Tent Rocks

       Memorial Week 2018 was great!  I spent the whole week visiting my sisters in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We ate a lot, went to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, my youngest sister got engaged, and we hiked in Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument near Santa Fe, NM.  Being inspired by this beautiful monument, I painted a view from our morning hike.  

"Tent Rocks"

Oil paint on 8" x 10" canvas board

Here is the link to this painting:

"Tent Rocks"

Roosevelt Lake, Arizona Plein Air Oil Painting

     Well it has been a while since I posted... anything!  Life got to me and now I am back and plan to become more consistent in writing more art blogs!  I have new goals, a new family member (Ari 2 years old), new religion (Nichiren Buddhist), and I feel like a different person.  I am loving life though no matter what obstacles the universe brings to me.  I find those obstacles are there to better myself.
   
     I have been a fulltime hygienist at a really cool dental office, but still make the time to paint and enjoy my hobby as an artist.  I love to challenge myself in painting, critiquing myself to always improve in my skills.  This last Labor Day holiday weekend, my parents from NM drove to Tucson, AZ to go camping with us in their RV at Roosevelt Lake, AZ.  It was a beautifully scenic drive and we even hit some rain on the way back home from the trip.  Things didn't go as planned on the trip, but nothing is perfect.  I did, however, take the time to plein air paint in the early morning while the kids were asleep!  I loved it all!  I did have to finish up detail work so the landscape didn't look so flat.

"Roosevelt Lake"  

8" x 8" oil paint on canvas board

You can check out this painting here:

"Roosevelt Lake"

Four Oranges

The heat of the summer in Tucson, Arizona keeps me from painting outdoors.  So what do I do? I paint indoors.  The back of our house brings in abundance of western light.  I decided to start a citrus series using oranges, keylimes, limes, lemons, and grapefruit.  I placed each of the fruit on a white acrylic sheet to show the reflection of the of the objects in the bright light.  This was the result of my efforts of "Four Oranges" painted in oil.

This piece was done in once sitting.  I used bold strokes using a limited palette of red, blue, yellow, orange, and white.  I enjoyed placing each orange in this impressionistic still life.  I intended for the viewer to see this still life as if he or she could literally taste the sweetness of the oranges.  Whether my intention worked or not, I'll leave that to the mind of the viewer.

Shown are some work in progress pictures of "Four Oranges".  Enjoy!

Sunset In New Mexico

 New Mexico was my first home.  I was raised in a small town called Alamogordo.  After high school, I moved to Albuquerque to pursue a dental hygiene degree, then moved with my husband to Tucson, Arizona.  We frequently make trips to and from Albuquerque to visit family.  This painting was inspired by the New Mexico sunset during a trip back to Tucson.  I shot a reference photograph on Highway 26 between Hatch and Deming, New Mexico to help recreate the scene.  From the photo and memory, I completed this triptych panoramic view of a gorgeous New Mexico sunset.  It was done using oil paints on three 4" x 4" canvases.  

Teeth Mandala

  

Teeth may be very odd for most people to look at.  I had studied teeth in dental hygiene school and am intrigued by the contours and shapes of each tooth.  So I decided to create a mandala of teeth.  I decided to associate this mandala with a flower design to give the viewer a positive aspect of teeth.  This piece was done using Prismacolored pencils, ink, and paper. 

Lone Sailboat

"Lone Sailboat" was a plein air painting created in oil done on location at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, California around early afternoon.  I took to this sailboat that was drifting by as I painted the water and the waves.  Painting from life outdoors is my favorite way to paint because it allows me to paint faster and more accurately. Painting faster helps to capture the colors of the ever-changing light and shadows.  I am inspired reading about the original impressionist like Monet, Renoir, Degas, etc.  Painting outdoors allows me to enjoy nature as well as finding inner peace. 

Moonlight Beach Sunset

One of my favorite beaches, because it lacks rocks in the sand, is Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, California.  I have enjoyed this spot during vacations to the west coast, and I have painted the beach and ocean other times.  This was painted in oil from a photo reference I took on our last day at the beach.  The sun had set, behind the clouds in the horizon.  Light from the sun had illuminated the clouds above in colors of pink, orange, and yellow.  It was a beautiful evening!