Thursday 31st January - Radio Show

My good friend and fellow painter, Rich Nichols, invited me to be the guest artist on his regular weekly radio show "In the Artist's Studio" on KVOT, Voice of Taos AM 1340.
Rich and I paint together and often have great conversations about the nature and process of creating art, so being on his radio show is just like that but with a microphone in front of me. This was my 3rd time on the radio show, this time with a new station presenter/engineer, Jean Scott Benson, also an artist.
They asked me to bring in a couple of paintings to discuss on the air, so I swung by the gallery on the way there to pick 2 out from the latest show. We laughed about "showing my paintings on the radio"!

We had a lively discussion and the hour passed very quickly. After the show was over and the microphones turned off, we had a great conversation about making TV shows for the internet, following painters on their plein aire adventures and watching the development of paintings as they happen - that sounds like a lot of fun! It would be a way of promoting Taos as an artists' colony, attracting visitors and promoting the artists who live and work here.

Saturday 26th January 2008 - the Opening

The article caused quite a lot of interest in my work and the opening at the gallery was a lively event. The painting that received the most comments was the "Magical Sprite" nude of Alexandria, it was very popular. One friend said he particularly like the blue in the hair and was disappointed to find that it was a reflection from when i took the photo of the painting when the paint was still wet. maybe I should start putting vivid blue in my shadows!

Saturday 26th January 2008 - Orlando

Orlando is quite the character. Very tall and thin with long dark hair, he is quite striking looking. He is a jewellery designer and craftsman and wears very large pieces that he has made. he wore a purple and lime green velvet costume like a juggler's outfit and picked out turquoise jewellery pieces from a collection he brought with him to go with it. He was delightful to paint.

Orlando - oil on canvas - 16 x 12" - $575

Friday 25th January 2008 - The Gorge

A sunny warm day for January so i got together with Lina and Jane at the South overlook of the Gorge. Shari is still away in Kwaii getting married to Norbert and honeymooning.
If you are driving North to Taos from Albuquerque or Santa Fe, you come around a bend and this spectacular view is in front of you. There is a picnic spot and plenty of room to stop, so it is a busy area with people stopping to take photographs. We had several conversations with people who came over to see what we were doing.

I never get tired of painting this spot. it doesn't hurt that nearly every painting I have done from here has sold! The wind picked up as we were painting so not only did it feel colder, but painting out in the wind makes you feel crazy after a while. I was pleased with this one, particularly the different colours in the sky.

Gorge - oil on canvas - 10 x 20" - $600

Taos News article

double click on it to read the article, sorry i couldn't fit it all in!

Thursday 24th January 2008 - Framing

Today an article comes out about me and my painting in the local newspaper. My gallery is putting on a meet the artist event on Saturday so people can see my latest works and talk to me about my art.
I've been spending the day so far getting my art ready for the gallery, which means signing it, varnishing it and framing it. The frames arrived a few days ago and I think they look great. I especially like the one I bought for Marisol, the black and gold pick up the colours in the picture.
It would be lovely to sell a few paintings as a result of the publicity. I've already had some e-mails from people who have read the article. I'll include a link to the article soon!

Wish me luck!

Wednesday 23rd January 2008 - Alexandria

This Wednesday we did a portrait study of Alexandria.

Alexandria - oil on canvas 16 x 12" - $575

Monday 21st January - Kitty

Who was it that said to make a living at being an artist you have to paint cats and horses? I generally don't work much from photographs, usually just to finish off something i started from the real thing, but these winter days are still too cold to go out plein aire painting.
This is Kitty, the cat I rescued from a neighbour who was not taking good care of her. She has a very sweet nature and likes to sit next to flowers - quite the poseur! In this picture she is sitting indoors on the window-ledge with thick snow outside.
I'm painting some smaller pieces for a miniatures fund-raising event at the Millicent Rogers' Museum next month.

In the Warm - oil on linen - 8 x 8" - $295

Saturday 19th January - Melissa

For this Saturday's painting group our model was a woman called Melissa, part Navajo, part Iroquai and proud to be descended from Billy the Kid. She came dressed in full South-western style with turquoise and silver jewellery and a conch belt.
I enjoyed painting the light coming sharply from the left.

