18" x 24" Landscape Work in Progress

I started this landscape the other day. Jerome and I painted in this spot for about two hours or so before the light shifted. I was looking toward the sun and it moved from my left to right. The fastest changing light was on the large tree. Once the light on the tree changed, I concentrated on adjusting the drawing and color of the background mountains.
Below is a photo of the block in. I did this part as quickly as I could. At this stage I am just trying to get the drawing roughed in and start to adjust the values of the masses in relationship to each other.



Frank Gardner © 2009


Below is a photo of the painting as it was when we wrapped up to move on to another location. Notice how much the light on that large tree has changed from one photo to the next.



Frank Gardner © 2009


Today I had a chance to work on the painting some more while I was at my gallery. I took a lot of photos along the way so I could share some of them here and talk about a few of the adjustments that I made. 

If this blow by blow is going to bore you, feel free to just scroll down to the bottom to see how I left the painting when I closed up shop for lunch. However, I hope there are several of you who will be interested in seeing and reading about how I went about making some changes. 

A priority for me is that I want to maintain the freshness of the on the spot brushwork. So, to try and keep as much of the good stuff as possible, I really take some time and think about what the most important changes should be before starting to make any adjustments. Most of the color is pretty accurate for a start, but there are a lot of subtle colors out there, and in this case, the best way to get them is to layer more color on top of what I started with and let the eye blend them.
 
Below is a picture of how the painting looked before I did any retouching on it.



(a) Frank Gardner © 2009

One main issue I want to tackle is the width of the large tree, so I put a few spots of color down to mark that adjustment (b). I also want to move the three trees on the right side of the middle ground. I think they will give a better balance to the piece as a whole if I shift them slightly to the right. I thought it might be interesting to show how I used a light touch to do that, so there are before (a), during (b), and after (c) shots where you can see how I mark in the new trunks. Then I lightly paint over the old ones. I am beginning to build up some broken brushwork there, and you wont even be able to notice that they were shifted by the time the painting is done.



(b) Frank Gardner © 2009


(c) Frank Gardner © 2009


(d) Frank Gardner © 2009

Another rather important adjustment I wanted to make was to shrink the size of one of the distant trees. It is right at the base of the mountain just about in the middle of the painting ( to the right of the large tree ). In (c) it is rather large, and you can see in (d) that I reduced it by about half it's size and moved it slightly lower and to the left. I think it gives the illusion of depth better by being a bit smaller than what I had painted at first glance. On the spot you can stare at something so long that it becomes bigger than it really is.
I also started to add some light purple tones into the mountain side, and that begins to even them out a bit.

One element of the scene that I really liked was a patch of light green grass in the middle of the freshly plowed black earth. (There is a guide wire to a electric pole that comes down there and they could not plow through it.) It broke up the large area of dirt nicely.
I had been thinking about introducing a few sheep into that area to give added interest and a foreground element. Some sheep were wandering around while we painted and that is what gave me the idea.
I painted in 5 sheep initially (e). I really liked the way the two on the right came out, so it was kind of hard to wipe them off. I thought it was too much and they were drawing me to the right too much so maybe just three would look better. I wiped them off while they were still wet because I wanted to keep the fresh blocked in look of the field. I can always paint them back in later if I decide that I liked it better with 5. I am starting to add in some darks into the field as well. That black dirt turns up some hard clumps when plowed and I want to get a bit of that in the foreground without going overboard.



(e) Frank Gardner © 2009



(f) Frank Gardner © 2009

This is how I left off for now. I have a few things in mind, but I don't want to overdo it. I'll probably wait a day or two before I do any more painting on this one.
I also took some close up shots of how I went about painting the sheep. Check back in a day or two to see those. Too much loaded into this post already.
Thanks for reading!

