PLACITAS - 40"x30" Work in Progress (Underpainting)

Studio No. 1215 - PLACITAS - 40"x30" Work in Progress (Underpainting) - All color are mixed with MG Underpainting White and applied with distilled turpentne.  Sky:  Thalo Blue, Thalo Green, Dioxazine Purple.  Greens:  Chrome Oxide Green Opaque.  Chamisa:  Yellow Ochre, White, Cadmium Yellow, Mars Orange.

SANTUARIO - 60"x50" Work in Progress (Loose Sketch)

Studio No. 1115 - SANTUARIO (Rio Pueblo at Martinez Hacienda, Taos, N.M.) - 60"x50" Work in Progress - Okay, here we go!  This is a very loose sketch - working with distilled turpentine, Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna.  A long way to go before I begin to lay in the underpainting - tighten sketch - have the source material right next to the canvas where I can look at it all day long - imagining the darks in my head - they are the strongest element of the composition. 

PROCESS - A GRID AS A GUIDE

3/16/15 - SANCTUARY -This is a 60"x50" Belgian Linen canvas.  Most often a painting is a long time in the making -- and most of it is painted in my head months, or  sometimes years, before it finds life on a canvas.  A few years ago my traveling buddies, Jerry Walter and Rick Finney, and I were at the Martinez Hacienda early one beautiful fall morning.  The Rio Pueblo was quiet - the scene was serene - another unforgettable moment.  It was preserved in a photograph and for all this time quietly bouncing around in my head, popping up when I least expected it.  Here is what I hope is the beginning of a really good painting (one never knows how things will turn out - hoping to be surprised!).  This is a 60"x50" canvas prepared with three coats of gesso toned with Payne's Grey.  I have blocked out the grid in ten inch squares so that I can put the sketch on with fairly accurate proportions.  Stay tuned! 

STUDIO WORK IN PROGRESS - Untitled 30"x24" Original Oil

STUDIO WORK IN PROGRESS (Sketch) - Untitled 30"x24" Original Oil on Linen.  Loose sketch applied to a toned ground with Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and Distilled Turpentine.  This is a little road in the Village of Tesuque late on a February afternoon.  Often I block in six or eight paintings at a time for a couple of very good reasons - this has been part of my process for as long as I can remember.  First of all these sketches are from field trips and stand out from the collected material as the most visually exciting.  I usually compose with my camera (taking many shots of the same subject at different angles) and in the end choose the strongest composition.  The way I paint the canvases are all in various stages of drying so there is a necessary rotation process.  It is possible this routine wouldn't work for a lot of artists, but somehow this process has kept me excited enough to keep painting for many years!

STUDIO WORK IN PROGRESS - WINTERLIGHT (Sketch) 22"x28"

WORK IN PROGRESS (Oil Sketch) - WINTERLIGHT - 22"x28" Orig. Oil on Linen - Loose sketch on "toned ground" with two colors - Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna - applied with distilled turpentine.  This is the view from my studio window one evening when the sun was coming in low - right before sunset.

SUENOS DEL RIO - NEW 22"X28" Original Oil - Sold

Studio No. 915 - SUENOS DEL RIO (Dreams of the River, Rio Grande at Pilar, N.M.) - New 22"x28" Original Oil on Belgian Linen - Completed 3/3/15.  Sold

MIS SUENOS DEL RIO - 22"X28" Work in Progress (Glazes)

Studio No. 915 - MIS SUENOS DEL RIO (Rio Grande at Pilar, N.M.) - Work in Progress (Glazes) - New 22"x28" Original Oil on Belgian Linen.  This is the second phase of the methods I use to do my paintings.  I thin the colors to a transparent or semi-transparent glaze with my painting medium and apply over the underpainting.  Color Notes:  Hills:  Dioxazine Purple, Cobalt Blue Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Yellow Ochre.  Trees:  Cadmium Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Cobalt Blue.  Water:  Olive Green, Cobalt Blue, Prussian Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Doxazine Purple.

MIS SUENOS DEL RIO - Work in Progress (Underpainting)

Studio No. 815 - MIS SUENOS DEL RIO (Rio Grande at Pilar, N.M.) 22"x28" Work in Progress (Underpainting).  All colors mixed with Underpainting White and Turpentine.   Color Notes:  Hills - Combinations of Prussian Blue, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Yellow Ochre, Dioxazine Purple.  Trees: Combinations of Prussian Blue, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow.  Water:  Cobalt Blue, Dioxazine Purple. 

MIS SUENOS DEL RIO (Rio Grande at Pilar, N.M.) - 22"x28" Work in Progress (Sketch)

Studio No. 815 - MIS SUENOS DEL NORTE (My Dreams of the River - Rio Grande at Pilar, N.M.)  22"x28" Work in Progress (Sketch) - Original Oil on Belgian Linen.  Sketch is applied with Prussian Blue oil paint and turpentine.

