Well today we start the beginning a our 4th week here in the UNIT ON THE HILL! Time passes so fast - this means we only ave 4 1/2 months left before we move out of here and fly out to Indiana to pick up our beautiful 31 foot RV!!!! WOO-HOO!!!!
Well, this morning I did the laundry - Tuesday was my normal day for doing laundry for the past 25-30 years so I decided to mix it up a little and start doing in on Monday. For me this is what you would call living on the edge - I'm a creature of habit - however that said - when we start RV-ing, we will not be on any kind of a schedule so I need to learn how to be flexible!!!! Trust me -----From Tuesday to Monday is a big move forward for me!!!!
Today is a beautiful day - bright sunshine - blue sky and a nice crisp 53 degrees at 10:40am. After I finish this post I'm going for a nice 45 minute walk and check out the hood. We now live close to the city so if I walk in the wrong direction I'm in the middle of traffic!!! As a young (stupid) boy I was run over by a car (long story) so I tend to stay away from traffic!!! :>)
My mind and painting arm is caught up in the colors and scenes of autumn. We go up into the Sangre d' Christio mountains a lot. During the summer the Aspen trees are all aglow with little green leaves and even tho they bend in the wind, they give the appearance of being straight and strong! In the autumn, the leaves turn a brilliant yellow, some orange and some light red. After the leaves all fall off, the Aspens appear to be very frail and seem to bend further in the more gusty winds. They give the appearance that they need protection. This is where the mighty pines come in - protectors of the aspens - the pines act as a buffer against the winds and provide some protection to the frail aspens.
This painting is 16 x 12 on heavy linen paper using a palette knife and brush. It was done very quickly - once again with emotion, expression, gusto and spontaneity of color and form. Although done with spontaneity - the colors truly represent the colors of New Mexico autumn.
OK - here we go - fast and not a lot of blah-blah-blah!!!
First I put some quick pencil lines to represent aspens and pines.
Working from the FG into the BG, and using my palette knife I put a thick layer of several colors onto the surface of the mighty pine trunks - wait a tad for it to start drying and then using my hair comb I create the texture of pine bark.
Next I use the edge of my palette knife to create bark on the aspen trunks as well as adding some color to the trunks.
OK - the BG and FG is going to go pretty quickly as I want to go for my walk - I'm back on a "health kick" eating better - eating less and getting in some exercise. My annual checkup gave me some food for thought!!! I want to lose 10 pounds and get to the point that I can walk very briskly for one hour without feeling tired or stopping on the way for a short rest. Over the past 7 months with the stress of selling the house, we let our exercise and diet go by the wayside and now it's time to pay the piper!!!
OK - that said - time for some BG and FG and tweaking and generating some ground foliage (clutter) to give the indication of autumn as well as some very faint trees in the distant BG for some sense of depth.
OK - BG done - now time for the FG and a tweak here and a tweak there.
Golly - Gee, Autumn it is and the mighty pines are sentinels with the upcoming winter duty of protecting the frail aspens.
Enjoy the day my friends and go for a walk and enjoy the fresh air.
Until next time -- JR :>)
