Rabbit Ears and Zinnias 

24 X 18 

Oil on Stretched Linen
Photographed by Ilene Taylor

I also took a few photos of the mountains and the garden, and yes, that is rain. We don't see much of that in these parts. This painting has been designed and redesigned over and over. Should the flowers be larger or smaller? Should I cover up the yard and just show flowers and mountains? What's the focus? Etc. I finally decided I like the space, or isolation the prairie portrays with the flowers only on the edge. Maybe sometime I'll just paint the flowers. Getting them to look real and not cartoonish was an issue as well. Below is a watercolor I did while trying to plan the painting.

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Serenity

16 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel

The painting with the tiny cows is from just out of Ruidoso Downs toward Roswell. It's a beautiful, serene place that we notice every time we go that way. 

The Wet Bear

16 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel 

Reference Photo by Joan McDaniel

The Wet Bear made me laugh. The photograph made me think of the cartoon character (Ballou). In the photo the bear had already eaten the fish's head, but I couldn't make myself paint it that way and I like the way they are eyeing each other. The fish could still get away (maybe) as we have seen on some other experiences and photographs. The way he is hanging onto his feet was hard to paint because I had difficulty deciding what went where.

Small Red Barn

16 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel 

The Small Red Barn is in someone's backyard in Capitan, NM. I drove around the block from the library and there it was. I added chickens and repaired the barn door somewhat and added a different kind of fence to protect the chickens.

Malpais & Cactus

16 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel

Malpais is the rough and barren landscape that consists of ancient and largely uneroded lava fields exhibiting recognizable lava flows, and other volcanic landforms. The lava that makes up the malpais near Carrizozo, NM, is black. Dirt has blown in on top of it and plants grow around it. When we had a 150 gallon fish tank we boiled some of the lava rock to get rid of any potential impurities and put it in the tank. The fish didn't mind and it was beautiful.

Red fruit on a prickly pear cactus is called a tuna. The tall cactus is a cholla and blooms hot pink, yellow, or white in June.

Butterfly on Dahlias

12 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel 

Reference Photo by Krystyna Orzeł-Jows

I've tried to paint dahlias before, but their many petals wear me out. The butterfly just made it lots easier.

Rainbow & Round Mountain

16 X 12 

Oil on Stretched Linen

Round Mountain is a landmark for anyone who lives in Mescalero, NM, and for those who live nearby because they are almost home. It is climbed over and over by many people every year. It isn't so tall, but it has much meaning to all who have been there.

To paint the rainbow I watched a video by Jerry Yarnell on YouTube. He talked about the hand motion to get the curve of the rainbow, scumbled the white behind the rainbow and painted the red line and the video stopped unexpectedly. I watched another guy who was painting a full rainbow and his video stopped after he painted the red line. When it came back on the rainbow was completed. So... I just aimed at it. The colors are all there, but they're mushed together.

Ranch View of the Capitans

18 X 12 

Oil on Stretched Linen

If you climb the very steep hill behind the ranch house this is the view you see. Everyone climbs the hill to see the Capitan Mountains. This winter was especially dry and the summer rains had not yet come in this painting.

My husband made me a porcupine hair brush to use to paint the wire fence. It worked really well. 

Prints are available of this painting from FineArtAmerica.com.

Yellow Rose

20 X 20 

Oil on Stretched Canvas 

Reference Photo by Marian Wilson

I do not draw well free hand so I use a grid when I sketch a painting plan. The day I sketched this rose I took the entire time sketching it in our Friday Painting Group time. It didn't realize the amount of time until I couldn't find my paintbox and found it still in my car. I love roses. When we lived in Roswell my husband used to give me at least one rose bush each year. When we moved I had 42 rose bushes. They don't grow so well here in the mountains.

Wingfield Tree

12 X 9 

Oil on Stretched Linen

Over Memorial Day Weekend I painted in the park with a couple other artists. This became my first ever fully plein air painting. Painting in the park was an interesting experience. Each day we took less and set up faster.

Rooster Checking out the Flowers

6 X 8 

Oil on Linen Panel

Reference Photo by Unknown Person

The rooster was a short project I did while painting in the park over Labor Day Weekend. 

Imperial Cloud 

12 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel

We like to stop at the Iris Farm occasionally, especially this time of year, to check out whatever is blooming. I've tried to take pictures of the irises, but the photos never seem to come out as beautiful as the flowers. The painting was an interesting experiment.

Ranch Road at Sunrise

18 X 12

Oil on Stretch Linen

Reference photo by James Cooper

James snapped this reference photograph as he was leaving the Cooper Ranch on the way to the plane early one morning. I used to travel this road and get this view every morning on my way to school, but I never took a photograph. I took it for granted. The mountain is the Capitans near Arabella, NM.


Prints are available of this one from FineArtAmerica.com.

Breakfast Hour 

20 X 10 

Oil on Stretch Linen

I first painted this with an intense blue background, but was made to understand that doing so made the background the focal point rather than the oranges and egg. So... I worked on the background and made it all beige and I hated it. Each time I painted the background I had to repaint the eucalyptus. Finally, I managed to work enough teal into the background and the eucalyptus to make me happy enough with it.