ROMERO ROAD (Tesuque, N.M.) - 9"x12" Original Oil - Sold

Studio No. 2214 - ROMERO ROAD (Tesuque, N.M.) - 9"x12" Original Oil, Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.  Sold

CHIMAYO - New 16"x12" Original Oil

Studio No. 715 - CHIMAYO - New 16"x12" Original Oil on Italian Panel, Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.  Completed 2/6/15 - Sold 2/7/15 (Bernardsville, N.J.) - Thank you!

Progress.....

Warming up.....Tesuque, N.M.

A Gift of Kindness....

PASSING STORM - NEW 12"x36" Original Oil Painting

Studio No. 615 - PASSING STORM (Taos, New Mexico) - New 12"x36" Original Oil on 2" cradled panel.  Completed 1/8/15 - Sold

EVENING VESPERS - New 16"x20" Original Oil

EVENING VESPERS (Placitas, New Mexico) New 16"x20 Original Oil on Belgian Linen. Completed 1/6/15 - Sold

PASSING STORM - 12"X36" Work in Progress (Underpainting)

Studio No. 615 - PASSING STORM (Taos, New Mexico) - 12"x36" Original Oil on 2" cradled panel.  Panel is gessoed with Payne's Grey tint 3x.  Colors are mixed to pastel tones with MG Underpainting White and Distilled Turpentine.  Clouds: Paynes Grey, cobalt blue.  Mountains:  Prussian Blue, Cobalt Blue.  Trees:  Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre.  Foreground:  Cadmium Red, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque.

ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING......1/5/15

COUNTRY LANE (Near Dixon, New Mexico), New 22"x28" Original Oil

Studio No. 315 - COUNTRY LANE (Near Dixon, New Mexico) - New 22"x28" Original Oil.  Completed 12/17/14.   Preview/Purchase.

CORAZON SAGRADO (Tesuque, N.M.) - New Studio Edition Print

CORAZON SAGRADO (Tesuque, New Mexico) - New Archival Studio Edition Print.  (Look for Santa in the window!) - $40.00.  Preview/Purchase.

COUNTRY LANE - 22"x28" Work in Progress (Glazes)

Studio No. 315 - COUNTRY LANE - 22"x28" Orig. Oil - Work in Progress (Glazes).  Glazes are transparent or semi-transparent colors applied to the underpainting once it is sufficiently dry with oil painting medium.  Fall foliage:  Burnt Sienna, Pink Ochre, Ochre.  Grasses:  Burnt Sienna, Deep Ochre, Olive Green, Burnt Umber.

COUNTRY LANE - 22"x28" Work in Progress (Underpainting)

Studio No. 315 - COUNTRY LANE - 22"x28" Orig. Oil on Belgian Linen. Work in Progress (Underpainting) - Colors are mixed with MG Underpainting White and Turp. - Pinon Trees:  Chrome Oxide Green Opaque - outlined with Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna.  Fall Foliage:  Cadmium Yellow; Yellow Ochre.  Grasses:  Combinations of Mars Orange, Yellow Ochre, Chrome Oxide Green, Olive Green, Cadmium Orange.  Road:  Mars Orange, Holbein Rose Grey, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre.

ON THE ROAD - NEW 6"X14" Original Oil

Studio No. 415 - ON THE ROAD (Near Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico) 6"x24" Original Oil on a 2" Cradled Panel.  Completed 12/12/14.  $350.00   Preview/Purchase.

ASSEMBLA DE DIOS (Truchas, New Mexico) New 40"x40" Original Oil

ASSEMBLA DE DIOS (Assembly of God Church, Truchas, New Mexico) - 40"x40" Original Oil, unframed. Completed 11/20/14. Note: I rented the small adobe house to the left of the church from my friend, Susie Romero, and it was my studio once upon a time.  Click here to Preview/Purchase.

Studio No. 215 - ASSEMBLA DE DIOS - 40"X40" Work in Progress (The Glazes) - Glazes are transparent and semi-transparent oil colors which I believe add richness and depth to the final painting.  Glazes are mixes with Oil Painting Medium (Recipe will be posted next week).  Trees and Yellow Grasses:  Transparent Gold Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Gold Ochre Deep.  Green Trees and Grasses:  Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue - with some Chrome Oxide Green Opaque.  Note:  Opaque colors can be thinned to a semi-transparency.   Reddish Grasses:  Burnt Sienna and Alizarin Crimson.

LAS NUBES DE TRUCHAS - 12"x44" Original Oil

 

LAS NUBES DE TRUCHAS (The Clouds of Truchas, New Mexico) - New 12"x44" Original Oil on Belgian Linen completed 11/7/14.  Preview/Purchase.

