Fremont Petroglyphs

I just finished this full sheet painting of petroglyphs from the Fremont People in Utah. This is called Newspaper Rock, although there are other examples of newspaper petroglyphs elsewhere that we have found, so it is not specific to the Moab area.

I recently cleaned out my studio so it is now useable again, I don't know why I can't seem to keep it organized enough to use it, but it is sure nice to use now. I guess the term "procrastination" would apply?

Super Moon

Last night was the so-called Super Moon. I am not sure how the moon appeared elsewhere, but I was surprised it was not a larger size. It seemed fairly normal for a full moon.

We did have fun, though, going to the entrance to our community so I could shoot the photos from this angle. I do wish I had worked more with learning to take my camera off auto-everything and get more dramatic effects. Too late for that, though, now.

Sue's Tulips

I've been working on this little painting for a few weeks. I still have a few more tweaks to do to make it finished, but am awaiting any critiques from the WcW before removing it from the board. I need to clean up some of the blobs in the lace, etc. This is a throw-away mat that I use to crop paintings, so the finished mat will look differently.

Sue Drennan supplied this photo and it is of tulips from her yard. Must be a gorgeous yard to have these growing in it!

Herd of Pears!

The project for this month at the WCW was to paint from a photo of Bosc pears, which are brown. Our challenge was to not paint them brown, but to go outside our comfort zone of painting just what we see. I chose to take the pears drawing along with me to my regular Thursday afternoon painting group/gabfest. As you can see, I did a lot more gabbing and laughing than focusing on this painting.

My drips got out of hand and it makes the pears look like some psychedelic animals, so I am calling it Herd of Pears. Oh well, I achieved my goal of creating something unique, and it looks like I did that!

But, it was a fun afternoon and this painting turned out to be more fun(ny) than serious, so that ain't bad!

Lavender!

Spring is here...my lavender bush is blooming. I couldn't resist taking this photo, although if I paint it I will have to add some sunlight to it, maybe dappled against the stucco wall. At any rate, I just love how complex, yet simple lavender blooms are.

St. Patrick's Day Sale

On St. Patrick's Day, our community held an an Art Faire. The weather was wonderful, so it was well-attended. Both my jewelry-making friend and I, Joyce, did very well during the sale.

Here, you see us when we were half-way through our set-up, early in the morning. It was a long day, but we met many wonderful people, although one of them shared a virus with me, which has left me all week with a chest cold. But, it was a good sale!

Although you can't see any of my paintings in this shot, I was glad to meet the couple who bought one of my framed paintings that day, also. So, all-n-all, it was a wonderful day, chest cold notwithstanding! 

Art Chix Sale March 3, 2012

Yesterday my sales group, the ArtChix, held an art show at our community art club. I did very well in the artisan jewelry sales, but only sold one painting. It is still the economy, I guess. But, I met and talked with many people and that is always fun. Now, to replace the earrings and necklaces sold and get ready for the next sale!

Back to Before...

...and word verification turned back on. After hearing about the spammers attacking some of the other word verification protesters, they had to turn their verification nonsense back on. So, after finding spam in my folder, also, I turned it back on. I am hoping that Google will make it a bit easier on the honest people who have to prove they are not a robot to make comments.

Word Verification Protest!

I find the new word verification process by Google to be insulting, difficult and downright frustrating. So, I am turning off that safeguard and will, instead, turn on the comment approval feature again. So, why you will be able to comment without the hassle of deciphering TWO undecipherable words, you will have to await blog owner approval to show you aren't a robot. Sorry to do this, but that other word verification process was a real mess!

I promise to approve your comments!

Canyon Spire

This is another of my small (8x10) studies I am enjoying doing. I learned enough what not to do in this one that I would like to refine it and do it at least on a half sheet. I have been wanting to do credit to the Grand Canyon for a long time, and  feel I am inching closer to it with this.

I need to pay more attention to foreground rocks and their matchy-matchy shapes and, in this instance, I don't like the acrylic ink underpainting. I will use direct painting for them in the larger version.

This was a sunrise photo I used that I took an a past trip to the canyon, and while the background was fairly misty/soft-looking in the photo I think I will add a bit more detail back there, especially in the middle ground in the depths of the canyon. Live and learn, I always say!

Sunset at El Vado

Here is a painting for this month's Watercolor Workshop project...any body of water. I had this photo by my friend, Roch, of sunset reflections on snow at El Vado Lake in New Mexico, so changed it to a stream reflecting the sunset colors.

This is small, only 8 x 10, and I am still enjoying working smaller, keeps me more excited about paintings than the full sheets I was working on before.