Near Snow Lake

16 X 12 

Oil on Stretched Linen

Reference photo by Karen Jokela

The wide-open spaces in this picture appealed to me. My friend Karen and her husband spend a lot of their free time riding horses and taking in the sites and photographing picturesque places.

I'm not so good with figures, but I learn a little more every time I paint one.

Wild Horses of Sonterra

24 X 12 

Oil on Stretched Linen

Reference photo by Mark Stambaugh

These horses roam our area, but they are not wild horses in the traditional sense of the words. Instead, they are horses that people have let loose because the horses are old or because people couldn't, or didn't want to, care for them any more. They have been known to be in my backyard during the night. Still, they make a pretty picture, I think.

Sierra Blanca from several locations, often miles apart

8X6

Oil on Linen Panel

from the Apache Reservation

 12 X 9

Oil on stretched Linen

from Cree Meadows Golf Course

 12 X 9
Oil on stretched Linen
from Cree Meadows Golf Course

12 X 9
Oil on Stretched Linen
from the Inn

12 X 9Oil on Stretched Linenfrom Alto Lakes

I've been asked repeatedly to paint the mountain. It is why many tourists come to our area. Because of our altitude we are much color than the surrounding areas, although June is probably our hottest month. When it starts raining - usually around the first of July - it gets cooler.

Tinned Pansies

16X12

Oil on Linen Panel

 Pansies are such a cheerful flower and the grapes add just the right amount of color. 

Onions and Salad

20 X 10

Oil on Stretched Linen

Onion skins are transparent in an opaque sort of way. I'm sure I'm just not seeing them properly.  Adding the lettuces to the onions visually made the painting more interesting, I think. I'm working on ways to rethink subjects and expand the designs.

Orange Slices

12 X 6

Oil on Stretched Linen

Oranges and orange slices are so much fun to do, but designing a painting from scratch requires some brain work. Several years ago we bought a small watercolor that is only orange slices. It helps us have a sunny morning every day.

Peaches and Daisies

12 X 12

Oil on Linen Panel

These are probably the best daisies I've done. I struggle with them. The pot is supposed to be clay rather than glass so the shine is muted far more than some other things I've painted.

Copper, Peaches & Pansies

12 X 12

Oil on Linen Panel

The copper pan was much easier to paint than I expected. Painting peaches to be a little bit fuzzy is much more difficult. I learned a lot more about pansies after this one was varnished, but I still like them.

Sunset Splash

18 X 12

Oil on Stretched Linen

Reference Photo by Joe Price

Ocean waves and the splash they make really call to me and this one has the added bonus of bright sunset colors on the water and the rocks. I had to wait for the paint to dry mostly so I could dry brush color into the splash.

Cloudcroft Sunset

16 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel

Reference photograph by Shannon Cordova

The Alamogordo-Tularosa has so many fiery sunsets that many are not believable. They are redder than looking into a really hot fire and it's all over the sky. Friends send photographs to me and they are great, but because they are so much one color they won't make a good painting and that's difficult to explain. This one had more colors so I gave it a try. 

Poudre River Rush 

18 X 12 

Oil on Stretched Canvas 

Photograph from Daniel Edmondson 

The Cache la Poudre River, also known as the Poudre River, is in northeastern Colorado and is a place for fishing, especially fly fishing. It has it's peaceful areas but I love this area of rushing water.

Daisies and Pears 

12 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel 

Photograph from Daniel Edmondson

I've fought with painting daisies several paintings worth, but these seemed so simple I didn't mind them at all.

Trampas Lake in the Pecos Wilderness

16 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel 

Reference photograph by Karen Jokela 

Karen and her husband spend a fair amount of time on horseback so they get to see beautiful sights the rest of us ooh and aah over. The Pecos Wilderness is an area of New Mexico I've never been to. I don't know if the rocks have a separate name, but they are my focus for this painting.

Lilacs in Spring 

16 X 12 

Oil on Linen Panel 

Reference photograph by Daniel Edmondson

I painted this same reference photograph two years ago and it didn't get easier.  I wanted this one to look really different, but the paintings are really quite similar, although for reasons other than I expected. My pot is definitely more coppery this time and the bowl got a gold edge. Last time I used a lot more green leaves to connect the bowl with the bouquet. 

Blackwater Canyon 

18 X 12 

Oil on Cotton Canvas 

Reference photograph was taken by Julie Carter

Blackwater Canyon is on the family ranch 5 miles off the main road on a rather rocky road between Arabella and Tinnie, New Mexico. The family was rather surprised to find that this amount of water was actually in the reference photograph. New Mexico is very short on water. The Capitan Mountains are in the background.

Day Lilies

16 X 12

Oil on Linen Panel

These flowers were at a roadside park near Council Bluffs, IA. I had to ask lots of people before I found out what kind of flowers they are. The small flowers were an unexpected bonus. They are said to grow easily and everywhere, but I don't remember seeing any before.

Early Morning in the Guadalupes 

10X10 
Oil on Linen Panel

Reference photo by Pascal Enjady

This painting is intended as a tribute to my Apache friends I met while teaching at Mescalero Apache School.