RIO HONDO - New 30"x24 Original Oil

Studio No. 1617 - RIO HONDO (Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico) - 30"x24" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.  Now available - Preview Painting.

MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE - 8"x16" Original Oil, Framed

MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE (Truchas, New Mexico) - 8"x16" Original Oil, framed (available - Preview Painting) -

Don Eusavio was my next door neighbor when I lived in Truchas and by observing him each day, he taught me how to live. He had lived in the same house for most of his life and there was a field between us where Henry Romero pastured his cows.  I watched the old man from a distance - and if there was a secret to life he had found it - quite simply it was habit and routine.  Each morning I would hear him tap-tapping on something in his shed, then he would carry in some wood from the big pile in his yard.  The smoke from his chimney would rise and he would fix his lunch-  Then he might put on his green baseeball cap, grab his orange bucket and pick apricots.  His friend Rosita might come calling and they would go for a drive.  He lived an uncomplicated life - on purpose.  He was a happy man!

CAPILLA DE PLACITAS - 10"x10" Original Oil, framed

CAPILLA DE PLACITAS -10"x10" Original Oil on Canvas, framed (available - Preview painting)  Still remember the first time I saw this little church years and years ago on one of my many trips back home to Truchas.  Had my camera with me - parked near the gas statiion across the road and climbed part way up the water tower to get a better view.  Have painted this place many times front and back - it is a talisman, a sacred place - many candles, many prayers.........

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 1967 - THE ADVENTURE BEGINS....

THE ROAD HOME - 8"x16" Original Oil, framed - available - Preview Painting.  

 SEPTEMBER 1967 - We rented a small adobe house on Alegre St. from an old cowboy named Les Langley - across our backyard fence was Rosario Cemetary.  The babies were still in diapers and crawling and the only heat was with floor furnaces - a big challenge.  Still a Chicago girl, I was homesick, very lonely and did not know where to begin.  Trying to be helpful, a neighbor gave me a New Mexico Magazine -  started to read while the children were napping.  There was a photo of a Taos Pueblo drummer -  got out my paints and copied the photo.  We needed money and the painting sold for $75 which was a fortune to me.  The wheels started spinning - maybe,  just maybe this place - Santa Fe, New Mexico - was where I belonged all along..... I was just born in Chicago by accident! 

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO -AND THE YEAR IS 1967.....

A HAPPY LITTLE CLOUD (Taos, New Mexico) - 36"x40 Original Oil on Belgian Linen- available - Preview Painting.........Sometime in the middle of September in 1967 husband Jack and I had watched the moving van leave our house on Riegel Rd. in Homewood, Ill. My son John was two and my twins, Mary and Sarah, were six months old.  It was a long trip - the girls learned to eat spaghetti with their fingers in some little restaurant along the way.  We crossed the border into New Mexico late in the afternoon - The sky above us was cloudless, but to our left was this huge, ominous blue and black monster bursting with thunder and lightning - I would later learn that the dark pouring from that cloud was called "Walking Rain" - The highway straight ahead to Santa Fe was sunny and clear! This was the beginning of my fifty year love affair with the people and landscape of New Mexico - what a adventure! 

MY EASEL AWAITS!

Studio No. 0117 - PASSING STORM (Chimayo, New Mexico) - 8"x10" Original Oil on Italian Gessoed Panel, framed - now available - http://donnaclairart.com/el-llano/

It is so easy to procrastinate! My second husband, Ernie, would jokingly threaten to chain me to the easel!  Took a little rest after our open studio exhibit "Three Artists of Taos" - I know that it is those quiet times - the days in between - when everything is silent that the next paintings come to me in pictures that float by - even when I am doing the dishes.  The word "procrastination" is deceiving - when I am not painting is the time when I do all the heavy lifting - the ideas come if I am really quiet.
Am still settling into this little studio in Taos - setting a work schedule every day from 10AM to 3PM - routine and discipline are my words for today.  This is truly a New Beginning....

GRATEFUL.......

TAOS MOUNTAIN DREAMING (Taos, New Mexico - 8"x16" Original Oil, framed - now available - Preview Painting.

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.  Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted that flame within us" - Albert Schweitzer....This morning -  beautiful symphony by American composer named Picker - "Old and Lost Rivers". The bells from Our Lady of Guadalupe ringing for Sunday Mass - comforting.  Heard a chorus of coyotes singing at 3AM! The old rooster on Peralta St. loudly letting his ladies know who is boss.  Taos!!!

