Sightings

The weather this past week has been as fickle as a teenager. It begins to get hot, and just when we are settling in to it, the wind picks up and blows the heat away. Today is cool and pleasant. It makes for nice walking in the morning. Here are some desert animal highlights, both from walks and from out-the-kitchen-window sightings.

Our friend "Bald Tail" returned for a drink of water. 

I would not have seen this coiled up rattler if Pono hadn't plopped down just 5 feet from it to get a drink of water from me. As I gave Pono his drink, I just happened to see it out of the corner of my eye. Effective camouflage!!! Once you see a snake on the trail, everything else for the rest of the hike looks like a snake! I call it "getting the slithers." It's good to be hyper aware at this time of year.

Another painting from the new series:

"Dissipate." Oil on canvas, 36 x 12 inches. 

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.

Mental Meandering

"Mental Meanderings." Oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches. ©2012 Karine Swenson

Have a great weekend, all!

Discussion

"Discussion." Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches.  ©Karine Swenson 2012.

The excitement of spring

As I walk around the desert with Pono, I am finding many things now blooming or about to bloom.  I love this time of year!  With the rain we had at the beginning of the year, it promises to be a verdant spring.  I am so excited.  The Mohave Yucca is blooming.  So fabulous. 

The Joshua Trees are still blooming, but the one in our backyard is beginning to drop petals now.  They decorate the desert floor like confetti after a party. 

This is going to be a short post, but I do have another painting to share with you.  This one is oil on canvas, and it is titled "It's a bird, it's a..."

This painting is oil on canvas, and measures 24 x 18 inches.   This painting is all about incorporating more play and whimsy into my art.

Happy spring, everyone!

Art Happenings in Joshua Tree

On Saturday, I was out and about in Joshua Tree, catching up on just a few of the art events.  The first event I enjoyed was Martha Jacobson's lecture at the public library.  Martha Jacobson paints these really cool watercolors inspired by photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope.  There was a good crowd for the talk, and I enjoyed hearing Jacobson talk about her art.  I tried to take a couple of photos of her paintings, but they had glass on them and I did not get any good images to share.  The show stays in the library until January 5th, so if you get a chance, I highly recommend it.  The art talks are sponsored by the MBCAC and the Friends of the Joshua Tree Public Library. 

After the talk at the library, I went over to True World Gallery, where there is an exhibition of my friend Tina Bluefield's art.  They are showing a nice sampling of Bluefield's art, including abstracts, landscapes, and collage.  Apparently, the Red Arrow has now relocated to a space in closer to downtown Joshua Tree, but I did not make it over there.  I was too busy admiring Bluefield's paintings!  Plus, I was struggling to get myself back in the studio after too much time away from my own art.    

 

It is always better to see paintings live and in person, so if you are in Joshua Tree or vicinity, please do stop at True World Gallery.  If you don't live nearby, you can visit Tina Bluefield's website to see a bigger sampling of her oil paintings.

I have finally managed to get myself in the studio with oil paint once again.  After an interruption of over two weeks, I am struggling a little to find out where I was heading with my work.  I have jumped into an entirely new direction now, but I am beginning to rediscover the thoughts I had before leaving.  I hope to have something interesting to show you soon.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Just a quick post before I crawl into bed. I am traveling to Laguna Beach tomorrow with an artist friend. We are going to see the Pageant of the Masters. I am also hoping to get a chance to visit some of the beautiful contemporary galleries located in Laguna Beach. If there is any surf, I may even paddle out and see if I remember anything at all about how to ride a wave. It has been about 5 years since I last surfed.

All in all, it should be a fun two days, and I will be home late Thursday night. Then, I need to get back into the studio!

I leave you with another new painting. This one may not be finished yet. I may paint over it, or I may just rework it somewhat. I am not sure how I feel about it. It is too new. I think in this stage it is called "The Oracle". It is oil on canvas, 36 x 36 x 2.5 inches. There was a lot of scraping with the palette knife, as well as dragging of paint, and so the textures have begun to be interesting. The colors are so much better in person. I wish I could show it to you in person!



I will try to catch up on my fellow bloggers soon! I miss you!

drum roll, please...

So here are a couple of the new paintings. This first one is called "Joy". It measures 9 x 12", and is painted on 100% cotton, cold press 140 lb. watercolor paper. I like the colors. The next one is the same size and paper, and I have named it "Lime Green and Serpentine". Well, Matthias helped with the title. What do you think? There are more, but they are for later. I swear I am not really a tease. I do think these have more emotion, less control than the first watercolors in this style, but I could be wrong.


The other exciting news is that Matthias put up our Christmas lights today. I had a vision of what I wanted for the new adobe house, and here it is - just as I imagined!!! Fat red lights along the edges of the house. I am so happy! We were going to buy the LED lights for this project, but it turned out to be not only expensive, but the LED lights were shorter, so they would not have stretched all the way. Apparently, you can only string three strings of the LED lights together, and they are about half the length of the regular ones. Bummer! I still really love my red Christmas lights. We did put them on a timer, so the environment won't suffer too greatly. I know, I know. LED would have been better.

Another new painting

Here is another painting that I reworked this past week. This one has gone through an incredible amount of transformation. It is large, measuring 30 x 52". I have found photos from the beginning of the painting, so you can follow the progression.









It will have to sit for a while, so that I can decide if this is the final stage. I think I like it better vertically.

My in-laws are visiting, and we are getting ready for a garage sale tomorrow. Feel free, any of you in the area, to stop by and say "hi"!