Another Day of Painting Out

Last Saturday I spent the whole day out painting with my friend Jerome. After a morning of landscape painting in the direct sun we decided to paint in town somewhere so we could get some shade. I wanted to take him over to El Chorro because he had enjoyed driving down this steep windy street the other day. There is a lot of history to the area that I wont go into right now. There are also a lot of tall trees for shade.
We settled on a spot and set up our gear. I wanted to paint a statue of The Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego. Jerome chose to paint the tower part of the building surrounded by trees.



"The Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego"
10" x 8", oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2009
$720. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner




My painting toward the end of the session.
Frank Gardner © 2009




Jerome and his painting.


One thing about Mexico is that no matter where you go it seems there is something going on. We thought that this would be a pretty quiet spot on a Saturday afternoon. Turns out there was a big wedding reception a few doors down below us so we got to listen to music the whole time that we were painting. Then we heard some sirens and a running race came by us heading up the steep hill. Then some mariachis strolled by on their way up to play for another wedding at the church up above us. There was also a folkloric dance class on the balcony one up above us. Plus all of the families and couples out for a walk that passed by to see what we were doing. We also got to watch an old VW Bug slide down the steep cobble stoned street almost bashing into the wall and a few brave kids fly down the hill on their bikes, obviously getting a big thrill by doing so. All of this, plus some lively joking back and forth between Jerome and me, made for some good times.
Oh, and we also had fun painting!



The lead pack of runners.




Mariachis walking up the hill to another wedding at the church.

On the Spot

Lots of new work, but not lots of photos of the finished paintings. Here are a few on the spot photos from the past two weeks.


Untitled, 14" x18", Frank Gardner © 2009

This one is from today. Not quite finished yet. I am going to touch up the tree a bit when it is dry. Maybe a few other spots here and there too. I love this scene and have been wanting to paint it for a while. My friends Holly and Mario from this ranch wondered why I wanted to paint the ugliest spot on their property. I think it has a lot of good color and shapes.





Untitled, 11" x 14", Frank Gardner © 2009

Last night Jerome and I were invited up to a rooftop to paint with two of my students from the workshop last week. This photo is about 5 minutes before I had to stop painting. There were some rain showers drifting around. It made for great light and a dramatic sky, but when the sun sunk behind a big cloud bank my light was gone. I'll finish this one up soon. I worked on it for about 45 minutes I guess. You can see how I approach the block in stage.
Below is the sky looking back the other way.



Frank Gardner © 2009





Untitled, 18" x 24", Frank Gardner © 2009
Private Collection

I set up my Gloucester easel (Take it Easel) on one of the mornings of my workshop to demo a larger painting. The class worked on their own while I painted this landscape. Jerome helped the class with their paintings so I could keep going on this one. I need to adjust a few values, but this is about how I left off. There was a lot of great color in the atmosphere earlier in the morning. It has pretty much flattened out in this photo.





"La Capilla, March '09", 11" x 14", Frank Gardner © 2009
Private Collection

This is the same scene from a demo a few weeks ago. I was asked if I would do a similar demo for the second class. The composition is a little different. Again, you can see how much the light has shifted from the time I started the painting.

A New Painting

I've been absent from the blog for a while so I could concentrate my energy on my landscape workshops. They are finished now, so I will try and catch up on a backlog of things that I want to post.
I'll be posting a bit about how the workshops went soon. Marian Fortunati came down for the class and she posted about the days adventures most evenings on her blog.

My painting buddy Jerome Greene is visiting for a few weeks. This is a street scene that we painted the other afternoon. The light was fading fast, so I had to finish up a few things in the studio.


"Bajada de Garita", 14" x 11" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2009
$950. Available at Galeria Gardner


I love how the street drops down so steeply. The purple jacaranda trees are in full bloom right now.

demo block in

This is a demo that I did for the class this morning. I wanted to show how I would block in the main value masses quickly to get the design down before the shadows shift too much. The photo below is the scene a few minutes before I started. You can see how the line of sun on the ground in from of the chapel is still there. By the time I started blocking in, the sun had moved toward me, making the shadow from the tree move a bit. I like it better as a more solid shape.
I probably spent an hour doing this demo while talking and explaining what I was doing and taking a quick break.
It is important to block in all of the light and shadow before the light shifts. If you wait and tackle it one piece at a time the shadows will be inconsistent throughout the painting.


