No pictures this week. The weather has been bad, so I haven't spent too much time working in the studio. I'm reworking a large older painting, and putting drawings into mats and frames. None of that makes for the sort of pictures I imagine you guys might like to see.
The big current news is that Kris and Michelle are sending us airline tickets so that we can share Thanksgiving dinner with them and get acquainted with Jack Liam. As much as I hate flying these days, we are looking forward to the trip. I think we can do it for under a $1000, and if we keep our luggage to the minimum airport security might not be too bad.
One of this site's blog visitors has asked to read some of my other writing. So here is an older story that some of you may remember:
The White ElephantA minor Mogul prince was given a ‘lucky’ white elephant to celebrate his birthday. The prince was ecstatic at receiving such a fine gift. The rare animal couldn’t be kept in the stables with ordinary elephants, so a sumptuous palace to house the beast was commissioned. An architect was found in a remote corner of the world and paid a fortune to come to the prince’s kingdom to design a suitable dwelling. Rare woods, gold and gems were used to insure that white elephant would be surrounded by the wealth that it was expected to attract. The cost over-runs on the stable were every bit as great as those the Pentagon has become used to for new high-tech weapons systems. To balance the budget, the prince decided to cut the size of his army. After-all possession of the lucky white elephant insured that nothing so un-lucky as an attack could be made on the kingdom.
After several years, the white elephant was finally housed in his new palace. The elephant couldn’t be put to work like other animals, but he ate even more than the others. Other elephants might eat almost any sort of straw, but the white elephant needed a very fine grade of straw that had to be imported from a small farm high up in the mountains. The farmer soon was able to build himself a fine palace on the profits derived from feeding the prince’s white elephant.
The prince’s elephant had to be bathed everyday, so the prince employed a hundred servants to insure that the elephant was properly served. A pool of perfumed water was maintained in a park-like setting. Trees, rocks and waterfalls were cleverly constructed so that the elephant might think that he was free and in the wild. A musical band played to amuse the elephant as his handlers, clad in scarlet and gold, accompanied him to his bath. Special attendants were charged with the responsibility of cleaning the elephant’s ears, and others with performing pedicures. Ten virgins were employed to polish the ivory of the elephant’s tusks. In order that the elephant be so well cared for the prince reduced the number of servants in his own palace.
The care and feeding of the lucky elephant so strained the princely budget that soon the grounds of his palace became neglected. Outside the palace grounds the kingdoms roads were neglected for want of money to maintain them. Wagons that might have transported merchant goods were used instead to carry fine straw for the elephant, so the economy suffered. The princely calm was disturbed and caused him to become a tougher taskmaster.
“I must have more money”, the prince exclaimed. A brave advisor suggested that the white elephant be sold, or put to work. The prince ordered the first execution of his reign. Tax collectors were soon searching out every little piece of money in the realm, and whispered dis-satisfaction became common. A few grew rich; the number of beggars grew geometrically. Neighboring princes saw an opportunity to expand their own kingdoms, and it looked as if war as immanent. The populace was frightened, but the prince insisted that there was nothing to worry about; after all he possessed a white elephant.
The prince’s neighbors mobilized their forces and concentrated them along the borders. There was panic in the streets, but the prince remained convinced that he was safe. A delegation of Englishmen appeared at the palace gates, and was invited into the palace. There they proposed that the prince place himself under the protection of the Raj, and that they would take over collection of taxes and the administration of the kingdom.
The prince agreed, and retired to his harem a happy smiling man. His white elephant had saved the day. It is not recorded how the prince felt when the Raj ordered the elephant shot as a needless expense.
Here are two paintings that I've been working on in November. Neither is complete, but both are getting close ... perhaps two more sessions each.
This is an oil pastel drawing that never got titled, we're asking $400 for it.
This is a pencil drawing "Singularity", and can still be had for $350, matted, but unframed.
