What, you never saw a purple cow?

So when I was in the fifth grade, my classroom and teacher were shared with the sixth grade.  That meant that my older brother was in my class.  One day, we were assigned to memorize a poem and be prepared to recite it to the class a few days hence.  I memorized a very long poem (Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) to showcase my amazing powers of memory. I was one of the first to recite and I have to admit, the other kids were probably half asleep when I finished.  Then came my brother, who got up and recited the poem (four short lines) I Never Saw a Purple Cow.  The other kids loved it and he received a lot of applause.  This is what I really mean:  I think sometimes it's more advantageous to be brief and funny rather than serious and intelligent.

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.

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.

Where Bambi Comes to Drink Water

This is the second painting I did in East Texas.  The water was brackish (sorry Bambi) and the most lovely brown color I've ever seen.  But I added the blue so it would be understood to be water in the painting. 

By a Quiet Pond

Last Thursday I went out to Lake Bob Sandlin  with Suzanne Clarke to do some plein air painting.  This lake is in East Texas about a 100 miles from Dallas.  We went into a wooded area where I painted two views.  I'm going to show the last of three paintings that I did in the course of four hours.  The interesting thing is that the old rule of painting fast is best held true pretty much this day.  I spent 30 minutes on this painting.  The colors turned out very vivid because I was sitting in the shade and looking at a scene in the sun.  When I make corrections on this painting, I'll make the grass in the foreground more green and adjust my darks and lights.  Over all it was a great day.

Floating

This is a watercolor study I did in preparation for a large oil painting that I started yesterday.  

Beginnings of a Beaver Dam

After all that glass, I guess it was inevitable that I would return to water.  I'm working on painting very direct, no blending.  Once the mark is down, it's done. 

Off the road to the monastery

This is near Abiquiu off an old dirt road that leads to a Benedictine monastery by the Chama River.  When I was working on this scene, a coyote came out of the bushes in the foreground and just stood there and looked at me.  At first I was frightened, but then I realized coyotes usually don't attack people.  This was done the same day as the previous painting.

Near Abiquiu

This is a view at a place everyone calls the Amphitheater because there is a rock formation that looks like a huge natural amphitheater.  I, however,  chose to paint the cliff just to the right of the amphitheater.  The board I used was rather slick and it forced me to lay on the paint thicker than I am accustomed and that turned out to be a good thing.  I was also interested in trying to create the form with color and I think I was successful.  This was a great day!

Orchids and Butterflies

My heart is still in Florida so today it's orchids and a butterfly.  I'm particularly fond of orchids and to see one in it's natural environment is really a thrill, add a few butterflies and you have nirvana.