Deserts and Everything Else

As a landscape painter, I have many, many options to choose from when deciding what to paint. Desert scenes tend to be my favorite, but there sure are a lot of other places that deserve to be captured, too.

This painting shows the Sneffels Range in Colorado, an especially beautiful region in the fall. Here, we are looking across a pasture of the Double RL Ranch -- designer Ralph Lauren's spread.

I love painting the desert, but views like Mount Sneffels cry out to be captured as well. I often feel like I don't do as well in catching the magic of these places as I do with the desert. BUT: what's an artist to do?

The desert has a mood to it like nothing else.  But sometimes I need COLOR, or the grandeur of mighty mountains or other features that the desert just doesn't have.

That's when I start thinking about Colorado, or the California redwoods, or even the ocean shores. And paint it all!

It's a big world, but somebody's gotta paint it!

Pinnacle Peak

Pinnacle Peak is the title (and the view) of my latest painting. This special place is located northeast of Scottsdale, AZ. The dimensions are 18" x 24" / 46cm x 61cm.

For some reason, this painting was hard to photograph and make it look like the painting. Close, but no cee-gar.

Here is a detail that shows the bunnies I painted in:

I like the way the painting turned out, but I left myself some room to re-do it several times over -- which I suspect I will do, in time.

Sadly, although the Peak itself is still there with it's hiking trails (it's included in Pinnacle Peak State Park), the surrounding desert is gone. The virgin desert I depicted is now homes, roads, golf courses, a resort, and -- I believe -- a few shops and eateries.

Who knows -- maybe someone who lives near Pinnacle Peak will want paintings on their walls showing how the area used to look!


 

How th' Heck Is It Going, Mark?

Well, let's see...we're in month #2 of 2016. How th' heck is it going, art-wise?

I AM getting paintings done -- better ones than ever, in my opinion! I'm slowly doing more online stuff done to get my presence out there, and I'm looking for worthwhile art shows to enter. Not the art fairs in parks and such, but the more prestigious ones -- hard to get in to, but I gotta try.

I have more prints of paintings on my page at Fine Art America, and I removed the manipulated photographs that I used to offer. (I still have a painting there that I "enhanced" slightly, but I'll soon remove the "enhancement").

I've revamped my website somewhat, including adding a page with paintings that are available for less than $300! My monthly newsletter no longer appears on my website; instead, I now use MailChimp.com to produce newsletters that look more like desktop publishing e-documents. (If you'd like to receive these newsletters, please e-mail me at our "Contact Us" page on the website and let us know).

And, although I had resisted the temptation before -- I decided I'll need to be represented in galleries somewhere, but I'm not so sure about southern California. I don't know where yet, but 
it just ain't hoppenin' here. ☺

 

However, I may frame and take the "Under $300" paintings to a place or two in Yucca Valley (CA).

Admittedly, I'm somewhat surprised and disappointed that no one on Facebook has acquired any of the small paintings. So within the next few months, my website may become nothing more than an online portfolio without "Buy Now" buttons. Galleries and other art professionals simply want to see websites as portfolios, complete with the sizes and prices of the works.

I've also been downloading and accumulating quite a large number of artworks by masters past and present to inspire me -- not to make money off of or to violate anyone's copyright, but just to study. (I could assemble a thick book of images by now!)

Finally, I've been talking with some peeps who have done well with the art biz and getting some advice about approaches that may be a bit outside the box. In fact, I expect to be meeting with one such artist over lunch next week for a brainstorming session.

So -- that's where it is for now. Sorry -- no pictures this time. For now, I'll just keep truckin'...uh, I mean, paintin'!!

Where the Sun Sets

Where the Sun Sets -- the latest in my "Art Under $300" series!

Where the Sun Sets                                        11" x 14"

The sun sets in the West, of course, and it actually sets further west than in Joshua Tree National Park (the sun sinks into the Pacific Ocean, as we all know!)

But as a fan of western movies, I've seen enough movie endings in which the hero rides off into the sunset; in fact, it's somewhat of a cliché. And as a fan of the desert, where better to depict a sunset than in the beauty of those vast spaces of the Southwestern desert?

This painting will be available for purchase later in the first week of February 2015 -- I still need to finish the coat of varnish and then give it adequate time to dry and harden. My website (and the specific page on which this artwork appears) is HERE.

Enjoy!

 

Dawn

Dawn is the latest in my series of "Under $300" paintings that I hope to have up on my website (SouthwestSpaces.com) in a week or so.

Dawn                                      11" x 14"

It's rare that I get out of bed in the predawn hours; however, I wanted to be in Joshua Tree National Park to catch those first rays of sunlight streaming across the landscape. So -- I did it! I drove out there in December, 2014 close to winter solstice, when sunrise would be as late into the morning as it could get! (I'm such a night person!) It's nice to be only about 15 minutes from the Park.

No flowers at that time of year, and thankfully, it wasn't especially cold, either. (It WAS cold and cloudy  on the same day in 2015 -- I'm glad I aimed for the previous year!) Just the rock formations that climbers love to climb on, some desert scrub and those cool Joshua trees.

I've been trying to decide if I want to continue painting nothing but Joshua tree artworks, or if I need to vary my subject somewhat. If I could be more efficient with my time, I could do these much faster and not really have to make a choice!

But getting up before dawn would NOT help. ☺

 

Joshua Tree!

Joshua Tree! is the latest in my "Art-on-a-Budget" series -- small paintings that I will offer for $200 USD or less.

As you can see, it's clump of Joshua trees with one of those highly-climbable rock formations that Joshua Tree National Park is known for.

Joshua Tree!      14" x 11" / 36cm x 28cm

In a sense, this is a "historical" painting. The tallest tree in the middle has long since toppled over and died, leaving only the surrounding suckers. This area is now a parking lot with the suckers and some of the small vegetation preserved in an opening in the pavement. The famous Intersection Rock is over to the left, out of the view of the scene which is the entry to the Hidden Valley campground.

The yellow-flowering shrubs are goldenbush (Ericameria linearifolia). Maybe it's my imagination, but they don't seem to be as numerous in the Park as they used to be.

I've painted this spot many times, although no two are the same. It seems to be one of my favorite views in the National Park, and I expect there will be more variations on this theme in the future!
 

Ocotillo Paradise

Ocotillo Paradise is the first of a series of affordable, "Art-on-a-Budget" paintings that I plan to place on my website (which, by the way, is www.SouthwestSpaces.com or www.MarkJunge.com).

Ocotillo Paradise

This new piece shows one of my favorite views of all time: south of Palm Desert, CA, overlooking Deep Canyon, ocotillos and brittlebush in bloom, and a hawk on the wing looking for goodies. Lots of open space, rugged mountains -- all of the things I love about the desert.

The "Art-on-a-Budget" series will be smaller paintings -- this one is 11" x 14" / 28cm x 36cm -- and will not sport the transparent, "stained glass" glazes that I normally prefer. This will save me lots of time, although the images themselves will be of the same high standards I set for myself in my artwork.

I hope I can make more paintings this way and offer them for less (I expect Ocotillo Paradise will be available on my website for around $200 USD, but I'm not sure yet). As usual, the art will be unframed. OR: I could frame them, but then I would need to add the framing and increased shipping costs to the total. At this time, the paintings will be available ONLY on my website, and possibly on other Internet sites.

And, of course, I'll continue to work on the time-consuming glazed paintings, too. ☺

May all this lead to a prosperous 2016!