Frank Gardner © 2009



Frank Gardner © 2009


I'll post more about the class as I have time.

Flowers in Landscape

These are two studio paintings that I did around Christmas. I left them hanging when my Mom passed away in early January and never got around to getting photos and posting them.

It's fun sometimes to try several approaches on a theme. To play with different ideas without trying to cram it all into one piece.
Here I was playing with a similar subject and colors but with different approaches and designs. For example, the top one has a big mass of the tree on the left and the bottom piece has the large mass of the tree on the right. The road painting has some visible sky and the field painting does not.
The road leads the viewer into the painting on the top, which is a pretty standard way to lead the viewer into a painting. In the bottom one, I tried to lead the viewer in with just color and brushwork. I am hoping that the eye is attracted to the area of the branches on the right and beyond into the field. Then, over to the far tree on the left and into the foreground again by the light pink flowers on the left. I am curious to hear if that is the path that others eyes are drawn to in that piece.


"Road with Flowers", 14" x 18" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$1,300. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner



"Field of Flowers", 14" x 18" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$1,300. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner

class demo step by step

This is a demo painting that I did for a small class back in September.
Colors were first pre mixed into about 9 or 10 main piles on my palette. That way I could compare the colors to each other and make some adjustments.

Then I blocked in the main shapes in Step 1 to show my students how to quickly build up the masses first with no modeling.
The goal was to just paint a flat shape of each pre mixed color.
We were all painting from the same photo and compared as we went along.



"Rooster and Hens" Step 1, Frank Gardner © 2008


Step 2. Once the canvas was pretty well covered, I started to adjust the shapes to get a more accurate drawing.
The focal point is around the rooster, so I started adding smaller shapes there first to define that area.
The hen in the back is not in the focal area, so I left that one rather vague. The silhouette is what describes to the viewer what it is.



"Rooster and Hens" Step 2, Frank Gardner © 2008


Step 3. I wanted to maintain simple shapes throughout the painting without breaking them up too much. I tried to add just enough detail to the alfalfa on the ground so you can tell that there is something there.
I was working all over the painting at once trying to unify the design without overworking any one area.



"Rooster and Hens", 10" x 8" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Finished Painting
Private Collection


One thing that I like to do often is have a few brush strokes of a light value break into a darker mass, and in the same area, put a few strokes of a darker color into a light mass. I think that helps in the transitions from one mass to another. You can see it well around the rooster's head with the green in light and shadow. Those strokes are similar in size to the blue and orange on the tail feathers. There are also two similar strokes of dark green by the rooster's front leg or behind the hen's tail. Similar sized strokes like that help move the eye from one spot to the other. adding vitality to the painting. For this painting I wanted to keep your eye popping around a bit, kind of like the action of the rooster and hens pecking around in the alfalfa.

Maine Trip Article in American Art Collector

There is a great 8 page article in the February issue of American Art Collector about our painting trip to Port Clyde and Monhegan Island. It is chock full of paintings and photos from the trip. They included a bunch of the shots that I took of the guys painting, but I pop up in a few of them too.




This photo on the contents page is one I took of the group heading down to the ferry leaving Monhegan.

I think the Feb. issue of American Art Collector is on the stands now. You can also read a PDF of the AAC article on the Addison Art Gallery web site.

Addison Art Gallery in Orleans, Ma., will be hosting a show of our work "Paintapalooza", from Feb. 13th through March 22nd.
There is an opening reception on Saturday Feb. 14th.

There is also a show "Plein Air Painters", up right now through March 22nd at The Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis. There is one painting from each of the guys on the trip. There will be a reception for that show on Feb. 13th, the night before the Addison opening.

Influences

I want to extend my sincere thanks again to everyone for the significant outpouring of support that I received in my last post about the passing of my Mom. I know that she is pleased that there are so many comments.
Knowing that there is so much love, prayers and virtual hugs out there has really meant a lot to me.


