#42 - AUTUMN FIELDS

#42 - AUTUMN FIELDS

New 6"x8" Orig. Oil on Italian Gessoed Panel

"TAOS AFTERNOON SHADOWS" - NEW 48"X36" OIL PAINTING

"TAOS AFTERNOON SHADOWS"

New! 48"x36" Orig. Oil on Linen

Framed in Silver with Linen Liner

Began this canvas in January, although the source photo was made the year before....16 January 2010 - I didn't want to miss this beautiful light I saw from my kitchen window last winter.  Grabbed my trusty digital camera and shot the photo right through the window.  The 48"x36" canvas is gesso toned with Payne's Grey.  The "cartoon" of the painting is Prussian Blue.  I ran the photo through my large Epson printer to get a 16"x20" print of the photo as a point of reference.  Yesterday I placed a grid on the photo (not the canvas) to guide me in proportions.  This is one of the five large canvases I want to complete this year. 

More than participants in life, I believe artists are, of necessity, observers.  Have looked out at this view from my kitchen window for over twenty years.  One of the advantages of not having a dishwasher is that my daily clean up becomes a wonderful meditation and I get to observe all the life that would normally pass me by.  These trees didn't even exist when I first looked out this window.  What I saw was the little Baptist Church to the east across Salazar Road -- and on Sunday evenings heard the beautiful guitar music and hymns echoed across the field.  The spring winds blew the seeds of these trees from Santistevan Lane across the fence.  Now I get to watch the magpies build their nests and hatch their babies.  I see the crows swirl menacingly around the nests each spring and then swarms of magpies defend their hatchlings.  Hundreds of migrating  birds rest in these trees each November on their way south -- and an occas ional Sandhill Crane passes by on her way to my neighbor's pond.  Wonder if I somehow missed my true calling by spending most of my time at an easel........I could just spend all my days sitting in the middle of a forest, just watching and listening!

#1310 - CAPILLA DE ESTACA --SOLD

"CAPILLA DE ESTACA"  - Sold

12"X6" NEW Original Oil on Linen, Framed in Gold with Linen Liner -- Completed 4/22/10 - Now available for sale through my Taos Studio.  Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express thru my studio for your convenience.  E.Mail or call (575)758-7454 for price and availability.

#38 - "SANTA CRUZ" -SOLD

#38 - "SANTA CRUZ"

SOLD

NEW! Orig. 6"x8" Orig. Oil on Ital. Gessoed Board

#36 - WINTERMOON AT PICURIS - SOLD

#36 - "WINTERMOON AT PICURIS PUEBLO"

Sold

6"x8" Original Oil on Italian Gessoed Board

SPRING FLING! STUDIO EDITION ARCHIVAL PRINTS - 3 for the price of 2

SPRING FLING!!  THREE PRINTS FOR THE PRICE OF TWO ($210.00) - Now available from my High Road Catalogue - http://www.donnaclairart.com/prints.html     Offer good until April 30th.   "LILAS DE TAOS" - Spectacular spring show of lilacs in front of the old Taos News Building! - Available in two sizes - Small: $60, Large: $110.  Prices include shipping.  -  Call my Taos Studio at (575)758-7454.

"POPPY LOVE" - Archival Studio Edition Print

"POPPY LOVE" - Now available as a Studio Edition Print - Ultra Chrome Inks on Matte Presentation Paper - 17"x22" sheet size.  $110.00, Free Shipping.  Call (575)758-7454 to order. 

30"x60" Original Oil - NEW! "CANCION DEL SOL" - SOLD

SOLD

STUDIO #1010 - "CANCION DEL SOL" - 30"X60" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen - Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.  Completed 3/21/10.  This painting has been a long time in the "dreamtime" -- which is where I usually spend most of my days.  It is a view from Middle Road here in Taos on a late summer evening's walk....quiet, pastoral....peaceful.  As I hinted in an earlier post, I had "painted" this canvas in my head so many times that all I had to do was essentially sit there, mix the paint and hold the brush....something else took over.  However, once it was completed this weekend, I sat back and looked at it and realized it is one of my very best paintings. Once I walked away from the easel, I felt stunned and a little lonely....this image has been my companion for years!

