PASSING STORM - New Original Oil

"PASSING STORM"

New 6"x12" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at
(575)758-7454

EL CORAZON DE PLACITAS -- New Original Oil

"EL CORAZON DE PLACITAS"

New 14"x11" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at
(575)758-7454

RIO LUCIO - New Original Oil Painting

"RIO LUCIO"

New 6"x12" Original Oil on Fine Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at
(575)758-7454

UNA TARDE EN EL LLANO - New Original Oil

"UNA TARDE EN EL LLANO" - Study

New 11"x14" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at
(575)758-7454

IGLESIA DEL NORTE - New Original Oil

"IGLESIA DEL NORTE"

New 11"x14" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at
(575)758-7454

BIRTHDAY ROSES

4 September 2008 -- Took some much needed time to gather my thoughts, block in some new canvases and continue preparation for my one-person exhibition in Santa Fe next May. Yesterday a friend sent these lovely roses and I photographed them early today in the morning sun -- just thought I would share them! Enjoy! DC

MADRUGADA DE PICURIS - 48"X48" New Oil Painting

"MADRUGADA DE PICURIS"
New Original Oil Painting 48"x48" on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

8/8/08 - Here is the completed canvas of the morning trees at Picuris Pueblo. I've enjoyed doing this painting -- this is one of my favorite places on the High Road -- Looking off in the distance (in real life) one can see Jicarita Peak -- and these trees seem to stand sentinel for that sacred place.

For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at (575) 758-7454.

MADRUGADA DE PICURIS - 48"x48" - Work in Progress - Glazes and Opaque Paint

8/1/08 -"MADRUGADA DE PICURIS" -- Morning trees at Picuris Pueblo -- This painting has such a calm to it -- such a quiet peaceful feeling, I am considering eliminating the pinon in the foreground to uncomplicate the composition and just let it BE! DC

MADRUGADA DE PICURIS - GLAZES/OPAQUES

7/27-08 -- "MADRUGADA DE PICURIS" - 48"X48" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen. The sky is completed - there are pink and yellow sunrise tones in the sky - hoping this part of the painting will inform the light on the trees and foreground. On a canvas this size everything is a SURPRISE! This canvas has the feeling to me that it is painting itself ..... in my vocabulary, it's called "a little magic". DC

MADRUGADA DE PICURIS - 48"x48" Work in Progress

"MADRUGADA DE PICURIS" - Underpainting
48"x48" Orig. Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

7/23/08 -- It seems as though I have been staring at this underpainting for months, perhaps longer. These trees are on Picuris Pueblo land at the turn off to Truchas. They've always symbolized something really peaceful and solid for me.....I guess I've hesitated because I hope so much to do them justice. Have been working on the glazes for a week or two and will post them as soon as this second phase of the painting is complete. DC

SIESTA IN RED - NEW ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING

"SIESTA IN RED" - NEW
24"X24" 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

AGUA FRIA - NEW COMPLETED ORIG. OIL

"AGUA FRIA" - NEW ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING
30"x24" on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon here in Taos -- Listened to a new audiobook titled "Peace Like a River" by Leif Enger this morning while I worked -- thought it was quite appropriate. This is a painting is of the Rio Pueblo as it runs under Ranchitos Road near my house. I took great license with the time of day and other details.....in the end I think it all came together quite nicely.

For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at
(575) 758-7454
(PS: To see the initial underpainting for this canvas, scroll down to my post of 24 June - DC)

AGUA FRIA MIXING PALETTE

Friday, 18 July - Here is the palette for AGUA FRIA from yesterday -- I thought these colors were so fantastic, I hated to clean them up at the end of the day. The blue/purple tints are for the sky -- saved the rest of these mixes to paint the water today. The orange/reds are for the setting sun. DC

AGUA FRIA -- MORE GLAZES

"AGUA FRIA" - WORK IN PROGRESS
30"x24" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

