AUTUMN DREAMING - WORK IN PROGRESS

AUTUMN DREAMING - WORK IN PROGRESS
22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

Monday, 6/16/08 -- Working this painting a little differently than many of the others. Rather than just putting in pure glazes, I am mixing a lot of opaque paints with the darker colors. The sky is completed -- Thalo Blue, Thalo Green, Permalba White with a touch of Yellow Ochre (which grays the blue so that it isn't so overwhelming). The trees and the yellow part of the chamisa is a combination of Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre -- and for the darker parts, I have added a little bit of Diox. Purple. The greens are various combinations of Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue for the darkest areas -- also added some Diox. Purple. For the lighter greens I used a "dirty brush" -- a combination of the yellows for the chamisa with the greens. The road will be a bunch of left over colors from my palette mixed together after a day of painting - otherwise known as "mud". This will be a bright and interesting painting. If you would like to see the underpainting, please scroll down to my blog entry of May 26th. Stay tuned!

TEMPLO SION - Studio Edition Archival Giclee

"TEMPLO SION" - New Studio Edition Print

6/14/08 - This morning I was able to photograph this original painting (only three oils left of my personal "Truchas collection"). For a while I lived next door to this little Assembly of God church on the main road in Truchas -- and this is the way it looked twenty years ago. As with everything in New Mexico these days, it has since been turned into a gallery with orange shutters; I can't help feeling that something precious has been lost in the translation.

Now available as a Studio Edition Archival Giclee - printed on Enhanced Matte Presentation Paper (22"x17" sheet size) -- $100.00, plus $10.00 Shipping and Handling (mailed flat). Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express now available through my studio. To order please call my Taos Studio (575) 758-7454.

HOLY SMOKE! -- FINAL TOUCH - SOLD

"SUENOS DEL NORTE" - Completed 6/5/08
Sold 6/2/08

Added the swirl of smoke -- the painting didn't feel complete to me without it!

SUENOS DEL NORTE - SOLD

"SUENOS DEL NORTE" - SOLD
(Completed 2 June 2008-Sold 3 June 2008)

22X28" Original Oil Painting on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos studio at
(575) 758-7454

SUENOS DEL NORTE - WORK IN PROGRESS

"SUENOS DEL NORTE" - GLAZES

Monday, 5/26/08 - It seems that I mixed a little too much cobalt dryer into my painting medium and the varnish got a little syrupy -- added more turpentine. I want this to be a quiet, dreamy full-moon painting, so the lighting is a little tricky...a lot of "invention" will go into this canvas! Stay tuned.

AUTUMN DREAMING - WORK IN PROGRESS

"AUTUMN DREAMING" - UNDERPAINTING

Monday, 5/26/08 - 22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen - All my colors have been mixed with turpentine and MG Underpainting White.  I have used various sizes of bristle brushes to make a color sketch of the scene.  Sky: Thalo Blue, Thalo Green with a touch of Yellow Ochre.  Trees and Chamisa:  Various shades of Cadmium Yello and Yellow Ochre -- to make shadows, add a little bit of Diox. Purple or Cobalt Violet to yellows.  The Road:  Various mixtures of Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Rose Grey, Cadmium Yellow.  This underpainting has dried for about ten days -- I will begin to put the glazes in tomorrow.  Stay Tuned!!! 

LLANO SAN JUAN - NEW ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING

"LLANO SAN JUAN"

36"x48" New Original Oil Painting

Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

Completed 5/23/08

EL LLANO - NEW ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING

"EL LLANO"

22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

On exhibit at McLARRY FINE ART GALLERY

225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, N.M.

(505) 988-1161

"ALMOST HOME" - ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING

"ALMOST HOME" - NEW ORIGINAL OIL

ONCE UPON A TIME in a place called Llano Quemado (suburban Truchas, New Mexico), I lived on a horse ranch high in the mountains overlooking the Espanola Valley.  One spring a man from Santa Fe brought five pregnant mares to board at the ranch,  along with a "How to Foal" instruction book.  My favorite was a huge white Arabian named Radiant Wind.  Away from the main ranch house there was a horse barn and a small apartment attached to the foaling stall.  Late one night I watched her give birth to a beautiful black colt...what joy!

"Almost Home" - (30"x30" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Canvas - framed in gold with linen liner) is the view from the edge of the small village of Rio Chiquito.  From that little back road I would reconnect with the Truchas highway -- home to the ranch, usually at sunset.

