Marji Gallery, Santa Fe

Here's my work at the Marji Gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe!! Very exciting to be hanging my work in such a cool place. You can see two of my Kokanee paintings in the photo - the two blue ones.

Two Apples

Two Apples
Oil on Panel
6x6"

This is the first painting I did at Valhalla, using this gorgeously vibrant combination of turqoiuse and red.

I'm still enjoying the studio, but have had no visitors for two days and it's getting a little frustrating. The forest service owns the property Valhalla is on, and they decided for no reason that I can find out to padlock the gate so people can't drive in. I signed a contract already to be there so I'm kind of stuck now. They had a wedding on at the Great Hall on tuesday which might have been fun but it started as I was leaving. There was a memorial on yesterday, and since I paint by the open window, it was is if I was in there. It's hard to stay motivated painting in the middle of a funeral.

I painted a piece for Tahoe Lost and Found yesterday. This is a project my friend Melissa Gregory and Becky Bell are organising to raise funds to replace library books burned in the Angora Fire last year. They have asked local artists and other creative souls to contribute a piece which sums up for them, the experience of the massive fire which destroyed almost 200 homes in the Angora area of Lake Tahoe. The piece will be auctioned at Valhalla later on in the year. I'll post my effort tomorrow, and explain a bit about it then.

If you would like to submit work for the art auction, visit tahoelostandfound.com for more details.

Residency at Valhalla

I'm the 'artist in residence' at Valhalla Historic Monument this week. I've got a beautiful little studio looking out over the lawn and the Great Hall, with french windows. There's a huge stone fireplace behind me, and it reminds me of being in Wales. It's amusing to me that American tourists come in to the studio just to look at the dry stonework - beautiful and rustic though it is - they're pretty common where I come from, in fact most of the houses I've lived in are about the same age as this! I really get a perspective on how 'new' America is at times like this.

A little bird came and sat on the tree you can see poking through the window yesterday - I feel so close to nature in there. I'll post the painting I did yesterday later, the bright apple one you can see in progress in this photo. I don't want to leave this studio already, they'll have to evict me by force if I stay too long!

All at Sea

All at Sea
Oil on Panel
6x6"

I did do a painting yesterday, but I wasn't too happy with it so I didn't post it. I ordered new paints and used them for the first time - not too successful really. It could have been that my heart wasn't in it too, because today they worked great. Sometimes if I don't paint first thing in the day, I just can't change gears well enough to start later on.

I went to a farmer's market in the morning over in Gardnerville, to look for 'props'. It's a great excuse to buy beautiful fruit, some of which I have no idea what they are. I managed to only eat a cherry yesterday, but today I weakened quite spectacularly. I was busy arranging the still life for today, moving the peaches here and there, standing back, move the cantaloupe, change it's angle....I picked up the plum and before I thought about it I had juice dripping down my chin. It was divine. Organic fruit that hasn't been tinkered with or prettied up is just so much more delicious than crappy supermarket fruit. I will eat all the fruit I've bought, I just want to paint it first!

Ray of Light

Ray of Light
Oil on Panel
6x6"

I'm really enjoying the translucence and opaque qualities of these fruit still lives. It's a great challenge to capture light coming through something, but funnily enough, the cantaloupe slice was the easiest part of this one to paint - a few strokes and it was done! I really had to stand back and make myself not touch it again, partly refusing to believe it had worked so quickly. The apple was another matter though, steadfastly refusing to take shape, and threatening mud at every stroke.

Navigation

Navigation
Oil on Panel
6x6"

I sat looking at this one last night wondering what to call it, and it occurred to me that the cantaloupe slices looked like boats navigating their way around rocks in still waters. Yes, I had drank a glass of wine, but I stand by the comparison today.

Radishes (i)

Dance of Life
Oil on Canvas
60x40"

Just got back from a weekend in Yosemite Valley...wow...! I'm very inspired but didn't even pick up a pencil while I was there, I just didn't know where to start. I just wanted to take it all in without having to decide which tiny frame to focus on this time. I took photos though, and plan to return for a painting trip maybe in the Fall when it's a bit cooler.

It was a little disconcerting going back into the studio after the huge landscapes I've been painting in my mind for the past few days. Every amazing thing I saw, I tried to imagine what kind of composition I could use to capture it, and what brushstrokes I'd use. I started out by finishing off my Kokanee painting, which was finally dry enough to work on. I used traditional brushes for the majority of it, and then went in with the wide foam wedges right at the end. I love the marks you can make with those things, and it's a real physical sort of process - straight arm, big sweeping gestures. All the rhythms are already there in the underpainting, so it's a case of feeling where more definate directional marks should go, to create an excitingly musical composition. I call it 'The Dance of Life' - after all the fish are spawning!

Radishes (i)
Oil on Panel
6x6"

I've been wanting to paint these guys for ages - one of the other artists, Pam, on the painting course in Santa Fe did a fabulous one of radishes, and they've been on my mind ever since.