June

Spring has finally arrived in northern New Mexico and I have essentially abandoned my studio and have been outside painting (en plein air).


#15 – “First Try”
8 x 10; oil on gessoed masonite; $150 (unframed)

Springtime took Bessie and me to Austin, Texas, to visit with “our boy” and his wife, both graduate students at UT. We stopped along the way to paint near Fredericksburg and, upon arrival at our beautiful B & B, a calf had just been born in the quiet corner of a field right in front of our little cottage. And, we witnessed his very first steps!

#14 – “Where Have All the Sheep Gone?”
12 x 16; oil on linen/birch; $225 (unframed)

Our B & B had a group of sheep wandering the property and I was fascinated with the fact that spring had come and all the sheep had left their pen!

#13 – “Texas Bluebonnets”
11 x 14; oil on linen/birch; $200 (unframed)

If you’ve ever been to the Texas Hill Country in the springtime you have experienced Lady Bird Johnson’s wildflower legacy and the intense blue color of the bluebonnets.

#12 – “Registration Expired”
8 x 10; oil on gessoed masonite; $150 (unframed)

During May, I spent five days painting in Taos with the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico and Plein Air Artists of Colorado. We combined forces and swept into the most beautiful parts of Taos…70 painters capturing the rare air at 7,000 ft. This old truck is a relic from times past and has been a fixture at the Sheepskin Factory as long as I can remember.

#11 – “Arroyo Seco Pottery Shop”
11 x 14; oil on linen/birch; $200 (unframed)

Arroyo Seco is a village on the way up to the Taos Ski Valley that has a flair for “being comfortable with itself”. The shops are retro and the people friendly…batik, ephemera, antique toys, etc….a feast for the artsy eye in all of us. The sun was peaking around the corner of a pottery shop and catching the corners of cups and bowls that were not quite finished.

#10 - “Rio Pueblos Spring Runoff”
16 x 20; oil on linen/birch; $300 (unframed)

The Rio Pueblos flows from the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains into the Rio Grande making a deep canyon. I stood on the canyon rim looking straight down and across to the Taos mountains. Work related “hardships” on this day included loose rocks, heat, wind, and a timid bull snake which slithered behind me.

#9 – “High Waters South of Taos”
16 x 20; oil on linen/birch; $300 (unframed)

This painting was done while I was looking over the river from a bluff at the distant cliffs that have been exposed by the passage of time. What caught my eye and ear on this afternoon was the meandering and singing of the river.

#8 – “High Water at Embudo Station”
11 x 14; oil on linen/birch; $200 (unframed)

On the way back to Santa Fe from Taos I stopped at Embudo Station which used to be a watering stop for the old narrow gauge D&RGW railroad line. The water was gently lapping on near-by rocks, but it was the spring-green leaves and colorful weeds along the muddy Rio that were my subject and focus.

#7 – “Fall Time on the Snake River”
9 x 12; oil on gessoed masonite; $170 (unframed)

I’m totally a “from the source” painter, so this year I am starting a challenge to myself to use my thousands of photographs for reference material as a way to expand my time in the studio. This painting was done from a photo taken in my past travels to Idaho.