Now being exhibited at MC LARRY FINE ART GALLERY, 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, N.M. (505) 988-1161.

EL LLANO - WORK IN PROGRESS - GLAZES

"EL LLANO" - WORK IN PROGRESS - GLAZES

4/17/08 - 22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen. It's snowing and cold here today and am enjoying sitting in the warm studio working! Working the Glazes into the Underpainting (See 4/10/08 Post). There is something a little unusual about this painting in that I am adding more opaques to the glazes. The sky is a mixture of Permalba White, Thalo Blue, Thalo Green and a little bit of Indanthrone Blue. The shape of the clouds is Permalba White -- with a little Payne's Grey. The darkest greens are Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna -- and I have added some Chrome Oxide Green Opaque. What appears as the road is what I call a "dirty" mixture, because I have taken the colors which weren't used after yesterday's work and mixed them all together and saved the little pile of paint for today-- a perfect dirt color! The foreground - Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna -- then mixtures of Yellow Ochre, Mars Orange, Cadmium Orange and Chrome Oxide Gr. Opaque. This canvas will dry for about a week to ten days before I can work into the colors again. STAY TUNED!

NEW! UNA TARDE DE RIO CHIQUITO

"UNA TARDE DE RIO CHIQUITO"

11"x14" Color Study in oil for larger painting (30"x30"-"ALMOST HOME) -- This study is painted on gessoed Italian Wood Panel - Framed in Gold with Linen Liner. For more information, please call MC LARRY FINE ART GALLERY, 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, N.M. (505) 988-1161.

"EL LLANO" - WORK IN PROGRESS

"EL LLANO" - UNDERPAINTING

22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen - Am trying for a very quiet, early morning feeling. For color mixtures, please view the previous post. Next - glazes, glazes, glazes......Keep coming back!

ALMOST HOME - WORK IN PROGRESS

"ALMOST HOME" - UNDERPAINTING

30"x30" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Canvas --A full color turpentine wash over the whole canvas.....my usual mixtures from Cadmium Yellow, to Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and some Diox. Purple. Next come the glazes.....Stay Tuned!

"CHAMISA DAZE" - NEW ORIGINAL OIL-SOLD

"CHAMISA DAZE" - SOLD

New Original Oil Painting - 11"x14" on Italian Gessoboard
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.

"DOWN A COUNTRY LANE" - New Original Oil - SOLD

"DOWN A COUNTRY LANE" - SOLD

NEW ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING - Completed 3/27/08
11"x14" on Italian Gessoboard
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

LLANO SAN JUAN -PHASE TWO - GLAZES

"LLANO SAN JUAN" - PHASE II - GLAZES

The glazes are transparent colors -- usually the darkest on my palette. The color at the top of the canvas is a mixture of a glaze (Burnt Sienna) and an opaque (Yellow Ochre). The same combination for the winter bushes, as well as the addition of Mars Black added with a script liner to connote branches. The darkest colors at the bottom of the bushes in the foreground is a combination of Prussian Blue and Diox. Purple. The snow: These colors are opaques -- I have laid in the "middle tones" of the snow with various combinations of Paynes Grey, Permalba White, and a Neutral Grey -- My final layer of paint will be Permalba White with touches of Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red. This color will be applied as the highlights with a bristle brush and palette knife. I am still hoping this painting will have a "quiet waking up feeling". This layer of paint will need to dry for about ten days before I can begin applying the final opaque colors -- the "light". STAY TUNED!!!

This painting is scheduled for exhibit at McLarry Fine Art Gallery, 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico sometime in May.

SUMMER ELEGY - SOLD

NEW! SUMMER ELEGY - SOLD

40"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

VALDEZ AUTUMN - COMPLETED OIL - NEW

"VALDEZ AUTUMN"
New - Completed 12 March 2008

30"x30" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Canvas
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For more information please call MC LARRY FINE ART GALLERY, 

225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, N.M. (505) 988-1161.

HIGH DESERT AUTUMN - SOLD!

"HIGH DESERT AUTUMN" - SOLD!

6"x12" Original Oil Painting on Gessoboard
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.
©DonnaClair2008 - All Rights of Reproduction Reserved.

"CHAMISA DAYS" - SOLD!

"CHAMISA DAYS" - SOLD!

6"X8" Original Oil on Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.

"SUMMER ELEGY" - Work in Progress

"SUMMER ELEGY" - Work in Progress
40"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen Canvas.