Andrew Wyeth passed away last week.
His art has influenced many of us in one way or another along our paths as artists.
The Wyeths were subject of many late night discussions on our recent painting trip to Maine.
Andrew and his family have homes in the area of Maine where we were painting. It seemed that each of the artists present had their favorite Wyeth and many of them are influenced to some extent by their work.



Untitled, mixed media collage/color xerox, Frank Gardner © 1982


I dug out this old piece of mine from my RISD days. This was a freshman foundation project that I did in '82. and it is influenced by the Andrew Wyeth painting "Christina's World".
We were working with collage between layers of glass and then color xeroxing them. Each generation of xerox having a higher contrast to it. Breaking it down to the basic form. I don't have the original here, but I have this version, which is a color xerox of the original, and it has a section of it that had been xeroxed two times in the original piece and therefore it would be three times in this version. There are lots of different ways that the elements in this collage relate to each other. The breaking down of the original Wyeth painting by the xerox process. The breaking down of the structure of house on the hill with the architectural drawing of a similar building. The way Muybridge used multiple cameras to capture the movements of his subjects. The same goes for the Degas drawing that he gridded out, breaking it down to the structure of the figure. And so on. The painting being simplified by the xerox process.
This was done a long time ago, so I have a hard time remembering everything that I was thinking at the moment.
I just wanted to share it as an example of Andrew's influence dating way back in my artistic journey.

Very Sad News

It has been a very hard week for us.
My Mom passed away.
She meant so much to me that I cannot even start to put it all into words.

My Mom, my friend, my inspiration.
She taught me many things.
She always put others first.
She had a great sense of humor.

She was my most loyal fan, my biggest blog follower, and Curator of the Frank Gardner Museum.
( That's what I call my parent's house.)
Some of you may remember reading a comment from her now and then, but usually she would just send her comments directly to me. She knew most of you through your comments, and would read each of them enthusiastically. She would often mention that I should get another painting up, because the comments had slowed down.

She supported me in my quest to become an artist. Even when she may have thought it was best to get a "real" job.
She supported me in my decision to stay in Mexico. Even when she may have thought it was too far away.

There is a huge hole in our lives and we will truly, truly miss her.

I am in the cold snowy northeast still. Back in Mexico and painting by next week.




The following is a portion of her obituary.

Gail B. Gardner
(March 26, 1936 - January 5, 2009)

Gail Butler Gardner, 72, of Poughkeepsie passed away Monday, January 5, 2009 at Vassar Brothers Medical Center.
Born in New York City on March 26, 1936, she was the daughter of the late Elsa Marguret Klein and John Butler. She was educated at Hunter College High School in New York City and received a BA degree from William Smith Hobart College in 1957.

She was married to LaVergne Frank Gardner on April 11, 1959 at St. Georges Church in Gramercy Park in New York City.

Gail was a beloved wife, mother and grandmother.

She was a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie, the Junior League of Poughkeepsie and the Vassar Brothers Medical Center Auxiliary of which she was a past treasurer for the Nearly New Shop.

Gail worked for Citibank in New York City before moving to Poughkeepsie. Later she was the clerk of the Board of Education for the Poughkeepsie City School District and the secretary at Columbus Elementary School until she retired.

"Ready to Load"

Happy 2009 to everyone.

I have been working on and off, mostly off, for the past 10 days.
Time to get back to work.

This is a new painting that I am just finishing up.



"Ready to Load", 14" x 18" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$1,300. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner

Happy Holidays

This could be the last painting that I have time to post before Christmas.
Maybe not.
I thought the Red and Green colors of this recent landscape were about as close to a Christmasy theme as I could get.

I wish all of you, and your families, a wonderful Holiday.
May Santa bring lots of gifts for all, and a little peace and prosperity for the whole world.

The excitement is growing around here by the hour.
I mean by the minute.
Christmas is a very exciting time of year for a certain five year old.



