This is painted from a photo which was almost all green. I started with a complimentary color underpainting…all pink and red, and decided I liked the energy. I painted the figures so they become part of the background.
Sunrise 24 August
Today is the last weekday I will have to savor the changing light in the mornings for a while. I love to sit with my coffee and watch the sun rise from my kitchen or back porch. Big giant pink sun peeking over the trees, and then the light show: pink, to peach, to yellow, and then to see what color blue the day will bring. Instead of savoring the light change, I painted fast this morning, for Monday will have me urging kids to stay on task and get out the door for school. Trying to capture the changing light, I was aware of how fast things change: the light of sunrise, or the growing up of kids. I am grateful that every now and then I can stop time and savor the moment.
“Juniper and Red Hills”
“Water Lilies with Reeds”
Water Lilies
“Fishing on Gunstream Lake”
“Rainy Cloudcroft”
Cloudcroft New Mexico is perhaps my favorite place on the planet. Even this gloomy summer rain was breathtaking.
“Evening Light on Old Barn”
“Light and Shadow”
We have been in the “land of enchantment” for nearly 6 weeks. I am headed home today. We are richer for our experiences and time in this beautiful state. We are shy our pop-up camper, but we have gained many stories, a bear skull, a bunch of finished paintings, stone carvings, and fused glass jewelry pieces my sons made:) As a group we have covered hundreds of miles on trail, and watched the light change on many mountains and mesas. I can’t imagine a better way to spend the summer. For our friendships we have nurtured, and the time we have spent together…I am truly grateful.
This is my “daily painting” at White Sands National Monument. I will do a painting of the dunes by moonlight in the next few weeks, but for now, you can enjoy my shadows.
I leave a little bit of myself in Texas when we depart on this journey, and now I feel a little bit of myself will remain in New Mexico.
“Work as Prayer”
I have just finished reading “The Hawk and the Dove” trilogy by Penelope Wilcock. It is the story of a Benedictine monastery in the 13th century. A brother at Christ in the Desert thought I would enjoy it. What a great story, and it has made the time I have spent at The monastery even more meaningful. This is Brother James, watering the prayer garden.
