WORD PAINTINGS #144 - GUATEMALA 1991 PART V - TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES

                                                  BEARERS OF LIGHT 

                         EASTER 1991 CHICHICASTENANGO, GUATEMALA

WORD PAINTINGS #144 (How I came to New Mexico and learned about Art and Life) - GUATEMALA 1991 - TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES. https://donnaclairwordpaintings.blogspot.com/

WORD PAINTINGS #143 - GUATEMALA 1991 PART IV - INCIDENTS AT COPAN

WORD PAINTINGS #143 (How I came to New Mexico and learned about Life and Art) - GUATEMALA 1991 PART IV - INCIDENTS AT COPAN - https://donnaclairwordpaintings.blogspot.com/
 

ESTACA IN BLOOM - Prints, greeting cards, posters....

ESTACA IN BLOOM (Estaca, New Mexico) - Prints, greeting cards, posters and many other great items now available at Fine Art America! https://fineartamerica.com/.../estaca-in-bloom-donna...

CLOUD PEOPLE - 40"x30" Original Oil

“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

 

"THUNDERSPIRITS"  40"x30" Original Donna Clair Oil painting - 

 

WORD PAINTINGS #142 - GUATEMALA 1991 PART III - CIVIL WAR

 

WORD PAINTINGS #142  (How I Came to New Mexico and learned about Art and Life) - GUATEMALA 1991 PART III - CIVIL WAR - https://donnaclairwordpaintings.blogspot.com/2024/04/word-paintings-142-guatemala-1991-part.html

WORD PAINTINGS #141 - GUATEMALA 1991 PART II - CHICHICASTENANGO!!

WORD PAINTINGS #141 (How I Came to New Mexico and learned avbovut Art and Life!) - GUATEMALA 1991 - CHICHICASTENANGO  - https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7034907808229634019/3441015536756478147

 "A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep".  Remembering that day in 1956 when teachers Ms. Schaefer and Ms. Flynn regaled my Spanish class with colorful stories of their trip to Guatemala. Their excitement about spending Easter Sunday in an exotic-sounding place called Chichicastenango was joyful!!! Chills, goosebumps, their excitement was contagious! I said the strange name to myself over and over  "Chichicastenango"  - it needed to be tucked away - never forgotten.  Thirty-five years of  life passed....children, marriages, divorces, recovery. It was possible that our move from Chicago to the alien planet of Santa Fe, New Mexico, trips to Mexico - my life on the horse ranch in Truchas was as far as I would go. There would be no more surprises.   No time for my Dreams of Distant Places!  The name was almost lost to me until that morning in my Taos studio when I heard it again on the radio ad.  Shivers of anticipation. Nothing was holding me back (except for my agoraphobia). Excitement. Yes indeed, my much younger self jumped for pure joy. 

1991 - Walking through the plaza of Chichicastenango on Easter Sunday morning!!! Brilliant colors, clouds of incense, firecrackers -wonderful heart-stopping chaos! Christ was risen.   I couldn't breathe! I couldn't hold enough of the experience in my body. Noise, crowds of strangers , I was transported - five feet off the ground - having the most amazing experience of my life!!!!  A dream fulfilled! Following the cobblestone paths wherever they led I had a day full of adventure.Vendors with their bright weavings propped up on poles leaning against the walls of the houses lining the streets.   Some of the huipils still had a sweet smell of smoke - they had been woven on looms next to their home fires. 

The Cofradia processed to the Iglesia of Santo Tomas. Solemn. All my young girl Catholicism rushed back to life.  How much of their ancient religion was still there, covered by the pomp of these more modern rituals?  Their strong faces mirrored the sculptures in a museum we visited - in  Tikal and Copan. The Mayan culture that had "disappeared" was living and breathing right before my eyes.  The wonder and the mystery is still there.  Their culture survives in secret places - private rituals - heart prayers.  This might seem heretical to both cultures, but I have an idea that their ancient gods and our not so ancient saints are somehow all connected.  It is quite possible we all pray to the same God.

For most of my adult life I had been asleep to the ways of the world....until  Guatemala! Easter Sunday was only the beginning...... 

