Hollyhocks with sky - oil painting, 12x9

Hollyhocks Know No Bounds

12 x 9 inches

oil on board

Finally, a new painting to post after a much longer than expected absence from blogging and the studio.

Actually, I shouldn't say that I haven't been painting...I have, but not much and it's not been a noteworthy showing.  We moved last Friday, and I always underestimate how out of sorts I am after any relocation.  Unpacking and the general clutter and disorganization that accompany a move make it difficult for me to sit down and paint, even though I got my studio set up rather quickly.  

I did manage to do four more ACEO's of The Tree series earlier in the week.  However, I just couldn't get around to photographing or posting them.  Perhaps because of all the amazing work I'm seeing other bloggers post lately just made me take a pass on that.  I did finally take photos, and may post them at some point, simply because this blog also serves as a journal and documentation of my work - good and not so good.

And, I even attempted a plein air pastel painting of one of the tulips in the raised garden right across from our new place.  It went straight into the trash, and I learned that my Nupastel set isn't coming with me the next time on the next flower plein air trip.  It's been far too windy and cold recently to consider a dedicated trip outside to paint, but hopefully this dry cold front delivered to us by the pacific northwest will leave and give warmer temps and calm air very soon!

This painting is today's keeper after yesterday's "three strikes and you're out" studio effort to paint a group of tulips on an 11x14 panel.  If you have to wipe something three times because it isn't working, it's time to move on.   Unlike the smaller surrealist-edged florals I've done, this one is based on two photos.  The beautiful crimson hollyhocks just needed to be freed from their ho-hum garden existence and visit the sky.  

Does it work?  I hope so.  Maybe it's hard to tell with this photo, which is just awful.  The camera sensor just doesn't take kindly to these bright colors and has created a variety of unsavory optical effects, not helped at all by the glare of wet paint.  Just believe me that it really does look much better in person.  I also hope it is dry by Monday.  A new frame awaits.  

To push the drying on this (nothing like waiting until the last minute to get something done), I broke out my unopened jar of Liquin.  I got hooked on using Liquin back during my equine art days, but since I'm not painting in thin layers and glazes anymore, I haven't used it for landscape painting until today.   I don't think I'll make a habit of using it unless I do decide to try glazing techniques.  

I'm hoping my studio dry spell is over, because I have tons of ideas bouncing around to work on.

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Some random photos taken recently:

My beautiful Easter cactus posing on our deck today.  I've thought of painting it, but it's so busy that I'm sure I'd just end up wiping the result

Nelson performs his daily sunbeam meditation on the guest bed

April 26 sunset from our new deck.  Perins Peak and Smelter Mtn. are no longer in the view, but Twin Butte is

Chaco #3 - Ancient Architecture series

Chaco #3

12x9 inches

pastel on black Strathmore paper

Hmmm...this looks a bit better in person; I could not do any color adjustment to get the correct saturation of the turquoise-green on the right side without completely over-saturating the left-sided greens.  I loved the design of this, but may re-do it in a different color scheme later; it doesn't look as good as I'd hoped when I tested the colors out together...and so it goes.  

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Nelson celebrates Fat Tuesday in style* and wishes everyone a happy Mardi Gras!

*[subject was not harmed or otherwise subjected to inhumane working conditions during today's photo session.  And, there's nothing like a string of beads to top off one's fancy tuxedo attire.]

Observation Deck

Another limited palette painting of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue and white:

Observation Deck

8x6 inches

oil on canvas panel

A favorite feline activity:  staring out the window.  We call it "cat TV".  Nelson sits at the window in my computer room taking in the sights below.  This is one of his favorite channels, especially when the neighbor's kitty is outside.

Across Mormon Lake

Finally finished just a bit ago, with a less-than-optimal photo from a jury-rigged indoor photo set up, this is the next in the Impressions of Winter series.  There is some slight glare on the left side of the painting...my apologies for that!

Last year, during my winter stay in Bisbee [we were still living in Mystic at the time], I drove up to Flagstaff to visit friends.  The most direct route from Phoenix is I-17, which is how I drove up.  On my way back, however, I took the scenic route.  It heads out of Flagstaff to the east and continues in southeastern direction along Lake Mary Road for about 80 miles until it intersects Hwy 87.  Hwy 87 crosses over the Mogollon Rim before winding down through the Mazatzal Mountains and into the Phoenix valley.  It is a spectacular drive, and should you find yourself needing to head either to or from Phoenix and Flagstaff, it is well worth the extra time for the drive.

