Spring in the desert

hello Dear Blog readers!
My studio sale on Saturday went well, and I was happy to see so many friendly faces. Thank you so much for all of the well wishes, and thank you to all of those who came and bought some art!!!!! I am so grateful for all of you.

My parents are visiting from Colorado, and we have been showing them around the desert. I just wanted to check in with you, and share with you some of the wonderful flowers I have been seeing in the desert. It has been a rather dry year, and I wasn't sure there would be any flowers at all. So any flower I see is now greeted with much excitement and attention.

Last week, Matthias and I also got a chance to say hello to this fellow:

Ah, yes. I love spring in the desert.

Studio Sale

I am busy getting ready for Saturday's Studio Sale. For those of you who don't know about it yet, I am having a clearing out sale this Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm. The art on sale will be older works - pre-Joshua Tree! (and a few works from our first year in Joshua Tree.) I will have original watercolors, pastels, oil paintings, drawings and giclee reproductions. Also, I am selling books, art supplies, and other miscellaneous studio stuff. The sale takes place at our home in Joshua Tree, California: 6925 Juniper Road. Feel free to email me for more information and/or directions. karine@karineswenson.com

Here is one of the paintings I will have for sale:

"Change is Inevitable." Oil on canvas, 30 x 36 inches.

Many of the works will be half the usual retail price. I just need some more room for all of the new paintings I have been doing and will be doing! I have never had a sale like this before, and I don't know if I will ever do it again, so don't miss out.

For those of you who are far away, I will try to post some of the works here on the blog this week. Please email me if you see anything that interests you. I can ship anywhere.

"Winds of Change." Oil on Canvas, 30 x 38 inches.

My parents are coming on Wednesday, and they have promised to help with the sale. Not ONLY that, but Matthias is coming home, too! Join in the fun and come over Saturday, even if it's just to say hello.

Success and failure

Here we are on a dusty, windy Friday. I have been struggling in the studio today, so maybe writing a blog post won't be quite as painful. I hope. Forgive me if I don't try for a great essay this time. My confidence has been severely shaken by art failures.

Maybe there are artists out there who want you to believe that they never have failures, or that they never struggle. They want to wear the hat of a master. I was brought up to tell the truth, and the truth of it all is that for every success in the studio, there have been a pile of failures. The reason why a good painting is so wondrous is that they don't come around every day. Not for mere mortals such as myself. I am willing to share all of this with you, dear darling readers, because somehow I know you love me despite my imperfections. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

"Contentment." Oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches. ©2012 Karine M Swenson

Of course the only way to success is perseverance.

Happy Friday, everyone.

Apres Easter Treats

It is already much later than I had intended it to be. I had all these things I was going to write about, but it is 15 minutes past when I was going to start getting ready for bed, and so my energy has waned. Maybe I can make it up to you later this week. Since I have already prepared the images for this post, I will forge ahead with mostly images and not so many words. I find myself doing this more and more...

"Celebration." Oil on Linen, 40 x 40 inches. ©2012 Karine M Swenson

This painting had more variations than my haircolor did in the 80's!!! But I finally think I can say it is done.

Tonite's magnificent sunset. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.

A Good Friday

A small sampling of the flowers in my garden right now:

Is there such a thing as too much orange? You decide.

As I was sitting here this morning, working on the images for this blog post, a coyote came trotting up to the water dish I set out for the animals. I grabbed my camera without getting up (it shied a bit), I carefully aimed and took a photo of the top of its head. The sound of the camera was enough to scare it away. DANG. I need another photo of a coyote, and they just don't want to cooperate. I am going to have to figure out how to turn off all the sounds of my camera, with the hope that coyotes will get thirsty again.

Until I get another good coyote photo, I have resorted to doing paintings from blurry photos, like this painting I (think) I just finished.

"Morning Stroll." Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches. ©2012 Karine M Swenson

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter Weekend! Here's to surviving yet another holiday filled with sugar-loaded junk food. As a recovering choc-o-holic, I have to put a great distance between me and chocolate Easter Bunnies. They are cute and taste good, but if I eat them, my teeth will rot out and my jeans won't fit. Instead, I am going to dye Easter Eggs and eat an apple. If I make it through the holiday without succumbing to temptation, I will feel like I have really accomplished something! The new religion of sugar is alive and well, but I no longer believe in it. Sorry, Hershey's.

More flowers...

I have the best place in our house for orchids - our bathroom! They get extra humidity from baths and showers, plus, there is a big window with filtered southern light. The orchids seem to love it there. I currently have twenty two blossoms fully opened, with one pick one half opened. (22 and a half?) The photos I am posting today are from a couple of weeks ago, so I probably need to take some more photos. But at least I can give you a little sample!
Enjoy!

Here is a photo from a painting I did alla prima, which I can't seem to layer over. I just love it, even though it isn't anything like my other new paintings.

"Whistle Stop." Oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches. ©2012 Karine M Swenson

Blooming Things

This is the time of year when things in our yard begin a magical display. So much fun! My favorite cactus is in bloom. These blossoms are big - about the size of my hand, and they are short-lived. Usually, they only last one day. But what they lack in longevity they make up for in grandeur.
Oh, and they smell divine!

The two fuzzy looking balls I focused on here are future blossoms!

 M went back to Thailand on Saturday night. :(  The good news is that it is beginning to sound more and more like he will be back in a couple of weeks. AND he may get a couple of months at home! Cross your fingers for us. It would be nice to have a husband at home a bit more. These photos are mainly for him, since he missed this glorious display by only one day. (I love you, M.)

Needless to say, I didn't get too much painting done while M was here, so this week will be all about going back to work in the studio.

"Garden of Delights." Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches. ©Karine M Swenson2012

"Abstract art is dominated by that same desire for complete and absolute freedom and perfection which inspires saints, heroes, and madmen. It is a peak on which only a few creative artists and their admirers can maintain themselves." -Fernand Leger