7/15/08 -- If you scroll down to the previous image, you might understand that I wanted to give up on this canvas entirely. Finally, I put a new Audio Book on my CD player and "dived" in -- no pun intended. My intention is to have the feeling of "last light" in this piece, which means the foreground will be dark and moody and the sky and the highlights soft. The setting sun is a combination of Cadmium Red and Thalo Rose Red with a touch of white. The tall trees are combinations of Yellow Ochre, Permalba White, Burnt Sienna and Mars Black - a little Holbein Rose Grey (I love this color! it adds warmth to the transitional tones.) The water - various combinations of Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna, Thalo Blue, Thalo Green, Mars Black. I will let these colors dry for a day or two before I work in the final opaque paints. Stay Tuned! DC

AGUA FRIA - WORK IN PROGRESS - THE GLAZES

"AGUA FRIA" - WORK IN PROGRESS
30"x24 Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

7/5/08 - Another painting with a lot of free form -- that's why I love to paint water. Autumn, early evening colors -- will work on the glazes more tomorrow. DC

MOONDREAMS -- New Original Oil - SOLD

"MOONDREAMS" (Completed 7/4/08)
Sold 7/5/08

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

"MOONDREAMS" - More Glazes

"MOONDREAMS" - Work in Progress
24"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

6/30/08 -- More Glazes! This layer of paint will add a deep richness to the final application of opaque paint. Dark Greens - Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna. Toned Greens: Chrome Oxide Green Opaque and Cadmium Red. Foreground Darks: Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and Diox. Purple. Lighter Foreground: Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna.

"MOONDREAMS" - WORK IN PROGRESS

"MOONDREAMS" - GLAZES
24"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

6/27/08 -- AH! THE GLAZES! -- Yes, I have painted this little church before, but never quite in this way. As of yesterday, I have almost completed the sky -- and then the foreground was completely "washed" in Cadmium Red thinned down with painting medium. Opaque paints can be thinned to a semi-glaze and then put over the underpainting. I want the final painting to have that last minute look of sun on an early summer evening. This painting is a great example of the value of glazes and how they inform the final tones of the canvas. Am challenging myself to pull this one out of my Art Hat! DC

"MOONDREAMS" - WORK IN PROGRESS

'MOONDREAMS" - WORK IN PROGRESS
24"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

6/26/08 - Blocked in four new paintings this week -- I work on portions of one while the others are drying in between underpaintings and glazes. My goal for this piece is to have the autumn moon rising while the sun in setting through an orange glow. I will post the photo of the glazes on this canvas today or tomorrow. They are essential to the final effect of this oil painting. DC

LLANO DREAMING - WORK IN PROGRESS

"LLANO DREAMING" - WORK IN PROGRESS
30"x40" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
(Underpainting)

6/24/08 -- When doing underpaintings -- work fast. Mix the colors with turpentine and either Foundation White or MG White -- fast drying. This canvas is another perspective of Llano San Juan - one of my favorite places. Trees at the top are a combination of Chrome Oxide Green Opaque and the darker areas are Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna. The colors in the fields are a combination of Yellow Ochre and Mars Orange. Foliage in the front: Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre and some Diox. Purple -- Also some Burnt Sienna. For the snow I am using just the Foundation White -- mixing some Payne's Grey for the shadows. I have a really good feeling about this canvas! I will need to let this underpainting dry for about a week.

AGUA FRIA - WORK IN PROGRESS

"AGUA FRIA" -- WORK IN PROGRESS
30"x24" Original Oil on Belgian Linen
(Underpainting)

6/24/08 -- HERE WE GO AGAIN! Beginning some new work today -- my house smells like turpentine -- even my three-legged cat, Rosie, is hiding under the covers!

This is a "rito" near my home here in Taos. I love to paint water and don't get very specific with the underpainting -- the water needs to "flow", which means it is a free form of painting. Notice the reds at the top center of the painting -- hoping to catch the viewer's eye with that - it's a little trick. Sky: Thalo Blue, Thalo Green with a little Ochre and Foundation White -- a fast-drying underpainting white. Trees and shrubs: Light greys are a combination of the white, Rose Grey, some Ochre and Payne's Grey. Water: A mixture of the sky colors with Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna for the darker colors. Also bring into the water the other colors in the painting to peek through as reflections. This canvas will be fun -- Stay tuned!

AUTUMN DREAMING - NEW COMPLETED OIL

"AUTUMN DREAMING"
(Completed 6/21/08)

22"x28"New 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

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!