musings from the studio and beyond ~
dawn chandler’s reflections on art and life. . . .
four autumn mornings
I can’t resist. I’ve got to be up there among them. To lose myself among the gold coins of leaves — a world’s ransom of gold leaf.
My new home in town gives me a fine vantage point from which to observe the mountains and their mood. And so it was one day early last week when I looked up there and saw the first hint of yellow.
The aspens were turning.
With a stress-inducing “To Do List” on my mind it was all I could do: Just look up there.
..One day.
..Two days.
..Three days.
And then I couldn’t take it anymore; I had to get up there.
That night I laid out our gear, my pup’s and mine.
And at sunrise we were making the climb up toward the gold….
One day…
Two days…
Three days….
Four in a row….
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| santa fe aspens, i ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel (en plein air) ~ 5″ x 7″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2014 |
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| santa fe aspens, ii ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel (en plein air) ~ 5″ x 7″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2014 |
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| santa fe aspens, iii ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel (en plein air) ~ 5″ x 7″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2014 |
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| santa fe aspens, iv ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel (en plein air) ~ 5″ x 7″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2014 |
giving away free art again!
adjective
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crazy.
Evidently I’m loco, for I’m giving away free art again. Congratulations to Mr. CW Webb of Texas who read my summer edition of my online newsletter “Studio Notes,” found and played along with my wee little contest, and — lucky guy! — had his name drawn out of The Venerated Pith Helmet! Bravo, Sir!
Want to play along? Go to my website at www.taosdawn.com , scroll to the bottom of any page to where it says subscribe to dawn chandler’s studio notes newsletter, enter your name in the field and hit “subscribe.” Then, next time my newsletter comes out (early November) you should receive it. Read it — carefully — and see if you can sleuth the contest details. Then, play along. Kinda fun and — dare I say? — well worth your time. At least I’d like to think so. But just ask Mr. Webb who did all that and won this cool little original painting:
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| april morning above the arroyo, frenchy’s park, santa fe ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel (en plein air) ~ 5″ x 7″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2014 |
Special thanks to all of my current Studio Notes Subscribers. It’s always such a bonus to me when I send out a newsletter, and hear back from so many of you. Thanks for keeping me motivated to keep on writing and keep on painting.
And extra special thanks to those of you who not only read my newsletter but sleuth out my contest and play along.
Remember that every time you enter one of my wee little contests, your name gets added to the end-of-year Ultimate Venerated Pith Helmet Drawing for an 8″ x 10″ original painting.
Okay, back to painting. Cheers and may you enjoy these last few days of summer.
meeting oneself above timberline
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| walking to the clouds ~ santa fe baldy ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel ~ 12″ x 24″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2014 |
I love being above timberline. My first recollection of being above timberline must stretch back to my childhood, hiking those stunning mountains of Acadia National Park in Maine. And some of those Appalachian ridges of lower New York State. But the memory of timberline that comes back to me most strongly is that of the While Mountains of New Hampshire, up near the Lake of the Clouds Hut. I must have been 13 or 14 when I first hiked those granite peaks — back before I was exposed to the magnetic pull on my soul of New Mexico. The Presidential Range of New Hampshire though was my first love affair with the mountains. And I remember being up there beyond the trees, walking across smooth rock and lacy grass, closer to sky than I ever had before. On Top of the World.
I remember thinking, “This must be what Greece is like.” Something about being exposed up there with nothing much more than Rock. Grass. Sky. It just seemed an ancient environment, a place where heroic deeds were done and battles among gods and goddesses were fought and won. A place where one faced the elements and met oneself.
Pictured here, Walking to the Clouds of Santa Fe Baldy, as my friend Joyce approaches the summit of Santa Fe’s highest peak during our July backpacking trip. When I looked over to see her contrasted against the clouds, that sense of Earth falling away from her, my pulse quickened and I knew I had to capture it.
Below, another scene from that same day, also above timberline: Crossing the Boulder Field ~ Santa Fe Baldy, my friends Tavo and Joyce up ahead as we make our way back to camp after a victorious lunch on the peak.
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| crossing the boulder field ~ santa fe baldy ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel ~ 12″ x 24″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2014 |
from the summit of santa fe baldy
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| view from the summit ~ santa fe baldy ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel ~ 12″ x 24″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2014 |
In July two friends and I did a three-day backpacking trip to the summit of Santa Fe Baldy [elevation 12,631′]. Though the forecast was literally dreadful, with warnings of “Hazardous Weather” resulting in flooding throughout much of New Mexico and north Texas (some towns in Texas got something like 9 inches of rain in 6 hours one of those days).
Despite the forecast, we decided to go for it anyway, fully expecting to turn around at any moment.
And in the end?
In the end we had perfect weather.
When I say we had perfect weather, I mean it: We had perfect weather.
