Hwy. 62 Art Tours

The desert begins to feel more and more like fall every day. Cooler nights, cooler, shorter days. It seems to take FOREVER for the sun to come up in the morning. Somehow, the extra darkness seems to demand more caffeine. I guess I am just a sunshine addict.

The artists of the Morongo Basin all join me in a frenzy of excited preparation for the Hwy. 62 Art Tours. This is our biggest art event of the year, featuring over 100 artists and venues. It takes place the last two weekends of October every year. This is the eleventh year for this event. If you want to find out more about it, visit the website here. I will be having my open studio on the second weekend only, October 27th and 28th from 9 to 5 pm. I love this event, because I get to meet so many wonderful people, and share with them my art. It is so much fun. The art and artists can be enjoyed during the day, and then at night there are other events. If you are thinking of coming out to the desert to visit, there is no better time to come! The weather is usually at its finest in October. (Although I make no promises here. Weather is unpredictable, as we all know.)

Here is just one of my new paintings, especially painted for the Art Tours:

"Bunny Love." Collage, acrylic and oil on board. 10 x 8 inches. ©2012 Karine Swenson

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.

Re-discovering pastel

For nearly four years, I worked almost exclusively in soft pastel.  I had stopped using it for several reasons, but the main reason was that I became tired of the cost and effort of framing.  A couple of nights ago, I pulled my soft pastels out once more.  I have been enjoying working with them, and I thought I would share a couple of the paintings with you.  As you can see, these are a continuation of my series of paintings of the Joshua Tree.  Each tree has a distinctive, unique shape, which is emphasized by the silhouette against an evening sky. 

Grand Finale.  Pastel on paper, 10 x 8 inches.

Last Rays.  Pastel on paper, 10 x 8 inches.

I am busy getting new work ready for the fall opening of JTAG in Joshua Tree.  We will have an opening on Friday, September 3rd from 6 to 9 pm.  I am most likely going to show a collection of drawings, but that is subject to change, since I cannot seem to make up my mind what to show.  I also have to prepare for October, when I will be traveling to Ventura, California for Arts in the Park there on October 16th and 17th.  The following weekend is the weekend I will be opening my studio for the Open Studio Art Tours here in Joshua Tree.  I have a lot of work to do!  So if you are wondering at my long silences, it is because I am sticking to a strict regimen of painting, painting, painting.