Well hey there! I’m so glad you stopped by but I’ve moved!!
Please come and visit me at my new website: http://rachelmurphree.com
While you’re there… Check out my blog or sign up for my newsletter!
See you there! Artfully yours, Rachel
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!
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.
During isolation I have been out of commission with lower back issues for several weeks and standing, sitting and walking were painful. The recovery is slow because I didn’t want to risk a visit to the chiropractor and I was really missing painting. Today I made a travel kit to have near my sofa and painted while my daughter cooked pierogies and kielbasa. The onions were starting to sprout because I hadn’t been cooking recently and they have interesting shapes. And now it is time to eat!!
Here are two paintings that are in process, and almost finished. I thought I’d post them so you could see what was occupying my time recently!
The first is a barrel cactus and in reality the blossoms are more vivid than they appear here, but they need to be amped up, and the spines “pushed back” as well as other tweaks.
The second is one of my favorite subjects: The Desert Red Bird of Paradise. I’m happiest with this painting so far, but it also needs tweaks and the stamens!
I’ve had the privilege this year of being in a watercolor critique group where we each have 15 minutes to present one or two paintings for constructive criticism. Both of these went before the group this month and I’ll work on them as time allows soon. It’s quite beneficial, I highly recommend joining one of these groups!
’tis the time of year for sunflowers, although they are welcome anytime! I have been playing with ink sketches with washes in my sketchbook, as well as a just watercolor painting. The bunch of flowers is now gone but my memory of it is on paper.
I’ve recently mounted paintings onto deep cradled wood panels, sometimes painted on the sides, sometimes not. Here they are individually and as a group. Click on any photo to enlarge and browse.
The paintings are at the Marketplace at Placita Santa Fe (5034 Doniphan Dr, El Paso) or at First Impressions Salon (6633 N Mesa St # 502 – ask for Leslie)
Because they are mounted on wood and are not behind glass, they can be shipped. Contact me if you’d like details.
These varnished watercolors applied to black painted 2″ deep canvases are selling as fast as I can paint them. They have a more modern rich color because of the varnish and not being behind glass. The smallest is 5″ square. The largest so far is 8×10″. Fun to do and see on the walls! So far they have been only at Flattop Salon but I hope to have them at the Marketplace at Placita Santa Fe and at First Impressions. #elpasowatercolors #flowers #shopsmall
I’ve donated “Stumbled Upon” to the KCOS Art Auction this year. It will go on auction Friday April 27th in the 5:30-6 slot. Get full information here: https://www.kcosartauction.org/april27
This is my fourth year donating to this great cause, I love public television, and I hope that you’ll check out the auctions and take home some lovely artwork.
These are the last three paintings I’ve donated to the KCOS Art Auction! The big sunflower (Flor del Sol) won the Juror Award in 2018.
Rachel Murphree Watercolors 