warrior

i'm a little delirious...this is a big painting and i use a little brush! i've been working on it for 3 days now. the plan is to finish it by monday, cross your fingers. i delivered the art that i had to my new gallery, Beals & Abbate Fine Art (713 Canyon Road). they officially open on monday! i'll probably drop in before work to see my stuff up on the wall. don't worry, i'll take pictures for ya'll non-santa feans.

as for next week, i'm in deep need of an adventure and just a plain old break. so i've decided to head up to moab, utah to camp at arches national park! i can't wait to get hiking and take pictures. i'll be bringing a sketchbook and my pastels and doing a lot of drawing. but for now, i'd better get back to this beast of a painting so i can be outta here first thing tuesday!

new moon, new gallery

i've been working on moon pieces a lot lately. i did a smaller version of this, which sold, and i decided to do a really big one! it's 36x36 and this is as far as i've gotten...my arm is pretty much numb. my brush strokes are so small and active that i get physically tired doing these larger pieces! good exercise, right?!

i've been painting a lot this last couple of weeks because i found myself with an excellent goal to paint towards. there's a new gallery opening on canyon road and the owners have asked me to be in the gallery. holy crap!! i was in disbelief for awhile, thinking something was going to happen to make it not true, but after talking with them a couple of times, i am allowing myself to tell everyone. it's at 713 Canyon Road and it's called Beals and Abbate Fine Art. Their info is out there, but the website isn't up yet. They plan to open their doors on May 16th.

so now i'm represented at Mount Palomar Winery in Temecula, CA, Rogoway's Turquoise Tortoise in Tubac, AZ and now Santa Fe. it's kinda awesome to see all of my work finally amounting to something during this last year. i've had so much great support in my friends, family, workplace, new collector's...and, of course, a good start thanks to my aunt.

now, i'm headed to bed and letting my arm rest so i can get back into this tomorrow! not to mention i'm doing the finishing touches on my aunt's house tomorrow as we should be closing on the house on thursday. i'm happy and sad at the same time...i'll have no excuse to go out to eldorado anymore. this whole chapter of my life with my aunt feels like it's closing and the next chapter is all about me and my career. everything happens for a reason.

goodnight and namaste!

exercise

ahhh, that felt nice! i haven't abstracted in awhile. i broke a sweat on this one, may start another one tonight if my right arm has the strength. i must look like some kind of frantic mad scientist on the verge of some great discovery to anyone peeking in my window while i'm working on these. the landscapes are more intimate and slow, while the abstracts are a blur of action and movement, which i hope comes across when you look at the pieces. can't wait to get this piece and manifesting framed, they're going to look crisp and awesome! is it weird that i'm madly in love with my own drawings?! now all i have to do is find a venue that wants to show a whole series of just these abstract drawings?!

this piece is called Blue Horizons, it's 8" x 11" and is done with hard pastels and graphite on bristol paper. i'll have to mat this as the special removable tape i used for the edges also removes the paper when pealing off. grrr. guess i'll have to look for something else. or perhaps i just leave my edges raw and free as a nice surprise for anyone who reframes?!

back in the metaphorical saddle

sweet accidental camera phone snap as i was getting ready to take the pic below...

just for fun...guess which brush is my favorite?!!

ha. so hi! sorry, it's been awhile i guess. i had not been feeling well since before christmas really. i was very tired and lots of other stuff and then don't even get me started about my allergies to the juniper for the last month! oh my goddess....pollen of death in new mexico! but i went to a couple of doctors and spent a lot of money and i'm feeling soooo much better. so much so that i am happily painting again! sometimes you just get in a rut. between my health and the crazy painting for my show, i burned myself out a bit. it's kinda like writer's block...artist's get painter's block. that big white canvas mocks us and we can't quite figure out how to conquer it.

i'm starting with the smaller canvases, though, and working my way up. plus, big canvases and paint are expensive. *hint hint* anywho, i'm playing around a bit with some paintings based on my grad school abstract work that i really liked, as well as continuing my landscapes and cloudscapes. i think they can talk to each other though. the abstracts have a great layering quality and some really nice color palettes. i don't have any pics at the moment, but i'm sure i'll be sharing.

in other news, i just sent some paintings down to tubac, arizona to a gallery who is maybe possibly interested in showing my work... *crosses fingers and toes* either way, it's going to be a great year for me with lots of new beginnings and setbacks and trying agains. that's the way it goes. always get back up and keep going!