STUDIO NEWS:  Am working on a 48"x36" canvas which I previewed in yesterday's post - "TAOS AFTERNOON SHADOWS" -- I love the colors so far.  It is from a digital photo I took through my kitchen window (one of my favorite places on earth) -- I made a digital print of the photo and am working freehand from that image.  House repair and spring cleaning taking up the rest of my time -- and watching the apricot tree in front of the house "bud" -- lots of happy chirpy birds in that tree this week!  DC

48"x36" Orig. Oil Painting - "TAOS AFTERNOON SHADOWS - Work in Progress -- The Glazes

STUDIO #1010 - "TAOS AFTERNOON SHADOWS" - 48"X36" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen - THE GLAZES:  Sky:  Dark snowstorm moving off into the Pecos Wilderness - Prussian Blue, Mars Black -- a touch of Permalba White at the horizon.  Trees: "Mud" color from mixing leftover colors on my palette.  Shadows in the foreground" Cobalt Violet Hue, Rose Grey, Payne's Grey, Permalba White.  Stay tuned.

"CANCION DEL SOL" - WORK IN PROGRESS - PHASE II-THE GLAZES

"CANCION DEL SOL" (SONG OF THE SUN) - 30"x60"WORK IN PROGRESS -- Phase II - The Glazes.  Have had the canvas and frame for this painting at least two years and I have painted this in my head at least a thousand times over the past five or six years.  This week I have been working over the glazes to the final painting which should be completed sometime early next week.  From it's inception, from the blocking in stage, this canvas has almost painted itself -- all I have been doing is holding the brush -- it's almost like automatic writing!  Because this is that very last moment of sun at the end of the day, I needed to have the glazes darker than usual.  When the opaque paints are applied, I will put them in lightly in order to protect the essence of this moment in time.  Foreground:  Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna.  Middle Ground:  Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Italian Pink. Clouds: Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Violet, Permalba White, Payne's Grey.  Sky:  Thalo Green, Thalo Blue, a touch of Yellow Ochre and Permalba White.  Will send photo of painting as soon as it is completed.  I am really excited to see the finished canvas -- it is truly surprising me!!!!  If you have any questions regarding this new work, just give me a call. (575)758-7454.

24"x30" ORIG. OIL - "ROAD TO WILDERNESS GATE" - SOLD

 

"ROAD TO WILDERNESS GATE" - SOLD

24"X30" ORIG. OIL/LINEN - Framed in Gold

30X60 CANCION - WORK IN PROGRESS - GLAZING THE FOREGROUND

 

 "CANCION DEL SOL" (SONG OF THE SUN) - 30"X60" WORK IN PROGRESS.  From the bottom up today -- Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna in the foreground.  Middle ground a combination of Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna and Italian Pink.  I want the feeling of sunset -- early evening -- will work the opaque paints into the dark colors.  I will finish glazing the middle ground tomorrow and then move on to the sky -- which will inform the opaque colors.

"CALYPSO" - 24"x24" ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING - SOLD

 

"CALYPSO" - SOLD

New! 24"x24" Orig. Oil on Linen

Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

Call Taos Studio (575)758-7454 

"CALYPSO" - WORK IN PROGRESS - The Glazes

 

2/18/10- Here is the phase of the painting where I could absolutely go out for a cup of coffee and not return!  The glazes....the middle stage of the painting.  Transparent and semi-transparent colors over the underpainting -- Thalo Blue and Green, Cadmium Yellow, Prussian Blue, Rose Red -- background: Permalba White, Ochre and Payne's Grey.  Stay tuned!  

"VADITO" - SOLD

"VADITO" - SOLD

6"x8" Orig. Oil on Italian Gessoed Board

30"x60" Orig. Oil Painting -"CANCION DEL SOL" Work in Progress

 

"CANCION DEL SOL" - 30"x60" Underpainting - New Work in Progress - Original Oil on Belgian Linen.  Have had this large painting in mind and heart for about five years now, and I am very excited to have gotten it down on canvas this week.  Now I have two large format pieces in the works, with two more that I plan to "block" in this weekend.  What I love about putting down several underpaintings at a time is that each morning when I "bounce" through that door toward the easel, I just choose whichever one excites me that day.  Eventually it all gets done.....large canvases are as delightful as a big, heavy book one cannot stop reading -- it is even a little sad on the day of completion!