HONEST CONVERSATION....

Studio No. 417 - TAOS SUMMER STORM - 24"x30" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, framed - Preview Painting.  It took weeks of self-arguing to finally post the truth about losing my son.  Looked back on my life for the last 2-1/2 years today - I sat in a big brown recliner for a year and cried - tried to keep up my time at the easel, but it was sporadic.   Relied on help from my friends,  One day I heard a voice in my head say "What if you live for another 20 Years?" and I knew the way I was "living" was killing me.  All of a sudden the lights went back on and it was time to take a fearless inventory of places and things....there was no going back from that moment...I didn't know how, but I was being challenged to change everything!    

UNA SENDA DESCONOCIDO - A PATH UNKNOWN

UNA SENDA DESCONOCIDO -  A Path Unknown.  Just waking up from a long nap and finally admitting to myself that I don't know what I don't know.  Each Saturday morning when I was a little girl, there was a radio program called "Let's Pretend" - "Hi, I'm Buster Brown, I live in a shoe!  That's my dog Tige, he lives in here, too!"  Pretending to be my same old self is exhausting!  This morning I read a paragraph titled "The Power of the Unknown" - the field of all possibilities.

Losing John......12/25/2014

Santa Fe, New Mexico - In the early minutes of Christmas morning 2014, my beautiful 49 year old son, John, died.  Parts of me died with him and life was forever changed.  Deep grief is a dangerous adventure - a hostile and treacherous landscape with no visible escape route.  Stumbling through most of 2015, I made mental Post-it notes to eat, sleep, paint, function - urgent care became routine.  I was broken and I did not want to mend.

EACH DAY A NEW BEGINNING....

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." Martin Buber

PLACITAS - 40"x30" Original Oil, Framed

CAPILLA DE PLACITAS (Placitas, New Mexico) - 40"x30" Original Oil, framed. Now available for purchase at our 3 Artists of Taos Open Studio exhibit - 27th, 28th and 29th from 12 to 5PM - Preview Studio Inventory.

EL LLANO (El Llano, New Mexico) - NEW 8"x10" Original Oil

EL LLANO (El Llano, New Mexico) - NEW 8"x10" Original Oil on Italian Gessoed panel, framed - now available for purchase at my online Collector's Gallery - Preview Painting.

3 ARTISTS OF TAOS OPEN STUDIO EXHIBIT - MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

SURPRISE! Little did I know when I landed here six months ago that I would meet up with two very talented gentlemen artists as Doug Yeager and Seamus Berkeley!  Sometime in January or February we began to collaborate on an art event - and here is the result.  We have "planning" meetings often over coffee and lots of (Lots!) of pie!   Art Friends near and far are invited!  If you have any questions, give me a call at (575)758-1580.  Looking forward to seeing many, many happy art lovers!  Bienvenidos! Best regards, Donna

VISTAS DEL NORTE

Memorial Day Weekend - May 27, 28 and 29 from 12:00 to 5:00 PM - Taos, New Mexico

Featuring artwork of  Donna Clair, Doug Yeager and Seamus Berkeley (Become acquainted with their work by visiting their individual websites - an armchair preview of ‘Vistas del Norte'!)

Taos, New Mexico — There is a mysterious quality to the atmosphere in northern New Mexico which is not easy to explain it must be experienced. Whether it is the wide open brilliant blue sky, the crisp bright light, the living mountains or the ancient history, artists arrive daily seeking their creative home. Some leave after a few months or years. Others choose to stay and become rooted and energized by all that inspires their art.Three well-recognized New Mexico artists have come together to offer their paintings and photography in an open studio exhibit 'Vistas del Norte' — views of the north. Each brings to their work a unique perspective influenced by life in Taos and the surrounding north country.You are invited to take part in their journey this Memorial Day weekend.  Enjoy!

DON JUAN'S PARADISE (Valdez, New Mexico) - Fine art prints, greeting cards...

DON JUAN'S PARADISE (Valdez, New Mexico) - Fine art prints framed or unframed for home and office, greeting cards, posters and many other great items now available at Fine Art America - Preview prints.

MARGARET JAMISON....

Margaret Jamison - art dealer, mentor, role model, best friend - still missed. Portrait by Julian Robles, Taos artist.