"Jango's Harmony" was oil on canvas, but its already been sold ... thank you very much.
"Don Mateo's Serenade" is oil on canvas, and we're looking for around $600 (unframed) for it. Currently, "Don Mateo" hangs in the hallway outside our Master Bedroom. If you'd like to own any of these, just let us know, and be willing to pay the frieght.
This was the first sketch, and only contains the seed of the conceptual idea.
Sketch two begins to expand on the idea of the Blue Kachina. At this stage I was focused on composition and rythmn. Verticals and details begin to emerge. At this stage I was thinking about adding some pueblo style buildings in the lower right of the field. What developed instead was the suggestion of Kokopelli, and the pueblo faded away.
This is a color test executed with pastel on paper. I've move the center of interest further to the right of the field, and ran the Kachina off the paper. It was at this stage that I became convinced that the background should be flat and in a warm color. The rythmn set up in the sketches remains, but is continuiong to evolve. Too much green and there isn't yet enough integration of the elements. Dig those wacky feathers .... oh well, this was just a test anyway. 
After three hours painting, this is what I had. This painting is on 20X16 masonite mounted on pine, and painted all the way around the edges (not shown). The paint went onto the surface with a lot of turpentine, and so dried with a dull finish. You can see that the elements are being reduced and simplified to accentuate each of them. The Kachina's red cloak developed into the shaman's mask that you see without conscious intent. At this stage there are still problems to resolve, like the indefinite area around waist high on the Kachina image. 
This is after another 3 hour session several days later when the pigments had begun to set up. At this point I'm using almost pure lindseed oil and a gel to preserve the brilliancy of the colors, and to stiffen the pigment to better hold brush texture. The colors and surface texture are now close to what was planned. I'm relatively pleased with the yellow/red/orange background, and with the Kachina's head, cloak and body. I'm contemplating making the shaman's mask less obvious, and I'm still uncertain what to do with that unresolved light area at the Kachina's waist. The lower third of the painting is coming along, but still needs work. This is getting pretty close, but there is alot of work to be done yet on the sides not shown here, and a number of smaller "corrections" that probably no one would ever notice if they weren't told about them.
Sketch 2
Pastel trial
2nd Session
Here is the repainted cavalry hill. As you can see I didn't crop it correctly, so you see more than just the picture intended.
Here are two more poorly cropped details of the foreground of the painting. I'm very pleased with the brush/pigment effects in this painting. The underpainting was done mostly in reds and oranges, which makes quite a difference in the final layers of paint.
We had a magnificent thunder and lightening display last evening. Ah, I wish I could catch the process of a Southwestern lighting storm as day fades into darkness. Oh well, that isn't really my style anyway, but I'm still envious of the painter's aesthetic skills. 
"Survivor" 20X16, on linen pannel. Constrast between the detail of the tree and the subdued background is meant to focus attention on the tree ... the survivor. There's a lot to see in that snowy field, but it only becomes apparent when you look beyond the survivor to the conditions it survives in. The detail shows a single leaf that still holds on by its fingernails, and we ask is this the survivor, or is it the tree? Hopefully a very simple composition will carry a lot of conceptual freight to engage the audience. 
"Navajo Station" I'm not sure whether this one is done, or not. Its a small painting, and it might find a buyer just as it is. I was experimenting with using the warmest colors in the distance, with the coolest temperatures in the middle ground, and a mix of temperatures up close. I'll live with this for awhile (if no one buys it), and maybe try to improve the result.
Here are three of the six paintings I've been working on over the last few days. I'll post the other three maybe tomorrow. These are all relatively small oils, and will sell for around $300 a piece ... I hope.
"Christmas Casita" is much more restrained, and I've deliberately down played the colors. Note the little Christmas Tree in the window that mirrors the larger pines around the house. Snow scenes seem popular here, and there is an exhibit in late September that has Autumn as a motif. RGAA will also have a small members only exhibition during the holiday shopping season.
