Fall Colors

"Fall Colors"

8x10" watercolor on cold press paper. You can purchase this work on my Etsy Shop site or at my Gallery.

It's just freezing today. Freezing. The only time I seem to be able to get warm is when I get in the car and go for a drive with the heater on full-blast. You know how, once you get really cold...you're not undoing that easily!

It's Halloween tomorrow so I absolutely have to post this picture of my youngest sister who is a school teacher for middle/high school kids. She's a Math teacher. She's one of those crazy teachers who you wish you had in school.

Today, she went to school like this: "Death Easter Bunny". In her basket, she has boiled eggs that she dyed grey and then painted with skull and crossbones.

Her students were all agog over her costume today, I'm sure she won a lot of points. She came over to show me her costume after work and I found it almost impossible to have a real conversation with her. She told me that at school today, when she was talking firmly to a kid, they'd be just staring at her, trying to keep from laughing, I imagine.

It's Friday. Done for the week. Going to go see my sister in her first concert in a local band, then Saturday, will go to a casino/hotel to spend the night and see my husband's old boyhood friend do his hypnotist act. I'm not a big fan of the hypnotism thing, but I am a big fan of going out with my husband. He's promise me dinner and wine and I'm not going to turn that down!

I hate it that I don't have enough time to work as much as I'd like. Sure, I work all day long, but what I want to do is to work 7 days a week, 20 hours a day. I resent sleep and relaxation so much sometimes. I still have 3 unfinished watercolors and a large oil painting that's only about 1/8 of the way done. I have 12 small canvases all gesso'd up (sizes 4x4" up to 8x10") and ready to work on some landscapes next week, or the next.

My mind sees no need to take a few days off, but I know logically that it's the only thing to do. Mondays, I come back fresh, ready to take on the things that have been challenging. Oh well, I paint in my dreams all night long....maybe that will do until Monday.

Have a great, fun weekend.

Hidden Treasure

"Hidden Treasure"

5x7" watercolor on cold press paper. You can purchase this piece on my Etsy shop or my Gallery's site.

It snowed in Albuquerque yesterday! It's just cold all over the country now. I'm headed out to go get a little space heater to sit at my feet while I work. My feet and my nose feel like they're blue.

Day of The Dead

The Day of the Dead is upon us! Check out these great things to do in the Albuquerque area this next few weeks. I'm out of the state for a few weeks so I'm in heavy mourning that I can't participate in any of these great events. Go for me!

Albuquerque Artist

"The Calm Before"

I'm excited to be discovering artists who are not new, but new to me, through such great publications as "Southwest Artist Magazine". This is a pricey publication, at $35 per year, but it's an awesome source to learn about artists who live in and paint the Southwest. Check it out, you can read some articles online.

One of my favorite artists lives in Albuquerque and owns the Chroma Gallery. She paints high energy, joyful pieces that make me and her many fans, just plain happy. I just have to include a few pics of her work today so you can check it out.

"Vortex"

I'd seriously like to get into her head and crawl around and see how she comes up with her ideas. it's wonderful that each artist is unique, I guess that's what it's all about.

I sold a painting yesterday and am in the process of working on 5 watercolors and one large oil, like the overachiever that I am. Give me WAY too much to do and I'm happy.

I've opened an Etsy shop this past week. I'll add a link to the sidebar so that you can find my work there.

Fence Line

"Fence Line" 8x10" original watercolor on cold press paper. You can find this piece at my Etsy Shop. Click this photo to enlarge for detail.

I'm really on a roll. Nothing is interfering at the moment so I'm able to work long hours every day. This totally makes me happy!

It's turning cold outside now. It feels like it's time to spend the days indoors. I love the fall.

I'd be more chatty but I need to get back to work!

*This painting has sold.

Wild Horse

"Wild Horse" 4x6' original watercolor
I've just opened an Etsy shop. You can find this piece there or at my Gallery site. Click on the picture to enlarge for detail.

Old Doors

I love old New Mexico doors. You can find them for sale in Taos, Santa Fe, just leaning up against the outside walls of any number of businesses. They're so beautiful and can be hugely pricey. But oh, I'd love one in my house one day. I saw this pic in my files and wanted to post it.

I have four watercolor paintings in progress at the same time but am stuck in a limbo of doing necessary chores and jobs for a few days so I don't expect to be done with them until some times next week.

It's just beautiful here in Albuquerque this month. This morning we were headed down Paseo Del Norte and we saw 7 hot air balloons in the desert to the left of our neighborhood, then this one, right above us as we headed down the hill. It's not a great pic because I took it with my iphone through the window. The occupants of the balloon were waving at us and we at them as I snapped this.


This is not my pic...I took it off the internet. This is the beautiful Rio Grande here in Albuquerque. I never can get a good picture as we cross the bridge, so I am content to lift one off the net. The trees are just so pretty right now, rich yellows and oranges against the clear blue of the sky. Just lovely.

And just for fun, I'll post a few more of my pictures of Northern New Mexico, the most beautiful place ever.
"Box Canyon"


:edernal Mountain in the middle of a heavy rainstorm.
Ghost Ranch CenterLabryinth at Ghost Ranch

Georgia O'Keeffe's Studio

Here's a few pictures of Georgia O'Keffee's studio at her Ghost Ranch House. Just because I don't have any pictures of my own work to show you today.


I'm in the process of working on the set-ups for about 10 or more watercolors at the same time: Sketching and tracing and re-tracing and then tracing the sketch onto watercolor paper. It's so time consuming (read: boring) that I finally realized it's a great job to do when I'm just sitting around being bored, in a place that's difficult to paint. I expect to be able to complete several more watercolors next week, quite speedily, because I'm getting all of the prep work done today.

Lone Longhorn

"Lone Longhorn", 5x7" original watercolor. Available at Boundless Gallery. Click on picture for detailed view.

Are you ready for your close up?

This 6x8" oil is a fun one to work on. I'm just about done with this piece but still want to spend some time on the eyes. It'll have to wait until Monday. Click on the picture to enlarge.

The North Field

I just finished this little 5x7" original oil, "The North Field". I really enjoyed working on this one and the finished piece makes me happy. Click to enlarge. (This piece needs to dry, be varnished, cataloged and photographed. It will be offered on Boundless Gallery in several months.)

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A Kinder, Gentler, Brush Cleaner

I'm excited to have stumbled across this video on Youtube, on how to clean the oil paint from your brushes with baby oil. I have the most sensitive sense of smell in the world and the vapors from all of the cleaners I've tried, just knock me for a loop. My next step was to start painting with a respirator on, and I don't want to have to go that far. Baby oil, even the most inexpensive brand, from the dollar store, works great, smells great and will save your health for a rainy day. That's gotta be good.

Lazy Lake Afternoon

"Lazy Afternoon " 16x20" oil on masonite board. It's such an amazing thing, the lake, sweeping out into the forever, and yet it's not the ocean. My mind can't get around that fact. This piece is an oil painting. It will be available on Boundless Gallery in April '10, after it's dried and has been varnished, photographed and cataloged. Click on this image for a detailed shot.

A quick shot of the completed work: "Box Canyon" 16x20" original oil. This piece will be varnished, properly photographed, cataloged and released for sale in April of '10. Click on this image to enlarge for detail.