WORD PAINTINGS #128 - FIRST PAINTINGS OF 2023 - DREAMKEEPER (WORKS IN PROGRESS)

WORD PAINTINGS #128 (How I Came to New Mexico and Larned about Art and Life) - 

 

 ON MY EASEL TODAY! Studio #123 -WORKS IN PROGRESS "DREAMKEEPER" - 12"x12" Oil Study for 30"x30" Original Oil. Early morning on Nov. 11, 2022 I lifted the bedroom window shade and saw this moonset over Tres Orejas. Just stood there for a long time and then I sat down to make some color notes, (will post to my Art Journal blog later) By accident few days later I found this poemby Langston Hughes.....

 

Bring me all of your dreams

You dreamer

Bring me all of your

Heart melodies

That I may wrap them

In a blue cloud cloth

away from the too rough fingers

Of the world

 

 

In my imagination that full moon picked up my night dreams as it sailed over my house, taking them all around the world....just imagine!

 

WORD PAINTINGS #127 - WINTER WORK

WORD PAINTINGS #127 (How I Came to New Mexico and Learned about Art and Life) - WINTER WORK 

27 November 2022 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) - A Perfect New Beginning!!! Wakened to huge fluffy snowflakes at 7Am. a veritable whiteout!  Now 10:30AM - the grey clouds are clearing and all the pretty white stuff is melting.

Starting out with some small works - call them my Five Finger exercises.  Working on several at a time, underpainting, glazing, final brushstrokes.  When one is underpainted, it dries for about a week before I put on the glazes.  The highlights - final brushstrokes go on last. A lengthy process - no different than my larger canvases. Every time there are two or three that stand out and the end result is a major painting - all finished and framed.  

Winter is my favorite time to work.  Life is quiet.  I start preparing in early September - a habit I formed when I lived on the horse ranch in Truchas in 1982! My annual ritual ever since!  Art supplies have all been replenished, including new frames just waiting for finished work. All my devices are charged in case of any outage. The pantry is full. A new palette of fresh juicy oil paints - how good does it get?   Let the fun begin!  

Hug an artist today! 

Best regards to all, Donna

Four new paintings now available at my Collector's Online Gallery....ENJOY!

ROMERO ROAD, (Tesuque, N.M.) - 10"x8" Oil

 

TAOS MOUNTAIN LOVE! - 8"x6" Oil

RIVER ROAD (Ojo Sarco, N.M.) - 8"z10" Oil

                                       SPRING THAW (Trujillo Road - Llano Quemado) 10"x8" Oil

WORD PAINTINGS #126 - BLANK IS A NEW BEGINNING

20 October 2022 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico)- The father of my three children died yesterday.  These past few weeks have been very strange.  His dying was very long and protracted. Painful. Daily updates from one of our twin daughters. We had been divorced for over 52 years. Memories of our nine years together and how that time affected all our lives (not always pleasantly) through the years.  His shadow always lurking in the background affecting my relationships with my children. Catholic guilt over the divorce. Great sadness over his prolonged weeks of pain and suffering. A profound sense of loss.  All those memories of years ago faded and at the end sent a message to him that I cared.  Endings always lead to New Beginnings! __________________________________________________________ 

 

 21 October 2022 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) -Each Day a New Beginning...

On my easel today - some small works. I call them five finger exercises.  Some of these studies go on to become larger paintings.   The larger canvas is one I have had in mind for several years - "Don Eusavio's Long Winter Night".

 

 

WORD PAINTINGS #125 - LOST AND FOUND

6 August 2022 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) - So often life is a balancing act!  It falls to pieces but miracle after miracle the missing pieces show up and we get to sort them out one by one - leaving behind those that no longer fit.  This is such an interesting time to be alive!!  

After all the extremely crunchy dry and smoke-filled days the monsoon arrived in full force.  Bright white lightning and great booming thunder claps.  Sleepwalking is no longer an option.  Wake up to Mother Nature - this is no time to be caught napping.  See the brilliant flash over the mountains - count - one thousand one, one thousand two and when you finally hear the thunderclap, it announces the distance of the storm.  Shut it all down - hold your breath - here comes the storm!  We would be less than grateful to complain about it now - we are in a God moment. Watch the morning clouds form and build over the mountains. Mid afternoon the skies darken and the drama begins - thrillingly beautiful! Boom!!! Wake up! It is an adventure to be alive! Early evening and the rain stops - some distant rainbows, glorious sunsets - Breathless!

