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! 

Framing art

I have been busy, getting all my framing figured out for Artwalk, which is Salida's biggest art event of the year. I have been asked to be the featured artist at Dakota's Bistro, downtown, and of course I need to supply cultureclash with some nice new work for the event. I am framing about 22 of my new monotypes! You should see the framing bill! Not all of the work will be left here in Salida. I will have enough work so that I can take some with me, too. That will be good.

I have also listed some new things on my etsy site, including this little watercolor nude, called "Serenity". I have gotten together a number of new pieces, which I will be listing on etsy gradually over the next few days. So keep checking back, if you see something you like. Etsy has started to pick up for me, probably because I have been putting more time into it, and have been listing more new items. So I am excited about that.

I didn't pack a single box yesterday, but I will today. I just had to get all of that art stuff figured out first. I also took digital photos of my biggest monotypes, so that once they have sold, I still have a record of them. It has taken me a while to figure out how to get good photos of my art, but I am getting closer. My main concern is getting the colors to be closer to the original. You can see what you think, as here is one from yesterday. This one is called "Salvation".