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!)
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| The Nurse Tree 8" x 10"/20cm x 25cm |
Mark Junge
Desert Adobe is a painting where my imagination took over. The distant mountains are based loosely on the Coxcomb Mountains of Joshua Tree National Park, CA. But the rest of it, including the house, are figments!
I wanted to create a sense of aloneness. Would someone living here ever feel lonely? Is the house even occupied, or is it abandoned? Who knows?? I'll leave that up to the viewer!
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| Desert Adobe 8" x 10"/20cm x 25cm |
Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com
I mentioned last time I was working on a scene from Joshua Tree National Park, and I posted the photo I was using as a reference. Well, it's finished!! I even included a desert cottontail bunny-rabbit, which I haven't done in a while since it's a little hard to paint them when the artwork is small!
One Desert Morning 18" x 24" / 45.7cm x 61cm
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| Detail -- the Bunny-Rabbit! |
Mark Junge
Here it is, June already, and the year is almost half over!! Good grief!!
Late last month I went into nearby Joshua Tree National Park before the heat would set in and dry up whatever wildflowers were left. Even so, there weren't as many as I had hoped, but I still got some awesome material for more paintings.
I'm working on one now, although I'm being rather pokey about it. I seem to have developed a major lazy streak!! (But then -- after being a workaholic for so many years in college and after, I think I'm entitled).
This is a hill I'm painting numerous times before, each a little different from each other:
Continuing the continuation!!
Mark Junge
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.
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| Texas! 11" x 14"/ 27.9cm x 35.6cm |
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| Desert View 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm |
Stay tuned!!
Mark Junge
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):
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| Picacho Peak 11" x 14" / 27.9cm x 35.6cm |
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| Enchanted Garden 11" x 14" / 27.9cm x 35.6cm |
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
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!