ASSEMBLA DE DIOS - 40"x40" Work in Progress (Underpainting)

ASSEMBLA DE DIOS (Truchas, New Mexico) - 40"x40" Work in Progress (Underpainting).  Almost all colors are mixed with Winsor-Newton Underpainting White.  Note: Am testing this new white - doesn't dry as fast as Grumbacher MG.  Sky:  Thalo Blue, Thalo Green.  Trees and Grasses:  Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Red, Burnt Sienna, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque and Yellow Ochre.

ON THE EASEL - ASSEMBLA DE DIOS - 40"x40" New Work in Progress

ASSEMBLA DE DIOS (Truchas, New Mexico) - 40"X40" Work in Progress - Basic sketch in Prussian Blue and Burnt Umber.

HOW I PAINT - Creating a Portable Work Station

CREATING A PORTABLE WORK STATION - I am an easel painter and I need a comfortable and easy set up for my palette and tubes of paint.  I have a stationary taboret where I keep my additional supplies of paints and brushes.  This steel utility cart (purchased through Amazon) can follow me all over the studio and this set up works perfectly.  This arrangement is great for part-time painters who can't keep a permanent set-up - you can put a cover over your palette and tuck the cart in a corner or closet.  Remember:  It is much more efficient to have your colors set out where you can use them at any time - that way you don't have to wait to be inspired, you can just put on some salsa music and paint, paint, paint!

LAS NUBES DE TRUCHAS - 12"x44" Work in Progress

 

LAS NUBES DE TRUCHAS - 12"x44" Work in Progress (Underpainting) - Original Oil on Belgian Linen.  All colors mixed with  Winsor Newton Underpainting White and Turpentine -Clouds: some Naples Yellow Light.  Payne's Grey for darker areas.  Sky: Cobalt Blue, some Thalo Blue and Thalo Green.  Foreground:  Olive Green, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Yellow Ochre and Mars Orange.  Stand of Oaks:  Mars Orange and Cadmium Red.

MORE SOURCE MATERIAL - INTO THE SUNSET......

Gather ye source material while ye may!!!  A quick sunset trip through the hiways and byways of Tesuque Village and Rio en Medio last evening - 10/30/14.......

PREPARING MY CANVAS - GESSO/TONED GROUND

PREPARING MY PAINT SURFACE (Canvas, untempered masonite panels, birch panels, Italian Gessoed panels) - All my paint surfaces are prepared with two to three coats of toned gesso.  What I like about the gessoing is that it fills up the interstices of the canvas and the toned ground softens the final layers of paint.  (Toned Ground:  Renaissance painters used a "grisaille - or a sketch in various shades of grey).  I also don't have to worry about covering all those darned white spaces at the edges of trees, buildings, etc.  I mix a large amount in an old coffee can, apply with a regular "trim" paint brush and tone many canvases of different sizes at one time.  Gesso "days" can easily turn into a "gesso week" - but once this is finished,  I am free to think of the painting, rather than the preparation.  Recipe:  Liquitex gesso (amount depends on how many canvases you want to cover) - small jar(s) of Liquitex Payne's Grey (mix to desired tone) - small amount of water to loosen gesso (I don't want it to leave brush marks once it is applied).  Apply in a loose fashion and try to have the canvas positioned in the same direction as the final painting.    10/30/14 

HOW I PAINT - FIELD WORK - Photography

FIELD WORK - Photography -- Years ago I painted plein air when I could.  Had three small children at home and worked a full time job!  Would get together with friends and pack my paints to have some wonderful autumn afternoons painting in Madrid and Golden, N.M.  Then some kind soul gifted me with a Canon camera with a zoom lens.  That camera became so familiar it was an extension of my arm for years and years.  Recently gave it to my son who just happens to be a very talented photographer.  Then -- TaDah! - along came digital cameras, the computer and Photoshop and everything changed!  Back in the day it was shameful for an artist to admit that they used photography.  I read a life changing book by Van Deren Coke from UNM, The Painter and the Photograph (some copies used and new are still available from Amazon).  Realized that the camera was an essential TOOL for me to use.  Made a pact with myself to know this place that inspired me so deeply - and then it would be possible for me to FEEL what I painted.  10/29/14 

HOW I PAINT - WHAT TO PAINT? FIELD WORK

HOW I PAINT - FIELD WORK:  CHOOSING MY SUBJECT MATTER.  Before leaving Chicago for Santa Fe, N.M. 48 years ago, I was able to be one of thousands who lined up at the Art Institute for the major Andrew Wyeth retrospective.  After waiting in lines that stretched almost to Lake Michigan, we were only given seconds to view each painting.  This exhibit had a powerful effect on me in that I realized Wyeth focused on what he knew best - his own love of place where his spirit was completely "at home".  After visits to Mexico and Guatemala, it took me a while before I came to know "my place".  This knowing settled in slowly once I came to know and love northern New Mexico - especially my sometimes home, Truchas, and the surrounding villages.  Authenticity is important to me - I paint what I know - and especially the places I love best. 

