Week 34 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 231

This is the week of flowers. But more importantly for me it has be the summer of flowers. I seem to have finally proven my mother wrong. I do not have a brown thumb. There have been some failures in the vegetable garden because of too hot too early. Seems to have been been a good combination, however, for the flowers.

In my studio I have a wide assortment of plants which fall into that category of those which thrive on neglect. Outside I have finally found those which grow like weeds.

And all of them fall into the classification of being great to photograph.

Day 232

Day 233

Day 234

Day 235

Day 236

Day 237

Next week back to landscapes and trees.

Week 33 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 224

 Flowers have figured prominently in my photos the last couple of weeks. My flowers have flourished and given me much joy. And hopefully everyone is enjoying the pictorial evidence.

I love particularly the "bones" of the sunflower. While it is easy to get seduced by their color they are spectacular in black and white.

Day 225

 I am daily more seduced by black and white treatment of flowers and landscapes.

Day 226

Day 227

Day 228

Day 229

But it is hard to ignore the colors in a sunset or dawn.

Day 230

Next week will be all flowers.

The High Road - From Computer to Reality

The basic 48 x 32 Stretcher bars

Taking the photograph is the easy part. And it is very easy to post them on the internet. It becomes more difficult when you choose what size to print a photograph and on what platform you want to print it. I love photographs printed on canvas. It means no mats to cut and no glass to handle. And when I print photographs for display or exhibit purposes I choose in the neighborhood of 30 x 20. That was the size I first had The High Road printed in color. It sold within the first week it was on display.

I paint mostly within that range. Though Meraki Mustangs is 46 x 22. And I did a commission with the biggest measurement being 72 inches. But my studio and supplies are not set up to handle routinely the larger sizes. Part of the reason for rearranging my studio was to allow for handling bigger paintings and photographic prints. A painting begins with stretching a canvas and a photograph culminates in stretching the canvas.

Temporary Work Table 

To handle stretching a 48 x 32 inch canvas print. I put two folding tables together in the middle of my newly created work space. Fortunately these tables have adjustable heights so I was able to lower them to a comfortable height for stretching and stapling.

Putting in the center brace

Stretcher bars need to be squared. They don't just do that on their own. And for longer than 36 inches they require a center brace. These are heavy duty wide stretchers. I usually work with medium. Both are considered acceptable for galleries.

Print on stands to paint edges

There is a return, thankfully, to not framing canvas paintings and prints on medium or wide stretcher bars. I prefer painting the edges black.

Painting the edges

 I still have to affix hanging hardware sign the new photograph. Meanwhile the problem is finding a place to place it. I stood it against the studio chairs while I changed out the covering on the tables for the next stage. Off with the plastic for painting and on with the sheet to protect it. Then wrapping it up in a blanket for delivery.

The print waiting for signing and hanging

Week 32 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 217

 I toyed recently with doing a week of at home snaps. But these are at home snaps. My snaps are just different I suppose. Four of this week's photos were taken while standing on my deck. I had to be a bit off the deck to take the rest.

Day 218

 Upon moving into my house in 1998 I discovered I had the gift of dawns through the eastern window. That window is now a doorway into my studio which has four windows and a glass French door which face the same way.

The studio windows

And outside of those windows used to be a small temporary stoop upon which I stood in bare feet to record clouds and dawns. It took years to convert that stoop to the deck I currently enjoy. With a heated door mat so I don't freeze my bare feet in the winter.

The deck also provides space and reasons for container gardens. I have to walk to the far end of the deck to capture the African Daisies which grown in a container. The earth upon which my house, and deck, are built is not good at yielding to shovels so it is containers or raised beds.

Day 219

And the deck looks over the valley of the Little Coyote and a very large fenced yard where I entertain the my friends' dogs. They of course frequently become subjects of my photographs.

Day 220
Lucy, Metta, and Dottie

But the expansive vista of the eastern and southern sky rarely disappoints. I still am enchanted with the dawns and I have always loved clouds. The photo below was a record for my pleasure of some particularly peculiar clouds before a storm. The bird was a bonus.

Day 221

And if you stare at the photograph below and let your creative mind float you will see a huge bird in the clouds.

Day 222

And beside my lower deck, under those four windows of the studio is the hollyhock bed. I have loved hollyhocks since I was a child. The studio wall provides them protection from the winds and they gratefully pose for me in the summer. 

