I had a fantastic time yesterday and I can't believe it - 

I did not take ONE photo of the event.

Which just goes to show that I was having a great time.

I did take a photo of the party set up though.

We had about 35 people in attendance, great guitar music by Lenore Armijo,

and a compilation of homemade food along with food by El Pinto and Gardunos.

I gave away four gift bags good for a handpainted Christmas ornament,

and a drawing was held for a 24x36 canvas to be created by me 

and the subject matter to be chosen by the winner. Congratulations Katie!

And best of all, we raised almost $700 for my favorite animal charity, NMDOG!

Oh, and did I mention that I sold 38 145 Challenge paintings?

I loved hanging out with the people who attended, 

some of whom I had never even met.

We even had root beer floats for dessert.

This might have to become an annual event...

There are 71 available paintings on the 145 Challenge.

They will be there for a couple more days, then I will deliver them to my favorite galleries .

View them HERE.

I have marked the paintings that are already SOLD.

In other news, people were asking me yesterday, "What are you going to do now?"

Rest is on the top of my list - and I definitely want to go swim and hot tub at the gym, 

I haven't been for almost two weeks.

 Tomorrow I start a 24x24 floral commission,

then paint a little chair for the Presbyterian Ear Institute,

then a 37x37 aspen forest commission after that.

I want to revamp my website and blog site, 

go on some painting day trips, go to Taos, 

learn how to make movie dvds,

and sit down and figure out my direction for next year.

I want to go on the upcoming Alameda Studio Tour ,

and definitely attend Weems Artfest. It will be weird being an

attendee and not a participating artist.

I will still have a large painting in the auction for three charities.

Anyway, that's where I'm at.

Thanks for watching the 145 Challenge and hangin' in with me,

if you only knew how much you inspire me to keep working,

you would be amazed!

Later...I'm going to go read a book.

145 DAY CHALLENGE 

IS COMPLETED!

To view all 145 paintings, click HERE.

Each painting is $145 and payable through Paypal

with a Paypal account or any credit card.

Paintings will go to galleries next week.

******************************************************

I pass this beautiful carving every time I go somewhere.

It's on the street where I live.

This was taken in autumn of last year.

It's a carving in an old cottonwood tree of 

Our Lady of Guadalupe.

I especially love the metal inscription and the flowers.

The climbings on the fence areVirginia Creeper

and wild roses, I think.

In other news, I have four new 145 Challenge paintings.

Please click HERE to view.

Hi all - 

I am so in the mood for fall!

The temp here has been in the high 70's during the day

and 50s in the morning when I wake up. It's glorious...

Come on pumpkins and Thanksgiving.

I am hard at work on my 145 Challenge paintings.

I will hopefully finish painting #1 on September 30.

This is painting #53, "PEACEFUL MESA."

new 145 Challenge paintings

"FLORES DEL SOL"

6x6"

#79

The painting is fast and furious now!

To read more about this and other 145 Challenge paintings, please click HERE.

"FOR THE DOGS"

Sunday, September 29, 2013

1-4pm

The deadline to register

for my New Mexico Dinner

and fundraiser for NMDOG is

 Monday, September 23, 2013.

Enjoy a delicious New Mexican meal at

Dee's north valley home under the cottonwoods.

Meal:

chips, guacamole, queso,

taquitas, chicken enchiladas, bean enchiladas,

sopaipillas, and root beer floats 

*Door prizes and register to win a $2000 Dee Sanchez painting!

*Private tour of Dee's art studio!

*Chance for first dibs on 145 Challenge paintings!

*$49 per person- space is limited

*Half of the proceeds benefit NMDOG!

To read more about this great organization, click HERE.

 Roy, one of my own rescued puppies, he is almost seven now.

the courtyard at my studio door

TO REGISTER, CALL DEE AT:

505-792-1030

Mail check per person to:

403 Camino del Bosque NW

Albuquerque, NM  87114

Email: dshadowtail@aol.com

STARRY NIGHT

The gala in Corrales was so fun last night.

There was a beautiful huge clear tent to the stars with twinkly lights everywhere.

There was a guy playing guitar and singing exactly like James Taylor.

I saw a few old friends and met some new plein air painters.

It was nice because we all had something in common.

