PREPARING TO PAINT -- GESSOING CANVAS

It is my habit to work on a "toned ground" - years ago I worked on a red ground and sometimes ochre.  Then I found that a grey-blue background worked best for me -- I mix the gesso (if necessary thin a little bit with water to a workable consistency) with Payne's Grey and then apply two to three coats to the canvas in a swirling motion (let each coat dry to the touch before applying the next) - avoid painting in straight strokes.  Let dry overnight before stacking boards or canvas for storage.

WELCOME 2014!

NEW YEAR....New palette, new canvas ......anything is possible!

RIO CHAMA (ABIQUIU, N.M.) 20"X20" Orig. Oil - Sold

3-DAY AUCTION - "RIO CHAMA" (Abiquiu, N.M.) 20"x20" Original Oil (wrap-around painting) - auction ending Sunday  - SOLD

WINTER GIFTS......

 

To Art Friends Everywhere!  Many of you have been with me a long time and know I love to send this greeting every year.  The original of this painting was "adopted" by some great friends and very prolific art collectors years ago and still resides in a lovely home in Taos.  The street in this painting is the main street in Truchas -- I walked to the post office from my little adobe house every day and still keep the memories of that special time and place very close.  The woman is the memory I've kept of my little Polish grandmother -- she carried a shopping bag with her everywhere -- those were her "gifts" her "surprises".  The words of Fra Giovanni never fail to uplift - especially at this time of the year.  From my heart I wish each and every one of you all the best of this holiday season -- Hug someone special today!  Sincere best wishes, Donna - Tesuque, New Mexico - 12/20/13

"There  is nothing I can give you which you have not;
But there is much, very much that while I cannot give it,
 you can take.

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts
find rest in today.  TAKE HEAVEN.
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden
in this present moment.  TAKE PEACE.

The gloom of the world is but a shadow.
Behind it, yet within reach is joy.
There is a radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see,
and to see we have only to look.  I BESEECH YOU TO LOOK.

Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by
their covering, cast them away as ugly, or heavy or hard.
Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it
a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom with power.

Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel's hand that
brings it to you.  Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or
a duty, believe me that angel's hand is there; the gift is there,
and the wonder of an overshadowing presence.
Our joys, too, be not content with them as joys.
They, too, conceal diviner gifts.

And so, at this time, I greet you.
Not quite as the world sends greetings, but with
profound esteem and with the prayer that for you now and
forever, the day breaks, and the shadows flee away."

Fra Giovanni, 1513 AD

FROM MY TESUQUE WINDOW - 12/19/13

This morning - from Tesuque window - I see a painting in there - taking shape - loved the light coming in through the garden gate on the patch of snow.....

TAOS WINTER DREAMS, 6"x8" Orig. Oil Framed - Sold

TAOS WINTER DREAMS (Santistevan Lane, Taos, New Mexico) - 6"x8" Original Oil, Framed in Silver - Sold

DEEP RIVER DREAMS, 9"x12" Original Oil, Framed - Sold

DEEP RIVER DREAMS (Rio Grande at Pilar, New Mexico) - 9"x12" Original Oil Framed in Silver with Linen Liner. SOLD

From a Winter Window - Tesuque - 12/5/13

TESUQUE BLUE - 12/1/13

12/1/13 - Getting acquainted with my new neighborhood!

100 Small Paintings No. 72 - RANCHITOS PASTORAL 8"X8" - Sold

 

100 Small Paintings No. 72 - RANCHITOS PASTORAL (View from the field at Padre Martinez Hacienda, Taos, New Mexico), 8"X8" Original Oil, SOLD

100 SMALL PAINTINGS NO. 73 - PUESTA DEL SOL, 6"x8" Framed - SOLD

100 SMALL PAINTINGS NO. 73 - PUESTA DEL SOL (One of the last paintings of the view from my Taos kitchen window) 6"x8" Original Oil on Gessoed Panel, Framed in Gold -  SOLD

OUR DAILY BREAD.....

OUR DAILY BREAD (Taos Pueblo, New Mexico)

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

- Melody Beattie

A very happy and peaceful Thanksgiving to family and friends everywhere!  Best regards, Donna

HARVEST MOON RISING, NEW 30"x40" Original Oil, Framed

 

Studio No. 2113 - HARVEST MOON RISING, 30"x40" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, Framed in Silver with Linen Liner - Completed 11/19/13 - Now available at Online Gallery .

HARVEST MOON RISING - 30"x40" Work in Progress (The Glazes)

STUDIO NO. 2113 - HARVEST MOON RISING - 30"x40" Work in Progress (The Glazes) - Glazes are transparent or semi-transparent colors thinned with painting medium and worked into the underpainting.  Trees:  Combinations of Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Yellow Ochre, Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Red.  Sky:  Ultramarine Blue, Violet Lake, Thalo Red Rose and Yellow Ochre Transparent.  Because there is turpentine in painting medium, the glazes have to dry before going in with the opaque colors. 

HARVEST MOON RISING - NEW 30"x40" Work in Progress (Underpainting)

HARVEST MOON RISING -  30"x40" work in Progress (Underpainting) - Original Oil on Canvas.  Trees:  Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Yellow Ochre, Prussian Blue.  Sky:  Ultramarine Blue; Cadmium Yellow, Thalo Red Rose, Cadmium Red.  Earth:  Mixed all colors together to get a wonderful "mud".   All colors mixed with Grumbacher MG White and thinned with turpentine.

TAOS SUNRISE - NEW 36"x36" Original Oil Completed 11/12/13

TAOS SUNRISE - New 36"x36" Original Oil on Belgian Linen - Wrap-around Canvas.  Completed 11/12/13.  Now available for purchase at my Online Gallery/Store.

TAOS SUNRISE - 36"x36" Work in Progress (Opaque Colors)

 

STUDIO NO. 2013 - TAOS SUNRISE - 36"x36" Work in Progress (Opaque Colors) - Worked on this canvas all week and dropped the idea of using only five colors.  Added Cadmium Yellow Light to the area where the sun is rising and will add some dry brush Holbein Rose Grey to the sky next week.  Also added some Burnt Sienna and Alizarin to the grasses and trees.  The paint is laid on rather thickly and needs to dry before I can work to bring out the early morning light.  This is not a New Beginning as I thought when I blocked it in - it is the last painting from my kitchen window on Santistevan Lane -- that makes it very special in my eyes.  Hope you are enjoying this process.  DC

TAOS SUNRISE - Work in Progress - the Middle Tones.

10/31/13 - Second day of work on this canvas - "Scumbled" (rubbed in) colors in all combinations.  Laid in branches with combination of Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, and Prussian Blue.  Concentrating intense light in one area.  Let dry for a day or so.....Stay Tuned!

36"x36" Work in Progress - TAOS SUNRISE (Underpainting)

STUDIO #2013 - TAOS SUNRISE, Work in Progress (Underpainting) - On Toned Ground:  Whole canvas is covered with mixture of gesso and Payne's Grey.  Allowed to Dry.  Loose sketch:  Darks - Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber - some Prussian Blue.  To lighten add MG Underpainting white.  Light areas:  Yellow Ochre Pale and Grumbacher's MG Underpainting White. 

New 36"x36" Work in Progress - "TAOS SUNRISE (Palette)

COLORS:  Yellow Ochre Pale, Payne's Grey, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber and Prussian Blue.