Exploring the universe

"Aurora," 9 x 12, watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistiico cold press

Abstract art increasingly attracts my attention, but I don't seem to be able to think or feel that way very often. I suppose that's because there's too much journalist and type A in my personality.

"Big Brother is Watching," 5 x 7

But every once in a while, when I'm stuck, things happen, perhaps out of desperation, or of just a need to play, to explore possibilities.
I want to be able to do more than just paint pretty pictures. 
Yesterday's watercolors are the result, the large one a creation of nature's nighttime palette.
The small one an unintended big eye, perhaps a reflection of this country's slide toward fascism and dictatorship?

Creative drought relief

"Sunset Storm," 8 x 10, 140 lb. d'Arches cold press

When creativity seems to dry up...drought can be an obscure or ill-defined mood or feeling. And finally, after frustration and dissatisfaction,  relief arrives for different reasons.
To break a drought, you need to get out of your comfort zone, take risks and attempt anything, because what has worked in the past isn't working, hence the drought.
Thus it is for me, today's watercolor, the first I've really been satisfied with in quite a while. 

Color in action

"Verb," 5 by 7 #watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press paper

Perhaps the most moving force in creation and the universe is the verb. Consider this Spanish translation of John 1:1, more accurate than the English, but you have to know your theology to fully comprende:
"En El Principio, era El Verbo, y El Verbo...."
On a gray rainy day, color stands out, the product of light, of light. Thus yesterday's unicorn, full of color and action and creation.

The freedom of color

"Free Spirit," 5 x 7 watercolor 140 lb Farbriano Artistico

"Out here there's the sky"--adventures in gray

"50 Shades of Gray," 9 x 12 watercolor, 140 lb. d'Arches cold press paper

How can you not live out here and not be enchanted by the skies? Willa Cather had it correct, and my motto has been "Out here there's the sky."
Today's ever-changing unsettled skies prompted this attempt. For me, it's an adventure in mixing grays--so many ways and tones possible with just a few colors--trying to match some of the tones I see in our clouds, and knowing, somewhere there's a sky like that. 
I'm always trying to figure out ways and colors to obtain some of those wonderful grays. There are about eight different colors used here, and none of them are labeled "Gray." That tube of paint seems dull to what I see overhead.

Desert dreams

"Evening Star," 8 x 10 watercolor, 140 lb. d'Arches cold press paper

Western icon

"Patriarch of the Prairie," 5 x 7 today's watercolor, 140 lb Fabriano Artistico cold press

The almost universal icon of the American West, seen everywhere in sculptures, paintings, highway decorations. Why? For what was and is gone? Or as a symbol of freedom and wildness? Or as a sacred part of the lives of the people who were here first? Or because of majesty and spirit? Don't know.

Watercolor exhibit

My current watercolor exhibit at In Your Eye Studio & Gallery in Paseo.

Enchantment--Firelight

"Firelight," 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press paper

What is as enchanting as firelight? 
In the coziness of your home near the fireplace at night, or around a campfire in the woods when camping out or in front of a cabin, watching the stars overhead? 
With a loved one, or alone, watching the universes of in each burning log or coals, there's enchantment. Magic.

Adobe and turquoise--magic

Taos Magic, No. 1, 8 x 10, watercolor, 140 lb. d'Arches cold press paper

Taos Pueblo...Centuries of spirits under a sacred mountain in Northern New Mexico, even before it was Mexico or New Spain. 
It draws you like a magnet of magic--loved by artists and photographers who sense it not as a curiosity, but as a place of power, of creativity. Power--Always the light, always the colors, always the people, always....
Adobe and turquoise, magic always changing colors of the earth, reflecting the ever-changing light of the sky and the landscape and people.