Any bulls around?

After selling our big ranch house last summer and keeping the working land for the cattle, we have decided that we need a smll place to stay for the weekend so now we are slowly building what will be a one story small house. This will mean going out to the ranch every weekend for me again. It will also give me a chance to do some charcoal and pastel plein air that I am very much looking forward to.

I am working on the grisaille part of my painting now and as soon as I have it looking like a graphite drawing and ready to start applying color to it, I will post it.

In the meantime I just had to post the pictures of our 7 month grandaughter Sofìa. She definately inherited the ranching genes from her grandfather.

Tagged

Our recent trip to Sonora to see our son and family.

TAGGED

I'm not even sure what this is all about but I have been tagged by Judith Nijholt-Strong, my co-moderator at Wet Canvas. Her blog is really a joy to visit as her creative way of writing through her cats, is most enjoyable. She is also and incredible artist, potter, and wonderful person to moderate a forum with, even if she did tag me.

I have been informed by Judy that I have to tell you seven things that you may not know about me. The thing is, my memory won't help me remember what I have said around the forums and blogs and I have probably said too much, so I will give it a try.

1. I used to get up every morning at 5:20 to jog in the park and listen to the crackling of the trees while the birds awoke. Now it is not safe so I do Pilates.

2. My favorite perfume is Escada.

3. I'd give anything to hug a horse but they don't like me.

4. My husband and I were once checking out our well at the ranch and the ground underneath my husband collapsed, he landed on a branch of a huge root with his back to the side of the constructed part of the well and was able to push himself back up with just his heals and back. I could not reach for him because the earth between us had caved in.

5. My mother was forty when I was born.

6. I don't know where I really belong. I have equal amounts of French, Spanish, German and English blood, I live in Mexico and was born in the US.

7.When I was about 17 I saw this incredible good looking guy cross the street one day in this city, and was followed by him everyday for one month before he said a word to me. He has been my husband for 41 years.

Well now I believe I have to Tag some people but I'm afraid I can only Tag four and be sure they will forgive me if they don't want to play.

Robin Neudorfer- and incredible versatile artist and friend that excells and any art she tries.

Judi Lynch- our Moderator in the Drawing and Sketching forum at Wet Canvas, one of the first real friends I have had here and a superb graphite artist.

Billie Craine- my dear Billie, so much fun to chat with and a superb Pastelist and Watercolor artist.

Pilan - a great Plein Air artist and valuable friend with a huge heart who has been a little under the weather but this might perk her up a little and hope she has time to play. She recently came all the way to San Luis to meet me.

Deliverance

Today is Mother's Day in Mexico and I can't think of a better time to post this. I think it is finished now.

Those of you that are mothers and grandmothers know of the joy of holding a newborn baby in your arms. There is nothing you protect more and as you love and caress this child you can hardly wait for the baby to smile, sit, talk and walk. While you enjoy these stages you don't realize how fast time goes by and one day you wake to find out that your little girl has turned into to a gorgeous beautiful woman at age 14. Where did my little girl go?

I wanted to express in this drawing where I find myself now in relation to my grandughters and how I vision them at this moment, and at the same time remind myself how important it is to savor every moment of childhood in them, because before you know it, they are all grown up.

In this drawing, Sofìa 6 months would be the peach with the protective tissue paper symbolizing infancy, protection and the joy of being swadelled. Ana Paula 12, is partially veiled but anticipating all that involves being free in the sense to make her own choices and discove the exciting age of adolescence. Daniela 14, has bloomed into a beautiful young lady, ready to live exciting moments but also vulnerable to so many emotions that will be coming her way.

The rebozo in the background is a symbol of their cradle in a figurative sense, and the wicker platter symbolizes the light and sturdy nature of the support given to them by their loved ones.

Kahlil Gibran in this quote sums up a little of the feelings that I have experienced with this drawing.

Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.They come through you but not from you.And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.You may give them your love but not your thoughts.For they have their own thoughts.You may house their bodies but not their souls,For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you,For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,and He bends you with His might that His arrows might go swift and far.Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;For even as He loves the arrow that flies,so He loves also the bow that is stable.

-Kahlil Gibran

Charcoal on Rives 26X17 inches

Pear Study

Charcoal on Rives 6.5X10

The day has finally come when I have heard the words from Michael about starting my first oil painting in the Mentor Program. It will be my Peaches piece that only has a couple of details to solve before I post it here and I am also trying to think of a title. This process has brought so much joy to me because after the first piece, the ideas and work technique have become a real pleasure.

Day before yesterday I decided to do a small quick study with charcoal on Rives and to my surprise I was quite content with it at the end. It still needs refining also but I will post it before I finish refining my Peaches piece. BTW, I still have a lot to learn about pastel but as an early birthday present I have asked to be able to take part in Michael Newberry's 3 day pastel workshop in New York.

Pastel Color Study

I have no experience at all doing pastels so I will do several of these until I learn to do them right. This is a color study for the painting I will start after I finish my current charcoal drawing. I have come across a problem with not being able to find the same kind of peaches. The ones in the charcoal drawing are imported and I was finding them in the grocery store everyday but this week I have not been able to find any. The peaches is the pastel sketch are our Mexican variety which is small, firm and very tasty but maybe not as pretty in form as the imported ones. The color is very pretty so I will use them as a color study in the meantime.

I have learned that if you are going to paint something that will take you quite a bit of time to finish, it is not very convenient to to do plants, flowers or any perishables of any kind, if you are painting from life and it is not Alla Prima or Plein Air.

In this study I am adding the colors that belong to the wicker platter, tissue paper and shawl besides the peaches.

The Importance of a Thumbnail

I have started my new charcoal piece and was very satisfied with how easy the ideas for the thumbnails sketches flowed this time. The only thing is that when I started my piece I got carried away with my set up and forgot to use my thumbnail sketch as a guide. Half way through my piece I noticed that my plate with peaches did not show its priority in the whole drawing and that would change the whole meaning of the piece. In my thumbnail sketch the plate and size of the peaches are much larger and they are meant to be the focal point in the drawing, while in this study they take a minor place and are a little over powered by the dark shadow to the right. I am satisfied with the study as it is, so I will not change it or continue to work on it, instead I will start a new one with the same theme following my thumbnail sketch a little more closely. If all goes well with this piece it will eventually become a big painting in oil, and that is something that really has me all excited as it will call for some pastel studies of the peaches. Something new for me but something I am looking forward to immensely.

Espiritu Ascendente

This piece is dedicated to my granddaughter Pao who as some of you know, left us two years ago at age five. She was born brain damaged and was deprived of verbal communication and voluntary movement but she had the capability of offering a smile with a radiance I have never seen in anyone else.

This smile, like her giggles would make me feel and understand how such a simple action could give you moments of complete happiness. No other smile has ever been the same.

The flower symbolizes her as I think she left us that day, radiant and turning to a light that only she was capable of seeing. The lace is characteristic of her fragility, beauty and her Latin heritage. The cloth is the baby sheet she spent many hours on in my house when she was brought to visit me frequently. I can feel her sweet angelic smile as I have worked on this and now that I am posting it.

I have chosen a Spanish title that translated means, Ascending Spirit. Spanish because, as the lace, reflects her Latin heritage and I think it is the title that best describes this piece. The flower, her symbol, has a slight turn upward as if it were lifting itself from the sheet to the light that guides the Spirit.

I thank Michael Newberry from the bottom of my heart for this unforgettable experience that at times was difficult, as he said it would be, but most of the time I had the pleasure of feeling her presence.

Charcoal on Rives 26X16

Patience, I am learning.

