Quiet Times

November is not the nicest month in Colorado; fall colors are gone and the real cold is setting in. It is good time to sort out things in my studio and go through the chaos on my drafting table: half baked ideas and sketches done in a flash of inspiration that got trumped by any opportunity to "go out" and paint.
The piece below is one of those ideas, based on a plein air piece that sold quite awhile back. The idea for a large Gorge painting has been in my head for months - and I needed to shake it out; for better or worse. Two weeks ago I dove into this 24"x 36" piece and this week, in an effort to get it dry, I drove around for several days with it in the back window of my car. More about that later.


Once there is snow on the ground I will be anxious to get back out into the landscape, but for the moment I am trying to make the most of a few quiet weeks.
I find that during a period of working mainly en plein air, things come up that either work or don't and there isn't always time to really do any serious thinking about what is needed. For me - the only way to address some problems is to spend time in the studio: looking, thinking, painting.
That also means going through the work of the past few months with a critical eye for some serious editing and destroying work that is not up to speed.
Ah...... and at the bottom of the pile of papers on my desk is the abandoned sketch for a commission due at Christmas. YIKES.
No more putting that off.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Paintings From Taos

Eldon - here they are,
at least a few, and the jury is still out on those. Sue McCullough and I hit it pretty hard, painting about 3 a day. We started 2 mornings before dawn, hoping to beat the wind but in the end our days were beautiful. We did get caught by a sudden storm while painting on the mountain near Pilar - nearly lost the easels but got everything thrown in the truck before it really began to pour.
At the top is one of those early mornings around the San Geronimo Lodge and right below here is a long view toward Rancho de Taos, done near the end of the week. Next to that is my interpretation of the Gorge. Jeannie Breeding was standing conveniently in my view, and later bought that piece. Thanks Jeannie.