When the Rains Came - The Creative Process

When the Rains Came
3' x 2' Watercolor on artists canvas
$1950

My painting of Canyon de Chelly is in a time of more water. And if the Anasazi abandoned the pueblos and cliff dwellings in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona because of drought then once there was more water. Geological evidence says that the Colorado Plateau was far more wet. Water ran through the slot canyons and down the cliff faces leaving behind evidence of its passage. Even now a torrential rain storm miles away on the mesa tops can fill the gorges and slots and canyons with water.

I was thumbing through some old books of sepia paintings of the American West and say one of White House Ruins with two men sitting on a promontory cut off from the ruin by a vast river of water. My paintings of my beloved Colorado Plateau have always included water even when it was not there. It is a wish it will return. So the photograph was a perfect jumping off point for me and this painting. And I returned with this painting to watercolor. Okay, there is a few pens used but so did the Chinese with their watercolors.

Main color blocks poured in

This is a large canvas to do solely with watercolor. But I did not want to use oil sticks as I have been doing lately primarily because of the detail of the two women and they sheep, and the pueblo in the cliff.

Color blocks defined

And rather than just a wide river (there is the remains of a big river still) I wanted to show water on the cliffs. Surely the peoples who inhabited these grand dwellings did not haul it all up from the canyon floor via foot holds cut in the rock face? The cliffs must seep when there are heavy rains. I know it runs off the slick rock of the canyon walls. No doubt these were taken advantage of with pottery to catch the water.

Color layers and a small cascade of water from the top left

I do begin a painting with a source of inspiration (that sepia photograph) and a sketch to define my direction. I have only rarely used a color sketch and then when I sketched on site with watercolor pencils and pens.  I find with a especially a large and complex painting it takes over control at a certain point. The progress photo above was that point. And so more water running down the cliff face had to be added.

Getting close

And if somewhere up top it is raining there must be clouds. And vegetation had to be added to the hill where the women herd their sheep. It needed to be darker so it did not distract from the clouds or the sheep or the ruins. Finding that balance took some time. Lately I have been filling in the foregrounds with oil stick bushes. I returned to my use of salt and granulation medium.

If sand paintings done by the native peoples in the southwest can be prayers for heeling. Can a painting with water be a prayer for its return to our parched land?

Week 19 of 2014 One Photo A Day

Day 127

No, it is not spring here yet. This geranium was in a green house right after watering. I like flowers with drops of water on them.

Day 128
Somewhere west and south of Raton, New Mexico

There is something about the eastern plans of New Mexico which makes me want to do photos I take there in black and white or sepia. Maybe it is the drought which seems to have robbed the area of color the last few years. Or maybe it is the call of history. This group of trees is not far from the ruts of the Santa Fe Trail. Or maybe in spite of the color of the first photo I was sort of in a monochromatic mood.

Day 129

 The aspens in this photo will be green soon but for the moment they are leafless. The structure of the branches can be seen clearly. And the reflection highlights the trunks.

Day 130

The glass door was mono was of all clear glass with textures. But the textures picked up the colors beyond the door and turned it into "stained glass."

Day 131
Early Morning Light

The world gets color from bands of light and what is reflected and what is absorbed. In the early mountain dawn it seems to be almost glowing. The spiderweb of electrical lines through the frosty forest was too spectacular to pass up.

Day 132

The same enchantment with muted, almost monochromatic tones, attracted me to this little pot on a marble counter with the morning light coming in window.

But I had to end the week the way I began it with vivid color. This time of an orchid.

Day 133

Today it snowed and I had a wonderful time with my dogs and camera. No doubt some of those photos will be in the next weeks photos. BTW snow pictures are also monochromatic.

Sneak Peek of Photos to Come

Mag 219 - Suspended

Magpie 219

Suspended

Aloft

Head not in the clouds

but feet not on the ground.

Levitated.

Suspended

Adrift

Like a fall leaf blown off a tree

or swept off the ground.

Buoyant.

Suspended

Hovering

Neither here nor there 

but hanging in a never never land

defying gravity.

Reality as she knew it.

J. Binford-Bell

Week 18 - 2014 in Review

Day 120

This was the week my desktop was still plagued by an apphang issue which did not allow my Corel Paintshop Pro photo editing software to open. I was uploading my photos from my camera to my aged laptop which had Adobe 5 on it. For those not in the know on photo editing software Adobe 5 heralds from 2006. Suffice it to say that Adobe and software photo editing programs in general have advanced a lot. I did, however, find several of my old favorite options I got to re-explore.

Because I had absolutely no idea when the desktop would be totally functional again I uploaded my photos from the laptop to a draft of this blog. I have seldom taken full advantage of the draft option on Blogspot. May use it more extensively in the future.

Day 121 - Happy May Day in New Mexico

With the desktop incapacitated and my right eye on the mend I was looking at the world rather differently. And besides it was spring. Elk are playing in the meadows and geese mating in the ponds and snow gracing the high mountain peaks (and occasionally low).  I was enthralled I could see 20/20 in my right eye and aware the left eye would soon need the same surgery.

