Evolution of Shelter

" Evolution of Shelter- Oxcart Ranch" oil on linen panel 18x24"

This painting had been sitting in the shallows of my mind for years and years. I hesitate to call it a bucket list painting because I don't like the implications- you know doing something deemed important before you croak. OK - it's the "croak" thing. Not ready nor do I want to.

For decades I have observed this scene while approaching Poncha Pass, one of the exit routes from the San Luis Valley (SLV) of southern Colorado- my home. Like a compass of sacred directions one can leave the SLV in four directions aligned with the cardinal points, each through low to high passes crossing the alpine bulwarks that surrounds us.

Two mountain cordilleras close in at the north end of the SLV to pinch the traveler over into the Sawatch Range and the headwaters of the Arkansas River. The Oxcart Ranch sits below this convergence, advertised by the modest sign next to the highway-  attached to --- an oxcart. There are a smattering of buildings in this ranch complex but I have always been drawn to the log cabin on the ridge above the verdant meadows. 

The cabin seems to be dormant- boarded up windows and doors, faded paint. Sitting next to the cabin is an Airstream trailer, also seemingly uninhabited. Attached to the cabin is a collapsing 2 by 4-construction porch. These structures sit amidst aspens of various sizes, some blue spruce, junipers, chamisa and sagebrush. My thoughts about this scene have always been about the various styles of housing and the delightful and picturesque juxtaposition of these elements, especially when the aspen turn in the fall.

The onset of the Covid Plague facilitated my decision to work up this painting for a couple of reasons.

The plummet in art sales with gallery closures gave me pause about what to paint next. There didn't seem to be a great need to increase my inventory with any speed. I thought about pieces bobbing in the mind shallows and that it might be a good time to fish them out- the oxcart piece being one of them.

The other consideration was that this piece is about housing. With quarantining at home it seemed topical to explore how we have created shelter over the eons. I feel fortunate in that I really like our home and property. We have a modest sized home that is a text book (on what not to do) example of globbed-on architecture. An old abobe core, frame addition with stucco and advanced solar aspect- 40 feet of southern facing glass. The house is on a 1/3 of an acre and with spring-into-summer weather it gave us a lot of time to pay attention to our garden, flower beds, trees, shrubs and a token lawn area in the back accented with a pleasant ramada. I realize many people do not have the same fortune to be sequestered in such pleasant surroundings. 

So with decades of photo references and a detailed sketch I worked up this piece. I chose to open the cabin up and converted the porch into a abobe and stucco structure to further my theme of variety in building materials. I also buffed out the Airstream trailer's weathered metal exterior and made the background mountain range taller and more rugged. 

Other than that- the real thing!

The video below illustrates the process and condenses a week's worth of painting.

Now with this subject matter attended to it is on to the next project(s). Hint: Land Snorkeling (a term mentioned by landscape painter Clyde Aspevig.)

  

Reprise- 37 Years Later

Once upon a time- way back in 1981- two budding artists had an art show and sale. Centered in and around the town of Crestone, Colorado we featured not only the centuries old log dwellings but the towering Sangre de Cristo mountains that rise immediately to the east of the village. The shot above  is me on the left and Roger Williams on the right in Willow Park critiquing a newly minted plein air painting

Thirty seven years later, we decided to do another show together. Although we had shown together in various shows and ensembles before, this is our second exclusive dual show. It is ongoing until July 31, 2018 at the Copper Moon Gallery in Taos, New Mexico.

Here we are painting on location near Roger's home of 30 years in Santa Fe this year. We are thankful to be still be able to stand at an easel after all these years. 

Events like this give me pause to reflect on how in the youth of my twenties I gave little thought to maturity or how life would unfold. Or which of my relationships would continue into "retirement age." (Painters do not retire- as long as the hand can hold a brush- paint will be laid on canvas.) Roger and I have been friends for decades starting in high school. After we both went to university, we ended up back in Alamosa and we forged a mutual strategy to prosper in the arts and music- a Utopian dream of the post-hippie age. 

We combined marketing fine art with live performance- both of us being musicians,  thinking that we could cobble together successes from both venues. We made wonderful music, playing contemporary tunes in local lounges with bass player and vocalist Robbie Painter. When the music clicks and the harmonies are pure- there is nothing like it.

The two man show in Crestone was part of that strategy as well. I think it's safe to say that our art styles, media and methods were still being formed- and continue forming as I write.

Over the decades we have evolved as artists- and human beings. As we have checked in with each other over the years I am grateful that we both approach our art with grace, intent for higher purpose and a sincere spirituality that imbues our creations. 

If you get a chance to see our show of over two dozen paintings you will witness the culmination of over 80 years of painting- and living- experience! 

Montgomery- Williams Two Man Show

Plein Air Adventures- or- What Do Ya Think Yer Doin?

Quite often in painting on location, I set up in places that at first appear to be out of the way and quiet.
Many times, although they may not seem to be so, I have set up in spots that turn out to be on private land (or perceived to be private land) and thus am "challenged" as to- "what da you think yer doin' ?" One painter related that he would load up 5 pound bags of potatoes (being from the San Luis Valley, major Potatoville) as bribes to soften property disputes with skeptical natives.