3 ARTISTS OF TAOS - MEMORIAL DAY STUDIO EXHIBITS!

3 ARTISTS OF TAOS - VISTAS DEL NORTE - Doug Yeager, Seamus Berkeley and I getting together to plan for our Studio Exhibits over the Memorial Day Weekend - May 27,28 and 29th. Have really been enjoying planning this event so far.....

Ready, Set, PAINT!!!

Working on fine tuning my website this morning (yes, that is an essential to being an artist now) with master tech, Dan Kuehn of Questa, New Mexico.  Still painting for our studio exhibit 3 ARTISTS OF TAOS - Vistas del Norte which takes place here in Taos over the Memorial Day weekend - 27, 28 and 29.  Doug Yeager and I started hanging his photos and my paintings yesterday - really looks good!   

CAMINITO DE TESUQUE....

10 May 2017 - Framing paintings today in preparation for our studio shows here in Taos over the Memorial Day weekend.  CAMINITO DE TESUQUE (Tesuque, New Mexico) - 28"x22" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, framed, will be featured in my studio.  You are invited!  Ordered three 30"x40" canvases yesterday and more turpentine.  I see a new painting through the sliding glass door looking down Santistevan Lane.  It is so good to be home again!  These places are so familiar! Preview studio inventory!

AFTERNOON VISITORS (Truchas, New Mexico) - Prints, greeting cards....

AFTERNOON VISITORS (Remembering the view from my little adobe house in Truchas, New Mexico) - Fine art prints, greeting cards and many other great items for home and office now available at Fine Art America!

MY TAOS WILDFLOWERS - Fine art prints, greeting cards.......

MY TAOS WILDFLOWERS (Taos, New Mexico) - Fine art prints, greeting cards and many other great items for home and office now available at Fine Art America!

ACEQUIA DEL LLANO - Fine art prints, greeting cards.....

ACEQUIA DEL LLANO - Fine art prints for home and office, greeting cards, posters and many other great items now available at FINE ART AMERICA!

IN THE STUDIO TODAY...

5/3/2017 - Varnishing, signing and framing paintings all the rest of this week in preparation for our 3 Artists of Taos studio exhibits - Vistas Del Norte - Memorial Day Weekend.  The studio walls should come to life with all this new work!

A HAPPY LITTLE CLOUD - NEW 36"x60" Original Oil

Studio No. 1417 - A HAPPY LITTLE CLOUD (Looking across the Rio Grande Gorge toward Three Peaks - Taos, New Mexico) - New 36"x60" Original Oil - Preview painting.

FINDING MY WAY.....

1 May 2017 - PASSING STORM - 8"x10" Original Oil on Italian gessoed panel, framed - now available through Collector's Gallery on my website.  Today marks six months after my huge move to this new studio in Taos.  Am still adjusting to all the changes.  The pace has definitely picked up!  Am again working with my friend Dan Kuehn to redo my website so that my entire studio inventory is now available exclusively through my Collector's Gallery.  Seamus Berkeley, Doug Yeager and I have formed a group - 3 ARTISTS OF TAOS.  We are planning a series of studio exhibits - the first will be for the three days over the Memorial Day Weekend.  Today I will complete a 36"x60" canvas called "A Happy Little Cloud" - everything is moving at a pretty swift pace - so far so good - Progress!

LILAS DE TAOS - Fine Art prints, greeting cards.....

LILAS DE TAOS (Taos, New Mexico) - Fine art prints, posters, greeting cards and many other great items now available at FINE ART AMERICA!

OVERNIGHT DRYING GLAZING MEDIUM

OVERNIGHT DRYING GLAZING MEDIUM - 6 Ounces of Distilled Turpentine (Winsor-Newton), one ounce Stand Oil, one ounce damar varnish, 1/4 teaspoon Cobalt Dryer.  Caution: Mix in glass container with cap or seal.  This recipe was given to me almost fifty years ago by well-known California painter, Bob Clark.  I use this medium for oils the way water is used in watercolors.  Colors can be laid over the underpainting once it is dry.  Darker colors are perfect colors for glazing (Shadows).  Opaque colors can also be used as semi-transparent colors. 

OVERLOOK (TRUCHAS, N.M.) - 48"X12" ORIG. OIL

STUDIO N0. 717 - OVERLOOK (Truchas, New Mexico) - 48"x12" Original Oil on Canvas, framed.  Now available for purchase. Preview painting.

