Segil Fine Art Holiday Small Works Show

I was honored to have this piece "The Plug" juried into the Segil Fine Art 2010 Holiday Small Works Show in Southern California that opened last weekend. I was not able to attend but heard from a reliable source (my Mom) that it was an excellent show and a good party. This show will hang until the end of December and worth seeing if you are in the Southern California area. The Segil Gallery is not the only great gallery tucked away in the foothills community of Monrovia but part of a picturesque and fashionable shopping destination; a great place for Christmas shopping, and don't forget to buy art. Miniatures make great stocking stuffers for that person on your list that has everything.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hearts & Stars In Taos

It is that time of year: holiday parties, fund raisers and ways to think about giving back. Hearts & Stars is one show that covers all those bases, bringing together work from some of the best artists with art lovers, collectors and the Taos community at large - all for a very good cause - to support Taos Coalition to End Homelessness, Inc.
And all the work is under 8"x 10".
Rob Nightingale at Wilder Nightingale Fine Art does a wonderful job hosting this event with live music and fabulous food - all for a good cause.
If you are within 200 miles - it is a party worth attending.
Friday, November 26th from 6-8 pm at Wilder Nightingale Fine Art on Kit Carson in Taos; suggested $10 donation at the door.
I will definitely be there, albeit dragging "das Boot" but the Dr has given me leave to go without crutches. Yippee! That is one personal reason to be thankful this year, that and the fact that I didn't break my head or painting hand.
The painting at the top of this post is one of two pieces that I entered: 'Ladies in Painting', 7"x 7", oil on panel, the other, below, is 'Mesa View', 6"x 8", plein air piece in oil from Ghost Ranch.
If you can't make the show in person, see it online just click on Wilder Nightingale.

My Current View

The painting has been negligible lately- and the view less than steller but I am hoping to be out of "das Boot" in a couple of weeks.
My little dog Asta is a faithful attendant.


As fall waned the painting class enjoyed fair weather right up to the end of October.

This was one of our last nights out for the evening class.

Class Notes: Painting Glass

The fall color is gone and morning temps hover around 12 degrees. It is time for the painting class to move into the studio and I have had requests for some specific instruction on painting glass and metal.
These 3 little studies focus on clear glass and my approach is very unfussy.
I rely on context to explain the situation so I can get away with saying as little as possible in paint and allow the eye to fill in the blanks.
Clarity is also key when interpreting clear glass. Beginners fall into the trap of trying to describe too much "glass"- which, when you think about it - if it is clear, should hardly be seen at all.
Finally, strong hard highlights and hard accents (the darkest marks) communicate the hardness of the glass.

A Day in Taos

PAPNM, Plein Air Painters of New Mexico Show at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos drew painters and friends from all over. On Exhibit until November 14th, it is a show worth seeing if you are in Taos this fall.
Several of the High Desert Painters were in town after painting at Ghost Ranch the previous week and taking in the show. They rented a ranch house between Arroyo Seco and Arroyo Hondo and on Monday after the show opening Sue McCullough and I drove back to Taos for a beautiful autumn morning of painting with them in New Mexico. At the top are Judy Howells from Southern California, Nelson Hubley of Nova Scotia (yes, Canada), myself and Jana Van Wyk of North Carolina.

This view looks north/east toward the mountains where aspens are dotting brilliant yellow and below, Judy paints with a friend nearby.
It really was an exceptional day and sadly, the last day of painting for me this season. I took a jump off the ranch house porch, onto a step that gave way, did a little tumble and (revealed later in x-rays) broke 3 metatarsals bone in my foot. Of course, not being able to walk should have been my first clue. Tra la.
So I am off it,
and just about everything else for 8-9 weeks.
I did learn to spell 'metatarsal'.







Below is the painting I was working on at the time of my unlucky leap - fortunately, nearly completed.
Titled "Monday in Taos", this piece sold later at the Plein Air Artists of Colorado Show- in Denver.

Plein Air Painters of New Mexico Juried Exhibition in Taos

Need a good excuse to visit Taos?
Take in the party at the prestigious Millicent Rogers Museum for the PAPNM (Plein Air Painters of New Mexico) Annual Juried Exhibition, The Spirit of Place, which opens with a reception for the artists, Saturday evening, October 9, at 5 pm.
I was pleased and excited to have 2 paintings selected for this show, as did Sue McCullough, and David Montgomery - the three us us representing the Colorado San Luis Valley.
Jana Van Wyk, a fellow member of the High Desert Painters also had work juried into the exhibition.
This show will coincide with the peak of the Taos art season and highlight the best plein air work from its membership.
Saturday evening's reception will be punctuated by an awards ceremony and on Sunday, October 10, Bill Gallen, PAPNM Signature Member will do a painting demonstration from 2-4pm at the Museum and free with Museum admission.
Monday, October 11, at 11 am, Nancy Silvia, PAPNM VP and Signature Member will speak on the subject of Plein Air Painting at the Museum and free with Museum admission.

Ghost Ranch Get Away

There is really no place like Ghost Ranch.
Famed as Georgia O'Keefe country, it is a unique retreat settting between Abiquiu and Chama, NM.
Monday afternoon I left Taos and drove to Ghost Ranch to meet up with Ann Templeton and the High Desert Painters. Ann has a workshop there every Autumn and the High Desert Painters try to meet her there. My time was limited to just 24 hours but so worth it.



