MOONRISE OVER MIDDLE ROAD (Taos, New Mexico) New 8"x10" Original Oil

Studio No. 1117 - MOONRISE OVER MIDDLE ROAD (Taos, New Mexico) - New 8"x10" Original Oil on Italian Gessoed Panel, framed - available.  Preview Painting.

AUTUMN PRAYERS - 28"x22" Work in Progress (Underpainting)

Studio No. 1817 - AUTUMN PRAYERS (Placitas, New Mexico) - 28"x22" Work in Progress (Underpainting) - Use bristle brush.  Mix Grumbacher MG Underpainting White with Distilled Turpentine and color.  Sketch in color with loose brushstrokes.  Color Notes:  Sky: Paynes Gray/Prussian Blue. Hills: Chrome Oxide Green Opaqe/Yellow Ochre.  Fields - Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna.  Chamisa: Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre.  Rooftop:  Cerulean Blue, Payne's Gray.  Adobe:  Burnt Sienna, Mars Orange, Yellow Ochre.  Let dry for a few days.

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!