Paradise Glow wins First Place!

Paradise Glow Framed watercolor $450

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that Paradise Glow, my painting of the desert red bird of paradise plant, won First Place in the NM Watercolor Society’s Southern Chapter juried exhibit! Thank you to the exhibit judge Robert Dozal for choosing my piece. This is a first for me to win an award in an NMWS show!

Jeweled Crown Framed watercolor $450

I have a second piece juried into the exhibit called Jeweled Crown. Thank you to juror Linda Doll for picking both of my paintings to be in the exhibit.

You can view the entire show here: https://tinyurl.com/SC-2020-NMWS The show is a really nice one with artist’s comments under each image and also comments from Robert on the show and the prizewinners. The exhibit is online only because of the pandemic, but we were scheduled to be at the Branigan Museum in Las Cruces and hopefully will be there in another year. They are super to work with. So please sit back and enjoy the exhibit: Rough and Tumble: Life in a Desert Town.

Up in the Air in Albuquerque!

This painting of Century Plant/Agave blooms 20+ feet in the air was juried into the Albuquerque chapter of NMWS Spring Show.  It’s the Society’s 50th anniversary celebration with an exhibit of over 100 watercolor paintings and is definitely worth a stop if you’re in Albuquerque during May! Click on the link for complete info.

With this acceptance I will have signature status into the NMWS so I can sign my paintings with those initials after my name from now on. This has been a goal of mine and I’m happy to have reached it! 

Up in the Air $400

Apache Plume Morning @ Dona Ana Arts Council show

Apache Plume Morning
This painting inspired by our hike on Lost Dog Trail in West El Paso was juried into the NM Watercolor Society’s annual Spring Show this year at the Dona Ana Arts Council’s Gallery, 1740 Calle De Mercado – Mesilla.  May 6-29, 2019

See it in person at our Artists’ Reception, Saturday, May 11th from 4-7 pm.  Meet the artists, enjoy the over 35 paintings, and enjoy light food and refreshments.  Regular gallery hours: M-F 9-5. 

Apache Plume Morning $325
 

Cafe de Mesilla Artists Reception Saturday April 13

In the Spotlight $350

‘In the Spotlight” and “Cactus Queen” will both be on display for sale at the Cafe de Mesilla, a charming breakfast/lunch and coffee shop at 2190 Avenida de Mesilla. The show is hosted by the NM Watercolor Society and it’s part of our Alternate Spaces, an informal display of watercolor and morel The show will be up now through the end of May 2019. The Artists’ Reception is Saturday, April 11th from 2-5 pm as part of the 10-10 Second Saturday Art Hop in the Mesilla/University area. Galleries and museums will be open through the day for you to take a tour of the area and a bite to eat. Hope to see you there!

Cactus Queen $350

Entering again

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Hello, and welcome to March! Today is the deadline to enter the New Mexico Watercolor Society exhibit of the Southern Chapter to be held in Las Cruces in mid May. I just entered these two paintings and I’ll hear mid month if either or both have been accepted. Fingers crossed because entry into this show will be the 5 entries needed in the time frame in order to have “signature status” in the membership. That means that from then on, I can sign my paintings with NMWS after my name.

The painting on the left is Apache Plume Morning (that’s the common name of the pink shrub in the foreground) and Standing Proud (flowers and seed pods — my favorite! — of the Yellow bird of paradise shrub.

These needed some additional tweaking this week and I’m happier with them than I was before. In the meantime I’m working on paintings for the Albuquerque show of NMWS also in May. Working more hours as a librarian makes finding painting time challenging, but I’m learning the balance…

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. I’ll be sure to let you know what happens with these entries.

Dog Days of Summer?

Apples a la Blasdell

Take a break from the heat this Friday evening — it’s cool inside the watercolor show at EPCC!  I will have almost a dozen paintings on display so it’s a great place to see a lot of my work in one place.  L’Alliance Francaise d’El Paso is hosting their annual watercolor show at the Administrative Services Center of EPCC at 9050 Viscount. this Friday, August 10th from 6-8 pm.  The food and drinks are yummy and there is a lot of fabulous art to view.

To get there, take the Hunter/Viscount exit, turn left, go past Montwood intersection and turn at the light with the EPCC sign on top.

Spurge Among the Prickly Pear

 

 

The show continues until Labor Day and the hours are 8-5 Monday through Friday. The pieces are not for sale at the show, but can be purchased directly from me after.  Remember, as an email subscriber you get 10% off the price of any original purchased directly from me!  The prices of these pieces run from $295 for the 16 x 20 size to $425.