Above work shop students paint the bluffs in the morning and here Ann talks the finer points of her demo with a student.
If I ever recommend a workshop, this is it. Ann Templeton is one of the best workshop teachers - ever - and a wonderful and generous mentor. She travels all over the world but Ghost Ranch is a very special venue, not like any place else in the world.

Below is my 6"x 8" piece of the perdernal, a famous and recognizable New Mexico landmark.


To read more about the High Desert Painters, an international group, click on the name. Click on Ann Templeton to read more about this beloved painter and author.

Fall, it's Magic, it's Fickle it's Heartbreakingly Short

In Colorado, Autumn is the consolation at the end of Summer but if you blink it can blow by in a flash. I struggle with low level anxiety about this time of year; partly a fear of impending snow that can wipe Autumn color right off the map, or colors that peak too early or just a general fear of missing it all.
In the San Luis Valley we are experiencing a September heat wave of sorts but night temps have dropped to freezing. I have one hollyhock in my yard, a late bloomer that never does anything until everything else in the garden is spent. This year it had no sooner popped out its one and only bloom than a freeze toasted the whole plant. This is so perverse.
We can see the changing aspens up in the San Juan Mountains very clearly from my house; they call, they tempt - warning us that time is short. I could almost reach out and touch them.....
Last week Sue McCullough and I drove north of the San Luis Valley to paint on Marshall Pass only to have a full day of rain. This is also perverse.
We did catch Josh Been with a workshop group out near the pass. Hardy souls.
Our consolation was the chance to take a lot of photos but I would trade in one good day of painting for a boat load of rainy day color.



This week we planned a full day up in the Conejos of Southern Colorado but sickness and scheduling conflicts interfered. It was my birthday and as well the power in my neighbor hood was out from 11 AM until well past midnight. I would have happily sat all night in the dark had I spent a day in the aspens. There was no joy in birthday-ville.
Fortunately, my painting class has been meeting here in the valley, marking the changing of the seasons. Last Tuesday night we met north of town at the old Dairy and enjoyed a full moon. Here Dave Roepke captures the very last rays of light.
I didn't paint the moon but focused on a small group of cows grazing in a nearby field. These could be the first cows I have ever painted.

Below are 2 plein air pieces done from the same spot on the Rio Grande River near downtown Alamosa. The top piece is 9x12, painted around August 18th. The lower piece is 10x20, painted last week as the cottonwoods begin to turn golden.

Art Scams

I have added a new LINK to my list on the right, STOP ART SCAMS. Recently, I have been targeted by art scammers; not new news to some of you, and I usually ignore them - but not today. I chose to write a bit about it and maybe raise awareness among readers.
The names change regularly but the content is pretty much the same. My recent scammer is "Philip Walace" with email address phisiology001@gmail.com. and he wrote:
"Hello,
Good day to you over there, My name is Philip Walace i'm from California and i hope this message finds you well.I was going through your works and my eyes caught...., i will like to have it for my new apartment this month. please let me know if the piece is available, if yes let me have the detailed price and more information about it. i will be waiting to read from you asap."
__________________

This may sound legit but it's not; bottom line - someone is trying to steal money from me. In this case Phillip Walace, who had already tried with some artist friends of mine. Oops.
But notice a couple of telling things in his email:
awkward grammer, and though the title of my particular painting was the "subject" of the email, he doesn't even bother to put the name of the piece in the body of the text. This is probably a template letter.
The internet is a way we have to do business, it is no surprise that artists would be targeted but we can become more
aware. I am often contacted through my website about my work and if a piece is in my possession, would not hesitate to sell it. If that weren't the case, why would I bother to show work on line? Just being "out there online" makes me vulnerable but being knowledgeable about the market, aware of scams and having a willingness to WALK AWAY are ways I can protect myself.
When someone contacts me about work - I always "Google" the name of the person who sent the inquiry. If it is a scammer, I am probably not the first to be hit on, and someone else has written about it (one of the great things about the internet community).
I don't want to become cynical but will remain skeptical; I look over emails with a critical eye. Very often a scam will come in the form of an overseas buyer, they want it in a hurry, they want to use their own shipper who will pick up the work, and there may be some overpayment involved.
These are some basic red flags but over time I have put some personal rules into place for the protection of my business.
1. I will not work in a rush. Maybe it comes from too many years as a designer working to impossible deadlines, but as a rule, legitimate buyers are not impulse buyers who just pluck art off the internet like they were at candy counter. I have never had a legitimate buyer quibble with the time it takes for a check to clear the bank, or for UPS to ship.
2. I will never work with anyone who wants to OVERPAY - period,
or pay with a POSTAL MONEY ORDER or CASHIER'S CHECK, which can be fraudulent. This is a good reason to have a PAY PAL account.
I have taken personal checks for payment but always wait for them to clear the bank.
3. I always use myown shipper.

Read more about Art Scams, how they work, how to avoid them etc. go to Art Scams, Art Quest for known scammer names, Artist Network.com,and Stop Art Scams.

An appropriate quote here ". . . . be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."