Llano Quemado, N.M. - 20 February 2020 -A light snow this morning - whole bunch of jobs lined up, a resistance to all of them at first - too easy to stay in bed! One foot in front of another; one day at a time! Still playing catch up after last year's dramas. Yes, a pile of dishes are in the kitchen sink.
Sunday drive to the Mesa - late afternoon. Finally ended up at a place called Carson just as the sun was setting. An old abandoned schoolhouse silhouetted against the last rays of light. Deeply rutted road - lonesome fence posts, patches of snow - muted colors dark ochres and umbers - pure Heaven! This morning (before doing the dishes) I began to edit the sixty or seventy new photos. Pulled out seven or eight to study the possibilities for new paintings. If I choose to go ahead, these new pieces will be starkly different from my other work. Open spaces - a peaceful loneliness - solitude.
Packaged up three prints to be delivered. Ordered some double wall cardboard to ship prints. Put a pot roast in the slow cooker. Had a quick lunch. Thinking about all the possibilities for the new work - painting in my head....seeing changes in the photos for more solid compositions. Did the paperwork for two little auction pieces that sold this afternoon. No time for politics today. Low wi-fi. A lot of annoying buffering since the flood. Sometimes no news is good news...a mental cleanse!
Put on some CDs of my favorite Mexican singers - Jose Jose and Luis Miguel. Sat down at the easel and began to paint a 6"x8" of the small church of San Ysidro - this week's new auction painting. Tomorrow I will gesso some 30"x40" canvases for the new work. Each day is a moving meditation - quietly going from one "job" to another trying to do each task for its own sake. There is definitely a craft to painting and preparation is everything - my version of "doing dishes".
Oh, yes I finally did the dishes in the kitchen sink! This was a very good day...glad I didn't stay in bed, I would have missed it!
