The Good News and the Bad News

 The good news and the bad news...

First, the good news -- I sold a painting off of my website (which, in case you forgot, is www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com)! Totally unexpected. Surprises like that are nice!

This is the piece that sold:

Hooded Oriole                                                      08" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm

(The red dot in the lower right corner means it sold!!)

Now for the bad news...

I keep reading (mostly on Facebook) a lot of stuff about the political situation in this country, along with some rather vicious attacks on people who -- in all good faith -- happen to disagree with them. I've been the victim of such attacks myself.

And it's getting to me. I feel so discouraged all the time, and it's getting worse. I'd leave Facebook if it wasn't for the good stuff -- information from real friends, artwork others have posted, stuff like that.

But maybe the good news isn't worth dealing with the bad. I've got some serious thinking to do. (Sigh......)

Mark Junge

Half Over!

Well, good grief! June is already over with, and I realized I didn't write ANYthing for the entire month!

As if that ain't bad enough -- I realized the year is half over, and there's so much to do yet!!!

I guess when one is old and (mostly) retired, one just doesn't do as much as one used to!

June was a month of: 1.) sometimes not doing anything, and: 2.) continuing to unpack and work on stuff from our move last August. We -- ME, mostly -- never really had time to sort through things, empty boxes and maybe getting rid of stuff we moved that we really don't need anymore!

So I did paint, but I didn't finish anything.

So, since it's summer, maybe I'll just post a pic of a painting I did a couple of years ago that shows summer (but not how summer looks in southern California!), and by next month, I should have new works to post.

Summer Pastoral                  acrylic/panel                 16" x 20" / 40.6cm x 50.8cm

I hope your Independence Day was fun and uplifting. Thank you for your support!

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

Sacred Places in Maui

A Sacred Place is the tentative title of my latest painting, the first in a series I expect to do following our trip to the Hawaiian Islands last October.

A Sacred Place                                                              08" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm

This scene depicts Iao Needle ("Iao" is pronounced "yeow") in Iao Valley in Maui, Hawaiian Islands. The area was a sacred site to the old Hawaiian people who conducted ceremonies to their gods -- unclear which ones, since it seems to depend on what reference one looks to.

It seems to be cloudy there often, and it was overcast on the day we were there. Someday I may do another painting of the Needle with bright blue skies and sunshine, but for now, I wanted to hint at a sense of mystery in this Valley.

This was the first place we visited when we arrived in Maui. I had seen the Iao Needle in pictures before, so I was thrilled to be able to see the thing in real life.

Aloha!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com
 

California's Central Coast

My latest painting is a commissioned piece that shows Atascadero along California's central coast.

The client owns a retirement home in the area and wanted some paintings that highlighted the beauty of the landscape there, especially when wildflowers are at their peak!

Southern California is a beautiful place during March and April. When the rest of the country is still enduring snow and freezing temps, winters here are pleasant, and -- except for the desert -- we experience green Christmases, with flowers soon to follow.

A second commission will be coming. It will feature a grove of trees on the client's property.


Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com

Bryce Canyon National Park

Here are two paintings of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah (in the USA) that I was commissioned to do, using photos that the client provided.

 
















I've been to the Park several times -- but I've never painted it before. All of those rock formations and hoodoos have a lot of detail in them, and even the above paintings didn't capture all of the ruggedness of the place.

Still, I think they turned out reasonably well, and I was able to use colors and contrast in ways that straightforward photographs can't capture.

And now -- I can concentrate on ANOTHER commission!

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

Dino Drawings

I think I finally finished one set of commissioned paintings, now it's on to a second set of two for another collector.

That doesn't mean I stop thinking about other paintings I want to do, probably for myself, or maybe to post on Fine Art America to make prints for sale.

But in the meantime, drawing is a fast way of making art compared to painting. Like making dino drawings!

Deinonychus

Dimetrodon

Of course, nobody knows exactly what dinos look like. All we've got are bones and, in some cases, fossilized impressions. (And fossilized dino eggs and dino poop!) But the computer-generated image (CGI) critters we see in the movies are convincing enough to get us excited about these ancient animals!

Incidentally, Dimetrodon, a denizen of the Permian era, is not considered a dinosaur, but was a synapsid -- more reptilian (and even mammal-like in some ways) and was wiped out in the mass extinction event at the end of the Permian, before true dinos began to appear. Too bad -- as a kid, this was my favorite "dinosaur."

Back to painting. I'm sure more drawings will follow.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com

A Future Painting

We-e-e-l-l-l...

My original intention was to write in this blog at least once a week. But lately, it's been down to once a month!

