This week a gallery director called me a mid-career artist. I had to laugh considering that my upcoming birthday on Sunday (it has a big zero on the end and that's all I'm saying!) might not qualify me for being "mid" anything. Needless to say, I've been reflecting a lot this week about my life and my work. I most definitely feel a sense of urgency that didn't exist even a few years ago. But, I am choosing to focus on something else right now. Despite the frustrations and uncertainties of an artist's life, I would not want any other life. Its greatest gift is a sense of perpetual becoming- that there are always new things to learn, new ways to see, and new work to be done.
I took this image using a tripod but it looks like a Halloween poltergeist got into my studio and was shaking the camera. Really, I don't know why its so blurry! The bad news is I didn't get around to checking it until after the piece had left the studio. Lesson learned.
As of this morning I have one spot left in the online Luminous Landscape class for January. Information and registration hereUpdate :Class is now full. Email me if you would like to be notified about upcoming classes.
This painting and a half dozen others are on their way across the Big Pond to the Christmas show at Blackheath Gallery in London. The show opens November 7.
I am very pleased to say that I am now represented by Galerie Kornye in Dallas and Galerie Kornye West in Ft. Worth. I'll have work in the Holiday open house at the Dallas gallery on November 19 and the Miniatures Show in Ft. Worth which opens December 4.
Also very happy to say that Evening Embers sold at the Albuquerque Museum Miniatures & More gala on October 24!
Tabernacle frames have been around for a long time. I didn't realize just how long until recently. Many of us are familiar with the Renaissance versions of this frame and even later 18th century and early 20th century styles. But in researching the history of this frame design, I discovered that its development formed the basis of the modern frame. Its a little like the "missing link" between architecture and the modern fine art frame.
Its proper name is an aedicule which means loosely "little house". It has its origins in the 4th century cathedrals which sprung up all over the Roman Empire once Christianity had been sanctioned. Its purpose was to house sacred altarpieces and it was designed to be attached to and part of the architecture surrounding it. Its basic elements- two columns topped with an entablature or pediment- would become the standard design concept of framing. Byzantine and Gothic examples abound. Much later, in the 16th century, the idea of portability was introduced and the form was used to "house" non religious subjects. The detached frame was born. But, craftsman instinctively used the "little house" design concepts when making the earliest frames for easel paintings. Over the centuries, the aedicule form came in and out of fashion and echoed the architectural and design components of the day.
The frame shown above on Twilight Moon is our contemporary version of the tabernacle frame. Its proportion and design echoes the traditional elements but gives a more contemporary, though still traditional look to the frame. The panel is a matte dark maroon surrounded by a distressed gold outer molding with a distressed gold inner lip.
I just finished teaching the last week of the Magic Hours online class. One of the things I tell students wanting to learn about the Tonalist aesthetic is that mood is an important component of this painting style. And although it might seem difficult to quantify or analyze the elusive concept of mood, it can be translated into the language of painting. Very close values and tightly focused color harmonies are what I call "the mood makers".
This is one of the three smaller pieces I am exhibiting at the Albuquerque Museum Miniatures & More show. The gala opening is on October 24 and I am looking forward to a road trip over to New Mexico. I'll spend a few extra days in Santa Fe after the show.
Shortly after I started this blog over two years ago now, I did a series of small paintings called Rick's Pool. As I explained back then, the word "pool" is used in northeast Texas to describe a pond, which is mostly used to water livestock but often serves as a fishing hole as well. They are a constant source of inspiration for my work.
We had a spectacular early moonrise this evening ahead of Sunday's Harvest Moon. As a confirmed moon watcher, I'm looking forward to a weekend of moon gazing. Moon set should be terrific too. Must. Get. Up..for that!
BTW, I've three spots left in the online class and two spots left in the Workshop/Mini Mentorship. Info and registration is here.
The hummingbirds left yesterday...well, most of them. The chubby little rufus who guards two of the feeders is still here and a few of his buddies. And we've had the most spectacular few days of sunsets-each day a new and different color harmony, as if summer is putting on a final show with a few extra curtain calls.
We've had constant rains and thunderstorms for about two weeks now. A day of sun yesterday and back to thunder and lightening last night. So far, a very odd fall.
I've just scheduled an online class -Painting the Luminous Landscape for January 8-February 5 , 2010. The class is limited to 10 students and usually fills quickly.
Here's the link for all the details about the class and registration (scroll down to Virtual Classes).
I have also scheduled an Advanced Class/Mini Mentorship to be held in April 2010 at my studio. I am very excited about this class! This program is limited to 5 artists (3 spots left) and attendance at a prior class is a prerequisite (or permission from me). You may register to reserve your spot if you have taken or will have taken a prior online class or workshop by April of next year.
Follow the link above for information and registration.
I am also happy to say that I'll be having a solo show in February 2010 at M Gallery of Fine Art in Sarasota, Florida. In connection with that I'll be teaching a five day workshop. The show opens on February 5 and the workshop runs from February 8-12. Contact M Gallery to register.
Summer is waning. Every morning this week its been a little cooler and the day a bit shorter. The morning sun rises a few degrees farther to the south. I love the change of seasons- when everything in nature-from the mighty Sun to the lowly hummingbird- obeys its destiny.
Thanks to everyone who left comments and emailed me with suggestions for a title! I finally decided to use a title suggested by Brenda Boylan, but there were so many really good ones, I'm sure I'll be using many of them in the future. So here is newly named Evening Embers in its frame ready for delivery to Ft. Worth next week.
This piece will be shown at the Fall Gallery Night show at Galerie Kornye West in Ft. Worth next month. Usually, I get an idea for a painting and the title is part of that idea. Or, the title comes to me while I am painting it. Maybe its because I have a studio full of pieces that I am trying to finish for upcoming shows, but I can't seem to conjure up a title for this one. Suggestions, please?
In the summer of 2001 Steve and I rented a house in Santa Fe. Although we had been spending a few months a year in northern New Mexico since 1998, this was the first time we spent much time in Santa Fe. The old adobe house was located a block off Canyon Road and had a beautiful walled garden. We settled in and started to make friends, entertain, explore and generally have a lovely time. It was also the summer I painted this little pastel. It turned out to be a breakthrough piece in a number of ways. It won some awards and ended up being published in several magazines and a book. As a result of that, I received some attention from galleries and eventually had feature articles in American Artist and The Pastel Journal, and an"Artist to Watch" in Southwest Art Magazine.
Big Tesuque Aspens 12 x 16 Pastel 2001 (this was so long ago I don't even have a digital image of it!)
So, in addition to enjoying an idyllic couple of months, I made some big progress in my work that summer- both at the easel and in my career. We were blissfully and mercifully ignorant of the events that were about to over take us over the next months and years- 9/11, the deaths of my parents, Steve's heart surgery, and the financial hardships that brought. That summer, all seemed right with the world.
Last year, I was contacted by New Mexico Magazine - they wanted to use an image of Big Tesuque Aspens in their 2010 calendar. This week my complementary copies arrived. We have moved on, as has my work, but it was a nice reminder of the Summer of Santa Fe.
Evening's Approach