Lightning strike so close to the house three weeks ago just moments after I shut down my big computer.  My hair sizzled and my beeper beeped. Blew out the internet to all my devices! Complete silence!!! Next day called large corporate phone company and answered questions from a robot for about half an hour. He - it - discerned it was a problem not easy to solve, so I was referred to a recorded voice urging me to stay on the line. After ninety impatient  minutes I felt stupid and quit the game....the corporation game of putting you on hold forever and ever!

Prior to the Big Boom I watched a documentary on David Hockney.  Excited by his imagination and invention - the development of his work - his life changes. Especially the stories of he and his best friend going to Italy to see operas - and how opera inspires him.  Tears - remembrances of times past when I would paint (and sometimes sing along very badly) to my operas....Puccini, Verdi, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Pavarotti, Price.   

Haven't been able to listen to my operas since my son died seven years ago...an enormous blank space just waiting for me to be filled with my music again.  Inspired by Hockney I spent days searching for my absolute favorite - Leontyne Price singing arias from Verdi and Puccini. Each time I looked through my music I lost hope of finding that recording.  Ironically the lightning strike, through a series of strange circumstances, killed service to all my devices...laptop, iPad, TV and stereo for ten whole days!!!!  Complete silence - only my easel, paints and the spectacular monsoon clouds which formed every afternoon!

Imagined what it was like for the contemplative monk Thomas Merton isolating in his little cabin to pray and write.  No praying or writing but silent days at the easel - pure concentration! No distractions! A physical and emotional break from the "real world" fed to me daily through pundits and politicians.  Earthshaking realization brought on by the Great Silence - I don't have to listen or attach my attention to their words as before!  Ten days to detox from all the noise. After a while I began to feel My Real World return to me. Days of imagination and quiet joy.

Yes, one morning I found the light blue CD cover with Leontyne's beautiful face.  I found it!  Thanks to David Hockney a small piece of my life has been returned!  Still hesitating to listen - just look at the CD cover and remember all those those days when the house was filled with music. Time for me to open my heart and listen to the beauty of those glorious voices again!

The wonderful fellows at Taos Net set me up again through their internet service.  Cancelling Century Link internet which was part of a bundle....beware of bundles!

Gratefully my intense reliance of TV News hasn't returned.  Being "well Informed" about things I cannot change is now an option and not a necessity.  Silence is totally underrated.  This is my real world....DC

 

DISTANT THUNDER (Ranchitos Road - Taos, New Mexico) - 24"x36" Work in Progress (Underpainting) Color notes are posted to my Art Journal - https://donnaclair.blogspot.com/  Projected completion: 8/10/22

NEW from my easel ..... Online Gallery.

 

 

 

WORD PAINTINGS #124 - RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN - BLESSED RAIN!!!

WORD PAINTINGS #124 (How I Came to New Mexico and Learned About Life and Art) -RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN - BLESSED RAIN!!!

3 July 2022 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) - Sunday morning silence - not even the birds are singing!  Truth is we are all exhausted from the heavy drama of this time since the fires began in April.  Fell asleep to the sounds of a gentle, steady rain last night - the sweet smells of grass and earth.  Everything just feels softer, better....more hopeful.  There is a definite harshness in the high desert without moisture.  High winds and sand storms added to the disquiet of every living thing.  Even the neighborhood dogs are silent this morning. Am picturing them all curled up in a shady spot on some cool morning grass.  It feels like being in church!  The fields that were a crispy brown just a week ago are now a brilliant green.  Yesterday the suburban sounds of lawnmowers seemed no longer a nuisance, but instead a sign of great relief that the monsoon is finally here! 

So much has happened this year - pandemic still with us, the invasion of Ukraine,  the devastating fires and, of course, the ongoing 24/7 Trumpathon. 

Many shifts and changes in my little life as well.  My two favorite words are "adapt" and "adjust".  At the soon to be age of 83 it is time for a fearless and thorough inventory of life and my time left on this planet.  One big surprise was my departure from Chimayo Trading.  Many, many stories of my life with galleries, consignments, agents, negotiations - endless striving.  Sometimes change is pressed upon me - I resist until there is no other option than to walk away - relationships, marriages, business arrangements.  It is never any one thing - I wait until there is a huge pile up and the decisions are made for me. Now what?

