Here we are nearing the end of June, and the Encantada 09 Exhibit deadline is upon us. Here are the three paintings I'll be submitting this year.

Koshare (oil on canvas)
28X34

The clown, touched by the Katsina World is a bridge between the divine, and the mundane. The Koshare is exempt from normal behavior, and is a guardian of traditional ceremonial forms.

You're all familiar with this painting because I've shown it a number of times progressing toward some distant time when it is "finished". When will that be? Now? Maybe, or maybe not. I seldom sign paintings because I'm never quite sure that after some period additional work will insist on being made. "In-progress" paintings may still be hanging around for years after they've been set aside.




Rio Ariba (oil on panel)
24X20

Visitors here will also recognize this painting. Hopefully, this is a somewhat better photo. Water rushing through SouthWestern landscapes, night and "moon" elements all turn up with some regularity in my work. Once experienced, the rumbling of a flash flood that both brings life to the desert and grinds it into a fine sand is never forgotten. Mysterious night, revealed in dream-like moonlight is another powerful image to me.



Still Life with Nudes (oil on panel)
24X20

This one is new, and is a bit of a throwback to a style I was using a whole lot back in the late 1960's and early '70s. The Klee influence is obvious, and drawn from a little pamphlet he wrote on composition. The approach here is to suggest more depth by greater control of pigments and values than I used way back when. Rothko influences and attention to color fields made this painting interesting enough for me to probably do a bunch more similiar to it.

Alright, I know its been a few weeks since I posted here last. My alibi is that I've been busy painting and getting stuff done around the place. Even more to the point, I didn't have digital pictures yet of the work being done. This morning I took a number of photos, and they appear here today. All of this series existed before, but are continuing to evolve.

Koshare
Oil on Canvas

At the end of the last session the painting was largely monochromatic. Now more color and surface snap have been added. This will almost certainly be one of my submissions to the 2009 Encantada Exhibition.





Rio Ariba
Oil on canvas

When you saw this last it was shown in the portrait mode and was titled "Corn Maiden". Oh well. After thinking on it, I decided to change to the landscape mode and expand the color palette. There is a thematic similarity to an earlier painting, but this one is more abstract and better developed. This will likely also be an entry to the Encantada Exhibition.



Ristra
Oil on panel

This painting has been around for quite awhile, and has undergone a number of adjustments over the past couple of years. This is the latest version, and is more brilliantly colored than most of the earlier efforts. Is it near enough to be my third Encantada entry?











House in Portugese Bend
Oil on panel

This panel is darker than the others featured here today, and the dimensions are different from those of standard frames. Framing is a real hassel, so this one may sit around the studio for awhile. The longer a painting sits, the more likely I'll paint over it hoping to come closer to a really good image and painting.

In the last posting, I showed a little painting titled "Heart of the Matter". As I painted that my friend and partner in crime made a digital video clip of the process. Unfortunately, the clip is about half an hour long, and the orientation of the pictures changes a few times. I'm working to correct the video clip (another thing that's taken up my attention lately), but fixing the problem strains my computer resources. Oh well. Joe and I intend repeating the experiment incorporating the lessons we learned in that first ad hoc try. Maybe later this year I 'll have a video clip that can be shown here. Stay tuned.

In addition to these four pieces, I've been working on several more but can't document them until I get fresh batteries for the old digital camera. Stay tuned.

Spring in the Enchanted Land

"The Heart of the Matter"
Oil on panel

All three of the paintings posted this week are small abstracts. These were painted over unsuccessful prior paintings. I'll sometimes get an idea that just refuses to come together. I'll work on it sporatically for a few months, or even years before throwing up my hands in defeat. These poor works then sit around gathering dust, and stored where I can avoid looking them in the eye.

Then, I'll feel a great need to paint something for which I haven't got the proper surface at hand. I can hold up on the idea until I've prepared a new surface, but I'm impatient. Soooo, I dig out the old disappointmenst and they get an entirely fresh interpretation.

These are them.




"Boundry"
Oil on panel












"Within the Monitor's Maze"
Oil on panel

April in Albuequerque

I didn't update the blog during the weekend because I didn't have digital pictures to show yet. Today was spent in the studio working on these three paintings.

"Corn Maiden"
Oil on canvas













"Bend of the River"
Oil on panel

This little painting was begun and done to demonstrate a point I wanted to make about how pigment is laid down.