This painting is far more complicated than it appears -- a lot of detail even though the brushwork is laid in very loosely in places. I hope this photo gets across the true value of glazes and how they add such richness to the final painting. Again, these are transparent colors -- a layer of paint thinned with medium (see Palette Colors and recipe for painting medium in the margin of blog) over the pastel colors of the underpainting. Can you see how the light is refracted through all the way to the toned ground (gesso and Payne's grey) then bounced out again? -- there is LIFE to these colors! Working on this canvas while the glazes on the Valdez Autumn canvas dry -- having several canvases going at one time allows me to come to each canvas with a certain excitement and freshness -- it never gets boring! Stay tuned.

VALDEZ AUTUMN - WORK IN PROG. - GLAZES

"VALDEZ AUTUMN" - WORK IN PROGRESS- GLAZES
30"x30" Original Oil on Canvas
To be framed in Gold with Linen Liner

AH, THE GLAZES AGAIN! --- This is where I would like to just give up because there seems to be so much work. My walls are blank, a new year and all new canvases -- I have a lot of work ahead of me!!!

The blue in the sky is a mixture of Permalba White, Indanthrone Blue, Thalo Yellow Green and a little Payne's Grey. The highlights in the clouds are Permalba White mixed with just a touch of Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red -- the shadows: that same combination with a little Davy's Grey -- the darker shadows, Payne's Grey. The tall poplars: Burnt Sienna, Olive Green - some Prussian Blue to enforce the "cartoon". The shadowed mountains: Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna. The highlights in the mountains: Chrome Oxide Green with Cadmium Orange. The same combination in the grasses in the foreground. The chamisa in the foreground: Yellow Ochre -- then a dirty brush with all the earth colors, plus Diaxozine Purple into the darkest darks. Stay tuned?

For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at (575)758-7454 - or send e.mail to dclair@donnaclairart.com.

LLANO SAN JUAN - UNDERPAINTING

"LLANO SAN JUAN" - Underpainting
36"x48" Original Oil on fine Belgian Linen.
To be framed in silver with linen liner.

Am hoping that this painting will have a quiet, "waking up" feeling to it. It is a large canvas, which I prepared with three coats of gesso mixed with Payne's Grey. This "grisaille" sets the tone for the painting -- it also takes down the color a bit so that the end result is more subtle, less "cartoony". For the underpainting my palette colors have been mixed with MG White and Turpentine. I have used bristle brushes to paint and "draw" in the composition. I am trying to build a rhythm with the shapes and lights and darks.....hoping to draw the viewer's eye into the canvas and keep it there for a long time. There are so many elements that go into this first step -- it is the foundation of the painting -- the next step will be the glazes......Stay tuned.

Be the first to see this completed painting -- you are invited to join my list of Art Friends. Send your e.mail address to me at dclair@donnaclairart.com -- your privacy is fully protected and your information will never be given to a third party.

EL CORAZON DEL NORTE - SOLD!

"EL CORAZON DEL NORTE" - SOLD!
30"x40" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

San Antonio Catholic Church in the heart of the Hispanic village of Valdez in northern New Mexico (view from the Rim Road). This painting was completed 27 December 2007. For price and availability, please e.mail at dclair@donnaclairart.com or call my Taos Studio at (575) 758-7454.

CORAZON DEL NORTE - PHASE II - GLAZES

"CORAZON DEL NORTE" - GLAZES
30"x40" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

This is the second phase of this painting -- adding the dark, transparent and semi-transparent glazes over the underpainting after it has dried. For the dark greens: Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna -- then for the richer, lighter areas of the trees - Chrome Oxide Green Opaque and Cadmium Orange. The grasses - Burnt Sienna, Olive Green some Transparent Gold Ochre and some Alizarin Crimson. This step adds the richness to all the colors as the light is refracted through to the underpainting. These dark areas also make the opaque colors appear to dance off the canvas! Projected completion date for this work is January 7th, 2008.

EL CORAZON DEL NORTE - Underpainting

"EL CORAZON DEL NORTE"
(UNDERPAINTING)
30"x40" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

30 November -- The weather is really rainy and snowy -- more snow expected tomorrow; a perfect time to just block in new canvases I plan to complete over the winter months. Each canvas has a drying time of about ten days before I can work with the glazes on top of the underpainting --so I block in several pieces at a time, while I am excited about my new material -- over the next few weeks, I will paint these canvases in my head a hundred times before they are completed! Stay tuned!