#1110 - LLANO SAN JUAN - Available

 

Studio #1110 - LLANO SAN JUAN

NEW 12"X6" Original Oil on Linen

Framed in Silver with Linen Liner

Call (575)758-7454

"STORMY WEATHER" - SOLD

 

"STORMY WEATHER" - SOLD

New! 6"x8" Orig. Oil (unframed) on Italian Gessoed Board

HIGH ROAD AFTERNOON - SOLD

 

"HIGH ROAD AFTERNOON" - SOLD

NEW! 6"X8" Orig. Oil (unframed) on Italian Gessoed Board

FEBRUARY MORNING, LLANO SAN JUAN, NEW MEXICO

 

"FEBRUARY MORNING" - LLANO SAN JUAN, NEW MEXICO

Now available as a Studio Edition Print

19"x13" sheet size - $60.00 includes shipping

Call (575) 758-7454 to order

"LADIES WHO LUNCH" - Click here for 100 Small Paintings

"LADIES WHO LUNCH" - Santa Fe Plaza circa 1969

 6"x8" Original Oil on Italian Gessoed Board unframed

 Call Taos Studio at (575)758-7454

TAOS WINTER SUNRISE 1/23/10 - (Photo)

1/23/10 - Up really early this morning and photographed the beginning of the sunrise through my kitchen window.  It was just a special moment - everything felt as though it was at the beginning again - that from this sunrise there will be a renewal - another spring.  "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" - Shakespeare  Am planning some small studies from these photos this week.

48"x36" Orig. Oil Painting - "TAOS AFTERNOON SHADOWS" - Work in Progress

16 January 2010 - I didn't want to miss this beautiful light I saw from my kitchen window last winter.  Grabbed my trusty digital camera and shot the photo right through the window.  The 48"x36" canvas is gesso toned with Payne's Grey.  The "cartoon" of the painting is Prussian Blue.  I ran the photo through my large Epson printer to get a 16"x20" print of the photo as a point of reference.  Yesterday I placed a grid on the photo (not the canvas) to guide me in proportions.  This is one of the five large canvases I want to complete this year.   I will begin to lay in the underpainting this afternoon.  DC, Taos, N.M.

"CALYPSO" - Work in Progress - Underpainting

A perfect day today -- kind of cloudy, waiting for snow.  Here is the underpainting - am working mostly with pure colors - ochres, cadmium reds, cobalt blue, chrome oxide green opaque, cadmium yellow.  Background is a combination of Payne's Grey, a little ochre and MG Fast Drying Underpainting white.  Will let this canvas dry for about a week while I block in new canvases.

"CALYPSO" - Work in Progress

14 January 2010 --  Here is the "cartoon" for my new 24"x24" oil painting "Calypso".  I have done the drawing in Prussian Blue -- working loosely.   I love this color  for sketching in paintings because I believe the strength of the blue comes through the eventual layers of colors.   This is an important week for me -- I have been gathering sketches and photos for about ten new paintings.  The background work is to decide the sizes and shapes of this material, then purchase and prepare the canvases for each work.  Sometimes it takes as many as 100 sketches and photos to make ten paintings -- they need to be edited for composition, color and light -- always subject to artistic license, of course.  Stay tuned.  Am hoping to post my progress on this new work more frequently than usual.  DC, Taos.   

"VETERAN'S DAY/SANTA FE PLAZA" - SOLD

                          "VETERAN'S DAY/SANTA FE PLAZA"- SOLD    In one of my recent "clear outs" I found the slide for this painting which I took sometime in 1969 or thereabouts.  I worked on this painting today and all the while debated whether I would disclose the  surprise it held for me as I worked on it.  Normally I don't "explain" my work, but after forty years and some quiet moments of sketching and painting this piece I realized what it was.....three veterans from different wars on the same bench on the Santa Fe Plaza.  The man on the left is a WWII vet -- dressed in his afternoon best and not quite comfortable with the other two.  The fellow in the middle is transitioning from Viet Nam, dressed in his old sport coat and slacks, hoping to find some kind of normal.  The fellow on the right has been home a while and hasn't been able to find "normal" nor does he want to try any longer -- he lives quietly in a commune somewhere in northern New Mexico.

Peace!

AFTER -- Getting Organized

6 January  2010 - Today is the Feast of the Three Kings at Taos Pueblo -- dances, celebration.  Cleaned up the studio finally -- all prepared for my New Beginning......

#820 - THE NEST (NEW BEGINNINGS) - NEW ORIGINAL OIL

4 January 2010 - "THE NEST" (NEW BEGINNINGS) - NEW 10"X10" Original Oil on Linen, Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.  Call (575) 758-7454 for price and availability.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end" Seneca, Roman Philospher, mid-1st Century AD.  Found two quotes from Seneca recently.  Another is "Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life."   Am a firm believer in starting over -- and the New Year is a great place to begin!  New Year's resolutions don't work for me --  I do, however, have some goals for my work this year (always subject to change, of course).  I'd like to complete at least four large "environment" canvases, do more field work, complete my 100 small paintings project - and work on a book I want to self-publish in time for next Christmas.  My all time favorite quote when I dream big..... "How do you eat an elephant? -- One bite at a time!" DC. Taos, N.M.