OVERLOOK (Truchas, N.M.) 48"x12 Work In Prog. Glazes

Studio No. 717 - OVERLOOK (Truchas, New Mexico) - 48"x12" Work in Progress (Glazes) - Glazes are applied with painting medium.  The fast-drying medium has turpentine in it, so it is well to let this phase of the painting sit until the color is dry to the touch.  Color notes:   Trees: Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and Chrome Oxide Green Opaque.  Snow:  Permalba Titanium White, Holbein Rose Grey, touch of cobalt blue - some Payne's Grey.

ESTACA IN BLOOM - Fine Art Prints, greeting cards....

ESTACA IN BLOOM (Estaca, New Mexico) - Fine Art Prints (framed or unframed), posters, greeting cards and many other great items now available at FINE ART AMERICA.

UNA SENDA DESCONOCIDO - 22"x28" Original Oil, framed

UNA SENDA DESCONOCIDO (A Path Unknown, Northern New Mexico) - 22"x28" Original Oil, framed in gold with linen liner, now available for purchase - Preview Painting.

ASSEMBLA DE DIOS (Truchas, N.M.) - 40"x40" Orig. Oil, framed

ASSEMBLA DE DIOS (Truchas, New Mexico) - 40"x40" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, framed in gold with linen liner.  Painting preview.

48"x12" Work in Progress (underpainting) - OVERLOOK (Truchas, N.M.)

 Studio No. 717 - OVERLOOK (Truchas, New Mexico) - New 48"x12" Original Work in Progress (Underpainting).  Color Notes: Using Grumbacher MG Fast Drying Underpainting White and Distilled Turpentine -  Sky and Snow: Paynes Grey, small amounts of Prussian Blue.  Trees:  Combinations of Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque.  Stay tuned!

WASHINGTON AVENUE (Santa Fe, N.M.) - New 10"x10" Original Oil - Sold

Studio No. 617 - WASHINGTON AVENUE (Santa Fe, New Mexico) - New 10"x10" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, Framed in Gold with Linen Liner - Sold

LLANO QUEMADO - New 9"x9" Original Oil, framed

Studio No. 517 - LLANO QUEMADO (Truchas, New Mexico) - New 9"x9" Original Oil on Linen Panel, framed in gold with linen liner, now available for purchase.  Painting preview.

2/10/17 - ON THE EASEL....

10 February 2017 - Taos Studio, New Mexico - On the easel this afternoon!

EL CALLE DE TRUCHAS - New 22"x28" Orig. Oil, Framed

Studio No. 317 - EL CALLE DE TRUCHAS - New 22"x28 Original Oil on Belgian Linen, Framed.  Now available for purchase....Preview

CALLE DE TRUCHAS - NEW 22"X28" Work in Progress (Glazes)

STUDIO NO. 317 - CALLE DE TRUCHAS - 22"x28" Work in Progress (Glazes) - This phase of the painting is where I lay in the dark transparent or semi-transparent colors with fast drying oil painting medium which I mix myself.  Foreground road and adobe buildings - Burnt umber, ultramarine blue, prussian blue, burnt sienna, some mars orange and some ochre.  Establishing the darks, which should make the lighter opaque paints pop right off the canvas! 

EL CALLE DE TRUCHAS - 22"x28" Work in Progress (Underpainting)

Studio No. 317 - EL CALLE DE TRUCHAS (Truchas, New Mexico) - New 22"x28" Work in Progress (Underpainting) - Oil colors are mixed with MG Fast Drying Underpainting White and Distilled Turpentine.  Sky: Payne's Grey.  Trees: burnt sienna and mars orange.  Main building: Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre.  Road: Burnt Sienna, Prussian Blue, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre.  Snow:  White with small amount of Cadmium Yelow and Cadmium Red - Prussian Blue Outline.

TAOS SUMMER STORM - 24"x30" Original Oil

Studio No. 417 - TAOS SUMMER STORM (Taos, New Mexico) - New 24"x30" Original Oil on Belgian Linen, framed, now available - PREVIEW.

TAOS SUMMER STORM - 24"x30" Work in Progress (Glazes)

Studio No. 417 - TAOS SUMMER STORM - 24"x30" Work in Progress (Glazes) - Glazes are the dark transparent/semi-transparent oil colors applied over the underpainting with Overnight Glazing Medium (six ounces distilled turp., 1 oz. each of damar varnish and stand oil and 1/4 tsp. cobalt drier)  This phase of the painting sets up the lights (opaque paints) and adds a great deal of richness to the finished painting.  Color notes: Sky: Prussian Blue and Paynes Grey. Foreground:  Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre Deep.  Trees:  Yellow trees same as foreground.  Green:  Chrome Oxide Green Opaque.