SUMMER ELEGY - UNDERPAINTING

"SUMMER ELEGY" - UNDERPAINTING
40"X30" Original Oil on Belgian Linen

Am so happy with all the new material gathered in the past six weeks, I have decided to begin several large canvases and work on them through the winter months. So, I will be "blocking in" a few more and will keep you posted on their progress via this journal.

This painting is blocked in loosely with my usual palette(see blog index), MG White and turpentine. As with "Valdez Autumn", it will need to dry a week to ten days before I can work on it again, due to the turpentine in my painting medium. Stay tuned.

VALDEZ AUTUMN - UNDERPAINTING

#108 - VALDEZ AUTUMN DAY - Underpainting
30"X30" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Canvas

Here is the very beginning of a new painting (most colors are mixed with MG Fast Drying White and Turpentine-- My colors in the sky are Indanthrone Blue and a little Thalo Green. The highlights in the clouds are MG with a little Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow; the greys are a combination of Davy's Grey and Payne's Grey mixed with the white. The darks in the mountain are a combination of straight Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna -- the lighter colors are the sky colors mixed with the dark combination. The trees and chamisa - different combinations of the following: Cadmium Red, Cadmium Ochre, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Cadmium Orange, some Diox Purple and the joys of a "DIRTY BRUSH" -- Don't rinse your brushes after each color -- just keep on going with all the colors -- it adds a certain coherence to the color mixtures. This underpainting needs to dry for about a week before I attempt the glazing process. Stay tuned!

GIVING THANKS

GIVING THANKS 2007

Just watched the news and all the frenzy about whether or not the stores will be up or down in sales this Christmas season.......this obvious time filler seems so superficial considering all that is going on in the rest of the world.

Sometimes it's so easy to believe the commercials and think that there is something missing in our lives if we don't have the latest, greatest or biggest thing. This morning I sat down and journaled a "thank you" list. Prominent on that list is this place where I am blessed to live and paint......and all the people who are so generous in their support of my work! I am truly grateful to each and every one who has ever cheered me along the way!

The book on my easel, "Women Painters of the World", came from an old and dear friend's library. As you can see -- the blank canvases are piled up on the floor, on the easel -- my taboret is brimming with new tubes of paint -- and I'm ready for my winter work! - absolutely nothing is missing and life is truly rich and full!

Wishing everyone out there in the "real world" a peaceful and blessed Thanksgiving -- Hug each other today!

Donna Clair, Taos, N.M.

WORK IN PROGRESS - "SIESTA" ORIG. OIL

"SIESTA" - WORK IN PROGRESS

24"x24" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
To be framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For more information, please call my Taos Studio at
(505)758-7454

"DIAS DE ORO" - COMPLETED ORIGINAL OIL

"LOS DIAS DE ORO"
Completed October 9, 2007

36"x48" - Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at (575) 758-7454

LOS DIAS DE ORO -- PHASE II - GLAZES

WORK IN PROGRESS - LOS DIAS DE ORO
(Color notes from July Blogpost)
(GLAZES II) - 36"x48" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
Projected date of completion - 10/10/07

In my last post to this web log, I demonstrated the difference between the underpainting and the beginning of the glazing process -- laying in the dark, transparent colors. This week I covered the entire canvas with glazes -- even thinning opaque paints to a semi-transparent consistency.

The two autumn trees: I thinned Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red and brushed those colors over the shape of the trees to "tone" the ground. Then I began laying in the darker colors (Alizarin Crimson, Diox. Purple, C. Ox. Green Opaque) to create volume and shadows. I used Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and Chrome Oxide Green Opaque in the pinon trees at the top of the painting. The pastureland in the foreground and middle ground is a combination of all these colors to varying degrees of light and dark. I will let these colors set up for a few days before working into them again, otherwise the turpentine in my painting medium will mix with the heavier, opaque paints and create "mud".

If you have any questions regarding this new painting, just give me a call at (505) 758-7454.

"DIAS DE ORO" - ORIGINAL OIL (UNDERPAINTING)

WORK IN PROGRESS- "LOS DIAS DE ORO"
(UNDERPAINTING - From July Blogpost)

36"X48" - Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
To be framed in Gold with Linen Liner

My colors in this underpainting are laid in loosely and mixed with MG Underpainting White and Turpentine using a variety of bristle brushes. Colors in the trees: Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque. Shadows: Combination of Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna, Diox. Purple and Chrome Oxide Green Opaque. This underpainting will need to dry completely (about a week) before I can work into the colors again with the glazes (darks).

