And There is the Daily Life

Some time ago I mentioned that I was experimenting with silver leaf. This is the resultant painting. Some of the fish have silver leaf on them. When hanging on the wall with a light on the painting (as it did magnificently in the recent University of Dallas show) the silvery fish really shine and add depth to the scene. I think I will expand on this notion.

Clothesline Installation

This painting and a life drawing are in the Zipp Gallery show this month entitled "Clothesline Installation". Zipp Gallery is outside Santa Fe in a 200 year old adobe house. The concept of this show is that each piece of art had to fit in one of three sizes of zip lock bag and then all are hung on a clothesline running throughout the gallery.

The Lake at Abiquiu

This is a plein air painting I did in Abiquiu last May, but just recently added a few touches that time, wind, heat, bugs, etc. prevented me from doing "in situ". The beautiful thing about this lake is that if you only look at the lake and the surrounding rocks without the vistas, it looks very Mediterranean. Another one of God's little jokes.

Just Floating

This is another version of a smaller painting that I did a few years ago. I wanted to make it slightly larger and change the water colors a little. This little painting makes me feel relaxed and cool.

Yerba Mansa

This is a botanical study of a plant that grows here in Santa Fe. I found it at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden growing wild in the shade of some trees.

I Found the Living Water

I have realized recently that I have an obsession with waterfalls. What would a Jungian make of that? I'm reading at the moment a novel entitled "The Day the Falls Stood Still". It's a love story about two young people at the turn of the century who live near the Niagra Falls. I can't imagine a more magical place to live.

Falling to Earth

This is attempt no. 2 in which I collaged a stamp print I had made previously entitled "Falling to Earth" to the encaustic, which reminds me of how I felt last night when I participated in my first ever bachelorette party. The bachelorette party is a whole culture unto itself.

Encaustic Painting

Yesterday I took an encaustic workshop to learn how to use this medium. It was challenging to manipulate the hot wax quickly to get the form I had in mind, but I really like the end results. It was especially challenging to do this in Dallas heat which defies air conditioning! This is my first ever encaustic painting.

Another Sunset Experience

After finishing the sunset painting, I took the resulting piles of paint and made this little abstract. A trick I learned from Suzanne Kelley Clark

Sunset as Metaphor

I understand why sunsets are metaphors for "the end". But, in the words of that famous thinker Elle (Legally Blond), "I object!". Sunsets for me are a metaphor for exuberance, the outrageous joy of watching God paint a masterpiece every evening.

You Can't Make It Up

What I mean by that is that the sunsets out here in New Mexico are so beautiful that no human could make them up. I'm only painting what I see.

New Mexico Sunset

I've decided to paint a bunch of sunsets. This first one I painted at sunset at the lake in Abiquiu. Since this one was done en plein air, I had to work really fast to get the colors before the whole thing changed.

Reedy Falls, Greenville, South Carolina II

This is another interpretation of the falls done on Yuppo, a kind of plastic paper that is as smooth as a china plate. The challenge is sliding the pigment around into pleasing forms. The colors appear more vivid because they don't sink into the paper. The final effect is more abstract.

Reedy Falls, Greenville, South Carolina

I painted this waterfall while in Greenville, South Carolina. The river runs through the middle of town and these falls are in the downtown (such as it is)area. Such a beautiful place to contemplate nature in the middle of the city!

On the Road to Monastery

This is one of the paintings I did while in Abiquiu. We went down a dirt and gravel road where we saw at every turn some of the most spectacular landscapes in New Mexico. At the end of the road, (which takes about 30 minutes) is the Benedictine Monastery nestled down by the Chama River. This particular scene is a couple of miles before the Monastery. It's perhaps impossible to communicate the emotions that the sweeping lanscapes provoke. I decided to focus on a small part of the whole. The colors of the rocks are luminous and the patterns evoke the art of the Indians who lived in this area.

Roses from a Secret Admirer

I have a long standing tradition of painting the flowers in my hotel room, wherever I am. They always arrive from a secret admirer, usually with the room service.

Echo Amphitheatre, Abiquiu

This is a rock formation near Abiquiu that never ceases to interest me. The colors and shapes are beautiful and sensual. We started painting on Saturday and this is my first painting of the week. Last year some may remember that my rant was the flies in the mountains. I guess this year my theme will be the wind; it has been a bother so far

Matisse and Rekerdres Again

Seriously, aren't these little watercolors fun? And, as most people know, I'm all about fun.

Matisse and Rekerdres

Using a background from a master with my nude is a lot of fun! Especially with Matisse who shares my passion for pattern.

Fun in the Sun

Can you tell which one is by Gauguin and which one is by Me?

Liquid Graphite

I found a new art product recently called "Liquid Graphite". It comes in a bottle and has the consistency of acrylic paint. I used it with a watercolor brush and water to do this study of a male model. It looks like a very old drawing, like a Michaelangelo. Definitely a fun new tool!

Being in the River

Just wanted to let everyone know that this painting has been accepted into the 25th Texas and Neighbors Regional Art Exhibit 2010! The exhibit runs from May 24 through June at the Irving Art Center in Irving.

Orange You Glad I Like Nudes?

I crack myself up! This little nude took all of two minutes to paint. Usually I paint the model with just water on my brush. It's a little hard to see what I'm doing, but the idea is to get the silhouette. Then, I drop in color where the shadows are. Sometimes they look really great, like this one!

In the Garden with Egon Schiele

I was looking at a photo of a watercolor by Egon Schiele entitled "Sunflowers" while painting this nude. I used his color palette and some of his forms while painting the nude model. This was an exercise we did in the life drawing class that I attend each week. I want to do this one again but on a larger scale.

Frottage and Nude Together

Frottage is a rubbing over something with texture to make a print. In this case, the something was a paper lace doily that I put under a piece of watercolor paper and rubbed with a gold metallic wax crayon. Then I painted the blue nude.

It Might Have Choked Arty...

But it didn't choke me! This is a lithograph (series of 6) that I did some years ago. I'm thinking of adding watercolor to each one, or maybe just five of them.

A Silver Fish

This fish is painted using actual silver leaf in the body. It reflects the light beautifully and I'm planning to use it judiciously amongst the fish that will be painted with the silver metallic oil paint in the grand oeuvre in process.

Experimenting with Silver

I'm working on a large painting which will involve many little silver fish so I'm trying to decide which metallic silver I want to use. This little guy was painted with silver oil paint.

Floating in Tropical Waters

There is something about a cold snowy day to make one nostalgic about tropical locales. My feet were cold the entire time I spent painting this, but it gave me a warm feeling!

The sun was shining

The sun finally showed itself today and I guess that became the impetus for this painting which is nearly complete. I worked very fast because I wanted my brush strokes to show movement and I was afraid the sun would hide again.

Really Wet

This little watercolor really gives the feeling of wetness. I really like the abstractness of it. I was in Florida this past weekend so naturally water was on my mind.

Synchronized Swimmers

This series of watercolors (there are five all together, but I've only shown three) has great potential for some kind of kinetic display which I'm still pondering.

White Rock Lake

This little painting is a view of the lake through the trees. The sun was shining on the water and made it quite brilliant which couldn't really be duplicated with oil paints. I had the idea of the space between the trees being a kind of portal.