 

Here are some behind the scenes views as I got ready for the show this weekend.  First, I needed to round up framed paintings, and because there’s only so much storage room at my house, I needed to go to my inlaws’ house where I happily “store” them on their walls!  I am so fortunate to have them, in many many ways.

Then I made sure no smudges or dust was on the paintings/glass and redid the labels if necessary.  I don’t remember where I found this idea online, but I make bags from old towels by sewing up two sides so it makes a pouch to carry each painting.  For the 1/2 sheet paintings, or the ones that are 20″ x 28″ or larger in size, I’ve used a larger shower sheet/beach towel size and sewed a hand towel sideways at one end.  The smaller towel is not quite as long but it works to make a large enough bag to carry the bigger framed pieces.  I am normally quite the procrastinator, so I was proud that I got all this done and in my trunk a day before the show setup!

Here’s one of the “X” freestanding walls that holds my work.  I’ve included what I call the painting “backstory” on the labels along with media, my name, phone and title of the work.  It’s what I was thinking, or what inspired me, where I was, etc.

Flor del Sol @ KCOS Auction

I’m very pleased to announce that my painting Flor del Sol won a Juror Award for Still Life and Landscape in this year’s KCOS Auction!  You can view the award winning paintings here.  I’m honored to be in such good company .  https://www.kcosartauction.org/about

I will let you know what times this painting, and my other donated painting, Gone but Not Forgotten (Globe Mills), will be auctioned to benefit our wonderful public TV station.

Art Auction Air Dates
Saturday, April 22: 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
Sunday, April 23: 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
Saturday, April 29: 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
Sunday, April 30: 5:00 pm–9:00 pm

 

Double shot of watercolor

A reminder that my painting “In the Spotlight” will be at the NMWS Spring show of the Las Cruces/Southern Chapter which opens this Saturday, March 31st from 5-7.  Hope to see you there!

Across the street at the Dona Ana Arts Council’s new gallery will be another watercolor show by a NMWS signature member, Arlene Tugel. Make an arts evening night out in Mesilla with yummy restaurants nearby!

 

In the Spotlight!

I’m thrilled to announce that this watercolor, “In the Spotlight”  has been juried into a New Mexico Watercolor Society show!  Having my first painting in a NMWS show was a goal of mine for this new year (as well as taking up yoga again and taking weekly hikes).  Those two things haven’t happened yet,  and it’s already MARCH!  Where did the winter go?

Anyway, the show is at the very cool Rokoko Gallery, 1785 Avenida de Mercado, Mesilla.  We will be in one room and their eclectic mix of fun art will be in the rest of the gallery.   In addition there’s a one woman show with watercolorist Arlene Tugel at the Dona Ana Arts Council’s new building across the street that evening.  So if you’d like to make a night of it,enjoy some art and get a bite to eat at one of the many restaurants in Mesilla, stop by!!

The opening is Saturday, March 31st from 5-7 pm and the show runs until April 28th.  Gallery hours for this Exhibit: Wed.-Sat. 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sun. 1:00-5:00 p.m.   

My eventual goal is to get “signature status” with the society which means that I have to have four more pieces accepted over the next five years and then I can sign my paintings with the initials “NMWS” after my name.  So I’ve started this journey….and I’m doing the happy dance.

This the second time I have painted this vegetable still life of kale, scape (the curly part of garlic that is above ground) and of course a wonderful juicy red pepper.  It will be framed with plexiglass with a white double mat and priced at $300.

Desert Snow

I am pleased to announce that my painting, Desert Snow (Desert Broom in Bloom) was selected to be in the New Mexico Watercolor Society’s SC “For the Love of Art Month” exhibit.  FTLA, as this event is known, is an annual Arts event in Las Cruces with studio tours, a member art show and art happenings all around town.  See this link for more info: http://www.artformsnm.org/floa.  As of this post, the page shows the map and events for 2017 but I’m sure it will be updated shortly.

Our show will be held in the Adobe Patio Studio – 1765 Avenida de Mercado, Mesilla, NM and the opening is Friday, February 3rd from 5-7 pm. Our watercolor show has the theme  “Small Miracles” where we were asked to respond to the wonder all around us.  My painting is of the beautiful “snow” that occurs when the Desert Broom plant blooms and then sheds its seeds in fluff sent to the winds.  This is one of many wonders that I’ve seen on my hikes with my husband on Lost Dog Trail.  The Franklin Mountains are a fabulous place to rejuvenate and enjoy nature right outside an urban area.

Hope to see you at the show opening!