Side-Blotched Lizard

Cute little guy, huh? This one was about 6"/15cm long, nose to tip of tail.

These are quite common in the desert. They breed throughout the year and can lay up to six clutches of eggs a year, with 2-6 eggs in each clutch. It's good that they're so prolific -- the desert has lots of critters that like to eat them!

Side-blotched lizards are rather colorful, but one has to get fairly close to see the colors. It, of course, is up to the individual lizard if you will get close enough to study him/her. But when you can, these reptiles seem to exhibit all the colors of the Southwest -- which happen to be my favorite set of colors.

And now I have some of the best photos I've been able to get of this species. Expect a painted portrait of this little friend sometime in the future.

A Lazy Day

Good grief! I sure didn't get much done today -- too sleepy. I really need to start going to bed earlier!

I also need to get the latest painting photographed and posted. In the meantime, here is a detail from a larger painting I completed a few years ago. There's nothing like the desert in the spring! Good for a lazy day!

Ajo Spirits and Joshua Tree

These are the only two paintings I have ever had printed (other than on my Epson printer, assisted by my computer). Ajo Spirits (on the left) were photolithographs, the other (Joshua Tree, on the right) were made as Giclees ("zhee-CLAY"), which are just fancy inkjet printer reproductions.

There are two reasons why I've decided not to pursue additional printing at this time: (1) it's an expensive investment; (2) the repros never look as good as the originals, especially when they're side by side.

Why is that, you may be asking yourself? Well, it's because I normally paint with glazes, a technique developed by the Old Masters. Glazes are transparent layers that, when applied numerous times, give the painting a stained-glass look because light penetrates the layers, reflects off of the canvas or panel and back towards the viewer -- just as light penetrates stained glass and appears rich and deeply-colored.

At this time, there are no printers that can produce the look of glazes. In fact, paintings that reproduce the best are those that feature an opaque paint film (so the light doesn't penetrate), no three-dimensional brush strokes or texture, and a matt finish (a glossy finish enhances glazes). I have created paintings that meet those criteria, but frankly, I would rather become known for making classical-looking works in the tradition of the Old Masters, although the paintings will still have a contemporary twist to them.

Without intending to, I've become a "purist" when it comes to my work. No prints. Although my paintings do look fine when reproduced, they lack much of the intrinsic beauty that the originals have. It's possible I'll need to make some tough choices in the days ahead, but for now, I'll need to keep painting and excuse myself from the print market.

The Surreal Desert

The Surreal Desert -- that's the title of this scene in Death Valley, California. The raven wasn't actually in that particular spot that day, but since ravens do inhabit this lunar-landscape-on-earth, painting one into the view is well within the realm of possibility.

The desert is a surreal place, anyway, but so many sites in Death Valley take surrealism to a new level without even trying. And since surrealism is my favorite style of art (although I don't paint "pure" surrealism very often anymore), Death Valley is my kind of place -- as long as I'm not lost there without sunscreen and water!

Mojave Light

It seems appropriate somehow to share a painting with sunlight breaking through the clouds. Today was Epiphany--the day the liturgical church celebrates the arrival of the Wise Guys to worship the young Jesus.

The scene is close to where we live (for any of you readers who know this area, this is near the base of the Yucca Grade, facing east). It's hard to see in the picture, but spring flowers pepper the landscape. The painting size is 8" x 10"/20cm x 25cm.

Happy Epiphany!! Enjoy the Mojave light.

Resolve Not to Resolve

I never did care much for making New Years resolutions. The resolutions I tend to hear about are things we should resolve to do every day of the year -- lose weight, quit smoking, spend more time with family and/or friends, make more art (well, OK, that last one is something only we artists would think of!)

Still, I can think of things I really want to focus on this year. I wouldn't call them resolutions, exactly, but these are things I intend to focus on in 2009:

• Exercise more and get the weight down (I'm a diabetic -- I ignore these issues at my own peril);


• Paint LOTS of small paintings -- more options for sales;


• Look for marketing opportunities that are not art shows or galleries.

For other areas of my life:

• Make more art sales so we can get the credit card debt paid down (we've had to use CCs just to pay bills!);


• Take to heart something a friend in Colorado told me about -- stop contacting "friends" who make no effort to contact me. After a while, it feels like I'm chasing them, and I've lost the motivation to try and keep up with them.

Wish me luck! Regardless, I resolve not to resolve.

Thoughts of Spring...

...and it's only the second day of 2009.

But spring must be in the air. The desert bighorn ram on the left was acting rather amorously toward the ewe on the right.

"Where have ewe been all my life?"