A Peninsular Bighorn Sheep

A Peninsular Bighorn Sheep (aka desert bighorn sheep) is (sort of) the title of my latest painting. I say "sort of" because I never really decided on a title for it. But it definitely describes the critter that jumps out at you.

The setting is the low desert (aka Colorado desert) in the lower elevation of Joshua Tree National Park. This piece is a little out of my comfort zone: I normally paint landscapes with critters somewhere out there, doing what critters do. But this time, the critter is the main focus, and the landscape is minimal.

I've come to admire desert bighorn sheep over the years, although they lack the cuteness factor of bunnies. But what they may lack in cuteness, they make up for in a noble appearance. And they somehow manage to be large mammals that survive in a harsh environment.

Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

A Peninsular Bighorn Sheep______________x 14"/27.9cm x 35.6cm

Joshua Trees and Bunnies

 I gave my latest painting a title typical of works from previous centuries: Joshua Tree and Bunnies, purely a description of what the painting depicts.

This is a scene of one of my favorite places, Joshua Tree National Park, CA, showing my favorite little mountain, with two of my favorite desert critters, and topped off with lots of desert dandelions. The size is 18" x 24" / 45.7cm x 61.0cm.

This piece will be donated to our church for a fundraising auction on 24 October, along with a second work. Let's hope and pray, for the sake of the church, we'll see some spirited and lucrative bids for the two paintings!

In the meantime, enjoy your Halloween!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Superstitions

 Superstitions is the name of my latest painting. The title refers to the name of the mountains and, possibly, to the name of the mystique that surrounds this rock pile. It may or may not be the site of the "Lost Dutchman" gold mine -- many have tried to find it, and many have disappeared during their search!

The size of the painting is 8" x 10"/20cm x 25cm. It is acrylic on panel, and no AI was involved in its creation.

Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Desert Clouds

Desert Clouds is my latest painting of one of my favorite places -- Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona.

There's just something about the namesake species of cactus that just grabs me. The organ pipe cactus plus the saguaros, in addition to the rugged mountains, are what the desert is all about.

Desert Clouds                                                 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm

 Sometimes I wish I could live there, although the torrid summer heat would probably kill me! And besides -- this is National Park land.

I expect this piece will be on my website soon, looking for a forever home.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Four Peaks

Four Peaks is the name of a mountain visible from the Superstition Mountains (and Lost Dutchman State Park) in Arizona. It, and the surrounding Sonoran Desert, was the subject of my latest painting entitled, simply, Four Peaks. A redtail hawk soars the morning skies, looking for tasty morsels to eat.

Four Peaks                    11" x 14" / 27.9cm x 35.6cm

(The mountain really does have four peaks, but only three of them are visible from this angle).

If Arizona had a wet winter, the Peaks can be covered in snow which can last into early spring, when wildflowers (such as the yellow-blossomed brittlebush) reach their peak time of glory.

Four Peaks and the Superstition Mountains are beautiful and iconic areas. I expect I'll be doing more paintings of these special places in the future.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

A Rainbow in Stone

 A desert landscape, entirely from my imagination! Well, OK, a desert landscape with elements from various locales assembled together in one scene.

A Rainbow in Stone                      8" x 10" / 20cm x 25"

The background is from Sedona, AZ. The arch is actually a reversed image of Rainbow Bridge, UT (that's where the rainbow in the title comes from; besides, both the arch and rainbows are arches), the plant life is from southern AZ, and the golden barrel cactus are native to northern and eastern Mexico in the state of Chihuahua.

I wanted to do a painting that combined some of my favorite desert scenery, but besides that -- this is somewhat of a rendering of scenery I want to make on my HO scale model railroad.

To me, model railroad landscaping is analogous to a sculpture version of what I paint. It's a painting in 3D. The only things missing are the cloudy skies and distant mountains -- and I may work on that problem, too.

I hope I can succeed in pulling off a scene like this in HO scale!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Sonoran Desert Moon

Sonoran Desert Moon is the latest in my never-ending series of desert paintings!

