Bosque Archway

This was painted on a piece of white Pastelmat. The paper is so soft and absorbent that when it's wet you can take advantage of the washes, letting things blur into it nicely. I often allow it to dry and add more detail, but for this one the soft washes seemed to express the place well, so I held back. This was also from my walk along the Rio Grande last week, but a little inland in the bosque (woods).

I like it--but it won't be everyone's cuppa tea, as they say. What do you think?


No longer available.

Shining River

On Monday I was able to go out with my husband for a nice long walk in the bosque along the Rio Grande. It was a windy, exciting morning, with the leaves swirling around us and clouds scudding by overhead. I love the dry colors of fall mixed with the lingering greens. The river was quite high again since the Conservancy closed all the ditches, so we were treated to the sheen of sunlight on the deep, moving water.

The painting is on Arches cold press. I enjoy the contrasts in the sky, which seems to capture my impression of clouds flying by.


No longer available.

North 14

My husband and I lived off of North Highway 14, just east of the Sandia Mountains, for over 16 years, so when we took a drive on our anniversary in August we naturally headed that way. It had been a couple years since I'd been there and the familiar late-summer colors and clouds were a treat. If you ever get a chance to drive up this highway, called The Turquoise Trail, from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, don't miss it!

This was painted from one of the photos taken that day. It's on white Pastelmat, which I highly recommend for gouache! It's soft, absorbent and takes to wet media very well. Yet I like the fine texture of it, which allows me to achieve details when I want to. 

I have a series of shots of it that I plan to add to the Step-by-Step Demo page.

Hope you enjoy it!

$50.00

Fall Sisters

A couple of miles up behind my house is a volcanic outcrop where there are a lot of ancient petroglyphs, and beyond that is this lineup of extinct volcanoes we call the Three Sisters. I love seeing the fall grasses on the high mesa dancing in the cool wind. The black volcanic rock pops up out of the sea of grass, sometimes  looking like the buried backbone of a giant mythical creature asleep there.

It's on Arches 300-lb. cold press, which gives it just the right texture to express the miles of grass on the plains.

$50.00