This painting site was off on the right of way along a county road in Conejos County, Colorado. It is on the way to my friend and painter Charley Ewing's home and I have traveled it many times. I have been drawn to this old adobe set off the road nestled in some fine mature cottonwoods and check it out every trip I take. The adobe has been a repeat subject matter for me, painting it several times.

So I set up for a larger plein air panel - 16 x 20, and, as anticipated, it took two days to capture the scene. I did not have any territory issues and being within the San Luis Valley, the potato bribe thing wouldn't have worked anyway. Like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo.

What did transpire- and a partial reason it took me two days to complete- was a steady stream of folks curious as to what I was doing. They would pull over and we would blab about the area, the many adobe remnants in the neighborhood and the verdant bottom lands saturated by the acequias coming off the Conejos River.

Several of the visitors were from the Espinosa and Mestas clans, two families that pioneered this area coming up from what is now New Mexico in the 1800's. So here are some other historical tidbits that I learned during both painting days:

- The county road CR 17 is known as Espinosa Lane, named after the now-sixth-generation community that peppered the area with farmsteads, many older homes now abandoned and melting back into the earth.

- There was an attempt to renovate the adobe closest to my paint site, although not the subject of the painting. There was such an infestation of "water" snakes (garter) that they gave up.

- The subject of my painting was an original Espinosa family building, now vacant. One of the informants grandfathers was around when the Espinosas took in a frozen company of Mormons who had trekked over the Sangre de Cristos in the dead of winter. Of the 40 that left Pueblo only 17 arrived in desperate need at their doorstep. The Espinosa's harbored the travelers and butchered a calf. Shortly thereafter, the survivors helped found the town of Manassa just a few miles north.

All in all it was very poignant for me, and I hope for my visitors as wells, as we passed a pleasant day sharing the bounty of the acequias with stories and appreciation for the vibrant and verdent bottomlands along the Conejos.

- A short distance to the south of my painting spot is the community church known as La Capilla de Santo Nino which served the Espinosa community for over a hundred years. It collapsed on October 21, 2016 from old age. Very sad.

"Bounty of the Acequia" plein air oil on linen, 16" x 20"

This painting will be part of the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico 8th Annual Juried Members Show opening with a public reception at the Sorrel Sky Gallery, 125 West Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM, 87501 from 5 to 8 pm on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. The show will be open for regular business hours until Nov. 27. 

C.Waters Annual Artist Showcase and Sale, Creede, Colorado

Chere Waters has nurtured a family of artists whose work populates the walls of her newly reopened C. Waters Gallery in Creede, Colorado. She will feature this select group in the second year of her newly relocated and named C. Waters Gallery after six previous years in a space attached to her home on the hill overlooking the town.

That's me on the left at last year's grand opening. Chere is in the center in black. Paul Stone, recently deceased after contracting ALS, is in the wheel chair in front. I call him Dr. Boom. You can check out the trailer for a project about his life at this link:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/paul-freakin-stone-that-s-who#/









The reception and sale will be on Saturday, July 16, 2016 from 3 to 7 pm in the gallery next door to the world famous Creede Repertory Theater on Main street. My fellow featured artists are Suzanne Reed Fine, Kristian Gosar, Aaron Brown, Brownie, Hanna Waters, Colleen de Santos, Peggy Stenmark, Randall LaGro and Alicia Hess.

Here is one of my paintings - " Threshold to Loch Vale" 24x30" oil on linen

Chere's receptions are legend- great fun, food, artists and libations-and I am sure this one will not disappoint. If you are in the area, Creede is a hoot with the theater, dining and the magnificent San Juan Mountains. Come on by.

A Special Painting Project

"Evening at the Clark's" oil on linen 18 x 24

Artists are often asked to do specific artwork for a special place, event or of a particular subject matter known in the biz as a commission. It is quite different than someone seeing a painting on a gallery wall and taking it home.

After many years of not having any commissions I've recently completed two.

One of the commissions was by a family to do a portrait of their farm and ranch. They had seen examples of my paintings and were attracted to the way I painted and my imagery.
I went out to their farm and ranch several times. Visiting with them, I was able to determine certain views that they liked such as their house and outbuildings from across their alfalfa field.
They also have a magnificent view of Mount Blanca.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Mount Blanca it is a towering mountain massif of over 14,000 feet and a prominent landmark in this region of the southern Colorado. It could easily be said that one would consciously have to make the effort not to see Mount Blanca while in this area.
I've seen many houses with their directional axes not on the traditional compass points but shifted in such a way that this magnificent mountain is displayed dramatically from many a picture window.

The family also wanted to have a moonrise in view. That definitely helped me to define the time of the day for the piece as well as the amber color scheme of sunsets.

I presented the painting to them upon completion and was thrilled that they thought it was great.

The project was very rewarding for me because I am always trying to connect to the natural world and convey that appreciation to the viewer. In this case the viewers had a very real and established love for this place they call home. We all had a great connection to Mt Blanca and to the beautiful presence of a rising full moon.

Hopefully I can do more of these paintings of collaboration and mutual appreciation for the amazing place where we live.