RIO PUEBLO - 8"x10" Original Oil, framed

RIO PUEBLO (Placitas, New Mexico) - 8"x10" Original Oil on Italian Gessoed Panel, framed - Sold

RIO CHIQUITO - 8"x10" Original Oil - Framed

RIO CHIQUITO (Rio Chiquito, New Mexico) - 8"x10" Original Oil on Italian Gessoed Panel, Framed - Sold

TAOS SUMMER STORM - 24"x30" Work in Progress (Underpainting)

Studio No. 417 - TAOS SUMMER STORM (Taos, New Mexico) - New 24"x30" Work in Progress (Underpainting).  Colors are mixed with MG Underpainting White and Distilled Turpentine.  Color Notes:  Sky:  Prussian Blue and Paynes Grey.  Mountains:  Payne's Grey and dirty brush.  Trees:  Cadmium Yellow, Mars Orange, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque.  Foreground:  Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre.  Apply underpainting and let dry for about a week before applying glazes.

ON BEING PEACE.....

“The images of peace are ephemeral. The language of peace is subtle. The reasons for peace, the definitions of peace, the very idea of peace have to be invented, and invented again.

Children, everybody, here’s what to do during war: In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment.”

—From THE FIFTH BOOK OF PEACE, Maxine Hong Kingston

A BEGINNER'S MIND....

6 January 2017 -  This morning while still in bed with all my papers and magazines around me, propped up by several lovely pillows, I called my website tech/good friend and fellow dreamer, Dan Kuehn, to make an appointment for the middle of this month to overhaul the way I do my business. As we were talking it became clear that the art market has changed so profoundly in the past few years that parts of the old ways of selling art have morphed and changed, or are dying off completely.  Yes, here I am, finally awake to some new and exciting ways to sell my paintings.  In Buddhism they call it "the Beginner's Mind" - and I finally got it!  Aha - I am starting all over again....and more will be revealed as I begin this process.  All I can say is that I am ready and willing to start some new creative adventures here in Taos - right now it is all a bunch of beautiful blank canvases - Stay tuned!  In the meantime, here is an old beauty (very appropriate to my time in life) now available as fine art prints and many other great items at FINE ART AMERICA.

 

MY TAOS WILDFLOWERS (Taos, New Mexico)

Each day a New Beginning - Happy New Year!

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, Ella -- she carried a shopping bag with her everywhere -- those were her "gifts" her "surprises".  The words of Fra Giovanni never fail to inspire and 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 - Taos, New Mexico 2016

"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

READY, AIM - PAINT!!!!

7 December 2016 - It was exciting to set up my first palette in my new Taos studio this morning!  Am not at all settled yet - most of the basics have been handled, but the "everything in its place thing" will take me until spring.  Have decided that I need to start painting - that's my job in this world!  Will take some time out at the end of every day to settle in; in the meantime, with the exception of one or two long winter naps..... HI HO!  it's off to work we go!  Am getting huge welcome home hugs from old friends - so happy and grateful to be back! One more gentle reminder to check out my  fine art prints framed or unframed perfect for home and office, greeting cards and many other great gift items now available at FINE ART AMERICA!

TAOS AFTERNOON SHADOWS - Fine Art Prints, greeting cards.....

TAOS AFTERNOON SHADOWS (Taos, New Mexico) - Fine art prints framed or unframed for home and office, greeting cards, posters and other great gift items now available at FINE ART AMERICA.

CAMINITO DE TESUQUE - Fine Art Prints, greeting cards.....

CAMINITO DE TESUQUE (Tesuque, New Mexico) - Fine art prints framed or unframed for home and office, greeting cards, posters and other great gift items now available at FINE ART AMERICA.

WINTER DREAMS - Fine art prints, greeting cards.....

WINTER DREAMS - Fine art prints framed or unframed for home and office, greeting cards, posters and many other fine gift items now available at FINE ART AMERICA!

PUEBLO MORNING LIGHT - Fine Art Prints, Greeting Cards. posters.....

PUEBLO MORNING LIGHT (Taos Pueblo, New Mexico) - Fine Art Prints framed or unframed for home and office, greeting cards, posters and many other great gift items now available at FINE ART AMERICA!