The size is 18" x 24" / 45.7cm x 61cm, a size that was always my favorite size, but I don't tend to work that "big" anymore.

The scene is in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ, looking toward the Sonoita Mountains of Mexico. (I've seen the mountain range spelled "Sonoyta" -- I don't know which is the favored spelling). I sort of thinned out the vegetation somewhat, and I've never had the pleasure of seeing the view from a bird's-eye perspective.

In any case, I followed a 19th century Hudson River School tradition by painting the landscape this way. I added cloud shadows and a quarter moon that is partially obscured by clouds. (I actually painted in more clouds than I had intended to, but I decided to leave them. Maybe I'll do another piece similar to this, but with fewer clouds).

Enjoy!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

The Nurse Tree

A nurse tree is one that provides shelter and a certain level of protection for other young plants; in this case, a saguaro cactus. Here, a palo verde tree in bloom offers shade to the cactus, enabling it to grow to a large size without getting burned in the scorching desert sun. (The tree is also giving shade to a desert cottontail bunny-rabbit!)

The Nurse Tree    8" x 10"/20cm x 25cm

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

More paintings from the Eclipse Trip

 I've mentioned before: in April we took a trip to San Antonio, TX to see the total solar eclipse. Well, it was cloudy and all we really saw was the darkness that fell during totality.

But: I did manage to collect material coming and going that would turn into paintings! One of these is Texas! that shows the beautiful Hill Country of that state. Another piece, Desert View, shows the Arizona desert when your back is to Picacho Peak near Tucson. (I didn't include the I-10 freeway or the buildings that are actually out there!)

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Texas!     11" x 14"/ 27.9cm x 35.6cm

Desert View      8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm

I STILL want to do a painting of the eclipse itself, but I think I'll take a break from making paintings of this trip and work on some other ideas that have been kicking around in my head for a long time.

Stay tuned!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

The Eclipse Trip

Well, we made the pilgrimage to San Antonio, Texas to see the total solar eclipse on 8 April. But -- it was overcast, and we only saw partial eclipses when the cloud cover thinned a bit. Oh, well. At least when totality hit, it got dark. That was an amazing experience!

I expect I'll do a painting of how the eclipse looked if we had journeyed an hour or two outside of San Antonio (where people got a clear view). Otherwise, we did see lots of great scenery that I've already finished two paintings of, plus a piece which is almost finished. Here are the two I've completed. (Click on the images to enlarge):

Picacho Peak                   11" x 14" / 27.9cm x 35.6cm

Enchanted Garden     11" x 14" / 27.9cm x 35.6cm

"Picacho Peak is in Arizona, and Enchanted Garden is a scene featuring the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, New Mexico. I hope to get these paintings on my website soon. (The URLs are down below). I should mention: we saw a LOT of turkey vultures when we were traveling; thus, the paintings have (or will have) at least one vulture in the sky!

More to come. The trip did seem to energize my desire to paint more (even if I don't really know what I'm going to do with them!)

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Desert Spring

 Wow -- today's April Fool's Day. Well, as far as I'M concerned, it's April but I ain't no fool!!

I just finished a painting, Desert Spring, which seemed especially appropriate for this time of year. It depicts a scene in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona. My focus was on the distant mountain (don't know if it has a name or not). After I varnish it, I'll probably offer it for sale on my website -- links are below under my signature).

On another note, I'm hoping to be able to travel to San Antonio, TX in time to see the total solar eclipse. However, at this writing, it seems possible that much of Texas will be overcast and maybe even raining. This would obviously obscure the view of the sun which would render the trip a bust. We'll see in the next couple of days what the weather forecast says, but we may end up canceling the trip. 😢

Anyway, here's the painting. Enjoy!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Crater Range

Well, another year has come and gone...and so quickly! How is that happening?

I managed to finish only one painting in December. It seems like it took me forever -- but not because it was especially hard, but I had trouble making decisions about it; plus, there were lots of interruptions AND I wasn't feeling very motivated.

