"Francis"

"Francis", acrylic on canvas, 10 by 8 inches.

I know what you're thinking, and yes, that is a reference to St. Francis, the Catholic patron saint of animals. He's mostly associated in popular culture with birds, so that seemed a good title for this painting, even though here it depicts a young woman.

It's off to Copper Moon Gallery in Taos.

"Art Slam"

I donated "Big" to a benefit sale for Wordspace, which is described as "a non-profit North Texas literary organization dedicated to supporting indigenous literature and connecting the best of world literature to local readers".

"Big" now has a new home and I'm happy for him and as always, flattered that the new owner wanted the piece.

Space

Sometimes we need some space from the everyday, from the ordinary, even from each other, and time to think. Sometimes that time to think leads to a solution that requires direct and immediate action. Which might mean dumping that cig in the shot glass and getting on with it.

I don't recommend smoking, by the way (particularly if you wear lipstick), and I don't smoke. This is all metaphorical.

Their (for the time being) homes...

Here are "Outside Ouray" and "Eldorado Hill" in their on-loan placement in a cool office space.

They are both large-ish, at least for me, at 4 by 5 feet and 3 by 4 feet, respectively. Although I think they hold the space well, they still seem smaller as compared to standing directly in front of them. Especially considering the time required to paint something of that size. Again, at least for me.

"Francis" in progress

I've decided to pick up again on the "Americana" series with this painting, "Francis", pictured here on my small easel. The sky needs to be completed, then it's finished.

The original title was going to be "Feathered Friends", but I became concerned about that sounding unnecessarily cornball. So now the title is a play on St. Francis, the patron saint of birds. These birds are all natives of New Mexico.

Of course, I'll post the finished version next.

Turquoise

Secret

We all got 'em. I don't think this guy wants to hear any.

Accidental art: The mold is the medium

A week ago, while preparing for a garage sale at my in-laws, I came across these objects. One is a stretched canvas, and the other is the back of a base for a previously framed decorative object. On both pieces mold, scratches and other damage created really nice abstract images. The flowing horizontal (I preferred that orientation) design on the canvas is subtle but strong. On the second piece analogous colors are created by the dots of mold. A twisted wire stuck to the surface creates a linear counterpoint to the dots' geometry. The dots, though geometric in shape, are actually organic life, while the more free-form wire is man-made metal.

These objects had to be discarded, of course, given the health risks to having mold around. But it was nice to see something beautiful among junk and trash and to have the opportunity to record it. How the objects may have continued to change over time would have been an interesting thing to watch.