Even though most of us were painting alone, we

came together for the same reason - to paint beautiful Corrales.

My truck painting sold right away, I was so happy!

I missed the Quick Draw competition yesterday.

It was at the old church and I didn't really want to paint it,

mainly because the first one I did, I ended up scraping off.

But I later found out that you could paint anywhere near the church,

as long as you could hear the starting and stopping bell.

Darn, if I had known that, I would've gone.

Oh well, I will be there again next year....

 "OUT TO PASTURE"

SOLD

Below you will see my newest 145 Challenge painting, #80.

Only 79 more to go in 22 days.

Let's see, that's somewhere between three and four paintings per day.

Will I make it???

Oh, and only two weeks left to register for the End of Challenge
New Mexican dinner at my home. 
Email me at dshadowtail@aol.com
$49 per person, half of proceeds go to NMDOG.

 "POPPY MEDLEY"

6x6"

#80

To see all 145 Challenge paintings, click HERE.

Purchases may be made until September 30, 2013.

On another note, fall is in the air and so are balloons!

This guy flew right over my head this morning at about 8am..

I'm ready - the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta starts Saturday, October 4, 2013.

For more information about the fiesta, click HERE.

and the winner is....

The winner of the voting for the best painting

to exhibit in the "CORRALES PLEIN AIR 2013" exhibition is

"OUT TO PASTURE"

8x8"

oil on hardboard framed

$250

Thanks to everyone who voted!!

Sometimes, as an artist, I am so close to the work that 

it's really hard to make a choice, especially when choosing 

which painting to put in an exhibition.

On one painting I might like the final product, 

on another I may really like the way I laid down

a particular color - or just the way two colors look next to each other. 

Painting is Corrales for almost a week was a lot of fun.

There are a lot of painters that like to paint in groups.

Talking, chatting, sharing ideas and critiques.

I am not one of those. 

Dee definitely needs her space (I like to speak of myself in the third person).

I tend to be a loner and need focus and concentration.

This week, I wanted to pare down my gear to the bare essentials.

This is what I took with me:

a carry all that hold everything

my small pochade box (Judson Outfitters)

a box of Kleenix

a container of Wipees

a plastic trash bag

two brushes

a small jar of turp

grey palette paper cut to fit the box

paint laid out on the palette (no extra paint)

I took a chair but never used it, because...

I painted in my car!

Painting in your car is almost as hard as NOT painting in your car.

I had to drive around, pick out a scene that I could see really well - 

nothing too far away or too linear.

I moved the seat back, propped the box in front of me,

loosely sketched and blocked in the subject,

and painted as quickly as possible.

Sometimes I would look up and two hours had passed without me realizing the time.

That is the beauty of plein air.

Mixing colors is also much different on location than in the studio.

And I had to deal with bugs and flies, 

people walking up and asking if me if I needed help,

having cars go around me and drivers giving me strange looks.

But I got to explore a lot of Corrales I hadn't seen.

As a artist, I drive around and look for scenes or experiences

that I can turn into paintings.

Like the man clearing weeds by the church - 

I took a quick photo of him and will make him the subject 

in a future painting of people harvesting fields of green chile.

Or I may just turn this scene into a painting.

It's kind of a drag to go anywhere with me - I am always

using my mental "viewfinder" - what would make a good painting?

How can I change this scene around to make a better composition?

I tend not to enjoy outings so much, because I am always looking....

Artist's eyes get tired.

Trust me, it's hard living with an artist.

Heck, it's hard BEING an artist.

But I am one.

And I'm never going to change.

Oh, and there are perks.

Tonight I am going to a gala event in Corrales and I am just going to relax

and enjoy the experience, the people, and the food.

Oh wait, where's my camera?

See, here I go again.....

GUYS - A QUICK VOTE!!

PLEASE COMMENT AND TELL ME:

 WHICH OF THESE PAINTINGS SHOULD

I FRAME AND TAKE TO CORRALES TODAY BY 6PM

TO BE EXHIBITED IN THE "CORRALES PLEIN AIR 2013" SHOW

THAT OPENS ON SATURDAY?

I CAN ONLY TAKE ONE AND I CAN'T DECIDE!

 suns

 scarecrow

 house

 truck

 water

corn

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.