Day 122

The elk and the geese in the same photo was a gift. No, this one was not photoshopped. And both allowed me to roll down the window (elk and geese hate that sound) and snap the photo below with my new 55-300 mm lens. As I drive this way daily the animals are very used to my car.

Day 123

And more geese. Well, actually the same geese but edited with my Corel program. I just wanted to see what the difference would be. And not that much really. Yes, the computer got fixed. Turned out it was an Internet Explorer issue. No, I do not use Internet Explorer and for this very reason. But it seems a lot of my software uses parts of it as a step up. Only with the flaw in IE software the step was gone. I had a total of five programs that were effected including the Windows Fix program I got for this very issue. Good news, is they fixed it.

Day 124

My sister is the master of macro photos but now and again I must try my hand or camera at one. This one was taken with my 55-300 mm lens. I had discovered in my film days that a long zoom lens often takes very good macro photos if you can get far enough away from your subject. My old long lens was 70-300 which often required a real long way off. Did not have to sit in the potted plants behind me to get this one with the new lens.

Day 125

This was one of the photos I redid the editing of. I never save over the original for a multitude of reasons. Taking a second pass on the editing is just one of those reasons. I knew when I edited it on Adobe 5 I could do it better on Corel 5x. The photo below is of a distant volcanic peak on the eastern plains of New Mexico near Raton

Day 126

New camera, new lens, new eye and back to my favorite programs on the cleaned up desktop. If you want to see the day by day postings of my photos check out Binford-Bell Studio on Facebook.

Ah, Salvador, how you Dali

Chair with the Wings of a Raven by Salvador Dali

Ode to Salvador

How you Dali with

icons

and beliefs

of the faithful

Your chair of wooden spoons

Dishes up such a fright

if

with raven wings

it were to take flight.

J. Binford-Bell

May 2004

Visual prompt provided by Tess Kincaid 

of Magpie Tales

Week 17 - 2014 in Images

Day 113 - Picnic Anyone?

By April 23rd my vision in my right eye was definitely inhibited by the cataract which was scheduled for removal on the 25th. Instructions were to not spend time on the computer post surgery for a week or more. So I set up a week of photos ahead. And good I did because on the 23rd a corrupted Windows 7 file began to prevent me opening several of my software programs including photo editing.

Day 114 - Laundry day in Cimarron

Fortunately I had enjoyed a couple weeks of great photography and edited far more than I had posted. Always good to clean up your photo files but do not make them too clean.

Day 115 - Spring?

My friend and I had great weather down to Santa Fe and back but then it began snowing again. Yes, it is very late April but we are finally getting moisture in the high country. The photo above, however, was taken from the snow of the week before.

Day 116 - Dawn's early light

Day 117

Day 118

By the 26th my vision had cleared and I was out with my camera but the computer still is not functioning correctly. It is off to the computer doctor today. But fortunately I still have my laptop with Adobe 5 on it for some computer editing. I love this capture with the elk and geese in the same frame.

Day 119 - Elk and Geese

It was a great welcome back to the world of clear vision if not advanced photo editing.

Week 16 - 2014 in Images

Day 106

Wrapped up week 16 posts today and looked at the folder for week 17. It is currently near empty. Usually I have a few already added to the coming week. And never have I needed those extras nore than this week. My rapidly growing cataract has gotten to the point computer time is painful. And photo post processing definitely takes computer time. Surgery is Friday and no doubt will take a couple days out of my photography time. And recovery time will limit my computer time.

The camera is auto focus. My distance vision is still good enough for framing and selection of an image. So I have no doubt I will take pictures this next week. I will drop the promising ones into Week 18 folder on my computer but I am not going to be processing any new photos beyond today. I cannot guarantee a photo a day posted.

Day 107

There are some interesting Cimarron pictures that took a back seat to those I did post this last week. And the spring snow storm offered up more great images than I had time to post. So maybe I can fill the Week 17 and maybe even dump some photos into Week 18. When I did a weekly essay column for newspapers I was always a couple weeks ahead to be able to cover for the unexpected.

Day 108

There are just no promises in the world these days. I have a couple friends going through horrid times with those they love. Life and death issues of a soul mate are serious. So in retrospect my ability to see well enough to post process a photograph seems rather lame.

Or my doubts that I can see tomorrow well enough to photograph the world around me. The camera can. Totally auto settings have their place. I will be able to photograph the world I increasingly cannot see so well.

Day 109

I noticed in a review of this week my photographs were increasingly the long shots. Even the mid-range photos were taken with a long lens. BTW long lens zooms can often take great macros. Have not tried that yet with my new lens. I might try that today with this new lens.

Day 110

The snow this week was transforming. Some great images were easy to not miss. Now we are getting rain. You have to look harder for good images in rain.

Day 111

But rain makes for some nice gray tones and great subdued lighting like in the photo below and a couple I have posted on my Facebook page.

Day 112