Blue Horizon Painting, the Calendar, and a Mockingbird

BLUE HORIZON        oil on paper      8" x 10"

...today is the last day of the year according to the calendar we are using...for me the new year begins after the shortest darkest day, at solstice, a Real Event...

I wonder if we would feel differently about Christmas if it came at the beginning of the year 

rather than the end...

Mockingbird, who looks so slim in the summer, showed up this morning with feathers fluffed against the cold air...

December Composition

DECEMBER COMPOSITION     oil on canvas      44" x 60"

"Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears."

   — Rudyard Kipling, who was born this day in India in 1865

(from Quotes of the Day)

Roadrunner Roost Yesterday 4pm

a series in my ongoing attempts to catch this unique creature in the act..

it looks around from side to side...

takes a look up at its target...

turns and looks intently...

crouches ready to spring...

and goes so fast my shutter is too slow...

and the image not clear at all...will continue this effort, maybe get out the video camera...

today wind and rain and mist...

click to see all 7 days

Winter Blackbird Painting and Storm on Saturn

WINTER BLACKBIRD        oil on canvas       12" x 12"

December 24, 2010 photo of a giant storm system on Saturn by the NASA Cassini spacecraft which is orbiting that amazing planet...see Ciclops for details...this project is headed up by Carolyn Porco, who consistently posts what's happening out there...

Desert Seed Pods

Palo Verde

ChinaBerry

ChinaBerry with top branches

Mimosa

No Idea Painting and Colored Skies

now that we have passed the turning of the light, the day is already noticeably longer...

 

 north east Bullion Mountains lit by last night's setting sun

NO IDEA         oil on canvas         12" x 12"

a few minutes before sunrise this morning...

the wind is up, and the sky is brightly overcast

Sunrise 25 December 2010

saw Venus glowing red this morning at 3:15 am, just clearing the moonlit horizon, did not get up to try a time exposure...

and I did walk outside to shoot this about 20 minutes before sunrise...

and this, the misty moon behind gauzy pink clouds

Solstice Fish Painting and New Grass

already the days are lengthening and we are leaping ahead into a new cycle of light and dark...

WINTER SOLSTICE FISH      oil on canvas    8" x 8"

available for $170. US

the low winter sun lights up the dew on the newly growing grasses, so happy after the rains...

moon over Joshua in the beloved blue sky...

and, for all you creatives (i.e. everyone) I have added some more of my favorite links to free wisdom on the left under "Get Inspired"

Storms Gone For Now

clear skies

fresh snow on the San Bernardinos at sunrise

early sun warms the colors of the yellow Cassia flowers...everything is wet and bright and freshened...

Rain Clouds at Sunrise Painting

RAIN CLOUDS AT SUNRISE          oil on canvas          12" x 16"

(not today!)

still raining, sunshine promised for tomorrow

Rainy Winter Solstice Paintings

WINTER SOLSTICE      oil on canvas    8" x 8"

WINTER SOLSTICE 2       oil on canvas    8" x 8"

Rain and Fog

lovely rain last night, still raining lightly off and on 

earlier this morning was like being on an island, all the mountains were invisible

 

20 minutes  later

the Bullion Mountains to the north continue to be completely shrouded

Storm Clouds and Storm Painting

storm clouds blowing in

view to the east

view to the south

and a painting of summer rain and the Bullion Mountains to the north

NORTH STORM     oil on canvas      10" x 10"

Windy Sunrise

lots of clouds blowing around as the sky lightens...

this taken about 6:15 this morning...

full moon and total lunar eclipse happening at Winter Solstice (Monday night) this year...the weather forecast indicates we will be lucky if we glimpse the red moon in between the clouds:

and we do love the rain...

6:45 am...clouds filling in

Autumn into Winter Painting

AUTUMN INTO WINTER           oil on canvas       30" x 40"

this kind of painting seems to have a name:

"lyrical abstract impressionism"

...strange to make a painting out of nowhere and then find out it is already categorized... 

If you practice an art, be proud of it and make it proud of you.... It may break your heart, but it will fill your heart before it breaks it.

— Maxwell Anderson from Quotes of the Day

Rain Night in the Mojave

there was a small double ring around the half moon last night about 10 pm...the moon's outline  was softened behind a thin cloud layer...between the moon and the first slim rainbow ring was an aqua color, and in the narrow space between the first and second ring was a pale sapphire blue...quite the prettiest moon rings I can remember...

as I begin this post it is gently raining tiny drops

...in the night I woke to hear dripping sounds and saw no stars...rain at night, soft gentle rain, just what the desert loves to soak up...

now at 8am the clouds and mists are beginning to dissipate and the mountains are re-appearing, all in utter silence...

Circle Painting

The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.
— Francis Bacon

interesting opinion...

SERENITY        oil on canvas      16" x 16"

December Desert Sights

Side-Blotch Lizard warming itself and its newly growing tail

ravens sailing home at the end of the day

winter bush at dusk

another clear sky this morning...promises another lovely warm day...

(this taken about 10 minutes before sun up)

Platinum Day Painting

today the sky is so clear that the sun's first ray over the mountains was like an intense white diamond with a flash of green...

this painting is a memory of soft overcast days that visit us from time to time:

PLATINUM DAY           oil on canvas       10" x 10"     

Summer Rain Painting

SUMMER RAIN              oil on canvas              10" x 10"

Sunrise Rain Clouds Painting

SUNRISE RAIN CLOUDS        oil on linen      8" x 10"

 available for $230. US including simple black frame