I went out in August 2015 in search of water in the desert for a painting challenge.  I found what I wanted at the UTEP Chihuahuan Desert Garden in its contemplative area that has water dripping off bells into a cattle watering trough.  It is such a restful place.  I tossed in a desert willow blossom and took some photos and painted in the studio.   

This is really how I like to do landscapes:  to have a close-up view of them rather than the big expanse of sky and mountain that luckily for me surrounds me here in El Paso. The original went to its new home last month with a friend and former co-worker of mine.  It feels GREAT to think of it on her walls!!

The original has sold but I have prints and cards available at various prices.  Contact me at [email protected]

The Southern Chapter of NMWS hosted an online workshop last weekend, and it was a fun whirlwind experience.  I learned some good tips on painting round and angular rocks and using Sterling Edwards scrubber brushes to make grasses.  Of course you can use other brushes and tools, but these brushes are really versatile for smoothing edges and doing all kinds of other cool stuff!  Loisanne Keller is a fabulous teacher!  We hope to get her to come do an in-person workshop in Las Cruces once that option is open to us all. 

I already owned the largest Sterling Edwards brush having picked it up second hand, I bet the artist may have not known how great a tool it is.  That often happens when we buy brushes or tools and rely on our old standbys instead of giving the new ones a good tryout!  I could definitely see the value of the small and medium size brush, so I purchased them online. The painting is following a rock sketch Loisanne provided.  I adore rocks even though I don't do many landscapes, so I can see in my future using the skills I learned. 

I'm happy to announce that juror Kathleen Conover has selected my painting Tropical Urban to be in the Spring New Mexico Watercolor Society exhibit to be held virtually.  The exhibit will run from May 2 - June 27 and I'll post the link for it when it's up. I could not fit her concurrent four day virtual workshop into my schedule, but I'm sure it'll be wonderful.  

I submitted both nonrepresentational pieces that I finished recently and blogged about in the last post, and I was thrilled to have this one accepted. It is so hard to predict which pieces will catch the juror's eye and fit their vision of what the show will be based on the strength of other entries.  To try and understand, I've attended several presentations on entering shows and hearing about the process from the juror's point of view. 

Some of the takeaways are:  enter similar styled pieces to show consistency in your work, don't try to guess what the juror likes or imitate their style, and only enter what you are proud to stand by.  

In the Frank Spino presentation, he mentioned a great quote often attributed to Sir Winston Churchill or President Abraham Lincoln -- the jury is out on that one!  It applies to painters as well as life in general:   Success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.  I love that!  By the way, his citrus series is amazing.

I'm at work on another abstract piece, just playing with values and color to see what happens, as well as a fall scene with pumpkins and interesting shadows.  Stay tuned...