(the answer, by the way, is the third one wrapped in duct tape!)

baby paintings

"Wind" and "Heat", two little 4x4 fun babies. i like to do little ones like these to test colors, brush strokes, etc. in this one, especially wind, i was testing brush stroke and movement. i may make them for sale, or i may make them a gift with purchase?! they go nicely together, no?!

i'm working through a bit of a painters block right now. my drawings seem to be doing well. i'll be revealing a new one today that is the pastel version of Evolution of Night, the moon light night scene. i'm happy with how it turned out and i have lots of pictures and ideas for more landscape drawings. it's the painting that i'm kinda stuck on...i'm so scared to get myself in a rut that i'll stare at a canvas for an hour. that's where the babies came from and then i cleaned my brushes and studio space for an hour. the best way to get back is to dive right in. so that's what i'll do tonight...dive right back in! then, i'm also running of some key paint colors...cross your fingers that i sell something big so i can get to the art store and restock!

but i'm feeling refreshed. the weather is warming up, the sky is mostly blue, and i just went for a short hike in diablo canyon (and took pictures of course!), and i gave my jeep a bath and sweep (which makes me happier than you would believe!). a little more yoga and i'll be nice and centered.

namaste.

evolution of big night

someone told me that they really liked seeing the progress of my work from an earlier post. so i thought i'd do the same for the painting i've been working on this week. so here is the evolution of big sky from sketch to finish. notice that the colors shift throughout, this is due to the changing sunlight or lack thereof. the last photo is the finished piece, but the color is probably closer to the next to last image. i'll be taking a better photo outside once it dries a bit.

this piece is 36x36 and i'm calling it Evolution of Night. it's based on the sketch i did and the feeling that i had from the night. i was restless and went for a drive back to eldorado to see the moon over the mountains. it felt like it was radiating. my brushstroke is different than my usual geometric patterns. can't be boring right?! i'm pretty happy with the result. i plan to put this up at max's once it's dry.

i'm supposed to be relaxing. making the photo montage and writing a blog (and cleaning my house) seem to be filling that space. turns out i forgot how to relax. even if i'm watching tv or a movie, i always have to be doing something productive at the same time. there's ALWAYS something to do when you're working for yourself. i rest when i sleep, and when i sleep, i sleep hard. i like that feeling.

back to the drawing board

hola! i'm back and a bit browner. yay for the california sun and vitamin D! i had a great weekend with family and friends. i spent friday in san diego with my mom and aunt and their two cousins who live just 20 minutes from temecula. i finally got to go to the beach even for a short few. there's something about getting near the water that completely calms me and settles me inside. i need to get there more often. i see a lot of drawings in my head when i look out over the ocean.

i spent saturday with my hostess, jami. we first went to lorimar winery to check out my work and hang the pieces that i brought with me. next we went out to wine country and checked out mount palomar winery (which is where my art will be hanging next month) for some wine tasting. after some sushi and an art supply stop we went to my art rep's house for a wonderful dinner before my show. the show itself was packed. many people out in old town temecula ready to do a wine tasting and listen to sister speak sing and of course, look at my art! i got a lot of great compliments and a lot of interest in my work. i actually sold two drawings and a painting before my show, so i consider it all a success!

i flew home sunday, watched the first half of the steeler game at the denver airport, and coaxed the pilot to keep us updated on the score on my way back to albuquerque. excited for my steelers to be back in the superbowl...again! rev'n for seven! (i'm not sold on that saying, but seven is not an easy word to rhyme) so now i'm home and feeling the need to replenish my art supply. i want to do a whole new body of work for max's restaurant and have some work on hand for when i get accepted into a gallery. :-P

here's a quick pic of my new workspace where i started a huge abstract drawing today. my arms a bit tired, i'll pick it up again tomorrow. i also finished off some edges of some paintings and did a study painting based on a sketch. i'll start the big painting tomorrow, too. mmmm, love the smell of a painty apartment! and it looks like i just made myself some new painting pants....oops.