"Grazing Cows by the Church", 18" x 24" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$2,300. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner

I Wish It Was Christmas Today

Well, it is the Holidays Season.
Here is our absolute favorite Christmas song around our house.
Enjoy.

SNL Christmas Song | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

I left this at a smaller size so you could be sure to see Tracey dancing. If you click on that little yellow box on the bottom right it will go full screen.

The Line Starts Here.

I guess there is a line forming for the book. If all goes well it will be available in a few weeks.
Dan Corey seems to be first in line. Thanks Dan.

I was going to post a different video for Friday Fun this week, but this one seems appropriate.
Here are the first two episodes of this seven part short film, "The Line".
I like to imagine that the line for my book will look something like this....





Episode 2





If you'd like to keep watching you can find the other episodes easily on YouTube.
Just type in "The Line" in the search box.

I should give credit to Crackle.com . That is where this film originally came from.

6x8 Landscape and a Street Scene

This is a 6" x 8" demo that I did in September as part of a private class that I was teaching. I am real happy with how it came out. I am always so relieved when a demo turns out well. It makes me look like I know what I'm talking about.
I was explaining to my students how to pre mix some colors first and then start blocking in all of the main shapes.



"Mountains Near San Miguel", 6" x 8" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection

There were less than ten colors that I mixed up to represent the big shapes. I mixed those and adjusted them on my palette before I did any painting.
The main colors that I mixed up were:
1. Darkest color - Trees and a few triangular stacks in the distant field.
2. Lightest color - Clouds.
3. Brightest / strongest color - Flowers
4. Next brightest - Foreground grasses and plants.
5. Light source / sky - The sky would be the lightest value if there were not any clouds. I judged how dark in value to make everything else compared to this value.
6. Background mountain.
7. Mid distance hills.

There were a few slight variations on these, but basically that was it.
I adjusted these a bit on my palette until the relationships between them were accurate.
Once I had all of the relationships between those colors worked out it was just a matter of putting the right shape in the right spot.
The linen panel was not toned first and I laid in the yellow and orange flower colors first to keep them nice and clean. Notice how I massed them into groups and did not think about painting individual flowers and details. I massed together all of the other main shapes and values as best I could too. This is the basis for a strong design.
Once the shapes were all blocked in on the panel I made a few final adjustments. You may be able to see where I laid in a lighter color on the background mountains to adjust the color that I had mixed a bit too dark.

I got the kindest email from one of the women from this private class and I'd like to share part of it.

"Frank, painting with you on our terrace in San Miguel was just an incredible experience for me! Your art instruction was the best I ever received and I think if you'd been one of my art teachers when I started college, I would have stayed with an art major! You have a natural, easy style of delivering information combined with the ability to tailor it to not only the masses, but the needs of the individual, as well."

It makes me feel great when someone gets that much out of my teaching.
Giving art lessons, and trying to make sure that everyone gets what they need out of it, is one of the hardest things that I do, so it is nice to know when it works. Thanks for letting me know "R".


Here is one more new painting from last week.



"El Puesto de la Esquina", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$780. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner



Edit note: I've removed some of this post to make it more compact for a repost of it Dec. 2010. Therefor a few of the comments below might be confusing.

Landscape Painting Workshop. Feb 23-27, 2009

I still have room for two or maybe three participants in my February '09 Workshop.
February 23rd through 27th, will be the dates for the five day plein air landscape painting workshop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

There is also one spot that has opened up for the March 9-13 class due to an illness.


Photo Frank Gardner © 2008


In the workshop my emphasis is on trying to help everyone advance to their next level.

A strong and simple value pattern is key to a successful painting, we will work on getting values correct from the start and keeping them clear throughout the painting process.
We will work on seeing color and value then mixing color using a limited palette.
Premixing colors on your palette, and choosing the best design for your composition are a few of the things that we will focus on in this workshop.
An emphasis will be on getting a strong start to your painting so you don't need to waste time reworking the design later. Accurate color mixing is key to capturing the mood of a location.
I will do several demos, but the majority of the time will be for painting and individual guidance. There will be some quick painting exercises as well as time for longer painting sessions.
I feel that a strong start is the key a successful plein air painting and we will focus a lot on "starts" as well as how to bring a good start to the desired finish.


