Inspirations

One good reason to wake up early:

I love this bent over Joshua Tree in our backyard. It feels like an old woman with osteoporosis, bent over with age. Yet she still stands, resilient in the wind.

I found this short little clip about Georgia O'Keeffe on youtube.com. It is well worth five minutes of your time.

Sunrise

Hey desert friends! Did any of you catch that sunrise this morning? I was tired, and sitting next to the dog watching it. I kept thinking "I should really take some photos of this." But then I told myself I was tired, and it was enough to just watch the spectacle. The thing is, it just kept getting more interesting. It was begging me to go out with my camera. So, at last, I did. I hope you realize that the photos cost me a hot cup of tea.

I have been in the studio this week, working hard on a painting that I now hate. This is the part about making art that I think the non-artist may be unaware of. I work long hours on something. The time and desire are both there. But I have nothing to show for my efforts. Nothing I WANT to show, at any rate. These are the moments when we ask ourselves if it is worth it. Self doubt comes knocking. It says "you aren't really an artist." It is an unwanted visitor, and I have no intention of opening the door to that naughty guest. Instead, I will put the painting in a place where I can't see it, and start again.

I will be hanging some work in the Joshua Tree library next month. I have been thinking I would show my figurative work. People here know me for painting abstracts, they know me for painting rabbits, but I don't think they know I paint the figure, too. I haven't been doing it much since I moved here. I will let you know when the show goes up.

Have a divine weekend, my darlings. And, as ever, thanks for stopping by!

Cold Spell

We had a sudden cold spell here in Joshua Tree.  Many of you know that I am not a lover of the cold, and so the change in temperature has left me a bit grumpy.  Or maybe it's the fact that I am now in the midst of framing hell.  I really don't like framing.  At all.  I might even go so far as to say I hate framing.  I hate framing even more than I hate cold weather!

I had actuallystopped using my favorite medium, pastel, because it has to be framed in order to be displayed or transported safely.  I had not worked in pastel for 2 years.  Now I have a stack of new pastel paintings of the Joshua Tree, and I am trying to work up the courage to frame them.  But I wasn't quite ready for that just yet, today.  So I thought I would put frames on some of my oil paintings.  I have done a few paintings on board and they needed frames.  That should be easy, right?  I don't want to go into detail, but suffice to say that I am not encouraged by my lack of framing progress.  At this rate, I will never be ready for the two upcoming shows!  eeeeeeeeeek!

I did want to share with you some photos from the marvelous sunrises we had last week, when we had some storms roll in and bless us with rain.  I was out early, in my pj's, tripping over cacti, clicking away with my camera.  (I was not the only one, I've discovered.  A like minded friend in Yucca Valley had the same impulse...great minds DO think alike.)

You don't get to see all the photos I took, because I plan to turn many of them into paintings.  I am not sure the photos capture the magnificence of that sunrise.  It seemed like every where I looked, there was something amazing to see.  It just kept getting better and better and then the sun exploded over the top of the mountains - I almost heard it!  Really.

I thank you all for stopping over to read this oft-neglected blog.  I DO plan to post more, once these two shows are over.  For my fellow bloggers, I would like to get a chance to catch up with you, and I hope to do that again, soon!