"Butte"
Oil on canvas

The painting keeps hanging around the studio, so from time to time it gets a face-lift. Each session brings it a bit closer to the conception, but it still has a long way to go. On the other hand, this is the sort of painting that buyers like.






This is "Butte" as it looked this morning before I repainted the sky and adjusted almost every other element in the picture.

Better Late than Never????

Last week we upgraded from PhotoShop Elements 2.0 to 7.0, and that has kept me busy. That's my excuse for being late to update, and I'm sticking to it. I've been on Writing.com a whole lot over the past year, but haven't written a single fictional word in almost three weeks. As the weather here has gradually improved I'm spending more time in the studio. So this week I'm posting some images that I made yesterday for your edification. The photo quality on some of these isnt great because of the sunlight being reflected off of the surfaces. Soooo.....


"Sandias at Dusk"
Oil on canvas

This is a popular subject locally, so I paint what the customers want. This version puts the emphasis on the subject matter, and so I've made the brush work less obvious than I might more commonly do. Thre are still portions of the sky and foreground that don't measure up. If someone doesn't come along and offer me some money for this painting, it'll change later in the summer.

"Sandias at Sunset"
Oil on panel

This version emphasizes heavy brush work, almost palette knife in texture. I'm quite pleased with the most of the painting, but there are still things that don't suit me very well. Is it done yet? Don't know until it sits awhile longer.






"The Church at Golden"
Oil on canvas

This one is very similar in compositon to "Winter Lights". "Winter Lights" has proven to be a crowd pleaser, but since I won't let that one go for less than $750, it is still a fixture in the studio. This is a bit smaller, and obviously isn't a nocturnal snow scene. Will it sell quickly? Too soon to tell, but I have hopes of getting $250-$300 for it before the end of summer. The painting is substantially done, but often I'll go back and rework details.




"Descent from the Cross"
Oil on panel

The subject matter was popular among late Medieval and Renaissance painters. Here is my version, a painting that has been slowly evolving for over a year. The use of a very limited red palette has been the constant even as the composition has slowly changed. This painting isn't done, and I'm not sure yet where it will end up. The image to your left is flawed by light being reflected off of the uppoer right quadrant. You can expect to see later versions of this one.












Other major studio work has centered on completing a wedding present for my nephew Matthew's upcoming nuptuals. I'll post some photos of it later. High-dee-ho....

In the Dark Marches of the Night

Ooops! Here it is late Sunday night and I've just now remembered that the blog is waiting.

"Dreams of Destruction"
Photomantage

This has elements from a dozen photographs.







This past week I worked on a couple of paintings, but nothing to show here for it. A big part of the week was spent with PhotoShop. I've been working to restore, repair, and clean up old family photos. Kris's wife, Michelle is getting everyone involved in an Internet genealogy site that has me busy trying to find photos of family dating back into the 19th century. Some of those are really tough to fix because many of them weren't very good to begin with and the damage is so extensive I have little to work with. It is an exercise that is teaching me a lot, and perhaps will be a source of future income. PhotoShop is tricky, but everyday I'm more confident and acquire new skills that make the work faster, easier and most importantly... better.

The use of PhotoShop also opens the doors to doing creative composits by borrowing elements from a variety of photos. I've long been a fan of Salvidor Dali's surrealism, but that's just not the way I like to paint. PhotoShop makes possible some pretty incredible surealistic images. This week's images were done this past week, and I hope you like them.

"The Titan"
Photomontage

This one seems simpler, but the same number of photographs were need to supply all of the elements.

"Katchina's Lament" (2008)
Oil on canvas

The People came up out of the earth assisted by the Katchina, who still play an active role in pueblo survival. The Katchina represent spirits, some of whom were ancestors, who are able to put a "butcher's thumb" on the scales of our existence. When the Spanish arrived in the 17th century they brought with them Christianity, and did their very best to surpress the native religion... harshly. Over the centuries the Pueblos have become outwardly "Christian" while quietly retaining the Katchina cults. $400






"Sunrise" (2008)
Oil on canvas

The influence of oriental art on my painting are pretty clear. "Sunrise" hung in our breakfast area, until I traded it for a year's service from a young personal chef. So, if you visit Corazon this year before the lad goes off to complete his college education, you might 'eat' a portion of this painting.






