New Mexico Dreaming

Right now the heat in New Mexico is blistering. The long road I drove with my friend, Alice, from southern New Mexico to Albuqueque and on to check out the art meccas of Santa Fe and Taos, is now baked as you drive so fast your tires won't melt onto the macadum. The rising heat vibrates as your long view takes in the narrow stripe that leads you across the state, interrupted only by tossing tumbleweed.

We saw a lot of beauty that trip both in the stark, red vista of the desert and in the galleries and marketplaces filled with the creativity of artists from across the country. But for natural beauty, the place we started out, Alamagordo, trumps them all. The mountains easily reached heights only imagined back East and we had two glorious days painting the mountain forests on location.

This painting, New Mexican Landscape I, is on exhibit at the BWAC show HOT! which opens this Saturday, at the Red Hook Pier, Brooklyn, NY. Pastel, 14" x 11" (20" x 16" framed), $525.

Golden Pine

It conjures up cool, mountain breezes, the refreshing air of Autumn, a great relief from the stifling New York humidity. The painting, "Golden Pine" was painted on location in southern New Mexico, near a town called Alamagordo (I love to say that name.) I worked at an easel with pastels, gazing at a mountainside filled with trees that had already kissed summer good bye, their predominantly yellow leaves encompassing my view. While I invented the colors in my painting, they were all there under the surface, if you just looked a little closer. But I had to give tribute to their golden color, hence my solitary yellow pine. Because it is alone, it draws your eye, contrasting with the violet-hued hillside.

This piece is on display at the BWAC Summer Show - HOT! -at the Red Hook Pier in Brooklyn, weekends from July 26 - August 17 (see previous post). It won an award at the Pastel Society of Oregon 10th National Juried Show. Pastel, 25" x 19"unframed, $1,350, matted and framed.

Jul 26 - Aug 17 Summer Show - Hot! - Red Hook Pier

If you haven't had the pleasure of taking a trip to Red Hook, Brooklyn, or even if you have, weekends between July 26th and August 17th will be the place to be to see what's happening in the New York art world. Over 200 artists from around the city will be showing their work in the historic pier space. While you're enjoying views of the Statue of Liberty & NY harbor, you can have lunch at Fairways, visit the new Ikea or explore this fun neighborhood. Look for 2 panels from me, one featuring pastel landscapes and the other my original collages. What do you think of Red Hook?