The Giver of Life

The Giver of Life is the title of my latest painting. The title refers to the rains that grace our desert area every so often -- and with the rain comes life.

Giver of Life                           30" x 40"

The view is of Mount San Jacinto (west of Palms Springs, CA) as seen from across the Banning Pass in an area called the Devil's Garden, so named for containing a forest of barrel and cholla cactus. (Many of the cacti are gone -- in the 1920s, Los Angeles people came, dug out many of the barrels and transplanted them in their yards, only to die soon thereafter; plus, wildfires have destroyed many specimens).

I have seen the mountain look just like this after a storm, except the peak was often obscured by clouds. I exposed the peak, highlighting the brilliant white snow at the top.

To the left, we see a red tail hawk on the wing, coming out after the rains and looking for tasty goodies to eat.

The desert can be a spectacular place to be if you are there at the right time. My goal is to capture those special times.

(By the way, my website URLs are SouthwestSpaces.com and MarkJunge.com). ☺
 

The Lady and the Horses

My latest painting, Jan with Candy and Mango, is a commission that features a long-time friend and two of her equine pals -- a pony named Candy, and Mango the half-Arabian horse.

The horse owner Jan is dressed in 1930s-era attire and is posing with one each of her ponies and horses. I saw a picture she had taken, and it already had a dreamy look to it. So I wanted to capture that look, make Jan the star of the painting, and render the horses as accurately as possible. I "zoomed-in" on the original image, giving the subjects what photographers call a "telephoto perspective." So we don't see the normal foreshortening of the lady's or horses' features.

I worked mostly from a rather pixelized digital photo, but I was able to supplement that image with additional pictures I was able to obtain. Some items I had to do a little educated guesswork -- thankfully, I had additional pictures of all three critters☺, and I've been around horses enough in the past so I remembered sufficient detail about horsie anatomy and tack.

Best of all, the horse owner has seen MY digital images of the finished painting, and SHE seems pretty pleased with the result! I'm in the process of varnishing the piece now, and I expect to be able to deliver it to Jan next week.

Show at Old Town Gallery & Gifts, Yucca Valley, CA

I have a show going on at Old Town Gallery & Gifts in Yucca Valley, CA. (Their website is here).

The reception was on Sunday, April 17th. The show ends on May13th -- just a few weeks from now! So, this would be a good time to run over there and see what you may want to add to your art collection!
 

This is a view of my paintings as one would face to the east. Mostly desert subjects, but not all of them.







  

And this is the view looking toward the west...or northwest, actually.









The three "Under $300" paintings. (They're 11" x 14" and are priced at $175 each).

So -- this is my first local showing in years. A lot depends on how well things go at Old Town Gallery & Gifts before I decide about future shows, although I already have something lined up for June, 2016 in the nearby town of Joshua Tree.

Let's hope!!

Wildflowers in the Desert

April has been a busy month for me. Unfortunately, I've gotten little painting done because of all of the other things that have fallen this month -- doctors, dentists (both which remind me of how old and dilapidated I'm getting) and other stuff.

BUT -- a couple of worthwhile things happened that needed to fit into the schedule. One was my gallery reception -- I'll save that post for next time when I get more pictures.

The other was going out looking for wildflowers outside of Joshua Tree National Park (I may have to go there pretty soon, too).

Unfortunately, the rainfall was less than hoped for, and what rain there was appears to have been quite sporadic. But The Wiffee and I did locate a few places that showed some unexpected splendor.

Near the Pioneertown Mountains Preserve, Sawtooth Mountains in the background

Beavertail Cactus in Bloom

Closeup, Desert Mallow

Yucca Valley, CA

We were lucky to have a warm, beautiful day to see these gems. Of course, they look better in real life -- for some reason, photos don't quite capture it. I hope my paintings of these places will.

 

Things About April 6

It's April 6, 2016 -- a day noteworthy for several reasons...

It's my birthday. Let's just say I'm old, and we'll leave it at that.

On a sadder note, country music legend Merle Haggard died to day at age 79. I can't say I'm much of a C&W music fan, but it's still a little hard when the legends of the genre go.

Sadder yet -- the "Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade died today in 2012 at 54 years of age. Cause of death was supposedly "acute intoxication" from alcohol and Valium.

I never met TK, but it sounded like he had some major struggles with his inner demons resulting from a bad home life as a child. It's unfortunate that people, including parents, don't realize how much emotional damage they can create in someone -- damage that, like scar tissue, impedes total recovery back to normal.

I always thought that TK's paintings of cozy English-style homes glowing with warm light and colorful flower gardens were his way of trying to capture a happy life he never knew. Obviously, his art struck a nerve with many buyers who loved his romanticized imagery.

Some people, including other artists, thought his work was "overly sentimental" -- I guess that means the artwork was pretty and not ugly...not suggesting the reality of the ugliness of life, including TK's own life, but focusing only on the beauty that can be found.

I never saw the problem with TK's work, although he did seem to work by formula, and in time I became a little bored by seeing essentially the same rehashed material over and over again.

But what he did, he did well. And those other artists don't -- and probably never will -- enjoy the popularity that Thomas Kinkade had, although it bothered him tremendously that he wasn't accepted by the art elitist types out there.

I wish he could have simply blown the elitists off, but TK still had those demons eating away at him.

Valley of Peace -- Thomas Kinkade

 So, Tom -- I hope you're with God right now, resting and free of life's slings and arrows. Maybe you have your own "valley of peace."



 

ANOTHER Little Desert Painting

I finished another little desert painting for my "Under $300" series of works -- possibly the last for a while, until I see how well received they are by the art collectors out there!

No title yet, really, so I'm just calling it Joshua Tree 03. The size is 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm. Obviously (I think!), I wanted to draw attention to the almost-a-silhouette of the Joshua tree against the bright clouds.

I'll be adding this to my website soon, and I expect it will be available in one of the local businesses by mid-April. More on this later.

It will be Easter in a couple of days. Happy Easter!

 

Three Little Paintings

I've been working on some small (8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm) paintings in the "Under $300" category. All desert scenes, of course.

Joshua Trees 01

Joshua Trees 02

Sand Verbena

These, along with future paintings yet to be made, will be available at one of the local businesses where tourists and desert lovers will go and, perhaps, pick up one or more as a suitcase-sized souvenir. Check my website for more information on availability:

 www.SouthwestSpaces.com
 www.MarkJunge.com