Open Studio Tour Continues

I woke up this morning feeling very grateful to the people in the Joshua Tree area community for showing up in large numbers and bringing their friends and relatives to visit artists in their studios.  The interest and the encouragement is wonderful, and the support of purchasing our work by those who can.  I loved hearing about what people had bought from other artists they had visited, and how delighted they were with their new acquisitions. 

Here are images of two from my studio which found new local homes yesterday:

CABIN at GOAT MOUNTAIN     oil on canvas       8" x 10"

This one was brand new, I had just put it in a frame and hung it yesterday morning.

LITTLE WASH on POLE HILL ROAD      oil on canvas    6" x 6"

and we have another sunny warm desert day.

Artists' studios, including this one, will be open today, Sunday, from 9am to 5pm.

Free booklets with maps are available at local businesses.

End of a Lovely Day

white John F Kennedy hybrid tea rose in perfect bloom

catching the late afternoon October desert sun

view along a road to the south after sunset

Open Studio This Afternoon!

Open Studio begins TODAY (29 Oct) from noon to 5pm at my studio, #50 on the map

...and continues Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm.

Here are images of a couple of new small landscapes available:

DESERT IMPRESSION 2     6" x 6"

BELOVED MOJAVE 2     8" x 10"

Directions from Joshua Tree:

North on Sunburst (light on east side of town)

East on Golden

North on Border to Winters

West on Winters (dirt road) a little over 2 miles, past Sunny Vista,

then North on Via Maria to Birdie Road

West on Birdie, first house on right, pale gray stucco with purple trim

From Yucca Valley:

North on Old Woman Springs Road (247) about 8 miles to Reche

East on Reche about 6 miles to Sunny Vista

South on Sunny Vista (dirt road) about 1 mile

West on Napa a short distance, 

then take first left on Via Maria to Birdie

R on Birdie, first house on right

(or take Aberdeen to Border and follow JT directions (this may be shorter depending where you are starting from in YV)

Open Studio Tomorrow, Friday, and Some Cool Clouds

Open Studio begins at my studio tomorrow, Friday from noon to 5pm.

Here are 3 little paintings among the many small format pieces that are available:

COYOTE MELON     6" x 6"

CABIN WITH A VIEW     5" x 7"

RED DOOR, RED WALL     6" x 6"

and yesterday's cloud that looks like a sea creature to me:

and sky writing just before sunrise

(Coxcomb Range on the horizon, about 40 miles away)

New Curve Painting

DARK CURVE       oil on canvas      24" x 24"

October Morning

giant clouds, tiny mountains...

OPEN STUDIO Friday, Saturday and Sunday

The second weekend of the Joshua Tree area Open Studio Art Tours is coming up fast.  Free booklets with maps available at local businesses.

My studio will be open:

Friday October 29th from noon to 5pm  (extra hours, beat the crowds!)

Saturday and Sunday, October 30 and 31, from 9am to 5pm.

I will be showing over 100 new works, including landscapes and abstract work, from 6" x 6" to 60" x 44"...samples below...

From the abstract Doorways Series:

INDIGO DOORWAYS      oil on canvas        24" x 24"

a few new homestead paintings like this one:

STILL STANDING    oil on canvas      8" x 8"

and new landscapes like this one:

SEPTEMBER MORNING SKY 2        oil on canvas       8" x 10"

Directions from Joshua Tree:(see booklet for directions from Yucca Valley)

North on Sunburst at the light on the east end of downtown Joshua Tree

East on Golden for a short distance

North on Border to Winters (4-5 miles)

West on Winters (not paved) for a little more than 2 miles

North on Via Maria less than a mile

West on Birdie, first building on right (north side)

Pale gray stucco with purple trim

Moss Hart

All the mistakes I ever made were when I wanted to say 'no' and said 'yes'.


Moss Hart, 1904 - 1961 (from Quotes of the Day)


At first I laughed when I read this...I then thought, well, one cannot ALWAYS say no and live a full life...and how can I really know what is a mistake and what gives the character to the fabric...




Here is a recently finished painting of our wonderful sky:

MOJAVE SUNSET CLOUD             oil on linen           14" x 18"

October Moon

Full moon rising in the west on Friday evening

Full moon in the east on Saturday morning as the sun lights the hills

Clothesline

What is that line strung between the corner of my house and the corner of the garage?

It is my solar clothes dryer...actually powered by the sun AND the wind...even towels come out soft and fluffy on a windy day...and of course scented with sweetness and freshness...

in the summer when it is 95-105 degrees F and almost zero humidity, you can hang out a load of wash and it will be dry by the time the second load is finished...in fact, the air is so dry that you don't need either the sun or the wind for the clothes (including jeans and towels) to dry overnight...

these days it is cooler and there is humidity in the air from all these clouds that are coming through...so the sun and the wind are the dryers...

and I never tire of looking at the blue sky as I reach up to clip a clothespin...

Joshua Tree Area Open Studio Art Tours Start Tomorrow!

       

 Don't forget!

This Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm is the first of two weekends...free booklets with maps and images of each person's artwork are available in restaurants and galleries and other businesses, and on line...and lots of the artists have samples of their work hung at Crossroads Cafe in Joshua Tree.  
Note: (My studio will be open THE 2nd WEEKEND ONLY)
See http://www.hwy62weekly.com/ for details.

I will welcome you to my studio at 60756 Birdie Road, in north North Joshua Tree, on Saturday and Sunday, October 30 and 31, from 9am - 5pm, AND, also on Friday October 29 from noon to 5pm.

Directions from Joshua Tree:  (see booklet for directions from Yucca Valley)



North on Sunburst at the light on the east end of downtown Joshua Tree
East on Golden for a short distance
North on Border to Winters (4-5 miles)
West on Winters (not paved) for a little more than 2 miles
North on Via Maria less than a mile
West on Birdie, first building on right (north side)
Pale gray stucco with purple trim

BLUEFIELD STUDIO

Blue Sky Day

dawn this morning...the heavy wet clouds have moved on leaving their tatters...

Little October Squares

LEMON SQUARE 2         oil on canvas    6" x 6"

RED SCARF             oil and acrylic on canvas          6" x 6"

Wet Desert

yesterday's sunshine gleaming on the soon disappeared puddles in the road

a rainbow so wide my wide angle lens could not see both sides

(click image to enlarge and see this intense rainbow a little better)

and this morning just a bit of light showing at sunrise time after a half hour of gentle rain...

now, an hour later, pieces of blue sky are appearing...it all changes so quickly that I have to remind myself to look away from whatever painting is intriguing me or whatever else I am doing so that I don't miss anything happening on the huge desert sky canvas...

Desert Rain Clouds

Sunset last night

north sky at sunset last night

lots of lighting in the north last night...and then heavy rain at quarter of six this morning followed by about 15 minutes of gentle rain...

then more rain for about 40 minutes 2 hours later...

north sky at sunrise this morning

raining in the east at sunrise time

the air is sweet and heavy with the moisture and the scent of creosote

New Little Square Paintings and the Owl

Last night, almost asleep, with the window open, I was blessed with the haunting voice of the Great Horned Owl resonating over the silent moonlit desert. (the link has photos and a little close-up recording)

RED SQUARE 10         oil on canvas        6" x 6"

RED SQUARE 11      oil on canvas     6" x 6"

Early Eastern Sky and Yesterday's Conversations at JTAG

about 45 minutes before sunrise this morning...

I woke up still feeling warm from conversing with people visiting the Joshua Tree Art Gallery yesterday...T's  Swedish mother who lives in Sweden, people from Oregon and England and  Los Angeles, and of course cherished local friends...conversations about art and weather and our beloved desert and even Goudi's unfinished church in Barcelona, which was a neglected remnant, full of rubble,  when I saw it 40 years ago...

Sunrise Before the Storm

 STORMCLOUD SUNRISE             oil on linen      8" x 10"

Available for sale  US $250.

(as are most of the paintings I post 

see website for more )

and I will have this one with me at JTAG today

Saturday at JTAG

Saturday 16 October I will be at the Joshua Tree Art Gallery in downtown Joshua Tree from 10am and 3pm.

These are two of the works I have on exhibit there:

EARLY LIGHT        oil on linen      8" x 10"    ($250.)     

BLUE THRESHOLD     oil on canvas      30" x 48"       ($1900.)

Sunrise 15 October 2010

the point of the sun's appearance is inexorably moving southward, and now an hour and a half later than at summer solstice...

Underwater Rocks?

more images from last week's East Desert exploration:

the tallest of these is about 10 feet from bottom to top

this is huge formation, about 15 feet high

this is about 6 feet tall...it is easy to believe that this area was under water long ago...I can imagine many colored fish swimming in and out of these little caves...

Return to Abstraction

WINDOW PATTERN              oil on clear-primed linen        24" x 24"

Little Traveler

I have been seeing this little bird for about a week, flitting about in the mesquites and palo verdes and the texas sage, always moving too fast or too obscured to see it clearly

finally yesterday I got a clear shot 

it appears to be, according to Roger Tory Peterson, a Yellow-Rumped Warbler in its winter plumage (I had caught sight of its yellow rump another day, but the Magnolia Warbler also has a yellow rump...this pale plumage identifies it)...this desert area is a stop over point for many migrating birds, and I see different ones each spring and fall as the birds move north and south...in 4 and a half years I have seen a solitary Robin only twice...

More of the East Desert

I came across an area that seemed to be crumbling pale gray sandstone kind of cemented together...the rocks had the same texture as the "ground"

nevertheless things were growing, although fairly dormant now, waiting for possible winter rains...this does not happen every year

 

this is a pair of young Cottontop Cacti, about 8" across, seeming to grow right out of the rock...this bodes well for their future, for although they look well protected with these lovely pink curved spines, desert creatures have learned to borrow underneath and eat out the inside...it does not look like this would happen here...this was the only Cottontop I saw that afternoon...