New paintings

These are two recent paintings. Neither were painted outdoors as it is very cold and a recent snowstorm has kept me inside. So they were painted in the “morgue.”  As Cezanne taught us, painting inside cannot compare to painting out in the countryside.    The first is a scene near Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico.  (16 x 20, oil on oil primed linen).  I love the colors at and around Abiquiu.  The yellows, pinks, beiges, and oranges are infused in the mountains and hillsides.  Of course the blue skies are very bright, and on most days hardly a cloud in sight.  The one thing that really stands out are the shadows.  As the day progresses the shadows change directions constantly. In the morning a mountainside awash in sunlight will become completely in shadow by the afternoon.  You can turn a 360 whirl and watch the shadows change.  There is never a shortage of new scenes to paint.  Of course, when out there you have to paint without hesitation. The colors change constantly.

The second painting is a scene along the Rio Grande River between Taos and Santa Fe.  (12 x 16, oil on canvas board). The river winds along between mountain heights on the left and the right.  Like in Abiquiu the colors are fantastic, but without the same yellows and pinks as around Abiquiu.  The river is lined with green trees and yellow bushes.  The color of the water is never constant as shadows and sunlight change the water from bright blue, to dark grey, to iridescent blue, with white foamy ripples as the water flows over the rocky bottom.

One could paint around these areas of New Mexico for a lifetime and never run out of beautiful scenes that reflect the unending beauty of the natural world.