So, here I am - this beautiful Sunday morning.  Heading to my easel to set up a fresh new palette.....big globs of juicy colors and the delicious smells of linseed oil and turpentine!  My addiction!  The new work "Late Winter Storm" (another precious Truchas memory) will hopefully find its way to completion this afternoon.  Fascination with my family tree on Ancestry is leading me in a whole new direction - my unknown  history - Polish, German, Russian. Mysteries and Surprises - some dating back to the 1500s!  Found an old book "Poland" by James Michener on Audible - 30 listening hours.  Wow! That means 30 working hours at the easel!  Off to set up my paints!

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"More than Doers, we are Deciders. Once our decision becomes clear, the Universe supports and empowers our actions." The Book of Runes

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4 July 2022 Independence Day!!!  Happy Birthday America! Happy New Day to Me! A day of decision-making. Slow to get up - wonderful storm last night - winds, loud banging claps of thunder - hail against my windows.  Some heart-pounding minutes - and then the peaceful sounds of a gentle rain and the glorious smell of wet puddley earth!  Grateful.

Worked today to complete Late Winter Storm - new 24"x30".  Here it is - another Truchas memory!  Enjoy! DC

WORD PAINTINGS # 123 - UP IN SMOKE!

 

WORD PAINTINGS #123 (How I Came to New Mexico and Learned about Art and Life) - UP IN SMOKE!

11 June 2022 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) - The Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire has consumed over 320,000 acres and is 67% contained. Yesterday a new fire broke out north of El Rito burning 500 acres. Today it has grown to 3,500 acres with no containment!  Woke up in the middle of the night having a hard time breathing due to the smoke.  Ashes on the windowsills this morning!  Many planes and helicopters flying over the house on Thursday.  Gratefully there isn't much wind this afternoon. Update: 4:00 PM The wind is howling - view of Taos Mountain completely obscured by thick smoke!  Damn!

A story on FB this morning of an elderly gentleman, owner of 170 acres in one of the villages that was under fire - it is all gone.  He now resides in a living center in Santa Fe and it is entirely possible that it is there he will spend his last days.  Am living right in between two fires now.  Hearing and reading stories of loss and heartbreak - assessing the damage has only just begun.  

Watching "Gaslit" the story of John and Martha Mitchell during the Watergate hearings.  So small by comparison to the January 6th coup attempt.  Found an Errol Morris interview  with Steve Bannon on Amazon and rented it last week but can't stand the sound of Bannon's voice!.  Want to understand how he can commit treason (allegedly), be indicted and still be able to continue spouting his conspiracies via podcast.  Waiting for my copy of the Atlantic with an article calling him "The American Rasputin".  Perhaps I am too cynical, but am having that old "Muller Report" skepticism - we might go through this information and all this drama and still no one will be held accountable.  When it was revealed that this committee has no authority to bring charges and in the end will turn all evidence of criminality to the Justice Department, it felt like deja vu all over again.

Not to be forgotten is the damned pandemic! Friend messaged me today that cases have spiked again in Santa Fe this week.  Read that Moderna is coming out with a booster shot that is quite effective against the Omicron variant." 

Am back at work - almost finished with my new 24"x30" canvas "Late Winter Storm".  Vividly remember the cold and windy February afternoon in Truchas.  Brings back all my wonderment of living in that magical place - "How did I get so lucky?"  It is so good to lose myself in this work - seven hours of working and painting yesterday.  Taking off today to water my plants and take a nap!

Monstrous clouds formed several afternoons earlier this week.  They promised a deluge, only to be dissipated by the afternoon winds.  So near and yet so far!

The war in Ukraine lit a spark.  Out of curiosity I signed up for Ancestry and in my spare time (?) am working on my family tree.  An intriguing mixture of German, Polish and Russian - with a little of the Vikings in there, too.  On the German side I have been able to trace back to my ninth great-grandfather born in 1530!  

Still working on the Polish side - great mystery due to World War II. As a little girl I remember sewing some money into the hem of a big black coat to send to our family in "the old country".  Large group of women got together on my grandmother's screened-in porch in Chicago.  By the time we were finished there was a huge stack of cartons to be shipped to Poland - possibly Gdansk the port Hitler invaded on September 1st 1939.  Months later many whispers....it was obvious we didn't need to send anymore boxes.  Understand that I might not be able to go too far back on that side of the family - the records have been lost forever.

