MLK day

Monument Creek.  Cheena Hot Springs, Alaska.

Another beautiful day.  Walked the dog, fetched the dog, rode my bike to the MLK parade.  Unloaded the kiln and started glazing the load for thursday/friday delivery.  lots of neutrals, so the glazing goes pretty quickly.  Had to (figuratively) grit my teeth as my helper repeated some mistakes in the waxing process. I think it will take though, and I am looking forward to the improvement.

I'm in a forgiving mood. The result is paintings finished.  Or, perhaps, abandoned with intent to frame.  Montana Wheat is close to completion. I'm calling it Oklahoma Pop, with reverence to  mid century northern California painters.  (Painting as cakes. Thank you Wayne Thiebaud).  It needs  some lining for details and some forgiveness.  A reprise of my large Taos canyon paintings from 1985 is attaining texture, and a great sand dunes painting is beyond improvement.  So - I am moving back to Snata Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande River, and looking forward to starting another large painting.

January thaw

The January thaw is here. A week of days nice enough to ride the bike and to bring thrown pots to the table in the outside courtyard.  I'm glad to be filling a wholesale order this week.

Here is a new painting in progress for the spring show. It is the first large painting from the Alaska trip 2014.  Near Lewistown in the Judith Basin. I imagine the buffalo loved it here.

Montana Wheat (oil on board) 22" h x 30" w

This impasto treatment of Oklahoma canola fields (below) has been in progress for several months.  I haven't added anything for a while, so perhaps it is done.

Oklahoma Canola ( oil on board) 9" h x 12" w

Scene near Santa Fe, NM.

oil on board. 8" x 10"

Clay three ways

Here is a view of Caprock Canyon Park, located about 80 miles south and east of Canyon, Texas, which itself is just south of Amarillo. I talked about it in a previous post, but didn't have the picture available. This, I think, marks the eastern edge of the palisade plains.

This is palo duro canyon just 10 miles east of Canyon.  We drove in and traversed three water crossings that dipped right down to the water with posts showing water levels.  I guess in the spring and during storms, you can become stranded in the park while waiting for flood waters to subside.  The canyon itself is supposedly about 120 miles longs.  I have yet to check the maps.  At Caprock park, they seemed to think they were not a part of Palo Duro Canyon.  When we left Palo Duro we met a line of cars about 8 miles long arriving for a hot air balloon event.  

Santa Fe, was a lively spot for the holidays; much busier than winter 2008 when the economy was down.  The gallery owners are still tending the store, however, so I don't believe it has ever recovered fully.  We took one day to drive a close friend to Red River Ski area north of Taos.  On the way back we stopped at Michael's Kitchen for some comfort food.  I had hash browns covered with green chili stew.  This image is of the famous church in Ranchos de Taos.  The Ravens were out in force. We saw an eagle dance at San il defonso pueblo and visited Bandelier Nat'l Monument.

amarillo

Amarillo. A flash of congestion seen from the high speed highway; chain hotels, chain restaurants.

Palo Duro creek runs quiet in Canyon, ten miles south, where Panhandle Plains museum, located at Panhandle Plains A&M university, provided refuge from the morning fog.

We drove an hour (Texas speeds) to see Caprock Canyon State Park and Palo Duro canyon. Barely escaped Palo duro gift shop, as I was checking email in the toilet at closing time.

Looks like the new big foot sculpture will sell. Will post a pic when I am able.

Tomorrow - hot foot for Santa fe.

sun and clouds

This is a sunny Arizona morning in the summer of 1984;

a farm boy headed to California.

Healy Siding. Healy, AK.

Another watercolor landscape.  It is a rainy day in 2014.  The power plant (using local coal), the airport, and the town are located downstream of Denali National Park.  Raft trips end their run across the spur road from the Alaska Railroad siding here.  Observation cars are parked in the yard.

This is SE Alaska. Oil painting on board.  I have darkened the browns and over painted with clear medium since this image was taken.  

end of the year

It is here.  The end of the year.  Just a few deliveries to be made. One more Saturday afternoon at the Nest, Tulsa, with a few items set out for sale.  The kiln is cooling down from its last firing of 2014. Time to count everything. Inventory.

This drawing is a couple weeks old.  Hannah paints tiles for me in the studio.  She is young and busy with jobs and friends, and has been painting tiles off and on for quite a while.

This sculpture, currently in the kiln, is the first 'big foot' sculpture I've done in a couple of years.  She is being fired with underglaze painting, bearing a pear on the platter.  She will most likely be finished with oil colors to add brightness to her shoes. 

doggerel for the downpour

Though rain is a pain
I sell pots for gain.
So come to my studio,
and get in the moodio.

Once again I've called in a storm with my open studio event.  This time rain is coming in on the full moon.  Should be wet on friday morning. perhaps my old tent will finally meet its waterloo.

I've chosen to display an oklahoma landscape, 9" x 12", oil on board, from the spring of this year. I added a coat of clear medium on weds morning to give a finished look. My oklahoma scenes are my most popular topic here in the land of milk and honey.  I often wonder while driving west on Hwy 412 what it must have been like before the aquifer was drained below the surface.

Sold 6/20/2015 to Louise, who travels through southern oklahoma on her way to vacation at Caddo Lake on the borders of Texas and Louisiana.