But here it is: Crater Range, an area between Gila Bend and Ajo, Arizona. It's a volcanic-looking area that features an Air Force bombing range on the other side of those mountains! (I never heard any bombs going off the times I visited there -- thankfully).

Crater Range         8" x 10"

The size is 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm. Enjoy!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Small Joshua Tree Paintings Galore!!

This isn't exactly the newest painting of Joshua Tree National Park, but it IS one I forgot to post here on my blog!!

As before, it's 5" x 7"/12.7cm x 17.8cm and can be framed or, according to my notions, placed on a small mini easel for display. Enjoy!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Another Small Painting of Joshua Tree National Park

Yet ANOTHER small (5" x 7"/12.7cm x 17.8cm) painting of Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA.

I stretched reality just a little -- normally, Joshua trees and the yellow-flowered goldenbush don't bloom at the same time. But that's not to say it couldn't happen! 

Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Hula and the Desert

 What a combination -- paintings of Hawaii (with hula dancers) and the desert in Joshua Tree National Park!! Well -- somebody's gotta do it! 😃

I wish I was better at painting hooman beans than I am, but I guess I just need to paint them more often. But so far, this is what I'm able to do. Enjoy!!

                                    Moonlight Hula         11" x 14" / 27.0cm x 35.9cm

                                  Untitled                            5" x 7" / 12.7cm x 17.8cm

The Last (for Now) Mini Painting of the Desert

 OK -- just one more small (5" x 7" / 13cm x 18cm) painting of Joshua Tree National Park. Now I want to see how the public/tourists like 'em before I do more.

For now, I'm working on a painting of Hawai'i and hula dancers -- something just for me. It's unlikely I'll offer the original for sale, but maybe I'll make it available for prints on Fine Art America.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

San Gorgonio

 Mt. San Gorgonio is one of the two mountains that cause this area to be a desert. It, along with Mt. San Jacinto and the associated mountains, form the "rain shadow" that makes the rain fall on the coastal side of the mountains, but tends to exclude rain from here; hence, desert.

🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵

San Gorgonio is also the title of my latest painting:

The size is 11" x 14" / 27.9cm x 35.6cm. This piece will be a "thank you" gift to a couple that helped us out while The Wiffee was in a nursing facility. (By the way, she's out now and is doing fine). Sometimes the yellow flowers don't photograph as prominently as they appear in the painting, but hopefully, you get the idea.

Meanwhile, painting will be interesting for a while -- the lens implants following my cataract surgery have developed a cloudy film, giving everything a dreamy look. Treatment is fast and easy -- laser treatment. But getting in to see the ophthalmologist has been quite a challenge! Soon, I hope!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Three New Desert Paintings!

Visiting Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona last month definitely energized my desire to paint the desert -- I've completed three small paintings since we returned on 04 April!! All are 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm.

A Desert Stroll

Eagle's Nest

Arizona Desert

Can you tell? I LOVE the desert!! I think I needed to see saguaro and organ pipe cacti in their natural settings. (Eagle's Nest is a scene in local Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA). I love Joshua trees and our Mojave desert, too, but I think I needed to be immersed in the Sonoran desert of Arizona for more inspiration.

I'd say it worked!

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

Irwindale

Remember that old song about the lazy hazy crazy days of summer? Well, for me, it's mostly been about lazy! Good grief!! It seems like all I want to do these days is nuthin!! Maybe mess around on my laptop, but that's about it!

Well -- at least I did manage to get a painting done last month -- a small (8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm) landscape of a place called Irwindale, which is also the title of the piece:

Irwindale isn't in the desert, but it's close enough to a desert-y look to suit me. It's east of Pasadena, CA which is east of Los Angeles. It's an area where lots of these yuccas (pronounced "yuck-ah", Hesperoyucca whipplei), also known as the Lord's Candle, bloom in mid-June if southern California had enough rain during the winter months -- a rare commodity these days.

I live about a two-hour's drive from here, so I rarely get to see this view anymore, assuming the yuccas survived the scant rainfall they've gotten over the years of drought. I hope they're still there -- I'd like to see them again.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com