Although I bought the audiobook "Bloodlands" by Professor Timothy Snyder about  Hitler and Stalin invading Europe. Deciding to put it aside for a while - too relevant.  There is so much going on right now, it is difficult to keep one's balance!    Need to lighten up - at least click my heels and pretend!  Instead a little book "Come, Tell Me How You Live" a first person account of Agatha Christie's trip to the mid-East with her archaeologist husband Mr. Mallowan.   In times of stress, routine is my great friend! Paint, read and water my plants - trying to keep it simple.  Maybe one or two rain dances in the studio....DC   

WORD PAINTINGS #122 - BACK TO THE BEGINNING AGAIN!

           WORD PAINTINGS #122 (How I Came to New Mexico and Learned About Art and Life)

            A MAN IS RICH AS HIS WOODPILE (From the High Road, Northern New Mexico)

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WORD PAINTINGS #122 (How I Came to New Mexico and Learned About Art and Life)

5 June 2022 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) - A perfectly beautiful Sunday morning!  Finally the sky is clear of smoke!  Two days ago storm clouds began to form, but alas no rain.  There are still 2843 people fighting the blaze which has now spread to 317,571 acres.  Thanks to all the firefighters and fire personnel here from all over the country the Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak Fire is 65% contained.  Saw the first plumes of smoke from my kitchen window on April 5th - and here we are now.  Many days of heavy smoke and fear of being the next town to be evacuated.  

Sadly large parts of  the northern New Mexico way of life going back to the earliest days will never be replaced...gone forever.  With it goes part of my heart.  One Sunday about three weeks ago the losses took their toll and I broke down.  These places have been my life for the past 55 years. Even more than the landscape it has been the culture of these villages that has healed and sustained me.  Yes, a man truly is as rich as the size of his woodpile in this little part of the world and large parts of fields and forest are now gone.  Homes that have withstood the elements for 100 or 200 years no longer exist and many have to find a new place to live - a new way of living. The transition might be impossible for some families.  So far the communities surrounding the fires have all pitched in with food and clothing - there is hope out there!  We have come together for our neighbors!

Finally accepting that the pandemic will be with us for a long time.  On to the next crisis - the war in Ukraine.  This morning Putin warned the west (meaning the U.S.) not to send long range missles or else!  Or else what?  Nuclear retaliation?  The NRA Convention met the weekend after the Uvalde massacre - a group of men who want you to believe in their "manhood" - more balls than brains.  Can't image the fear any child feels going into a classroom today. I remember hiding under my desk for fear of an atom bomb attack.  How does any parent drop their child at school in the morning continue on with the rest of their day?  Damn this blood and guts culture of ours!!!!  Damn the stupidity!!!

Haven't been able to paint for about six weeks.  Wracking my brain to find hope for this world of ours.  There are no real solutions out there.  Politicians and religious leaders don't have the answers, they are too busy fighting with each other.  Instead of uniting in strength in order to make things better, they allow differences to tear them apart.  The outlook is definitely dark and gloomy.  Born on 3 September 1939 the first part of my life was all about war - now I realize that it isn't peace that some of our world leaders seek, but profit.  There is big money in war and the guns that kill.  How many wars have there been since 1939??? - too many to remember.

“The images of peace are ephemeral. The language of peace is subtle. The reasons for peace, the definitions of peace, the very idea of peace have to be invented, and invented again.

Children, everybody, here’s what to do during war: In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment.”

—From THE FIFTH BOOK OF PEACE, Maxine Hong Kingston

Time to acknowledge the peace that surrounds me at this moment on this beautiful Sunday morning.  My Art Gods are standing at attention, just waiting for me to go to work again.  On my easel is the beginning of a new painting..."Late Winter Storm" (Truchas, New Mexico).  Will work on it today. Am grateful for all those years of roaming the mountain roads and photographing the villages - I still have the images and can fix my mind to relive every bit of those times.  Thinking it might be too painful to roam some of those old roads now -  it is best to wait a while. In the meantime I will sit at my easel and just paint.

 

PEACE!.....DC