"A Parting Gift" - SOLD

"A Parting Gift", Oil, 20 x 16" Canvas, Framed,  Sold

There's always a bit of melancholy for us when we leave a place we love so much.  That's how we felt about leaving Taos, with all its beauty.  As if to give us a visual memory we wouldn't soon forget, our last evening in Taos shared a dazzling sunset.   We saw how the Sangre de Christo Mountains turned deep red and in an instant as the sun dipped below a mountain, the color was gone.  But not so with the breathtaking sky towards the sunset.

We packed our bags and pondered how and when we could return to this beautiful state.  I thought how fortunate we were to have stumbled upon Querencia Taos - the place we stayed for the week.  We could have quite happily hid out for the week in our cozy, inspiring surroundings.  Quest and Shannon Couch, owners of Querencia Taos have thought of just about everything to make it your "home away from home".  We'll count the days until we can return.

"Chimney Rock at Ghost Ranch"

"Chimney Rock at Ghost Ranch", Oil, 14 x 11" Canvas

Watching sunset up at Ghost Ranch was a real highlight of my trip to New Mexico.  This view looks up at Chimney Rock.  Of course the long, zigzag blue-violet shadows in the snow and the vivid contrasts of plants popping through the snow made this a "must paint" picture in the "Taos" series.

Organizing the Studio, Again

I've tried all sorts of organizing ideas for my studio, always trying to keep it neat, but workable.

This new chrome shelving is perfect!  Now I can have easy access to supplies.  While not in use, I store paints and pastels in the clear tubs on bottom shelf.  As I choose my color palette, I just sort out warm, cool and neutral colors into the handy metal paint cans stored at eye level.

It's functional and attractive!

New Logo

For a long time I've toyed around with the idea of a logo.  I can't think of one that better epitomizes, in a quick second, who's got a chunk of my heart:  Ruby.  Who can resist that face, I ask you? So, here's the "stamp" if you will that I'm using now.  What do you think?

"Journey to New Mexico"

"Journey to New Mexico", 24 x 48 x 1.5" Gallery Wrapped Canvas, Oil

Part of the excitement of driving West to New Mexico was seeing new terrain.  Even in Oklahoma I find the shallow, rolling plains quite striking.  Here, the contrast between the intense, big clear blue skies and the dry, vast land dotted with scrub and distant trees was quite lovely.

My attempt was to focus on that amazing big blue sky.  That called for a big canvas I felt, dominated by the sky.  I chose a 24" x 48" x 1.5" thick gallery wrapped canvas for this purpose.

I suppose you have to see it in person to really experience the sense of cleanness of the air that allows such vivid colors.  That blue sky really dominates on a cold, clear winter day out West.

"Remembering Georgia"

"Remembering Georgia", 18 x 24 x 1.5" Gallery Wrapped Canvas, Oil

As I mentioned before, visiting New Mexico was most inspiring.  A highlight of our trip was visiting the O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe followed by a journey up to Ghost Ranch where she lived and painted for many, many years.

Seeing her paintings up close and personal and learning about her techniques and methods during the "O'Keefiana" exhibit was most enlightening.  Her consistency and determination to follow her own voice, despite early misunderstandings about the meaning of her work was inspiring.  I've always loved her beautiful abstracted florals.  I find their shapes and subtle transitions of color variations quite lovely.

It seemed appropriate to include a floral in this Taos series in honor of such a revolutionary artist.  While not trying to imitate Georgia's style here, her affinity for the "V" and triangular shapes in her works drew me to this photo as a reference for a painting.  Of course the vivid colors I found irresistible!  I loved the single yellow tulip nestled in that sea of blue.  This painting was a joy from start to finish.

"Taos Hills"

"Taos Hills", 16 x 40 x 1.5" Gallery Wrap Canvas, Oil

Of all the varied landscape elements that we enjoyed in New Mexico, I believe that which captivated me the most were the softly sculpted rolling hills with dots of bushes here and there.  It made for the most lovely shadow play, and you know how I love the shadows!

I couldn't help but think of O'Keefe as I painted this long, slender canvas and have striven to abstract the viewpoint somewhat and just play with delicious colors throughout.  I didn't want to simplify into utterly geometric shapes as I wanted to keep some of the 3-dimensionality of the scene.

The day I took the photo upon which this painting is based, the sky was heavy with dark clouds that seemed to touch the tops of the hills, but underneath, from the distance was a band of light that painted the tops of the hills and all the crevices with a swath of golden color.

I kept the overall strokes broad and softened.  Besides the unique quality of light and vibrant colors, even in the winter landscape, I distinctly remember a feeling of "softness" everywhere I looked in New Mexico that I found simply enchanting.

"Taos Sunrise" - SOLD

"Taos Sunrise", 11 x 14" Acrylic, Framed,  Sold

"Taos Sunrise" in Gold Plein Air Frame

For many years I've had the dream of visiting New Mexico...seeing "O'Keefe Country".  That dream finally came true when out of the blue we had the chance to drive for a winter get away with family recently.  None of us could imagine the beauty that we were soon to see.  We were smitten.  We've traveled quite a bit and seen many wonderful places, but no where have we experienced the connection to a place so suddenly, so deeply as in New Mexico.

One snowy morning my husband and I hiked over these hills and sat for the longest time, contemplating and enjoying the sublime beauty of the place.  It was so serene.  I felt a quiet stillness inside and out.  (And then I heard the "Taos dogs" barking at us from a distance and hoped that they would recognize that we weren't a threat!)

The exhilarating hike back to the house refreshed us and as we excitedly described the things we saw, I felt a sharp, scratchy feeling in the posterior.  Inspection of the ski pants revealed that yours truly had apparently selected a sticker bush to sit on!  How I wondered was it possible for the stickers to penetrate those bulky ski pants?  Made for a good laugh and a funny memory.

While in New Mexico we got to visit the Taos Museum which is in the Fechin Home and enjoyed seeing some lovely works, but especially marveled at the house with its amazing woodwork that Fechin built himself, as well as seeing his fabulous studio.  Later, we went to Santa Fe to visit the O'Keefe Museum and learn more about  Georgia's history and how she did her work.  Finally the day  was made complete with a drive up to Abiqui and Ghost Ranch where O'Keefe lived and painted her iconic scenes of New Mexico.  Seeing all that artwork had me itching to paint!

So, about the painting above.  In the dining room of our house were huge glass windows offering breathtaking vistas of the rolling hills, valley and in the distance the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (which are the foothills of the Rockies).  That particular morning the sky screamed with color and so the focus of this painting naturally is the sky.  The next day, the colors were different.  It was exciting to watch changing colors of light.  Naturally I was inspired to paint such splendid scenes (especially in the comfort of the house!)  With limited supplies on hand I just did a few sketches, a couple are shown here.

I took lots and lots of photos and hope that over the coming weeks they'll provide inspiration for many more paintings.