Trip to Amalia

Coni, David, and I drove over to Amalia, New Mexico, to visit with Randy Pijoan about having a painting group stay there ( the High Desert Painters) in May and of course we went to paint as well. It was rather chilly but we were well dressed and being the tough plein air painters that we are, were not deterred from painting. Then the wind started to blow just a bit and it just got cold... David walked up the road to check things out and we did not see him for a long time so Coni and finished up and found refuge in Randy's studio. David and Randy had been driving around looking at potential painting spots for the May trip. Amalia is absolutely a beautiful area - even in the winter- which is the true test of a nice painting spot.

12x16

This is the painting that I did -- right across the road from Randy's studio- I forgot to ask him what the name of this creek so it is titled Creek at Amalia.

Snow Shadows

In the earlier post I had talked about picking a motif and keeping things simple. I had worked out a small sketch of a painting that I wanted to do - here is the result-- this painting is 12x24.

Picking a Motif

Picking a motif.... it is always difficult when choosing a composition for the next painting. What should be included and what should one leave out? Sometimes it is hard to leave out anything which results in conflicting focal points -and although each one painted with much technical virtuosity, is just too much. The above photo is copied from Emile Gruppe's book "Direct Techniques in Oil" where he demonstrates on one of his paintings- what NOT to do. He shows three beautifully painted focal points- hence illustrating Coni's Mantra --"What's it About?"
Here he takes just a part of the above painting and focuses on just that particular element. Look at how much stronger the result is?
I took this idea and as looking out my window , saw something that caught my eye. It was a very simple motif with the snow patterns and the contrasts between light and dark. I will work on a painting with the above sketch in mind and we'll see how I do.

You see , I have been studying painters like Robert Genn and Stephen Quiller- I'm a big fan of both of them - and they are master designers. Coni is also a great designer and her above mantra is a good one to follow. People should never question as to what you were after when they look at your painting; it comes down to simplification.

A summary of lesson for the day: Just because you have the technical skills to paint it all doesn't necessarily mean that you should.

This is the view I saw out my window this morning. I don't know how cold it is but it is frosty looking! I might go out and paint today but I also have to have birthday cake for Jason and invite the grandparents and a basketball game later this evening so it may be tough. We'll see...

I finally finished changing my web page so check it out at www.susanmccullough.com.

Snow

Here is a picture of snow on the barn next to my studio.

A picture of my studio in the snow-

I'm not sure if it is done snowing yet as this Pacific storm has raised some havoc to the west of us-- but there is sure a lot of snow to paint now.

Snow Day

9x12

Yesterday it started to snow lightly and although it is nice to see the snow fall-it has been so dry here- I wanted to see Sharon McCoy's art show at Adams State College. Well, I took off and

started to slide around the County Line Rd a little and just decided to not go... What a wimp!

Woke up this morning and there was about 12 inches of the white stuff on the ground. This painting is not entirely a plein air because I painted it from my window. So what really decides on whether a painting is a plein air or not? I'm just curious because Coni and I have had this discussion numerous times and have not come to any conclusion on the matter.

The painting above was an exercise in painting bare branch trees- so much negative space...

Painting by Home Lake

11x14

I painted this a while back but thought I would post since I haven't been out in awhile- Coni and I are planning to paint over by San Luis tomorrow but the weather situation might be tough as it calls for snow. I really don't mind painting while it is snowing but I do enjoy the shadow patterns that the sun has to offer. The above painting was created by Home Lake, a small Lake close to Monte Vista.

Old La Veta Pass

Coni and I took a little drive up old La Veta Pass on the way to Space Gallery to pick up our paintings from a show. We painted at the top - what a beautiful day- the frost was thick on the trees and when the wind blew slightly, it was a magical experience... snow swirling around in the sun. I know this painting looks very sentimental but I just couldn't help it. This cute little chapel in a small settlement called up Uptop was just too good to pass up.

January- Rio Grande

It was a muted day with high clouds and not much sun but I felt that it was necessary to try to get out and paint - ANYTHING. Well, this is a view about two miles from my house. The river is frozen over with snow still covering much of it but there are patches of pure ice here and there. I have never painted in this location before and was dragging all of my equipment through the trees- I could see going back as there is a lot of material here- many different elevations.

I worked on a studio painting in a 12x36 format- from a picture I took in 1999. It took me a long time to get this painted didn't it? Well, I had fun painting this- it is a beautiful sight when Mt Blanca has just received a dusting of snow and it is the only thing that is lit by the setting sun. The painting has more contrast than I could show with this picture- I truly am not that great at editing pictures. Below is a close-up of detail.

Well, vacation time is over and although I still have a house full of college kids, I need to get back to work. Frankly, I'm relieved because I was feeling rather worthless- doing absolutely nothing for so long- it feels good to have an agenda and lists full of things to do.

The painting above was done on New Years day- Jim took off snowmobiling and I just kind of slipped away and painted this-- I was actually planning to paint this just as the sun was setting but there were some pesky clouds that thwarted my plans so this is the painting I finished. I will have to try it again when the sky is clear and it's not too cold.

I have been working on a new web page so will let you know when it has loaded. I am going to keep it simple and have had a few snags along the way- but I really do like rapidweaver- it is a good web program and I don't have to read a book to configure it.