Warm Days

This photo was taken last fall, before the cold weather came.  I see this jackrabbit quite often, with its split left ear.

 A few gloriously warm desert days have produced a spring fever that may have no cure.  I watch the birds, who are already planning their nest under the eaves of our house.  They wake me in the morning with their chirping.  I take Mr. Pono outside and play endless games of "fetch."  (I am not sure it can really be called "fetch" with Pono, because he has his own rules about how to play.)  We go for long walks and runs.  Sometimes, we just go outside together, bask in the sunshine, and look at the desert.  Well, I look at the desert; Pono sniffs things and pants.  (For dogs, sniffing is superior to looking.)  I have been dreaming of spring wildflowers and hot summer days.  The inevitable desert wind will soon shatter the haze surrounding me, but for now, I am enjoying every moment.

Don't despair, the lure of the studio is just as irresistible as the warm air outside, and I have been painting.  I am getting new work ready for February.  February 5th is a gallery crawl in downtown Joshua Tree, and I will enjoy the good fortune of having work up in two different galleries that evening!  JTAG will have some exciting new abstract works that are a result of a collaboration between yours truly and Tina Bluefield, a fantastically talented painter and friend.  We have painted 14 paintings together, with each of us working on every painting.  The collaboration has been so fun, and I have learned so much, seeing how another artist works.  I can't wait for these paintings to be hanging on the walls of a gallery.  I will also have some of my paintings of the desert hanging at True World Gallery, including this new cottontail painting: 

"Hot summer's Day."  Oil on canvas, 8 x 10 inches.  ©k.swenson2011