musings from the studio and beyond ~
dawn chandler’s reflections on art and life. . . .
7.07.13 ~ on the trail to crooked creek — traditional landscape….rEcOnSiDeRed
traditional landscape . . . .
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| the trail to crooked creek ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel ~ 12″ x 24″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
. . . reconsidered . . .
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| do i listen? ~ by dawn chandler ~ mixed media on panel ~ 12″ x 24″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
In the coming weeks you’ll be seeing more of these landscapes with passages of words.
Wordscapes.
Poemscapes?
Thoughtscapes…..
And the vertical lines. . .
What do they mean?
Your guess is as good as mine.
But for some reason I’m compelled to put them in there. It’s like an itch; the painting doesn’t feel finished until I’ve etched these long slender marks.
They’re a recurring compositional element in my work, haunting my paintings here and there for some twenty years.
In this new body of paintings, the vertical lines seem to sequester off or frame areas of the landscape portrayed.
Much like our memories.
Whole passages of our memory of a place fades under mental rust and dust. Our recollections narrow. Sharpness softens.
Or we forget altogether as our focus is diverted with the ping of devices.
What’s left?
some details:
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| do i listen? ~ by dawn chandler ~ mixed media on panel ~ 12″ x 24″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
Incidentally, just as in my first painting in this series, Baldy Mountain from Wilson Mesa ~ Have You Gazed, most of the words and phrases in this painting come from the Robert Service poem, The Call of Wild.
Also, this view of Crooked Creek was shared with me by way of my dear friend and Philmont legend Mariah Hughes, who spent a summer exploring these meadows and pathways as one of Philmont’s first women camp directors. As I learned this weekend, Mariah requested this photo of our friend, Jim MacGillivray. (Nice job, Jim!)
Today is Mariah’s birthday, so it only seems appropriate that I post these paintings today. Happy birthday, SS! 😉
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| the trail to crooked creek ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel ~ 12″ x 24″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
6.30.13 ~ 2 weeks, 4,089 miles
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| Early morning along Route 9 between Fair Play and Buena Vista, Colorado. |
Sunday, last day of June…. just back yesterday from…..northern New Mexico -> southwestern Colorado -> Utah -> southern Idaho -> Oregon coast -> Portland -> into Washington, abandon Vancouver (thanks RAIN!) -> northern Idaho -> western Montana -> western Wyoming -> Frisco, Colorado -> home to New Mexico
Lots and lots of hours passed in the car [praise be to my little red Subaru!] through miles and miles of wrenchingly beautiful country.
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| The Oregon Coast, north of Yachats |
Some highlights:
— every nook and cranny of the Oregon coast
— the road through eastern Oregon and Bend and Eugene to get to said coast
— the Oregon State Park system
— Portland. Every. Last. Thing. About. It.
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| Camping in Oregon |
— Route 12 all the way from western Washington to Montana
— northern Idaho
— US Forest Service campgrounds
— the green banks of Montana sewn in along blue rivers and mountain forests
— the Yellowstone River
— the rugged, jagged, sweeping wall of the Grand Tetons
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| Cruising the eastern flank of the Grand Tetons |
— early morning light on the Rockies, welcoming us home
— wildflowers along the Continental divide
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| Morning in Wyoming |
— reading
— drawing
— thinking
— dreaming
— hooking up with long-ago friends
— being completely unplugged and newsless for two weeks
— every last bakery, eatery, coffee house, brew pub and food truck between here and Portland and back again
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| Descending from Hoosier Pass down into Alma, Colorado. |
5.30.13 — remembering the mesa
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| remembering the mesa ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil and mixed media on panel ~ 8″ x 8″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
I love this one.
Something about it — that certain radiance of blue? the gold archway? the pure white of the clouds? — reminds me of that jewel-like quality of illuminated manuscripts. Only here, the “manuscript” is concealed; words are revealed, but just barely.
The mesa pictured here is of my imagination; it’s anywhere you want it to be.
5.25.13 ~ which spirit would you choose?
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| thinking about it all at the end of the day ~ mixed media on panel ~ 8″ x 8″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
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| dream blue, dream fire ~ mixed media on panel ~ 8″ x 8″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
Which one would you choose?
A collector friend came calling this week, inspired by my “Studio Notes Newsletter” I mailed out earlier in the month. She saw the couple of my new “Spirit Notes” featured there and wanted to see more. Out of a dozen (so far) completed paintings in this series, she’s narrowed her selection to these two. But she’s going to hold off on making her final selection until opening night of my show in August, just in case she’s tempted by some of the Notes I’ve yet to create.
Some details:
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| thinking about it all at the end of the day ~ mixed media on panel ~ 8″ x 8″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
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| dream blue, dream fire ~ mixed media on panel ~ 8″ x 8″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
5.22.13 ~ the trail to pueblano
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| the trail to pueblano ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel ~ 12″ x 24″ ~ copyright dawn chandler 2013 |
Ohhhh…..Nature’s pathways….How you ease my troubled mind….
‘funny how even just a picture of a pathway can do that….
Here, we’ve just descended the trail from Wilson Mesa (remember all those previous paintings of “Baldy from Wilson Mesa”?) and are now headed eastward toward Pueblano, one of Philmont’s most beloved North Country camps.
–sigh–
‘Nothing like a path to lead me places…particularly to distraction… Good distraction….