Reference Photo

People often ask if I use photos to create my oil pastel drawings. The answer is yes and no. I do pull out a photo and use it in a general sense as a pattern for a piece. Or I'll use a combination of photos to create my own little landscape. But I rarely use the photos for anything but a general outline. I store my photos in shoes boxes, sorted (mostly) by subject: barns, clouds, rivers, churches, buildings, roads. So when I'm not sure what to paint I just pick out a category and thumb through until something tickles my fancy.

Verticality

Sometimes you get stuck in a rut. Sometimes a customer has a great idea and you actually follow it through. Lo, and behold, new fun oil pastels. See, I always paint my larger long skinny cradled panels in the horizontal direction and almost always paint the smaller ones in the vertical direction. At the San Antonio show I met a couple who asked about vertical bigger panels..So, this week I tried some and they were fun to do. And, I like the result! I hope they do!

Squirrels

This is an Abert squirrel--the kind we have a lot of here in Angel Fire. Just learned today that it is spelled Abert and not Hebert...thanks net.
This is a black squirrel. He (she)lives on the white house lawn. I photoed him (her) on our sightseeing in DC. I hope he hasn't met Bo (Beau) yet, the Obama's dog.
This is a white squirrel. They apparently thrive in the town of Olney, Illinois. We got off the main highway and went through town looking for them but failed to actually see any. Maybe next time we drive that way.

We are home from the very lengthy trip to Reston. We did the 1800 plus mile trip in 2 1/2 days. We got to Washington, PA near Pittsburgh Sunday night. Then, Monday we spent the night in Emporia, KS, arriving home Tuesday night. Yeah!!!! I'd hoped to take a lot of pictures of barns but it turns out that in places with more moisture and more trees, the structures are covered by the trees and it is almost impossible to get good shots going 75 miles an hour out the van window. And I wasn't about to ask Rees to slow down, conisdering the distance we had to cover. No matter, gentle followers, I still have plenty of ideas..

Today was my first day back in the studio as yesterday was filled with such tasks as unloading the van, unpacking and doing 2 weeks worth of laundry, sorting show receipts from sales at both the Laumeier show and the Reston show. (That didn't take as long as I would have liked but I am thankful for my sales...I think they were a lot stronger than a lot of artists..) So now we are home for 2 weekends and then head up to Chicago for the 57th street show and then to Salina KS for one more before returning home. This is going to be Memorial Day weekend. We haven't been home for that since 1999--sort of weird!

Oh, yeah, by the way, the guy in the DC photos was my old pal, David Bos. We had so much fun seeing him and now can look forward to his visit in late July!

Washington, DC

This week, Rees & I had a leisurely drive from St. Louis to Washington, DC. Yesterday we hooked up with an old buddy--he'll remain nameless for now but I'm sure a few of you will recognize him. We go back so far I don't even remember when we met. With the exception of talking music via email, I haven't talked to him in years. My bad! I won't let that much time go by again.

Then we dropped by the White House. Thought I'd invite Barack and Michelle to the art show this weekend. We didn't manage to get past the gate, though so I hope they are aware of the show anyway. I'll prolly see them Saturday at the Reston show.....

We did the tourist stuff yesterday and I really enjoyed the National Gallery, among other things. If you get a chance, plan a trip to DC, it is a fun city!

A Soggy Weekend

We successfully finished the Laumeier show. What could have been a beautiful venue for a show was one muddy, mucky mess. Incredible rains Thursday night and Friday morning left the Laumeier Sculpture Garden a rutted muddy, grotesque place. My booth happened to be in a low spot and water drained through the booth the entire weekend--a bit of an exaggeration but not by much. The show provided a limited amount of straw but by Sunday it was decaying and the stench practically unbearable. Crowds were thin Friday night and Saturday but Sunday (mothers day) people came out in droves. It is definitely a show I'd conisder doing agin but not unless I could get a spot under the big top tent, which is on higher ground and didn't get nearly as muddy. I wonder why the show doesn't take more advantage of the paved parking areas. By the way, my footwear of choice was a newly acquired pair of Target wellies!

At Laumeier in St Louis

We drove all the way to St. Louis yesterday and it was a nice drive. Today, however, is another story. Lots of rain and tornado warnings this morning. We're nicely ensconced in the Holiday Inn waiting for the storms to pass. We're hoping it will clear by this afternoon so we can set up without getting drenched!Good news is it looks clearer for the rest of the weekend. I'll try to get some pics of the show and post them tomorrow.

Back in Angel Fire

No pictures today, folks. The technophobe strikes again. That is right--picasa refuses to open for me and so I can't get any pictures from the camera to the computer! Maybe Rees will be able to persuade it to work later on.

We got home to the beautiful dry air of Angel Fire from our somewhat soggy Texas outing--3 shows in 3 weekends--on Monday. I spent yesterday repacking the art, reframing some pieces, packing some pieces I need to ship and generally getting ready for our next trip( I even painted a long skinny piece! which I would have posted had my persuasive powers to launch picasa been more successful) --to St. Louis and then maybe to Reston VA. That is a long way. Anyway, this weekend is the Laumeier art show in the St. Louis area. We leave for it tomorrow. I plan to take lots of barn photos while we drive. St. Louis is only 941 miles from here--just a little jaunt-not.