But, I'm older (as we all are), gotten into a lazy state of mind, not highly motivated, and tired. Stuff that's been going on in the country -- coronavirus, politics and the extreme hatred out there, stuff like that -- has been taking my focus off of what I need to be doing.

So what images are in my head these days?

Jamaica  -- 1871                                                                     Frederick Edwin Church

Jamaica is a painting I've loved for a long time. I plan to paint a scene similar to this, except it will be of Hawai'i or other Polynesian island, and it will combine elements of existing landscapes and some imaginary aspects as well.

I'd like to get started on it soon, but: 1. we're still unpacking from our move last August -- seven months ago!; and: 2. I need to get some commissions finished, hopefully VERY soon!

The time will come, God willing, and it'll give me something to look forward to!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com

Pinnacle Peak, Arizona

Pinnacle Peak is the subject of my latest painting (I haven't come up with a title yet), a small piece I squeezed in between other projects. The size is 08" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm and, as usual, is acrylic on panel:

Sadly, the desert scenery has been removed and the Peak is now surrounded by streets, houses, shops and golf courses. I'm glad I had an opportunity to see it in its natural glory way back in March, 1983.

(Note: Pinnacle Peak Park is still located on the other side of the Peak, and one can still access the hiking trails that meander across the hill -- only the view just ain't the same).

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com

 

Painting Dreams

My earliest days as an artist were when I was deeply into surrealism, especially imagery that seemed to appear like dreams I've had.

I still love those images. Many of Salvador Dali's works were like that, and his realistic technique made the "dreams" totally believable -- a look that I embraced.

Suburbs of a Paranoic-Critical Town

Detail

(Sorry the detail of the painting isn't sharper).

For the dreamy effect, this is one of my favorite Dali paintings -- in particular, the gal holding the bunch of grapes, looking directly at the viewer, is exactly the type of thing I see in MY dreams.

Yet, another artist made paintings that appear to be even more dreamlike -- those of Belgium artist Paul Delvaux. The people (often women) sit or walk as if they are in a dreamlike trance.

Many of Delvaux's figures are nude, and I don't want to freak out my more conservative readers. So here is an example of a Delvaux painting without too much nudity (or lesbian activity, which he seemed to be into):

The Retreat - Paul Delvaux

Delvaux usually painted females, a few males, architecture, trains and human skeletons -- often in some combination within a piece.

His realism technique isn't, in my opinion, as nice as Dali's, but Delvaux's images appeal to me more. The latter's art reminds me so much of what I see when I sleep (except my dreams have more variety). I get a kick out of my dreams, but I've rarely painted actual dreams of mine because I often feel like they wouldn't lend themselves to a single image. (If I made videos and had the means to pull them off, THAT might be different!)

I'll continue to paint traditional, classical realism-inspired landscapes. But painting surreal scenes gets my soul into my work in a way that realism doesn't. We'll see what I come up with!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com

Solstice

Today is winter solstice -- the shortest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere, anyway).

Some people have almost religious-like celebrations on summer and winter solstice days (as well on spring and autumnal equinoxes). I don't do that, but winter (and, to a lesser degree, summer) solstice and the days before and after are great days. Why? Well, for landscape photography, of course! Which leads to paintings!!

In southern California, the sun tends to be low almost all day on winter solstice. I like low sun when I take pictures of the great outdoors -- the lighting and shadows are awesome when the sun hits the land at an angle. (Unlike summer solstice, when the sun is overhead much of the day and gives flat lighting on featureless landscapes).

Summer solstice can be a good day for photography, too, when early in the morning and late in the afternoon. The sun is further north than in the winter, and sometimes this can provide a lighting direction that gives better photo opportunities than in the winter -- it can make the difference between side lighting in the winter and backlighting in the summer, with very different looks.

I didn't have time to go out today and take pictures here in the Mojave desert and in Joshua Tree National Park. But the "pull" to get out there and do some shooting always hits me when winter solstice rolls around.

Maybe next year, huh? 😊

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com

Paradise!

It's been a while since I've posted here. But it's been busy. A week in Hawai'i will do that to ya.

HAWAI'I??? Yeah, we splurged and took the most extravagant vacation we ever took.

Of course, I took lots of pictures of all that green foliage and turquoisey-blue water. It's so beautiful there!! Especially for a desert rat like me who's used to the browns and gray-greens of the Mojave. I'm gonna need to stock up on green paints so I can make some paintings of this magical place -- both actual sites and some that may be a bit more fantasy!

