Artists Studio in Mimbres New Mexico

Moving here and into our new home is a life changing event for my husband Guy and me. We bought a manufacture home from Solitaire, a company in Deming NM and moved into our new home last November. We bought the largest home Solitaire built to accommodate a large 19’x14’ studio for me. 

Our new home from Solitaire

While preparing the yard for the home they dug up a large volcanic ash rock slab which is an interesting conglomerate. We decided this would make an excellent sign with our names and house number on it. Guy fashioned the sign on metal and on the back of the rock he painted pictographs like ones found in this area. I am standing next to the rock so you can see the size of it.

Volcanic ash rock found on the property

 

 

on the back Guy painted pictographs like ones found in this area

 After arriving in Mimbres New Mexico we chose our property in two days because of the spectacular view of the Black Range this lot in Casa Adobes provided. The view centers on Sawyer’s Peak, for those of you familiar with the Black Range. I now have so much beautiful views to paint right outside our front door almost 360 degree views of the mountains.

Front View of the Black Range from our house

 Recently we collected driftwood from an arroyo, with the owners permission of course, to create a natural wood sculpture garden in the front yard.

Our Natural wood sculpture garden

                          

Just for fun, for the extra long steps I placed a metal sculpture assemblage

Guy usually accompanies me on my paintouts and to keep busy he is studying the local plants. We did so much research and planting in Florida, which is a semi tropical environment so now it is exciting to face a whole new ecology, which here in the Mimbres Valley is semi-arid.

Rabbit Bush in bloom

We are fascinated by the profusion of flowering plants, many in large bouquets.  Guy teaches me about the plants he is studying and having more information on them makes me appreciate them all the more. We are sticking to xeriscaping and using native plants in our yard. But most transplanted plants need some watering in season the first two years. We are also not mowing yet, to allow the plants to go to seed. Guy is eradicating invasive and problem plants individually.

Guy on a walk in Casas Adobes

After considering our options, having a studio inside the house we concluded was best for my work and the studio is far enough away from the kitchen and our bedroom so we are far enough away from paint fumes. This was a similar situation with my studio in our previous home in Florida.

19'x14' studio

Please do not let the bare easel fool you, I am working on a few paintings, I am just not showing them yet. The studio is still under evolution along with the rest of the house.

I am very busy both working in my studio and plein air painting outside. Having a studio to myself again is so welcome because while our house in Florida was up for sale we made the studio into a family room so people could better visualize themselves living in the space.

Guy is having a workshop built soon and aside from his own woodworking pursuits he will be cutting panels for my paintings and also making some of my picture frames.

When Guy does get his workshop up and running most of the large shelving I have in my studio will be moving into his workshop.  I also have books on the floor everywhere in the house. Guy will be building a library-office in one of the bedrooms off from the studio. 

Here is the library Guy built for us in Florida

 My studio is called a Den by the folks at Solitaire; hey I could call it my Artists Den!  My Artists Den does not have a door yet and it is not designed to have a door so Guy will build a hanging barn door for it, which I am looking forward to personalizing. I need a door there because there are times while I am working on a painting when I do not want people to see it until I am ready for the painting to be shown.

We hope to have the house completed and ready for a studio tour and show by next fall, 2014.

Scrapbooking Used For Spiritual Growth

I learn best by writing or drawing and I am sure many artists and other people also learn this way. 

When I came upon the ministry of Joel Osteen on TV I wanted to learn his positive messages and incorporate what he was teaching from the Bible into my way of thinking and being. His ministry helped me though some hard times by teaching how God really felt about me; about all of us. 

To learn these lessons in a deeper way I knew I would need to write the words down. I decided to create  my own personal book which I would also illustrate with collage. 

I used a small spiral index card binder to create my book. I recommend this to anyone who would like to create your own personal art book.

To View Larger  Format Click On Pictures

Above is the front page of my personal Spiritual Scrapbook.


Pictured below are some of the pages I created and with it I offer some suggestions to you for creating your own book.

First, I think it is great to have a box with some cut out photos from magazines, perhaps advertising, I mainly used catalogs that interest me. When I made my little book I decided that I would not go out and buy things but I would use items I found around my house. I found a few stickers and a glue stick and some pens. I also had on hand color swatches from renovating the home we were living in at the time.