Photo Frank Gardner © 2008


The cost of the 2009 workshop will be $530.USD.
Included in cost:
PAINTING INSTRUCTION.
DAILY TRANSPORTATION to and from the painting sites.
LUNCHES for ALL FIVE DAYS.
Any FEES needed for entrance to locations.

Each day we will be treated to a delicious meal prepared just for us by the owners of the beautiful properties where we will be painting. Past participants have always been very satisfied with what our hosts prepare for us.
The painting locations are on private property and there are always bathroom facilities available.

The painting day generally works out like this:
Pick up is around 9:30 A.M. for transportation to that days painting location.
There is either a quick demonstration or talk about the days goals and then everyone gets painting while I give one on one attention.
Break for lunch is usually around 1:30 or 2:00 P.M. depending on our painting progress.
The break for lunch lasts about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Then everyone gets back to painting for the rest of the afternoon until around 5:00 P.M. when we will be transported back to town.


Photo Frank Gardner © 2008


This workshop focuses on landscape painting. However there are lots of painting opportunities in town as well, and you might want to consider spending a few extra days in San Miguel to explore what the town has to offer.
San Miguel has many lodging possibilities. There are many fine hotels, B&B's, apartments or houses to rent. Everyone will be responsible for their own lodging and transportation to and from San Miguel de Allende. The closest airport is in Leon, (airport code BJX), about and hour and a half ride from town. I can recommend a transportation service to shuttle you to and from the airport. Mexico City is about four hours from San Miguel by bus.

This workshop is for oil painters only. All levels are welcome, but you SHOULD HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE PAINTING ON LOCATION.
If you are interested, email me at frank@frankgardner.com with any questions or to receive the materials list.
The class size is limited to 9 or 10 participants for lots of personal attention.
For info on San Miguel and lodging visit portalsanmiguel.com
If you would like other lodging options or have any questions, email me at frank@frankgardner.com.


Please do not finalize any travel plans or lodging until you have confirmed with me that there is space available in the class.
A $200. USD deposit is required to hold your spot in the class. I will give you information on how to send a check to me once availability for your participation is confirmed. The deposit is fully refundable up to one month before the start of the workshop.



Photo Frank Gardner © 2008

"Mid Day Light in Atotonilco"

This is a recent painting that I did of Atotonilco.
The rich blue sky really shows off the light yellow bell tower that is to the side of the main part of the church. The sky is dark, because I am looking away from the sun, but it is not darker than anything that is in a shadow area.
The tree adds a nice dark accent, and an organic shape to balance all of the architecture.
There is a lot of light reflecting back up into the shadows, making all of the shadow values pretty light. Therefore, all of the light areas had to be almost white. That helps to show just how strong the sunlight is.



"Mid Day Light in Atotonilco", 18" x 14" oil, Frank Gardner © 2008
$1,300. Framed. Available at Windrush Gallery, Sedona, AZ

"A View of San Miguel de Allende"

This piece was painted right after "Afternoon Light on San Miguel".
It is a companion piece, since the view is to the immediate left of the Afternoon Light painting.
Same time of day, but because I am looking a little to the left, the sun is not casting that orange light on everything quite as much.
Think of it like this. I am standing in the center of a clock face. The sun is at the 8 and the view in the Afternoon Light painting is as if I am looking toward the 1, so it is getting pretty direct light from the orange late afternoon sun.
This view is as if I turned and looked toward the 11, so it receives a bit more of a glancing light and is not reflecting that orange sun so much.