It has been a very long time since I last posted in my blog. I have been working on my flower piece which has been a very slow but pleasurable process. Without a doubt Michael Newberry is and excellent mentor and I have learned so much from him and this program. I had never planned my work before and now I understand the importance of doing so. When I see a tutorial of his and see all of the work he puts into one piece I understand why he is steering in that direction and no matter how long it takes me to finish a piece, I know I will be happy with the result.

This piece is still not finished but I worked on it quite a bit this week so I will post this update and I have started some thumbnails for my next piece.

Ascending Spirit WIP

I haven't posted in quite a while because I have been working hard on this project but it is a slow and very new process for me, starting with the amount of thumbanils sketches needed to finally come up with an idea I was satisfied with. Thanks to the mentorship of Michael Newberry I have learned the importance that a piece have a reason and meaning for its creation.

This piece is not even close to being half way done and it needs corrections in what is done but I think the idea of where it is heading, is pretty clear. I still have to establish my vlaues, soften my folds and extend the lace to fill in that space it is in right now. I am truly enjoying this part now since I think compositon and light is on the way to being solved.

Charcoal on Rives paper 17x26

Finally on the way to a new piece.

I have not posted because I have been working hard on the inspiration stage of my mentor program with Michael Newberry. I have worked on at least 30 gestural thumbnails and have finally found an image that I would like to put on the big sheet of the Rives paper. This will be an emotional piece and I must say that working with charcoal on such a big format in a different technique is being an exciting and fantastic experience. The process of saturating you paper with charcoal and then taking some of it off, is a very fulfilling practice. I started my big piece yesterday and have put five hours into it. There is not enough to show yet, but I do hope to post an update in the following week.

In the meantime I am posting the compositional thumbnail sketch. The practice of doing these sketches is to use as a guide and a tool as with the atmospheric sketch. They are sketches that are not supposed to take more than 2 min. to do but the purpose of doing so many is to have several alternatives to choose from for the real thing. The subject of the sketch has to have some emotional meaning and the objects used should be part of that meaning. Once I have posted an update I will write a little about it.

A new year a new experience.

Eloquence is not my gift so it has always been rather hard for me to express myself verbally. I wish I could find the words to express what a wonderful experience it has been for me to find such incredible giving people through the Internet and blogging. I appreciate all of the words of ecouragment and friendship I have received from you and hope that after I get on my way with Michael Newberry's Mentor Program, I will start posting maybe a WIP at first, but in the meantime I will continue enjoying the vist to your blogs.

All the best for this coming year!

Merry Christmas

I'm sorry I have bee slow at posting this week but it is a busy week for all of us. We will be leaving day after tomorrow for Las Hadas in the Pacific Coast of Mexico for a different Christmas this year. Two of ours sons with their families will be going also although it won't feel much like Christmas in very warm weather but it has been sometime since we have been to the beach and we do love it so it will be nice.

I'm posting something that I might have posted at the beginning of my blog since this was done last year around this time, but at the moment I think it is the most appropriate image I have to post.

I also have something very exciting to look forward to at the beginning of the year. That is a mentorship with Michael Newberry. I think this will be one of the best opportunities I will have had, art wise, and I intend to put my heart into it. It will be interesting to see if this will sustain my love for abstracts or open a new horizon for me.

Have a great holiday season!

Profiles V

These last two posts have been a turn for me for something a little lighter. I like the change of colors and hope I can make a series that will keep its continuity. Newsprint, copper leaf, acrylic and oil on stretched canvas. 16X24

Profiles IV

I had one of those aha moments today that very seldom come to you so I decided to get out a canvas and see what happened. To my surprise this turned out fortunately different from the last two. It was one of those fast ones and it actually pleased me when I fisnished it. Newsprint, gold leaf, acrylic and oil on stretched canvas. 16X20

Encaustic Mixed Media

One of the things I find fascinating about Mixed Media and alternative materials is that you can play around with it so much. If the result is not what you wanted you can't put it back the way it was but you can alter it and change it completely. In this case there was something I did not like about my last post image and I still do not know if I am satisfied because it is something a little different from what I usually do, so sometimes I have to see it up on the screen, in a post and in my house to really know if I like it or not. So far I have just added some encaustic to the previous post image, and I am still tempted to pour some black over it but I think I will watch it for several days before I decide. This is not the best picture since it is nightime and the lights in my studio did not help the image but I will replace it for one taken tomorrow.