My stuff box for collage

I used a standard sized spiral index card binder and painted the front and back with gesso. Because gesso is a clay based paint it is highly absorbent and accepts paint very well. Using the gesso allowed me to paint over the bright shiny cover on the index card binder. Artists use gesso to seal canvas and boards before painting.

 The yarn was tied to the metal spiral which gave a nice soft texture and was intentionally added for this effect. 

The key and yarn were added for a textural effect

 
The old key tied to the yarn was from at a sermon our minister in Florida, Reverend Victoria Long at the Passe Grille Community Beach Church gave where she handed out old church keys to remind us of the Keys to the Kingdom.

The art in the book evolved as I worked with it. Simplicity gave way to technique as I learned what I liked and how to use the color paint samples effectively. I kept in mind to create with a bold fun carefree attitude, this was not to be work, but a learning tool and a freeing practice which I can then take into my paintings and other art forms.

As I worked on the book one device which evolved was the use of the line to frame the image and add a color note to the page, take the pink lines or bars in the above picture. I have seen this done in some abstract paintings but now that I have added it to this little book and I may use it again in a painting at a future date. It is interesting how a new technique evolves as one works on different projects or with a new medium.

I enjoy my little book and find it very helpful in my own spiritual development and because I made it myself, it is all the more personal to me. 

To see more pages from this book please visit my Facebook Fan Page and please be sure to "Like" the page.

Back of Book

Drawing on the Edge: Working in the Zone

I studied figure drawing and painting with Christopher Drake, an excellent artist teaching at The Morean Art Center in the late 1980's, in St Petersburg Florida. He came over once to look at a pastel which I was working on; he pointed to the head and told me that he liked the scribble I had done to create the form. He told me the ability to draw like this is an excellent skill to have and that it is called, drawing on the edge.
   

 He then explained to me that, drawing on the edge, is when you use a scribble to define a shape. He said not all artists are able do this type of spontaneous drawing and that it has a special interesting vitality to it, which is particularly attractive.

Angel by Salvador Dali

Medium: Blue Ball Point Pen Drawing

Size: 11.25" x 15.25" (double page)

Year: 1974

Salvador Dali comes to mind when I think of wonderful drawings of this nature; especially his figure drawings.

I also love to create a wire form around the figure in those quick early sketches which artists do to warm up in a life drawing session. These early warm up sketches have a vitality or edge to them and have a look that is interesting and pleasing as a work of art.

It is also good to use this style of drawing when you work from life with animals who are moving or have the potential to change position while you are drawing them.

 To do this type of sketch you dance your pencil around the figure quickly defining the inside and outside shape. In this way you get the form drawn quickly while also keeping life like look of the animal. This is especially important when you are drawing an animal in motion. 

A drawing of this nature can often tell more about the animal and its nature than a more studied look. This can also be compared to using fewer words to tell a story.

Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards is a good book to help a student learn how to draw and work in this spontaneous style. For me it was a natural part of my evolution as an artist. I developed this drawing style on my own, when I was a child.

Whether drawing the quick sketch with edge or a detailed painting; I know of the importance of creating energy in my art.  The Chinese call it Chi. Chi energy is considered by the Chinese to be the most important ingredient in a work of art. With Chi energy, you see the artist’s life energy infused into the art work to the point where the work itself takes on a life of its own.  The flow of Chi is created with a state of mind that is as refreshing as it is demanding.  This is the time when the artist feels at one with what she is working on; transcending thought and yet intensely aware. 

Runners and other athletes’ get this feeling when they describe, “being in the zone”.  When the artist is most intense and fully absorbed, she opens herself to this flow of energy. Things happen when you create in this zone. The art has a spontaneity and ease that can open the artist to new levels of expression and power. 

Sunset Reflections:: Organ Mountains; Las Cruces, New Mexico

 Oil on Canvas on Birch Plywood Board 12"X16"

I painted this is on a high ridge overlooking the Las Cruces, Organ Mountains. While I was painting it a Vietnam Veteran came by and started talking.  He told me how he recently lost his wife whom he had met in Vietnam while serving over there.  He was headed out west to live in his RV near one of his daughters. We talked about how beautiful the drive west on I-10 is. And he told me how he had planned to take this trip with his wife and now he not only had a bad heart but was grieving the recent and unexpected loss of his wife. He talked about his love for her, his family, and Vietnam.  We then fell silent; two strangers come together, the artist and the soldier, both elders with many years and miles behind us, on our journey to the West, brought together now in silent revere by this majestic setting sun over the Organ Mountains.