ON MY WAY!

Saturday is travel day again for me.  This time I am on way to Watertown, South Dakota, for a week long Variations workshop.  Can't wait to share with this group.  I also look forward to seeing part of the country where I have never traveled.  I will be taking photographs and will share the results when I get back.  

In the meantime, here is another of my small paintings from my trip to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.  While my adventurous friends were hiking up the trail to paint, I made myself comfortable on the patio of the Art Center and painted the desert plants  in front of me.  I enjoyed sitting outside and painting but was happy to have a bathroom close by.  Basically, I am a wimp, and I can live with that.

UNEXPECTED GENEROSITY!

American Journey Metal Travel Palette

     I received an unexpected gift in the mail two days ago from Cheap Joe's Art Stuff.  It was a loaded American Journey travel paint box along with a brush!   The note that was enclosed explained it was a congratulatory gift for being accepted into the American Watercolor Society annual show for the second time.  Joe Miller is an excellent entrepreneur and promoter but his generosity goes well beyond just marketing his product.  He truly is a great friend of the arts and the artists.  

     I decided to try out my new set with this image I already had sketched into my book.  One of the colors in the paintbox is called Shadow and I thought it would work well for this backlit image taken at sunset.    Perfect!!!!!!  I love all the mixing space available and the generous space for brushes in the middle.   The shape of the color pans allows for access of flats.  There is a ring on the bottom of the box so one can safely hold onto the open container with one hand and paint standing up.  All together a well designed and solidly constructed metal paintbox that should last for years.  Thank you, Joe, for your continued support.

O'KEEFE COUNTRY!

Here is the ink drawing I did in the parking lot of our cabins at 6 AM!  I couldn't manage to pull out the paint but I love how ink drawings look in this special book.  I take it with me when I travel to special places.  It is a wonderful reminder of some awesome trips.

TRAVELS!

GHOST RANCH, NEW MEXICO, JUNE 2013

Wow, I didn't realize how long I have been absent from the blog!  I promise to do better.  The past month has been a series of travels and I have some paintings to prove it.  We went with a wonderful group of artist friends to Santa Fe and then to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico where Georgia O'Keefe lived and painted.  I had the opportunity to tour her house and studio which was a very exciting event.  Sadly, they did not allow photography which was a big frustration to me.  Santa Fe was full of inspiration and I have some images in mind to translate into future paintings.  I only photographed in Santa Fe but I did some plein air work at Ghost Ranch.  Landscape is not my oeuvre but I enjoy capturing my surroundings when I travel with a painting or two in my travel sketchbooks.  Traveling with serious plein air artists put the pressure on and I was actually out in the parking lot at 6 AM one morning doing an ink drawing!  I did bail on a hike up the trail and opted to sit on the patio of the art center (near the bathroom!) and paint the plants of the southwest.  I know my limitations!  I plan to post one image a day to draw things out.  The image above was our view from the room.  This fabulous rock formation changed every few minutes as the sun and clouds moved overhead.  So far, this is my favorite painting of the trip. It is painted in my small watercolor handmade book on a double spread.