"Joesph" (2008)
Oil on Canvas
The color on this image is a bit washed out. The original is more vibrant, and maybe later I'll post a better photo.


Joseph with his colorful coat is exiled from his father's land, empty and desolate to most objective witnesses. Leaving that 'paradise', Joseph enters a new astounding world of sophistication, color and luxury. After a time, his mind wanders back to his youth. In this painting, can you tell whether he is facing Egypt, or the fields of his father?

$200





"Badlands" (2008)
Oil on canvas

This painting hangs just inside the doorway of Corazon, and Natalie probabaly will give me a hard time if I go to sell it. However, everything is for sale... well, just about everything. Say, $300 for a pretty little landscape that is pretty conventional?

As you can see, the sky is the main character in the play. As children we imagined we saw clouds forming into horses galloping in a fantasy land, or an Indian's profile, or a clown juggling candlesticks. The sky still remains one of the most interesting things I see everyday, and few places can equal New Mexico for really, really great skies.



"Cerillos" (2007)
Oil on canvas

This one is deceptively simple: land and sky. It sold almost before the paint was dry. Maybe I should paint more like this one. What do you think?









During the past week, I laid out the work plan for 2009 to David who is in charge of the Corazon grounds. Once we get the debris of winter bagged and dragged, we hope to get an early start planting this year. Last year the farm got planted too late and we never got any etible corn, but tons of pumpkins. Hopefully, the farm will produce better this year. The real focus will be on the upper level... in the English and Contemplation gardens. We want to plant several new honeysuckle vines to completely cover the walkway, and many more annual flowers for color. I'd like to upgrade the gravel walkways through both gardens, but that might not happen this year. I'm trying to conserve my limited funds to use in late July/August for kitchen renovations. We want to replace the counters, but must also replace the cooktop and sinks at the same time. The counters alone will run thousands, and in these uncertain times we may opt to scale back. At the very least I'm hoping to replace the kitchen windows with modern double panes... probably around $2K. Given the fiscal constraints, I'm trying to do as much of the labor as possible myself. Day before yesterday, I raked up all the pine needles, cleaned and got the water off the pool cover, and topped off the pool. Then I raked and generally cleaned up the lower level in preparation for planting this years farm. I just poop out too quickly. I'm still recovering, though there's more to be done. The lads didn't show yesterday to bag and dump the debris... not uncommon here for workers to be on a schedule that bears little resemblence to that time concept in the rest of the country.

No new stories written since "Sound O'pipes", but I'm working on a little thing with the working title, "Door to Darkness". Maybe I'll get it written this week. Tomorrow we'll share a Birthday dinner with our neighbors, both of whom also have birthdays this week. I never would have believed that I would live this long... Oh well.

I don't know how to add active links here, so if you're interested you'll just have to copy the site address here and paste it into your browser window. In addition to the short stories at Writing.com I have a flicker site where examples of my photographs and paintings can be seen. It is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/75778940@N00/

Paintings

Here are some paintings from the past three years. Elements drawn from Southwestern cultures have remained prominent, though my serious work has been drifting back toward the abstraction that I'm better known for. As my hearing deteriorated it became more and more difficult for me to edit the RGAA "The Palette", so I'm no longer involved in that. Even attending the RGAA monthly meetings is an exercise in futility, so I'm working more independently than at any time since moving to Albuquerque.


"The Potter" (2006)
15.5X19.5 Oil on Panel

This painting was actually the first in the series. It now hangs in our upstairs office. Want it? $300 will put it on your wall.













"Moon Maiden 1" (2006)
11X14 Oil on Panel

I'm fascinated by nocturnal scenes, and mystery of the night. The moon and the jug resting on the maiden's round head with the hairdo of the Indian maiden are all tied together. There is more intense color and the shadows don't fall where they should in a realistic depiction. This was intended to underscore the unreality and dream-like quality of the painting. This is one of my favorites, and so the $500 asking price seems reasonable to me.








"Moon Maiden 2" (2006)
16X20 Oil on canvas

A maiden went to the river to fetch a pail of water, and caught sight of the moon's reflection. She fell in love, and determined to be forever with her lover grabbed hold of it and was carried away. They never found the body, and this painting is priced at $400










My intention is to post several of jpgs of paintings from the 2006-2008 period until we all either get tired of the process, or I've posted all of the images I have available. The prices do not include the costs of shipping and handling, so if you want a painting expect to pay a bit over the listed prices.