WORD PAINTINGS #140 - GUATEMALA 1991 - SEMANA SANTA PART I

 

WORD PAINTINGS #140 (How I came to New Mexico and Learned about Art and Life) - GUATEMALA 1991 - SEMANA SANTA PART I - https://donnaclairwordpaintings.blogspot.com/2024/03/word-paintings-140-guatemala-1991.html

FIRST LIGHT - Prints, Greeting cards.....

FIRST LIGHT - A quiet New Mexico morning - waiting for the rain. Prints, greeting cards and many other great items now available at Fine Art America....https://fineartamerica.com/.../first-light-donna-clair...

MAYORDOMO (Spring cleaning)

 

It's that time of the year - cleaning the acequias! "MAYORDOMO" - My painting in honor of friend and long ago Mayordomo of Truchas, Cosme Romero - prints available https://fineartamerica.com/fea.../mayordomo-donna-clair.html

 

A Mayordomo is the official elected to maintain the irrigation system known as the Acequia Madre -- centuries old "Mother Ditches" that bring water from the mountains to the villages here in northern New Mexico. He oversees the spring cleaning of the ditches (as seen in the painting) and manages control of the water to ranches and fields. The original painting "Mayordomo" was completed as an homage to my first Truchas friend, the local Mayordomo, Cosme Romero. I was living at the ranch on Llano Quemado on the outskirts of Truchas.
 

OJO SARCO - 30"x30" WORK IN PROGRESS (UNDERPAINTING) - COLOR NOTES

 2/23/24 - OJO SARCO - 30"x30" Work in Progress - For most of this canvas I just mxed the tube colors with English Distilled Turpentine - very little Underpainting White. COLOR NOTES:  Sky-Portland Grey Cool, Paynes Grey, Warm Titanium White.  Green Trees - Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Prussian Blue, Cadmium Green Light. Yellow Trees: Cadmium Yellow, Naples Yellow Deep.  Reddish Trees: Mars Orange, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna,

DREAMKEEPER - 12"X12" Original Oil, Framed

DREAMKEEPER (Moonset 11/22/23 -- Llano Quemado, NM)12"x12" Original Oil on linen panel, framed in gold with linen liner

 

Bring me all of your dreams

You dreamer

Bring me all of your

Heart melodies

That I may wrap them

In a blue cloud cloth

away from the too rough fingers

Of the world

Langston Hughes

 

RIO FERNANDO - NEW! 8"x10" Original Oil - SOLD

RIO FERNANDO (New Mexico) - NEW! 8"x10 Original oil on linen panel, custom framed in gold with linen liner, free shipping -SOLD

SANTA FE RFD, 11"x14" Original Oil, Framed - SOLD

First painting of this New Year! SANTA FE RFD, 11"x14" Framed in Gold, free shipping...SOLD

WINTER GIFTS 2023

 To Art Friends everywhere!  The original of this painting, WINTER GIFTS, 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, Aniela— 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 2023

"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

DON GREGORIO'S WINTER FIELD - 48"x36" Original Oil

DON GREGORIO'S WINTER FIELD(Truchas, N.M.) - 48"x36" Original Oil on Belgian Linen - framed in Silver with linen liner

GRACIAS A LA VIDA!!!!

 

25 November 2023 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico)

This painting is called "Our Daily Bread" and was completed in 2008....a wonderful day at Taos Pueblo with Santa Fe artist and good friend, Dan Bodelson. We bought that loaf of bread just as she was taking out of the horno and in minutes it was gone - beyond delicious!. Counting my blessings and giving thanks for all these precious memories! Sending my gratitude to Art Friends everywhere - best wishes to one and all - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Donna

CLOUD PEOPLE - 40"X30" Original Oil (sold)

 

DISTANT THUNDER (Taos, New Mexico - 24"x36" Original Oil

DISTANT THUNDER (RANCHITOS ROAD - TAOS, NEW MEXICO) - 24"x36" Original Oil, framed in gold with Linen Liner

OJO SARCO - NEW! 8"x10" Original Oil

OJO SARCO STUDY (Ojo Sarco, N.M.) NEW! Study for a larger canvas - 8"x10" Original Oil on linen panel, framed in gold with linen liner

LOS PINONES (Chimayo, N.M.) - New! 6"x8" Oriiginal Oil

LOS PINONES (Chimayo, N.M.) - NEW! 6"x8" Original Oil on linen panel, framed in gold with linen liner