About 30 miles south of Flagstaff is Mormon Lake - popular with fishermen and wildlife.  Small clusters of homes line the forested area along the road, and scattered cabins are also found in the open meadows near the edge of the lake.  As the road curved around the southern edge of Mormon Lake, I was struck by the expanse of snow covering it, and the San Francisco Peaks in the distance.  Pulling over and climbing up a snow berm, I took several photos.

This one is a closer crop of a wide-angle shot.  I loved the contrast of the log cabin and barn against the ponderosa-covered hill behind it, and the SF Peaks in the far distance.  I chose to leave a lot of white - most of which is the lake - in this painting.  I feel it is necessary to give the sense of space and scale to this scene, and to show that man's presence is still subordinate to the land and sky here.

Across Mormon Lake

9x12 - oil on board

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From yesterday afternoon:

Lenticular-type cumulus foreshadow the coming arctic storm

This purchase of a $100 box for my cat Nelson included a free pair of running shoes.  Thankfully, the box met to his approval.

Through a telephoto lens

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I *finally* have a new lens for my Nikon.   An eBay purchase from last week, it arrived yesterday, and of course, I wasted no time in getting it on my camera.  While I do like the versatility of the wide-angle zoom lens that came with my camera, the limitations of it were felt on more than one occasion, particularly when trying to shoot distal subjects and wildlife.  This lens, the Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, offers probably a bit more versatility, given what I like to shoot.

Finding subject matter  to shoot is never an issue here at the house.  I'm a sucker for a cute face.  Having a telephoto lens will make taking portraits of my favorite model even easier.  He's always dressed for the occasion, being nattily attired in his gray tuxedo.  The orange object in the photo?  That's his favorite toy - a fur-covered mouse, with the tail chewed off.  He fetches them when thrown, and carries one up on the bed with him.  It's one of the many Cute Cat Things he does.

Nelson

f/4.8, 90mm, ISO 800

Later, after stopping by the library for the summer solstice celebration/reception they were having, I drove out to Bluff Point SP, which is just down the road.  Walking out on a small jetty afforded multiple photo opportunities perfectly suited to this lens, including this macro shot.  The combination of longer focal length, plus an additional stop up, makes for shots with pleasing bokeh:

Afternoon Grasses

135mm,  f/5, 1/500 sec.

Slightly further down the jetty, and I saw this young cottontail.  It was so absorbed in obtaining some dinner that it didn't immediately scamper off as I came up the trail.  No cropping.  Not bad for a hand-held shot.  

Dinnertime

200mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec., ISO 800

Walking up the road towards Bluff Point, I was able to get my reflections fix, and some of those will no doubt become a series of paintings.   I noticed the waxing moon, and on a whim, decided to see how that looked.  Yeah, it's cropped to help the composition, but I was impressed with the detail that is visible on something that is over 238K miles away.  With my old lens, it always looked like a small white blip in the sky.

Waxing Gibbous Moon

200mm, f/5/6, 1/500 sec., ISO 250

And, finally, the sunset shot.  Metering directly off of the sun (and probably destroying some retinal cells in the process), produced this darker, more dramatic image.  Colors weren't really quite this orange, but the sky isn't blown out, so that's the trade-off.  I still rather like it.  Minor pp to darken the highlights and lighten the shadows.  A tripod would have been nice to have along.

Solstice Sunset

120mm,  f/11, 1/640 sec., ISO 200

Summer is now officially here!

Nelson as poster art

Digital image, full size - 20" x 8"

I'm one of the 38 million+ people in the US who is a personal servant to a domestic feline.  I've owned several cats over the past 23 years, but none were quite as special as Nelson, my 8-year old grey tuxedo DSH.  He is a special cat for many reasons, and as a reflection of my ongoing adoration of him, he is frequently a photography subject.  Most are snapshot type photos, given his lack of interest in posing or staying still for very long.  But, occasionally, one turns out better than expected. 

I had fun coming up with various colorized versions of this cropped, posterized photo using custom gradient filters.  I will continue to pay homage to my beloved feline companion in future drawings, paintings and perhaps a sculpture...and of course - photos!