The Desert and...the Fairy?!?

The desert and the fairy. Well, not at the same time -- everyone knows fairies lives in lush green landscapes, not arid, hot deserts!! (Although I did once paint a desert fairy cozying up to a bunny!)

First, the desert. This is Desert Visions, a scene from Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA. It's 11" x 14" / 28cm x 35.6cm:

Love those "Vast Spaces of the Southwest"!!

As for the fairy, well, I started on her months ago and then set her aside to start and finish some other paintings. Then I decided it was time to finish her!

Fairy by Moonlight -- as you can see, here we have a fairy in deep contemplation about...umm, whatever it is fairies contemplate about.😀  Size is 08" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm.

So many paintings to do, so little time!! 'Bye for now -- talk with you next time!! Stay cool!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Cactus and Clouds

Life has a way of putting us (me) behind schedule. I dealt with Covid in January and seemingly got past it. Then last month I had a bout of vertigo -- that dizzy feeling where the world seems to be spinning around you even if one is sitting or lying down! Thankfully that's over with now. Vertigo can be an after-effect of Covid -- I've had brief episodes of vertigo before, but this time it lasted a week. NOT FUN!!!

At least I did manage to squeeze in a new painting of the Arizona desert -- it's entitled Cactus and Clouds, measures 11" x 14" / 27.9cm x 35.6cm, and depicts an area southwest of Wickenburg, AZ:

Otherwise, I'm now working on a painting requested by a friend -- sort of Halloween-ish, but it's not of Halloween. I may post it here, but I may not, in which case I'll write about something else.

I'm still feeling fatigued a lot and often don't feel like doing much, but I try to find a balance -- paint while I still can, but be lazy when I want to be lazy! After being a workaholic for so long, I've learned to love laziness!!

Spring is almost here. Enjoy the turn of the season, pray for Ukraine, and thank you for your support.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Totem and Turkey Vulture

Totem and Turkey Vulture is the tentative title of my latest painting.

"Totem" is the name of the tall skinny rock formation, Totem Pole (the formations to the left of it are the Yei Bi Chei rocks) in Monument Valley/Navajo Tribal Park, AZ, USA. The vulture should be obvious! 😊) As usual, I wanted to emphasize the vast distances one sees in this incredible land! (And, of course, I'm hoping it blows the viewer away!!) The size is 12" x 36" / 30.5cm x 91.4cm.

Ahhhh...I love 💖 the desert!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

The Vast Spaces of the Southwest

 If you've been following me for any length of time, you may have noticed The Vast Spaces of the Southwest is my logo or tagline. And now it's also the title of my latest painting!

This is a view in Joshua Tree National Park, although I "thinned out" the Joshua trees in the foreground because I wanted the JT on the left to be the clear star of the image.

I haven't decided if I want to enter this in a local exhibition or not. The exhibition is about art that was inspired by the national park, and my painting certainly was!

But I also promised myself: no more art shows, galleries, exhibitions/competitions, stuff like that. So: we'll see.

Enjoy, and thank you for your support!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com