These clouds fill me with a sense of awe.
“Watching for Rain”
Today I make my yearly trek from the Lone Star state into the Land of Enchantment. For those who follow this blog, we will spend the next month in the painted desert. I am so glad you are coming along.
“The Burning of Waldo Canyon”
“But clouds bellied out in the sultry heat, the sky cracked open with a crimson gash, spewed flame-and the ancient forest began to smoke. By morning there was a mass of booming, fiery tongues, a hissing, crashing, howling all around, half the sky black with smoke, and the bloodied sun just barely visible.” -Yevengy Zamyatin
I like to think of myself as an adventurous person, but as I painted this painting I thought of J.M.W. Turner and I realized I am not so brave. Turner would tie himself to the mast of a ship in a storm, and he ran to paint the burning of the parliament building in 1835. I painted this painting from a photo a friend from Colorado Springs sent me, no smoke, no danger, no noise, no heat, no immediate fear. For all who have no choice but smell the smoke, feel the heat, hear the roar, and fear the losses: of your homes, your community, and your precious forest, my heart and prayers are with you.
“Father Son Day Hike”
This is my son Noah hiking with his pop in a box canyon in Ghost Ranch, NM. It is a cool oasis of green in the harsh desert that surrounds it, and a perfect place to pass a hot afternoon (as long as you watch for storms).
Beautiful Storm
I painted this with an underpainting that I washed in with denatured alcohol. For some reason the drips were hard to paint over in places, but it seemed to work ok with the rain in the finished painting.
Puddles on the Horizon
I’ve loved puddles since I was a little girl, the light reflects so beautifully off these.
Abiquiu to Ruidoso
Anyone who has traveled with children in the car knows what it is like to spend a month in a car one day. Often, road trip time feels slow – sometimes I am in the right frame of mind to savor and enjoy time passing. This was one of those days. We drove from Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico, down to Ruidoso. The children slept, the rain fell, and we savored the drive – we watched the landscape unfold and open up around us, and we accepted the gift that was simply being present. It would take a month to paint the drive from this day, perhaps I will try.
Gone Berry Picking
Through Hiking the CDT
We were traveling past Ghost ranch into Christ in the Desert Monastery a week ago, and we ran into Greg and Clement through hiking the Continental Divide Trail, a national scenic running 3,100 miles (5,000 km) between Mexico and Canada. We dream of through hiking a trail one day, and we love through hiking culture. Greg and Clement were delightful, if you would like to learn more about their hike read here: gregjhammond.blogspot.com
“Merrily Painting”
This is my beautiful mother painting in the painted desert outside of Georgia O’Keefe’s house. My mom taught me so much, and then let me teach her when she signed up for one of my workshops. I am so grateful to you, mom, for who you are, and all that you have done to encourage me. Starting at age 6, I always believed I was an artist because you made me think it was true. You are still doing that today. Thank you. I love you. Happy birthday!
paintandsimple 