810 - THE NEST (NEW BEGINNINGS) - WORK IN PROGRESS

#810 - "THE NEST" (New Beginnings) - 10"x10" New Oil Painting - A solid start today -- here are three phases of this new oil painting.  The photo of the nest - the oil sketch - outlined mostly in Prussian Blue - and the glazes.  Will let this set up overnight and am hoping to complete this canvas tomorrow or Wednesday.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR!

WINTER GIFTS........

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

Wishing you and those you love all the blessings of this holiday season.

Sincerely,

Donna Clair,

Taos, New Mexico

BEFORE -- AN OVERWHELMING URGE TO GET ORGANIZED!

21 December 2009 -- The New Year is almost here!  Yes, it's time for me to roll up my sleeves and get organized!  HAH!  Perhaps some Christmas elves will show up this week while I am dreaming of Sugar Plums dancing!

"ADOBE WALLS/SANTA FE" - NEW 24"X30" Original Oil (Completed)

"ADOBE WALLS/SANTA FE" - NEW 24"x30" Original Oil Painting on Fine Belgian Linen,  framed in Gold with Linen Liner.  This painting was completed about an hour ago. Have worked on this canvas over the past two months -- wanted that coziness one feels after a good ol' New Mexico snowstorm.  For price and availablility, please e.mail or call (575)758-7454.  Visa, Mastercard, Amer. Exp. and Discover.

"The moment I saw the brilliant, proud morning shine high up over the deserts of Santa Fe, something stood still in my soul -- In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly, and the old world gave way to a new.  There are all kinds of beauty in the world, thank God -- but for a greatness of beauty I have never experienced anything like New Mexico."
D. H. Lawrence, published in Survey Graphic Magazine, 1931.

"ADOBE WALLS/SANTA FE" - Work in Progress

16 December 2009 --  Worked all day yesterday on the foreground, after putting dark glazes (burnt sienna, ultramarine blue and burnt umber) on the walls.  There is a heavy impasto in the foreground - added cadmium red and cadmium yellow to Permalba White for the snow.  This is the stage of a painting where I could happily quit -- my mind races ahead to the completed canvas -- what I want it to look like - and the painting really has a mind of it's own -- in a way it tells me what needs to be done.  It's a very strange collaboration!  DC - Taos

WINTER POEM IN THREE COLORS - New Original Oil - SOLD

"ADOBE WALLS-SANTA FE" - WORK IN PROGRESS

"ADOBE WALLS-SANTA FE" - A Work in Progress -- This photo is of the painting after it has been glazed; now I will work on the opaque paints and hope to finish it sometime this next week..... DC, Taos, N.M.

"LAST LIGHT" - 9"X12" ARCHIVAL GICLEE (Click here to purchase)

"LAST LIGHT" (TAOS)

A late afternoon view from my kitchen window

NEW SIZE!  9"X12 STUDION EDITION PRINT

TAOS SNOW DAY!!

3 December - View through my kitchen window - First significant snow of the season.  Am ready!  The "extra" snow day groceries are in the pantry, all my painting supplies are in -- going to varnish and frame some small paintings today - and prepare my palette to start some new underpaintings tomorrow!  I love it!   DC

GESSOING CANVAS -- PREPARING TO PAINT

PREPARING TO SPEND THE WINTER PAINTING!  GESSOING CANVAS.  For large and medium paintings I usually use a double-primed linen canvas.  I mix up gesso with Payne's Grey.  This creates a "grisaille", or a grey ground, much favored by the Renaissance painters.  Letting each coat dry thoroughly between applications, I apply two or three coats, depending on the coarseness of the canvas.  Personally I like to smooth out the brush strokes on the gesso.  Because I work with glazing, I find that this is the best preparation for my paints.   Let these canvases "cure" for a week or so -- don't stack them together until they have dried thoroughly.  This is the first step to good painting -- once I start, I don't have to worry about "white spaces" and this "toned ground" mellows out my colors.  Stay tuned!  DC 

#7806 - PASSING STORM-Archival Giclee - Click here to Purchase

"PASSING STORM"

NEW ARCHIVAL GICLEE - Follow above link for details.

GIVING THANKS.....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!