Original Oil Painting Fall Woods

This is an original oil painting measuring eight inches square.  Done in plein air.

It is currently for sale in an Ebay Auction.  Link to Auction.

Timber in Sunrise

Original oil painting six by eight inches. Plein air painting on canvas mounted on wood.

Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch New Mexico

Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch New Mexico, once home of Georgia O’Keeffe are great places to paint.  These are a series of paintings I completed this fall and winter based on my fall trip to the area.  The first painting is a 12” X 9” oil painting of the Abiquiu Mission Church which is located just a stone’s throw from Georgia O’Keeffe’s winter home in Abiquiu.

The second oil painting is 16” X 20” and is of a dead cedar tree on Ghost Ranch not far from Georgia O’Keeffe’s summer adobe home at Ghost Ranch.

 

The third oil painting is 24” X 18” and is a view at Ghost Ranch showing the colorful hills and sky.

 

 

First Snow Mogote, Colorado

This is a painting that is a view from the southwest corner of the Mogote, CO Presbyterian Cemetery. The location is about a mile south of the old Motote Presbyterian Church. Last fall I did a small plein air study from this location after the first overnight snow of the season. The overnight temperature was around seven degrees, but the morning sun was warming up and melting the snow. The elevation there was about 8000 feet. This oil painting is 24″ X 18″.

Painting of San Francisco de Asis Church

This is a 24″ by 18″ oil painting of the San Francisco de Asis Church located in Taos, New Mexico. This church has been photographed and painted many times. Ansel Adams has photographed this church twice that I know about. I am attracted to the simple form of the back view. If you visit you will find that the foreground is a parking lot with large stones to protect the church from trafic. I visualized the church as it might have appeared 100 years ago with native sage brush.

Painting in Studio

A photo of me painting in my studio in the Livestock Exchange Building, Kansas Ctiy.

Vivian Maier

John Sloan in his book Sloan on Drawing and Painting said on page 26, “The idea of taking up art as a calling, a trade, a profession, is a mirage. Art enriches life. It makes life worth living. But to make a living at it – that idea is incompatible with making art.”

James Krenov in his book A Cabinetmaker's Notebook said on page 126, “There is at present a tendency to depict craftsmen as “let's-work-and-sing-together” people. Something like the Seven Dwarfs. But most good craftsmen work by themselves, doing all their own work. So, if you are a loner, you and your work are different from most. Accept that and be glad.”

Why do men fish? A few fishermen advance to fishing only with flies they tie themselves with barbless hocks and release every fish unharmed immediately. For them it's not for food on the table.

My guess is that Vivian Maier got the satisfaction she wanted from capturing the moment. Vivian's success as an artist would have been diminished if she had got into the detraction of showing her work. The rest of us just got lucky to see her life's work. Vivian Maier