CHIMAYO, N.M. - Oct. 18, 2014

FROM THE TOP OF THE HILL - CHIMAYO, N.M. - Starting some sketches today - organizing paints, setting up a new palette.... life is good!

ON THE ROAD IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO - 10/18/2014

ON THE ROAD with the Dollie Sisters yesterday (Jan McDowell and Jolene Allen) - Almost 250 new pics! The trees are at their glorious peak all over the north country - Truchas, Chimayo, Dixon - heavy frosts are late this year. Canvases are gessoed in many different sizes - making a list and ordering the paints tomorrow. One or two more trips to my favorite places and then it is time to settle in for my winter work! What an amazing day!

U. S. HILL (Taos, New Mexico) - 8"x10" Original Oil, Framed

U. S. HILL (Taos, New Mexico) - 8"x10" Original Oil, Framed in Gold with Linen Liner - Sold.

GARCIA PARK (Taos, New Mexico) - 30"x60" Original Oil

GARCIA PARK (Taos, New Mexico) - 30"x60" Original Oil on Belgian Linen - wrap-around painting.  Now available for purchase. - Preview.

BEING GRATEFUL TODAY......

EARLY SNOW CLOUDS AT PICURIS - Archival Print from an original painting - you are invited to visit The High Road Print Catalog.

Oh yes!  It's that time of year again - fall sneaked up on us here about two nights ago - a chill in the air.  This morning landlord checking the heating zones in the house so I won't freeze and fall on a brush midstroke!  Moved to New Mexico 47 years ago this month.  This morning I was looking at all these images in this catalog - painted over my years in Truchas - and I wondered how it happened that I got so lucky to land in this place - such a chaotic set of circumstances brought me here all that long time ago - another storm of events brought me full circle to Tesuque - right up the street from El Nido where I had my first New Mexico "art show" - bet those paintings still resonate with the sweat and stomps of flamenco dancer Vicente Romero!  Just coming home to myself again (I am slow to change) -  carry these places with me every day when I sit down at that big easel of mine.  What I am feeling today is a deep and profound gratitude.

ON THE EASEL TODAY: CALLECITA DE TESUQUE, 40"x40" Original Oil

On the Easel:  CALLECITA DE TESUQUE, 40"x40" Original Oil on Belgian Linen.

CORAZON SAGRADO (Tesuque Village, N.M.) - 20"x20" Original Oil

CORAZON SAGRADO (Tesuque Village, New Mexico) - 20"x20" Original Oil, wrap-around painting.  $750.00 - Preview/Purchase.

PUESTA DEL SOL (Taos, N.M.), New 30"x40" Original Oil - Sold

Studio No. 3414 - PUESTA DEL SOL (Taos Mountain, Taos, New Mexico) - New 30"x40" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, unframed. $3500.  Completed 8/13/14 - Sold

0N THE EASEL - PUESTA DEL SOL - 30"x40" Work in Progress

ON THE EASEL NOW -- WORK IN PROGRESS - STUDIO NO.3414 - PUESTA DEL SOL (Taos, New Mexico) 30"x40" Original Oil on Belgian Linen. ( This is the second in a series of 30 new paintings from northernNew Mexico) The color notes and process of the beginning of this painting are posted below.

EL RITO DEL NORTE, 20"x16" Original Oil, Framed

Studio No. 2814 - EL RITO DEL NORTE (Garcia Park, Taos, New Mexico) - 20"x16" Original Oil, Framed - $800.00.  Preview/purchase.

U.S. HILL (Taos, New Mexico) 8"x10" Original Oil, Framed

 

U.S. HILL (Taos, New Mexico) - 8"x10" Original Oil, framed - $350.00.  Preview/purchase.

LLANO SAN JUAN - 11"x14" Original Oil, Framed

LLANO SAN JUAN (Llano San Juan de Nepomuseno, New Mexico) - 11"x14" Original Oil, Framed - $500 - Preview/purchase.

DOWN A COUNTRY LANE - 12"x9" Original Oil, Framed

 

DOWN A COUNTRY LANE (Tesuque, New Mexico) - 12"x9" original oil, framed in gold with linen liner -$450.00 - To preview/purchase.

WINTERLIGHT (Tesuque, New Mexico) 48"x36" Original Oil

Studio No. 214 - WINTERLIGHT (Tesuque, New Mexico) - 48"x36" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, unframed  - now available for purchase - $4500.00.  Preview/Purchase.

TWILIGHT ON TAOS MOUNTAIN - New 16"x20" Orig. Oil - Sold

 

Studio No. 2614 - TWILIGHT ON TAOS MOUNTAIN - New 16"x20" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.  Completed 8/3/14.  SOLD