Desert Hues

Me. Painting.

Recent Paintings

Here are some of my more recent paintings.

Blue Yonder (2010)
12x16 each, acrylic and tempera on stretched canvas

Moonlight (2010)
10x30, acrylic and tempera on stretched canvas

Prairie (2010)
12x36, acrylic and tempera on stretched canvas

New art

Cosmic Funk
This guy really put me through the ringer. I had to create a painting small than 20 inches by 20 inches for display at The Contemporary Art Museum for the recent Open Studios Tour. Ugh. Not easy! But now I know I can create something smaller (18x12 inches) if need be. The title comes from the fact that I really was in a bit of a painting funk when I had to make the deadline to submit this piece. I'd painted several paintings that I didn't like, some of which I've now decided are good. Live and learn.


Lazy Afternoon
I hadn't done anything impressionist in quite a while, so I had begun to think that the impressionist phase was over. But, alas, I kicked this one out last week. I don't know why, but the painting reminds me of the colors you might find in a Victorian park, so I was thinking "park", "Sunday afternoon stroll int the park," and I came up with the title.

Purple Haze
No, I didn't give this painting a druggie name on purpose! The phrase just popped into my head when I looked at the painting & then I googled it to find out it is a Jimmy Hendrix song-LOL! This is one of the paintings I had planned to paint over since I'd struggled with it & decided it was too dark. But now I've decided that it's a keeper.

Searching

I recently finished reading a fictitious account of Monet's life called "Claude and Camille" by Stephanie Cowell.  I'd read two of her previous books, fictitious accounts of the lives of Shakespeare and a woman who marries Mozart. She's a good writer. But that's not why I read the book about Monet.

You see, I am still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I am an artist. This new identity has only been with me for about 9 months now. I'm still not used to it.  When people I meet ask me what I do and I say I am an artist, it feels strange. 

So I guess I read the book in search of something to help myself come to peace with being an artist. So did the book help? Well, yes and no. Monet certainly didn't have the happiest life. He fell madly in love with Camille, his muse/model, and finally married her only to have her die a few years later. If the book is historically accurate, he was very narcissistic (or at least completely obsessed with his work), and he flipped out and slashed canvases he wasn't pleased with.  Fascinating but depressing to say the least. But what I did get from the book is that many of the emotional struggles I am encountering in being an artist are universal and timeless. Not selling as much as I want. Fighting the need for affirmation from the world that my work is worthy. Questioning my ability. Accepting my "artistic temperment."

And now the reading continues. I went to the library in search of escapist British chick lit. (Go ahead and laugh if you will!) but came home with another fictitious novel called "The Painted Kiss" by Elizabeth Hickey. The story is told from the point of view of Gustav Klimt's muse, Emilie. I'm only part-way through so I can't say much about the book, but it is also perhaps in some subtle way helping me comes to terms with or understand who I am. Next on the list? "The Wayward Muse" also by Elizabeth Hickey, told from the point of view of the muse of Dante Gabirel Rossetti. So where is all of this reading getting me?  Stay tuned. 

"Falling Light" (painted while reading "Claude and Camille")

 Click for more information about "Falling Light."

The Advent of Light

The Advent of Light: Earth, Wind, and Fire

Click here for more info.

Back in the studio after a long break

After almost a month off, I finally decided to walk back in and hit the paints on Friday. I've noticed several times now that when I take longer breaks, my style of painting changes more dramatically and this is no exception. Here is the result.

For more information on "Awash", click here.