Here are just a few of the pictures I took:

As you can see, an artist could get totally lost in scenery like this. Guess I'll have to try it and find out!

www.MarkJunge.com
www.SouthwestSpaces.com

 

The Colorado High Country in the Fall

August was a month devoted to moving. I HATE moving -- but in the long run, it will be worthwhile.

I haven't been able to paint for over a month. So for now, here is a painting that reminds me of how beautiful the Colorado mountains can be in autumn. (This is a piece from 2005 -- an oldie but not a moldie!)

Elk Meadow               36" x 48" / 91cm x 122cm

I expect the Colorado high country will be looking like this very soon -- any time within the next couple of weeks. Wish I could be there to see it.

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.FineArtAmerica.com (for prints)

Maroon Bells -- An Oldie but Goodie Painting

Maroon Bells (my first of several paintings I've made featuring this famous mountain in Colorado) is something I started in the late 1990s and reworked several times since then. The date on it is 2004, which was the year of my last update. And now, I've developed so much more as an artist that it's tempting to tweak it some more. We'll see if I do that or not.

Maroon Bells

The size is 30" x 40" / 76cm x 102cm and was an early exercise in using the transparent glazing techniques I learned while living in Colorado. I had yet to learn some of the finer points of working in a classical - traditional style such as the Golden Mean and other stuff.

Most images of these wonderful mountains feature a lake in the foreground. As it was, I had to hike to this spot from the entry gate where I parked, and the lake is another two miles (3.2km) toward the mountains from this spot. I had already walked 6 miles / 9.7km from the gate -- 6 miles is where the Bells first come into view -- and I was pretty tired by then, especially after carrying my camera bag and tripod the whole time. And it was mostly clear when I started out, but then began clouding up -- typical for Colorado weather! So this is as far as I went, and after walking back to my truck -- 12 miles / 19.3km round trip, I felt miserable and called in sick to work the next day!

I did see deer during the hike, but they weren't where I showed them in the painting. OK -- so I cheated! ☺

Thankfully, I have photos of Maroon Bells and the lake from a previous year in June when the road was open and I could drive to the parking lot where the lake is. In autumn, so many people want to go there, they close the road to all vehicles except for tour buses that haul people back and forth from nearby Aspen. I didn't have time to find out where in town the buses stopped, hence the hike.

SO -- if you ever get a chance to go up there, I highly recommend it. Late September - early October are the peak times for fall color, which doesn't last long. Find out in advance how and where to catch the buses, unless you REALLY like walking!

Mark Junge
www.SouthwestSpaces.com or www.MarkJunge.com
www.FineArtAmerica (for prints)

Quenching the Land

Quenching the Land is a painting I made years ago -- I think before I even began this blog.

Quenching the Land                                       16" x 20" / 41cm x 51cm

It's no secret that deserts are hard-up for rain; thus, when it comes, it's such a blessing to the plants and animals that live there.

The scene features a grouping of monzogranite boulders in Joshua Tree National Park with its namesake Joshua trees and some yuccas in bloom. The painting is hanging in the Hi Desert Nature Museum in Yucca Valley, CA.

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com
www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www/FineArtAmerica.com (for prints)
 

The Garden of the Gods

The Garden of the Gods is one of a number of paintings I made years ago of a magical city park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The red sandstone fins and spires create an almost unearthly, awe-inspiring region.

The Garden of the Gods

Here we're looking south with Cheyenne Mountain in the distance. In early summer, yucca plants send up their bouquets of creamy-white flowers in miniature versions of the spires.

When we lived in Colorado Springs during the 1990s, I made many visits to this park. No admission fee, and it was a place to escape and, sometimes, to alleviate the homesickness I often had for the places I loved and missed in California.

It's unlikely we'll ever make the trip back to CO Spgs, but thankfully, I took many photos of the place from many different viewpoints. I expect I'll have lots of additional images in mind of Garden of the Gods should I decide to paint them.

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com
www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.FineArtAmerica.com (for prints)

Superbloom

Superbloom is the title of my latest painting. It shows some of the rolling hills of California when nature featured a spectacular display of wildflowers, especially the fluorescent orange of California poppies. The size is 11" x 14" / 28cm x 36cm, acrylic on panel.

Superbloom

Some parts of this area were extremely crowded, with lots of people and cars wanting to get up close (and into) the fields of flowers. However, I tend to like more expansive vistas and was perfectly happy being down the road from the crowded spots.