Melissa - oil on canvas - 20 x 16" - $975

Friday 18th January 2008 - The Horseman

A second session on Brian, the horseman. I started this one last Saturday at the regular portrait group and got most of it down, the composition, a good start and the face - I don't like painting faces from photographs, they always look frozen to me.
It's nice to have indoor projects while the weather is this cold. Once your paints and your fingers freeze it's time to pack up. I worked on the saddle and the clothing etc. from photographs I took on Saturday. I'm particularly pleased with the saddle bag against the Navajo blanket, I think it looks quite effective.

The Horseman - 30 x 22" - oil on canvas - $1,750

Wednesday 16th January 2008 - Magical Sprite

A second session on this painting of the lovely Alexandria. I was very pleased with the way is came out. I was tempted to leave it as it was and start a second one today and brought a blank canvas with me in case, but I happily worked on this one for the 3 hour session and think it is all the better for it. You can see the earlier version further back in the blog.
Magical Sprite - oil on canvas - 30 x 22" - $1,750

Saturday 12th January 2008 - Horseman

I got the idea to ask Brian to pose for us at the Saturday group when he showed me a painting that his brother had done of him on horseback in one of the galleries where I show my work and where he works. I didn't know that he had been a professional horseman (NOT a cowboy, he informed me) until a couple of years ago when he had a serious back injury. These days he works in the gallery and as a bartender, waiting impatiently for his back to be healed enough to be back in the saddle full time again.
He was delighted to pose for us and brought all the equipment to go with the outfit.
During the painting session he told us stories about life as a horseman and his mentors, told us about the saddle and bridle and much more, which gave us quite an atmosphere to paint in.
I took photos so i can work some more on this piece.
Horseman - oil on canvas - 30 x 22" - unfinished

Wednesday 9th January 2008 - Magical Sprite

Such a lovely model this week! Tiny little woman and such a sweet expression.
My sister, Roz, is visiting this week and she came along to the group with charcoal and paper. She and I were at art college together over 20 years ago and she did some good sketches. It's been lovely having her here.
Magical Sprite - oil on canvas - 30 x 22" -

Saturday 5th January 2008

Chloe has modelled for us a few times at the Thursday night life drawing group (one day I'll get around to posting some of these) but this was my first time painting her portrait. I've been practising painting with my reading glasses on and it makes a big difference! I felt happy with the likeness.
Cloe - oil on canvas - 16 x 12" - $575 - contact me on elizjose@gmail.com

Friday 4th January 2008 - The Rio Grande River at Pilar

What a great day!
I met up with Shari for lunch and then we loaded her easel into my big old painter's car ('92 Ford Taurus Station Wagon) and headed south, hoping to find that the temperature was a little warmer down the hill. We had to stop in at the art supply store as i had broken my turpentine pot on Wednesday and needed another.
We ran into all kinds of painter friends at the store, including Kemper Coley. Her was just going to spend the afternoon priming up canvas and masonite boards but he had his paints with him and we talked him into coming with us. He loaded his gear into my car and off we went.

We chose this spot on the Rio Grande just west of Pilar. We were quite close to the road but there weren't many people out that day. It was a little warmer than up in Taos and we were able to paint long enough to each get some good work done.

Here is a picture of the lovely Shari in action and also one of Kemper demonstrating the 'swordfighting' painter stance - hold you brush at the very end, stand back from your painting and stretch.

The Rio Grande River at Pilar - Oil on Canvas - 20 x 20" - sold. Contact me on elizjose@gmail.com for more details.

Wednesday 2nd January 2008 - Marisol

It's nice to paint inside on these cold days!!!! We were to do a second session on last Wednesday's pose but it was a little too painful for Marisol's arms, so we did a session on this pose. I didn't have a good sized blank canvas with me but luckily Tom had one in the studio and let me have it. My brother gave me some large tubes of oil paint for Xmas and I enjoyed the red very much.
Marisol - oil on canvas - 20 x 30" - $1,350