"A View of San MIguel de Allende", 18" x 24" oil on linen
Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection



I wanted to stick to the same color scheme of orange, purple and green as the dominant colors, but these colors are now in different proportions. It has a different tone, but they look good hanging next to each other.
The foreground is not in shadow in this painting, so there is more of the orange up front and in the middle ground with the churches. The greens, purples and blues dominate the distance.
If you open the other painting up in a different window you can just about line them up. Line up the "Afternoon Light on San Miguel" piece just a bit lower than "A View of San MIguel de Allende".

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I had a little time to kill between basting of the turkey so I thought I would put up a little painting that I did a few months ago.
The sun is shining strong, so we will probably have our feast outside today.
Just thought that I would mention that.
I am thinking of all of you, and am thankful to have you all as friends.
Cheers!


"Horse and Reflections", 6" x 8" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection

Tagged once... twice... no, three times

This post is about the tag, but, just so you have something to look at, here is a little piece I did the other day while out painting with Jack. There were two guys out cutting cornstalks in this field. They were cutting rows into the field with machetes, making little piles of the stalks which they then pile into larger stacks.


"Cornfield", 6" x 8" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$500. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner

I plan on going back again to keep studying the colors in the drying cornstalks. It is a beautiful color buffet down there. I want to get some good info for a few larger paintings. They said it will take them about a week to cut this whole field.
I loved the green grass that was showing in the row that they had cut into the field.
Below is a picture of the painting and scene. The painting in progress is in focus and the corn is pretty blurry. It is a useful photo because it really shows the importance of squinting down to look for the big shapes first. If you can't tell, where I was looking is directly above the panel.






O.K., on to business.
I've been tagged by not just one, but three fellow bloggers. Thanks to Marc Hanson , Stacey Peterson ,and Paula Villanova.

Here are the rules:
1. Put a link in your posting to the person who tagged you.
2. List 7 unusual things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 other bloggers at the end of your post and comment on their blogs to let them know.

I am just going to do this once for all three tags. I can't come up with 21 people to tag who have not been tagged with this one already. Unusual things there are plenty of.

Seven unusual things.
Hmmm. well... I can't give up the good stuff and I dont want to dig so deep that I need therapy.

1.We collect all of our gray water and it is pretty much all we need to water our garden and yard.

2. I hate to throw anything out. I'll save all kinds of stuff thinking that one day I might be able to use it. Thanks Dad.

3.I hate to ask for help to do things. I built a lot of our home by myself. Electric, plumbing, putting up walls, painting, tiling, kitchen cabinets ( with some help) and on and on. And... am still working on it. Which leads to number 4.

4. I procrastinate. For example, I have been tiling our bathrooms for 12 years. I finished most of our upstairs bath pretty quickly, but there are little details that still have to be done. I have been doing the downstairs bathroom for about 3 years. Have about 3 square feet of the shower floor left and I am done. Julissa is about ready to kill me. Really. I think she lets me go on painting trips so she can have people come in and do projects without me stopping her and saying I can do it myself.

5. We live in a straw bale home. Three friends bought property together and we each built houses with straw, helping each other out.
A weird twist on the three little pigs I guess.

6. I collect and repair antique trucks.

7. I was kidnapped once in Mexico City. By four men dressed as police and in a police suburban, must have been police. No finger cutting or ransom or anything, but it was a real drag. That was 14 years ago or so.

8. I like weird movies and laugh when I think about them. A few favorites are: Nacho Libre, Napoleon Dynamite, The Party, Blazing Saddles, This is Spinal Tap and Repo Man. There are others, these are just the ones that came to mind quickly.


I decided to throw my own little twist into this one. One of those 8 things is complete baloney, malarkey, bull poop.
Can you tell me which one it is?

This tag seems to be going around faster than a San Miguel cough, so it was hard to find bloggers who had not been tagged with this one yet.
Here are 7 Blogs that I enjoy. Some are new friends and some I have known for a while. These are interesting blogs that you might want to check out if you don't know them.

Eric Merrell

Mike Rooney

Dan Corey

Matt Innis

Bonnie Luria

Don Gray

Silvina Day