A couple of weeks ago, I drove to Las Cruces with my painting friend Karen Halbert to take a workshop from Julie Ford Oliver.  She is a wonderful teacher and very generous with her information.  The ladies in the class were very good painters and so much fun.  We laughed a lot.  But we were there to learn Julie's technique of "fracturing".  She has invented a very cleaver tool which is like a small squeegee which enables you to make your paintings more painterly.  The painting above is one I did before the workshop and the one below is my attempt at the fracturing technique.  Of course, Julie's beautiful paintings make it look so easy but I feel that I need to practice more and can see various applications for this technique.

This was a excercise I did in the workshop, painted on Senso Canvas which is neutral colored canvas. It's beautiful if you allow the canvas to show through in spots - but the fracturing technique needs some practice!  You can see the results of the use of the tool in the background.  Google Julie for more information on her technique and she even gives directions to make the tool in one of her earlier blogs.

                                                       St. Francis at Rancho de Taos

                                                            8x10" Oil on Gessobord  

I've painted this church several times, especially the geometric shapes at the back of the church.  But the day I painted this view of the front of the church, dark clouds were rolling in behind it while the front of the church remained bathed in sunlight.  The contrast was stunning.

                                                Taos Adobe  Oil on GessoBoard  8x10"
I enjoy painting architectural forms and the morning sun was hitting this one "just right".

Georgia O'Keeffe's Pedernal. 

6x6"  Oil on gessoed masonite

 

She said if she painted the mountain enough times, God would give it to her!  The week we were at Ghost Ranch in October, the colors were glorious so there were groups of artists set up everywhere.  I wonder how many paintings of the Pedernal were done that one week.

                                                              Old Retired Green Truck
                                                              Oil on Gessoboard  6X6"

In Oct a group of painting friends, including some from CA made our way to Abiquiu, NM and Ghost Ranch to paint for a week.  We are experiencing a drought in this part of the country and it seldom rains but one day during our week, it poured!  Luckily I had a screened-in porch off my room at the Abique Inn and some of us were able to paint there.  This old retired truck is parked nearby so I photographed it and painted from that.

 

Rio Grande at Pilar

10 1/2 x 14"

 

This is a palette knife painting - something different for me.  I think it gives wonderful texture to the water!

                                                           
                                                                     Aspens 2012 
                                                            6x6 oil on gesso board

This is a little painting of the aspen in the Sangre de Cristo mountains behind Santa Fe.
The colors are spectacular, almost too bright to look real in a painting.  There are painters at every bend in the road and the roads are crowded as I think half of Santa Fe comes up at this time of year to see the colors.

Away we go!  I took a wonderful workshop from Carol Marine here in Santa Fe last month and she encouraged me to start a blog so this is my first post.  This is a small 6x6 oil on gessoed masonite that I did during the workshop.  The challenge was reflections.