Sizzling Solstice.

"Sizzling Solstice," 5 x 7 140 lb watercolor

Heat storm...upper 90s and 100s all week. Saps everything, including motivation. So this was only thing that came to mind. And like everything else today, an effort. Drought in Oklahoma and the West.

The Green Leaves of Summer...Calling...

 

"Calling Me Home," 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb. paper

Summer sets in...as the heat rises and memories of summers past flood back.

Several songs capture those moods, and for me, one of them is "The Green Leaves of Summer," by Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Weber.

That's probably because I first heard it as a teenager as the theme song to the movie, The Alamo. So romantic, especially for a youngster,  a Texas native, reared on the myths and glory of that Texas bastion, even if the battle occurred in a cold springtime.

Now, after reading and aging, I know the John Wayne movie was more myth than reality, and other movies have been more accurate, and less racist. But the song remains, better than the movie, always stirring haunting personal memories, and a memorial for brave men who died.

Thus today's return to watercolor.

"Twas so good to be young then
To be close to the earth
Now the green leaves of summer
Are calling me home."

Sunset and sandstone

"Sunset and Sandstone," 8 x 10 acrylic on canvas panel

In the Southwest, where the geology is an open book  on the past, on time, sandstone dominates much of the landscapes.

 Laid down layer by layer as sand in ancient seas, the strata takes multitudes of landforms and colors, up close or on far horizons. The rocks themselves, plus the ever-changing skies and weather captivate me attention, telling uncounted stories.

Today's painting, started last week outside during downtown Edmond's First Thursdays VIBES art event, needed finishing touches to fit the mood of wide-open spaces and dramatic  colors. 

Painted out of memories of New Mexico, it will soon to be framed and available at In Your Eye Studio & Gallery in Paseo Arts District.

Desert Drama

"Desert Drama," 5 x 7 acrylic study on canvas panel

The drama of far distances and spacious skies of the arid Southwest overwhelms the senses with an infinity of colors and light--and the sense of size. 

To me, rain storms are among the most dramatic, both as a contrast to the arid land and air, and because they dominate the wide open spaces, clouds always changing, always moving, and rain falling transparently across the landscapes.

The Navajo consider torrential rain from thunderstorms male rains and slow moving clouds and gentle rains and mist  female.

I'm captivated by those rains, their shapes and colors. Today's painting, a study for a larger piece, is another of my desert series, also an unintended work in complementary colors.

Seven Blues, for artists

"Blue Tree," 5 x 7 acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Favorite color is blue, and I find I use more blue paint than any other. 

And there are so many hues.  I ran across these quotes today, and had to follow Gauguin's advice. So here it is, courtesy all the blues I have,  Ultramarine, Cobalt, Prussian, Phalo, Cerulean, Teal  and Turquoise speaking to me.

 "If you see a tree as blue, then make it blue."

― Paul Gauguin.

"I never get tired of the blue sky."

― Vincent Van Gogh.

"The sky was a midnight-blue, like warm, deep, blue water, and the moon seemed to lie on it like a water-lily, floating forward with an invisible current."

― Willa Cather, 'Sunrise On The Prairie.'