It's hard to say when the next wet winter and superbloom will happen, but I'm sure glad we were able to see THIS one! I expect to make several paintings from this trip -- this one is only the first!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com
www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.FineartAmerica.com  (for prints)

 

Diorama Doings

Work continues on the diorama I'm making for the Hi Desert Nature Museum in Yucca Valley, CA. Unfortunately, the process of trying to sell our house and buy a mobile home has greatly slowed me down, which is quite frustrating. But I work as best I can. It's hard, too when I'm airbrushing some vegetation -- I have to do it in the garage, and it's been around 100°F / 39C lately. That's when I find out how much I can sweat!!

The diorama isn't quite finished yet, but here's how it looks so far. The glass front is in place -- sorry about the reflections!

 

Plodding Along

Plodding along...that's been what I've been up to lately. Not in the same spirit as the tortoise and the hare, but I've felt an awful lot like a tortoise lately.

The Tortoise and the Hare

(The pictures are details I cropped and enlarged out of two different paintings. Sorry about the blurriness!)

The Wiffee and I are getting ready to sell our house and move into a mobile home. It's simply gotten too expensive here in the state of California to stay in our house any longer. Taxes, insurance premiums, fees as well as living expenses keep going up, and the income isn't increasing at the same rate.

So we've been working on packing, staging our house, stuff like that.

Meanwhile, I've still got a habitat diorama to finish for the local nature museum. It figures that I have to deal with both of these issues at the same time!!

Here's how the background painting for the diorama finished out:

Admittedly, the painting appears much more detailed when seen in person than it does in this small photo!

And as for paintings -- well, that's fallen by the wayside for now. Too busy, too tired, all that stuff -- I just can't seem to continue on a painting I began a month or so ago. Someday!

Hopefully, I'll finish the diorama next week and I'll post pictures of it here! Until then...

Mark Junge
www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.MarkJunge.com
www.FineArtAmerica.com (for prints)

One Night in the Redwoods

One Night in the Redwoods is the title of my latest painting. I've never been in a redwood forest at night, but I imagine it to look like a daytime scene except darker! ☺

One Night in the Redwoods

The size is 16" x 20" / 41cm x 51cm. I wanted the piece to have a dreamy, moody look; hence, I made blurry most of the items in the painting. The gal is obviously a nymph (if redwood forests don't have nymphs, they otta!) The "model" was a statue I have and have seen elsewhere online with different titles -- Shyness, Shame and others. (My favorite title is Abbandonata (Forsaken), sculptor unknown). But in this case, I removed what little clothing she had on, and she is on her knees instead of standing.

One Night in the Redwoods is somewhat of an autobiographical image and very much reflects my own thoughts about life. If this comes through, I've done my job!!

The next painting -- one I've already started -- will have lots of color and flowers. An opposite of this piece.

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com
www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.FineArtAmerica.com (for prints)

Dioramas in Progress

Besides working on my fine art paintings, I've also been busy with a commission from the local Hi Desert Nature Museum in Yucca Valley, CA. I'm making two habitat dioramas showing some of the wildlife and overall look of our Mojave desert!

So far, I'm still painting the background image which I hope to finish within a few days. I have to say, this is the largest painting I've ever done (86" wide x 67" high / 2.2m W x 1.7m H). And I'm working on the painting on site -- not in the studio, where I would use an easel and all my paraphernalia laid out where I'm used to having it. Oh, well.

Here's how it looks so far -- a slightly modified scene from Joshua Tree National Park:

Daytime Diorama

From the title, you may guess there will also be a Nighttime Diorama as well. Once the background is finished (with more small rocks and additional plant species), the foreground will be the three-dimensional component with ground, rocks, taxidermy animals and some plants. I'm making the 3-D foreground, too, although I don't know yet if I'll be placing the critters where they belong, or if the museum staff will handle that.

Then, if I'm not too tired, I work in my studio on my paintings, too!

It'll be nice to have both dioramas finished and see what the response is. I hope they will add much to the museum and that the public will love 'em!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com
www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.FineArtAmerica.com (for prints)

MORE Zillions of Flowers!!

The California "superbloom" has been goin' on for awhile. Here are a few photos of the area outside of Walker Canyon, just north of Lake Elsinore, CA. (We didn't go into Walker Canyon itself -- too many people, too many cars parked there, and too many people leaving the trails so they can take pictures of loved ones IN the flowers -- with all the trampling one would expect!)

Poppies

California Wildflowers

Horses and Wildflowers

I already have a painting in progress of California Wildflowers!

Superblooms are a relatively rare event in southern California; hence, people go a little nutzo when it happens. I understand -- I just wish those people would have a little more respect for the land and the flowers.

OK -- soapbox time is over! Have a beautiful spring day, wherever you are!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com
www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.FineArtAmerica (prints)