Mixed Media

I have not decided if this is finished yet. I was playing around with it is so it is a small piece. 10X8 canvas panel. What I am not very happy with, is that the patina I used over the page to tone done the color makes it look dirty instead of old. I'm thinking of going over with dribbles or pour but am not quite sure. I would never tear a page out of an old book but this book was already very torn and had no salvation. Unfortunately it is a 19th century Theology book and I would not want to use it disrespectfully. 10x8 canvas panel and ribbon, acrylic, feather, sumi, ink and oil.

In Memory of Pao 1999-2005

This is Pao, my grandaughter that came into this world in a very tragic way, as her mother's uterus scar, burst open from a previous C Section, leaving Pao without oxygen for five minutes. This left her severly brain damaged and the only thing she could do was smile radiantly and return the enormous amount of love she received from all of us and the peolpe who knew her well from the frequent visits to the Teleton Center (CRIT), for her weekly therapy and evaluation. Pao left us quietly March 13th 2005 at age five, leaving a huge vacuity in our life and heart.

Pao's happiest years were the last two of her life, when my son and daughter in law started to take her to the Teleton Center, (CRIT) in Agauscalientes, a city two hours driving distance from our city. In 1997 Televisa Foundation started annual 24 hour fundraisers on TV and with the help of a great number of companies and people around the world they built the first Center in Mexico City for Handicapped and Brain Damaged children. This has brought hope to thousands of children with special needs. Today two more centers will be inaugurated makingn a total of ten centers in the country. The goal of this foundation is to have a center for every state in the country. The economic capability of the parents of each child that is admitted as a patient of the Center, is evaluated also. Those who can pay the fees do have to, but those that cannot are treated for free. The great majority of these children are from rural remote places and it would take their parents a day or more to get the child to the center and the cost of transportation would be high, so these children are left without assistance. This is why it is so important that each state have a center and at the moment there are 15,000 children waiting to have a center near them. There is still a long road to travel to reach the Foundation's goal but hopefully with events like the 48hour TV fundraiser that will start tonight, another two centers will be built by next year.

Teletòn Page

Video

New Mixed Media

This to me seems quite raw and visceral as I see it on the screen and when I saw what the result was when I finished it. My intention was to use the page of and old torn book that had no salvation to composed something appealing but I let myself go and before I knew it I had the ink spots on it and finished off with the addition of a dramatic stroke of texture. I decided to leave it because this one has taken me to another one that is not quite finished but might make me turn to something very different. I don't consider this a pretty painting but I do consider it expressive, either it be my love for earthy and old things or my frustration for not remembering the image revealed to me the night before.

Charcoal Drawing

I haven't posted anything in quite a few days but I have been working on several projects. This morning around 4am I woke and started thinking of a new Mixed Media painting and since I couldn't get back to sleep I decided to start my day early. Putting coffee on first and then taking my shower and getting the chores out of the way so I could go straight to my art with the new project. All of this time I had not thought of the idea I had had at that hour of the morning. What terrifying feeling when I got to my art table and could not remember what it was I had thought of and had already worked out in my mind, in the early morning. I think I must have been half asleep but fortunately as the day has gone by the idea came back to me. I am setting out to start it right now but in the meantime I will post this charcoal drawing I did for the Weekly Drawing Thread at Wet Canvas.

Profiles II

I wish I could post something more often here but in my desire to learn oil painting, I have been spending time on the small daily paintings. I have been working with my abstracts also but I feel they don't work right in small sizes so I prefer to take a little more time and do something larger. I enjoyed this one! It gives me the impression of a still life with fruit and flowers but I had already titled it so, I'm sure a profile will show up in this, anyway.