Hibiscus

Here is my second painting in a little over a week's time, must be some kind of a record for me lately! I am enjoying painting smaller sizes (this one is another 8 x 10) and enjoying the fact that I can actually finish them within a week. I started this last Thursday afternoon and added glazes, etc. each of the days since and finished it today.

My goal for this one was to pay more attention to lost and found edges and to force myself to attempt some negative painting. I have difficulty wrapping my brain around the concept of negative painting, but love seeing it in the works of others, so decided I had better improve my skills. While I see some softer edges in this when it is on the computer, I notice I could have done even more in some places, but it is what it is at this point, and I will continue working on these aspects.

Love hibiscus flowers!

Archway to Arches

Here is the first project painting for Watercolor Workshop that I have completed and submitted in a long time. I am hoping to get back into the swing of things, meaning more painting and painting studies, now that the new year is here. Seems like a good time to start!

This was taken by a friend, Joe Ruby, on one of his many forays into the Moab, UT area.

It is an 8x10 painting on 140-lb Arches paper. Arches for arches, yup, pun intended.

Return to...

...what life is supposed to be without our mother. She requested graveside services only for herself and we went along with her wishes. The services were poignant, sad, beautiful, meaningful, lonely (even with so many surrounding us), but we all survived it. The celebration of her life which followed was all of the above but with some funny stories, as well. My mother's pastor passed around a microphone for anyone who wanted to say anything about my mom and, surprisingly many did have something to say. This was all recorded and will be copied onto CD's for my sister, brother and I. There were some sweet and inspirational things said, as well as funny stories, so it will be a treasure for us to keep.

Onward and upward....

My mother...

...has passed from this life to be with her Heavenly Father last night. By Saturday night, following her Friday surgery, it appeared that her kidneys were failing and  her condition began to decline. Sunday and yesterday had us seeing her go into and out of consciousness, she seemed to have one foot here in this world and one in the after-life. My sister, brother and I made the difficult decision to remove the meds that were only artificially maintaining her blood pressure in the afternoon and she passed away last night at 11:30. We feel her fast passing validated our decision to not keep her with us artificially as that would not have been her wish. 

As I figure out how to go through the rest of my life as an orphan, I remain thankful for the family I had and that we got to have my mom with us for almost 92 years, and that she was independent and mostly healthy up until the end.

God is good.....Susan

All is Well...

...although it was another blip on our family's medical radar. My mother, pictured below on Thanksgiving Day, fell and broke her hip Thursday afternoon. Late yesterday she had a total hip replacement, so we had a late night at the hospital. She is doing very well for a 91-year-old, as she says "I am a tough Norwegian"!

Thursday afternoon I started a full sheet painting of Canyon de Chelly. I covered the entire sheet with watercolor, but am considering what I have done so far as the underpainting as I am not so pleased with it. I am considering using either gouache or acrylic paint for the detailing and highlighting. Might be fun, anyway, to try something different along with the watercolor. As soon as I take a photo of what I have done so far, I will post it. But, it is to be considered a work in progress!

Four Generations

My hope for you all is that you had as nice a Thanksgiving as I did! Here you see my mother, my son, me and The Precious Two..Aubrey and Zane. After the rough beginning Zane had it was a true blessing to have him here and hold him as the joyful little person he is today.

Aubrey and Zane's "other" grandparents were here from Oklahoma and we had such a wonderful family day. Lots of good food, fun and fellowship...it doesn't get any better than that!

Five-year Blogoversary!

Yup, I just realized that I past my fifth year blogoversary without noting it happening! I was reading Rhonda Carpenter's blog where she mentioned that today is her fifth year anniversary, and I went to the archives to see just exactly when I submitted my first tentative blog entry. Yup, it was on October 11, 2006! This blog, as well as the others I follow almost daily, have become an important part of my personal culture...art-wise, soul-wise and every-other-wise I can think of! I just love following along on the artistic journeys of others as well as getting a peek into their thoughts and lives as we grow together.

Thanks to Google for making this an easy-to-do and important part of our lives!

Chinle Color

Canyon de Chelly is part of the Navajo town of Chinle. In the town itself, all of the cottonwoods were at their peak, as opposed to those at the bottom of the canyon, which were just approaching that phase. These old cottonwoods sure know how to put on a display, there were groves of them around Chinle that seemed to turn the whole atmosphere golden while driving through.

Another Pano

This is yet another pano I have stitched together of Canyon de Chelly last week. It was from a series of seven photos, the color that day was just magnificent.