Trout Lie, Popo Agie River, Wyoming

This is one of two paintings I have finished this week and I am especially fond of it. I had challenged myself to paint underwater rocks as realistically as I could as well as the other river rocks and the opposite shore. The painting itself was fun and I really enjoyed painting the rocks. The hardest part for me was painting the vegetation on the far bank. I didn't want to paint each bush but find it difficult to paint loosely and without more definition. The soil is a pinkish red gravelly sandstone with lots of intermittent white bands and splotches. It proved to be the most challenging part of the painting before I was satisfied with the effect.

The Popo Agie River's headwaters are in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. At The Sinks the river rushes into a very rocky cavern and goes underground; a quarter of a mile down the mountain, at The Rise, it re-emerges and that deep pool is almost black with trout. The view in this painting is down on the flatter terrain of the Middle Popo Agie where a man I met at the turn off took me to this spot. He leads fly fishing workshops and explained some of the basics to me. What I carried away - in addition to my photographs - was his explanation of fly fishing as a skill, an art, and a passion. Watching hin practice his passion was seeing art in motion.

Now that I am home from the holidays and almost back on track to pick up my brushes, I wanted to post this painting that I did five years ago for my sister-in-law. Her parents were life-long active members of St. Paul's; upon their deaths each was cremated and their ashes reside in the columbarium, which is in the tower. This view of the tower shows the path through the garden by which her parents always entered the church.

Upon my return home, I was fortunate enough to take a three-day workshop with Gay Faulkenberry that challenged me to move beyond my comfort zone while also reminding me of those basics of painting which I don't always remember to examine as I work. I won't be posting the studies we did in the workshop but will use those lessons as I get back to painting this week. My posts will be sporatic as I try to complete a number of paintings for my June show. However, I will post each new painting when I am satisfied that it is done.

Between Storms

This painting of the Valle Grande Caldero in New Mexico's Jemez Mountains was interesting to paint as the progressive changes from dark to light had to be subtle, especially with the fog drifting up from the valleys. A rainstorm had just passed over and another was forming in the west. There was a slight clearing in the sky between the two; the incoming clouds were light and fluffy as they were coalescing into rain clouds. Unfortunately, no matter how I tried, I could not photograph the painting showing the cloud details as clearly as the rest. I think, however, you can get the feeling of a rainy day in the mountains.

This is the first new painting for my summer show, "Sacred Spaces, Sacred Places", which will focus on those natural and man made sanctuaries that call to or reflect our highest yearnings as humans. For me, these places are in nature but churches, synagogs, temples or mosques are spiritual homes to others. The architectural features of religious structures are fascinating in themselves and I will be painting quite a few of these over the next few months. Always, of course, there will be landscapes.

Cloudscape I

This is the third and final painting I will take to the Paseo Art Association tomorrow for their January show. Yesterday a major cold front moved into Oklahoma and the clouds were so amazing and unusual that they would never be believable. If I had had my camera with me, as I usually do, I would have photographed them and tried to make them real in a painting. The bitter cold continues today so don't know if I will take my completed painting outside to photograph or not. If not, it will be a few days before I post again.

Someone has suggested that I should put sizes, prices on the blog. I had never considered that and am not sure how I feel about it...but I'll try on this one and see. All the Cloudscapes are the same size, although different orientations, and same price.

Cloudscape IV

This is the second painting accepted for the smART show in the Paseo in January. I will be interested to see how people respond to them, although unfortunately I will miss the opening. Friends have liked these paintings but they may not have a broad appeal. One person said I should show some landforms at the bottom to orient the canvas but the two where I did that were not accepted into the show - and they really were less interesting to look at. You can see them posteed earlier and form your own opinion. I would love to hear your thoughts on that. I think the dark undersides of the clouds perform the same function and it can be reinforced when there is rain falling but that may not work for everyone.

We are in for a spell of very cold weather so I think I shall stay ensconced in my warm home and work on some paintings for the next few days. Two landscapes and an abstraction of adobe walls are on my easels now - I should finish all three and have some new paintings to post soon.

Cloudscape III

This is one of three cloudscapes accepted into the smART show in the Paseo (OKC) in January. It is the first time I have entered a show and I am delighted that I will be represented with these paintings. That good news energized me, so tonight I have completed one painting, found my way through a difficulty in another that I have had going for months, and started a new one! That is a lot for me at one time so I am quite pleased with myself at the moment.

Lake Clouds

In September-October of 2006, I spent a few weeks in Wyoming at Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. My next to the last day in the parks, I went to Yellowstone Lake where I had a peaceful lunch at the Lodge overlooking the lake. These clouds were forerunners announcing the change of seasons - the first winter storm moved in the next day. I could happily have spent the winter in that country were it not for my cats impatiently awaiting me at home.

One of these days I will paint some aspect of the Lamar Valley in the northeastern section of Yellowstone. If ever one place has called to me to spend the rest of my life there, it was the Lamar Valley. The yearning that I have for that life is palpable when I am in any high mountain country in the west. In part it is my love of nature, in part my life on ranches in New Mexico and Colorado, and ultimately some lingering wispy feelings from a past I don't remember.