WORD PAINTINGS #148 (How I Came to New Mexico and Learned about Art and Life) - MORNING THOUGHTS
7 May 2025 - This morning's view from my kitchen window...storm clouds receding after two glorious days of rain and snow. The air is clear - the spring colors are so intense they almost vibrate! The driest winter ever and we are all so grateful for the moisture! Heavy snow on the mountains all day yesterday - much of it still there. The view from my front window makes me so damned happy! Hoping the melt will keep the acequias flowing until the heavy afternoon rains during our monsoon season in July.
Back to some serious time at the easel. (Below is my current Work in Progress). More paints arriving by Friday. In a way this feels like another one of my New Beginnings. Fell into a work block last November. Due to personal and world events I retreated to my "bubble" to regain some perspective. Quiet time. Resting ones brushes every once in a while is essential to a healthy art life. A fearless inventory waiting for the Path to once again appear. Stopped watching all cable news. Picked up some good books. Listened to Bach. Thanking my Art Gods for this new energy! Ah, the joys of Spring!
Lilias de Taos - in front of the Old Taos News building 25 years ago - saw this man almost every day on his morning walk - a wonderful memory.
My awakening came this week when a friend said that she was stockpiling a few essentials to escape the higher prices. Lightbulb moment! What about art supplies??? Put off ordering my essential art supplies all winter. When I logged on to the art supply store all I saw was big bold red letters - "Only one left - only two left - order soon". The tariffs are beginning to take effect on prices. Be still my heart! One tube of Ivory Black was $60!!! Some Prussian Blue and Burnt Umber will do me just fine, thank you very much. Some of the special Holbein colors that come from China were out completely with no sign of when they might be available. My view is that art supplies are essential to a healthy society. These are tools of imagination and creation - the world is losing some of its color!
Unvarnished reality - Works in Progress - SAGEBRUSH DREAMING - 60"x36 Original Oil on Belgian Linen - and me at almost 86! Worked on this ginormus canvas all day today - told a friend that it is the equivalent of giving birth to octuplets! Making great progress - half the painting is completed as of this afternoon. Will need some help to adjust my easel so I can finish the lower half of the canvas hopefully by this weekend. Today my loaded paint brushes took on a life of their own. No hesitation. Good, healthy, strong and colorful strokes. I love when this "out of body" time happens. Will order the frame next week. Sending it to McLarry's Fine Art on Canyon Road, Santa Fe. (Photo credit: Betty Downes)
Please hug an artist today - ordering art supplies is a real challenge! Best regards, Donna
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