Day 223

Welcome to my snaps from home. BTW on September 29 and 30 my deck and studio will be open for the second annual Angel Fire Studio Tour. My studio is open by appointment most afternoons through the summer, but the studio tour is special. I will have my artist friends Carol Rupp and Judy Kosanovich showing their work too. Note the photo of Judy and Boca was taken on my deck. And of course there will be my work there too.

Week 31 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 210
Raindrops on the bird bath

It has rained. The grass is greening up.

Day 211

Even the musk thistle rejoices.

Day 212

There is hope for the forests and the birds.

Day 213

And the wildflowers bravely begin to bloom.

Day 214

Day 215

 The lakes can refill.

Day 216

It has rained.

Week 30 - 2018 in photographs

Day 203

 During monsoon season in the mountains the clouds are always a good place to begin a day. In the early dawn remnants of the storm clouds from the afternoon and evening before hang around and add to the early morning show.

Day 204

 I particularly like Day 204 because the dark storm clouds still hung over my house while the sun behind the mountain began to illuminate the fell clouds left in the southeast. 

July is always overly busy and routine seems to dominate the days. Easy to take the camera along on to the deck or a walk down the street or to an errand in Eagle Nest but not easy to get out beyond my valley for a day devoted to light and camera. And even if you could steal a day away it would be too crowded with tourists.

The photograph below is a neighbor's house. He usually has a few cars in the driveway and on his front yard. But on this particular weekend there were nine. I photographed it to record it but then began to play around with it in my photo editing program. Fun time in the quiet of the morning with another mug of coffee.

Day 205

 In day 205 the people are implied. Nine cars are at least nine people. Could be 18 or more. It has been especially hot in Texas and here frankly. But hot here is upper 80's and a couple days of low 90's. In Texas it has been above 100. So they come fishing.

Day 206

I was killing time before a store opened and took a walk above the shoreline of Eagle Nest lake. Usually I can find wild flowers blooming and waterfowl swimming but on this day it was people. Don't people my landscapes. When I uploaded to my computer I searched for artistic alternatives to modify the photos I took. I decided to go with Monet or Cezanne. Any of the Impressionists. It seemed to go with the theme of water and beaches and fishermen. And it obscured the messages on the t-shirts.

Day 207

Day 209

At the end of my walk stands the ruins of Eagle Nest Lodge. And swallowed by the trees it appeared more haunted than usual. Of as if it was an life itself staring out at me. The majority of my snaps on this morning were variations on this subject. Debating if I want to do it as a painting. It might not be haunted but it haunts me.

Day 208

The Creative Process - Play

My new art chair

 During my time as a freelance writer I attended various workshops on writing and keeping the creative juices flowing. The newspaper editor giving one workshop suggested tithing. When you freelance you get to the point you can automatically write to 800 or 1000 or 1500 words. And you know the publications you submit to and can automatically assume the correct voice.

Tithing, which in the case of writing, is giving away your time to write something which has absolutely no hope of publication and totally out of your range of normal. And not writing a press release, which you can do blind folded, for an organization you belong to. Writing something which has no apparent place or purpose. Play. Just play.

I believe tithing is necessary in any form of artistic expression. And not giving a piece of art away to a non-profit to auction, but giving your time away to yourself to just create something out of your range of work.

Ergo the deck chair above. I did the painting and it got ruined (moving work around from fair to fair and venue to venue causes wear and literally tears) by my not being careful enough. I usually take them off the stretchers and roll them up with the aim to do a collage or cut down. Or play. Just play.

Painted Occasional Table 

The little occasional table above is a rescued Ethan Allen which I used as a plant stand for a few years before deciding to develop a design for it. And so it has a flower on it. And a bud spindle to support it. Course it might now be too fancy for a plant stand.

Table in process

Practicality reared its ugly head while I worked on sanding down my next play date: a small drop leaf table. I had bought a series of deep cradled panels a few months back to do some small works. It occurred to me as they sat stacked up on my art table that they can stand on their own on a book case or occasional table. No need to hang. And the could even be bookends. So I decided to paint them as pairs which can be separate or together. Not totally play because it was in my usual style but out of my format box as it were.

Standing cradled panels
Pueblo I and II/8 x 8 x 2

Canyons I and II/ 6 x 6 x 2 cradled panels

Arches I and II/ 5 x 5 x 2 cradled panels

The point of tithing or play is to refresh the mind. And to go outside the box you have put yourself in to be marketable. I have another piece of total play ahead. I small drop leaf table with two stools. I have been mentally tossing around designs to go on the top more in the manner of the little occasional table. And I have one more deck chair painted in reds which I have to find a painting to fit on. So then there will be three.