If you have any questions, please e.mail or call my Taos Studio at (505) 758-7454.

"ARROYO SECO" - STUDIO EDITION PRINT

"ARROYO SECO" - Archival Giclee

Now available from THE HIGH ROAD CATALOGUE at
www.DonnaClairArt.com
Archival giclee on fine art professional paper
17"x22" sheet size -- $100.00
13"x19" sheet size -- $60.00
Free shipping and handling within Cont. U.S.
To order call my Taos Studio at (505)758-7454

"NIGHTSKY WANDERER",ORIGINAL OIL - SOLD

"NIGHTSKY WANDERER"-SOLD
Completed 8/27/07
24"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Silver with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at (505)758-7454.

PALETTE FOR NIGHTSKY WANDERER

8/27/07 -MIXING PALETTE FOR NIGHTSKY WANDERER

ELEGY FOR SUMMER - STUDIO EDITION PRINT

'ELEGY FOR SUMMER" - STUDIO EDITION

Now available as an exhibition-quality archival giclee
Hand-titled and Hand-signed - in clear PolyFoldLock Envelope
Large Size - $100.00 - 17"x22" Sheet Size
Small Size - $60.00 - 13"x19" Sheet Size
To see the full High Road Catalogue, go to
www.donnaclairart.com
To order this print, please call my Taos Studio at (505)758-7454

MORNING POEM - SOLD!

"MORNING POEM"
Completed 8/20/07
SOLD - 8/21/07

18"x18" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Canvas
Framed in Silver with Linen Liner

TAOS EVENING LIGHT -STUDIO EDITION PRINT

#1307 - "TAOS EVENING LIGHT" - STUDIO EDITION PRINT

It's monsoon season again -- a late afternoon storm is moving off into the Pecos Wilderness -- everything is fresh and cool after the rain -- and the scent of sage is in the high desert air and thunder can be heard in the distance..... Now available as a Studio Edition Print (17"x22" sheet size) - $100. All major credit cards accepted. Free shipping and handling within the Cont. U.S. -- Printed to order, call my Taos Studio at (505)758-7454.

HIGH ROAD AUTUMN -Orig. Oil - SOLD

"HIGH ROAD AUTUMN" - SOLD
Completed 8/9/07

11"X14" Original Oil on Cold-Pressed Italian Gessoboard
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.
For more information, please call my Taos Studio at (505) 758-7454.

HIGH ROAD AUTUMN - Underpainting

"HIGH ROAD AUTUMN"
(UNDERPAINTING)

11"x14" Original Oil on Cold-Pressed Italian Gessoboard
Primary palette colors (see right-hand column for my list of colors) mixed with MG White and Turpentine. Allow to dry completely before adding glazes.

DON EUSAVIO'S PARADISE - STUDIO EDITION

"DON EUSAVIO'S PARADISE"
New Studio Edition Print

A long time ago in Truchas, New Mexico -- My neighbor, Don Eusavio, bringing his wood supply in for the day -- quiet, peace, serenity, does life get any better than this?

Now available as a Studio Edition Print on archival fine art paper (17"x22" sheet size) - $100.00 To order larger prints, just visit my website at www.donnaclairart.com. Visa, Mastercard, Amer. Exp. and Discover accepted. To order, just call my Taos studio at (505758-7454.

"TRUCHAS TOWN" - Completed Orig. Oil

#3907 - "TRUCHAS TOWN"

14"x11" Orig. Oil on Cold-Pressed Italian Gessoboard
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at (505)758-7454.

"TRUCHAS TOWN" - UNDERPAINTING

#3907 - "TRUCHAS TOWN" - UNDERPAINTING
14"x11" Orig. Oil on Cold-Pressed Italian Gessoboard
For more information, just call (505)-758-7454

PICURIS PASTORAL - Original Oil-SOLD

"PICURIS PASTORAL" - SOLD

11"x14" Orig. Oil Painting on Cold-Pressed Italian Gessoboard.
To be framed in Gold with Linen Liner.
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at (505)758-7454.

PICURIS PASTORAL - UNDERPAINTING

"PICURIS PASTORAL" - UNDERPAINTING

Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico --At the onset of autumn every year, if this field has not been plowed under, the wild asters bloom, along with other fall wildflowers.