The New Era

I'll be 68 on 09MAR. Where does the time go? These days its common for me to lose track of the time and the date. I'm finding that my vocabulary is growing at a slower pace, and the more frequently I'm unable to call up the word, or name, I'm looking for. Thank god for circumlocutions.

Though the past year has been difficult for most of the world, the World of Corazon has actually been pretty good. Last year we made significant progress in getting the grounds in back of the house in order. We put in a large kitchen garden down on the lowest levels, and had oodles of squash and pumpkins. Our corn was uneatable, but for the first time there was one eatable apple. We replaced about half of the fencing on the pool level, and got the lawn restored. The big project was to completely redo the balcony/deck outside the Master suite... and it is sweet. I spent much more time out of doors, and in the pool. This year, we'll be focusing on the next round of upgrades to the English and Contemplation Gardens on the street level. That will mostly consist of planting new plants, vines, and shrubs plus heavy mulching to keep out the unwanted from our flower beds. The irrigation still needs more work, but that'll probably be on the 2010 list.

This year we hope to make the kitchen renovation our big project. Whether we'll have enough money is open to question. One major element is to replace all of the counter-tops, the sink & its hardware, and the cook-top. We expect a new electric cook-top similar to our old one to cost something on the order $2500, perhaps another thousand to replace our three lobed sink with two lobes mounted under the counter. That would leave the counter-top replacements. Can it be done for $5K, or less? Doubtful given how much counter space we have. We also need to replace the double wall-mounted ovens, and the kitchen windows with new double panes. The lowest priority, though still important is to replace the pulls and install pull out shelving to the lower cabinets so we don't have to get down on hands and knees to find a pot, or pan, or whatever.

This year we don't expect to do much traveling, mostly due to the costs. We over spent traveling toward the end of 2008 when we traveled with AmTrak to Missouri and California to visit family. We have tentative plans to attend my nephew Matthew's wedding in September, but I fear for the cost. Mostly, we're hoping and expecting to host for many of our relatives and friends. That's easier for us, and staying at Corazon as our guests for a week or so is a pretty inexpensive get-away for most folks. This year we'll have the services of a cook and masseuse available for our guests, and the amenities get a little better each year. Put us on your calendar, and let me know when to expect you.

Painting remains one of my primary interests, and I'm spending a fair amount of time out in the studio. Sales are already better than last year, and I'm happy with the production so far. I intend more abstractions this year, though the customers still have a clear preference for local landscape paintings. I'd also like to do more sculptural work, both stand alone and as real dimensional wall hangings. Tools, materials and experience are all hurdles for that. Nothing was accepted for this year's MasterWorks exhibition, though I'm committed to helping hang the show late this month. I currently have one painting student, and very much enjoy the teaching.

Another of my New Year's Resolutions was to become skillful at using PhotoShop Elements to clean, repair and otherwise manipulate old images. There has been some progress there, and hopefully by the end of the year I'll be pretty good at using the software. Time sure flies by quickly as we age.

Catching Up

In the 2006-2009 hiatus, someone convinced me to start a blog... that's Asherman Productions (also at blogger.com). If I knew how to do it, I'd merge the two. It makes sense to have this sort of site for displaying my art work, and I really should tend to it more carefully.

The original conceptions was to feature both art work and short stories. My writing has in the meantime found a comfortable home, and that is: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/user_id/asherman WDC (Writing.com) is a site where a lot of writers hangout and work on perfecting their ability to tell a rousing story. As of late February I believe there are around 37 of my stories at the linked site. Please, go over a read a few... I think you'll be entertained and there is something there for just about everyone.

Soooo, this blog site will henceforth be art work and perhaps a bit of "Life at Corazon" for those silly souls who are interested in how old people spend their time.

Having that out of the way, lets post a few pieces of art. Here are three older pen and ink drawings that seem to be popular, but unfortunately not popular enough to get folks reaching for the billfolds.

Today Rex Barron came to visit. It was a pleasant afternoon talking about art and sipping single malt whiskey. During our conversation, Rex commented on some of the paintings that appear in this blog. I had totally forgotten I even had the durned thing. Sooooo, Here I is again. I'll try to catch folks up on what's been happening since the last post... 2006!!!!