Sure there were some clouds, but not til the afternoon, and rarely anything that seemed threatening. Not a drop of rain except at night, when we were already curled up in our sleeping bags, and then it cleared well before we got up in the morning. It was as though we had a halo of glorious weather followed us for the full 3 days.
I’ve never experienced anything quite like that. And because the forecast had been so bad, no one else was up there: We had the trail and the summit to ourselves. Unbelievable!
Here’s the first painting from a series of new ones I’m currently working on based on our trip. [With my Outback Series of mixed media paintings now on exhibit in Taos, I’m focusing for a few weeks on traditional landscape painting; feels good!]
The view here is from the top of Santa Fe Baldy. And yes! thanks to recent rains, the summit grass is indeed that green. (Anyone know which direction I’m looking?)
The challenge with these paintings is the light: When you’re on a summit that’s barren of trees and made up mainly of grass and rocks, there’s not much to cast shadows — which add contrast and visual interest to a painting. But even if there were interestingly shaped things to cast shadows, in the middle of the day — here, literally, around noon or 1:00 — with the sun directly overhead, what little shadow there is is short and limited. The bright sun filtering through thin clouds washes out what little color there is in a mostly grey-green-blue-white landscape, making it a challenge. But heck, it’s a pretty good challenge!
water and oil DO mix
My quandary in June was what art supplies to bring on a 3-week road trip. I had been having such fun this spring doing my little 5″x7″ plein-air oil paintings with my cool little Guerilla Thumb Box, that I really kinda wanted to do that: Bring oils. But what about the turpentine or paint thinner needed for cleaning my brushes?
I was going to be cruising through some deathly hot temperatures, especially across Utah and Nevada, and I really didn’t want to be hauling flammable liquids and paint rags in my car—especially not if my car was going to end up being parked in the hot sun for hours at any given time. Three years ago I witnessed a neighbor’s house engulfed in flames due to paint rags spontaneously combusting in the outdoor garbage can sitting next to the house; I’ve a sober respect for the volatility of art supplies.
And then it occurred to me: How about water-soluble oil paints?
What?
Water-soluble oil paints? Do they really make such a thing?
Yes, Yes, they do! Developed just a couple of decades ago, they are real oil paints, but due to the chemical make up of these, you can use water rather than spirits for mixing and cleaning.
Really?
I had a hard time believing this. I know a few artists who claim to have tried them a while back and said they really didn’t like them, though they weren’t real specific as to why.
A little research online indicated that yes, some painters love them and some painters don’t care for them at all. Me? I decided I needed to love them.
So I decided on Winsor & Newton (one of the most trusted names in artists’ paint) and ordered my basic 4 colors (ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow medium and titanium white) as well as a small set of brushes (designated my “water-oil brushes”) and a bottle or two of WN “Fast Drying Medium” since the air in the PNW would
be damp, and some WN “Satin Varnish” as well (both formulated for water-oils).
Since I’d never worked with these kinds of paints before, I figured I’d better try my hand at them before hitting the road, just in case I really did despise them. If that was the case then I certainly didn’t want to be stuck with them for 3 weeks on the road. So about a week before departure I loaded up my groovy little kit and walked over to my neighborhood park with my pup. We found a shady spot under a big ole’ cottonwood and, while she napped in the grass I set to work.
Voila!
Not bad…..not bad at all!
These were going to be just fine!
But…..hmmm…
Since I would be in the Pacific Northwest where the colors are a whole lot cooler-bluer-greener than in the hot-red-orange-ochre Southwest — I decided to pick up an extra blue (cobalt) and an extra yellow (lemon), so I’d have some more choices when it came to mixing greens.
I ended up doing just a handful of paintings on my trip**— only because it’s tough when you’re traveling with someone to make the time to break away to paint. But when I did pull out my water-oils I thoroughly enjoyed using them.
Here’s my observations about water-soluble oil paints:
— No, they don’t have quite the same texture as traditional oils; water-oils are much smoother, much more slippery than traditional oils.
— You have to load a little more paint on your brush to make it go as far; or, to put it another way, you go through more paint over a small area than you do with traditional oils.
— They take a few days to dry.
— When they do dry, the colors dry a bit dull; this is easily remedied with a coat of varnish, which you’re going to use anyway to protect the painting surface.
— They simply take a little getting used to.
— The EASE of clean-up and lack of worry about flammability of materials when traveling TRUMPS ANY reservations.
The bottom line: Give them an honest try, stop comparing them to “traditional oils,” get used to them and recognize that they are an easy and excellent choice for a traveling oil-painter.
**Want to see the paintings I did on my trip? Check out my next Studio Notes newsletter when I send it out next week! [Subscribe to it by clicking here, and then scrolling to the end of that page to where it says subscribe to dawn chandler’s studio notes newsletter.]
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| june morning ~ ashbaugh park, santa fe, new mexico ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel (en plein air) ~ 5″ x 7″ |