u/shentaotcc

Twilight here in the foothills is magical with spirits everywhere'

This was a really fun painting. I tried all kinds of things I haven’t done before. It’s not a replica it’s an inspiration.

Wiyan ( Lakota for Wi/heaven Yan/standing on earth = Woman ) merging with the cosmos. Mother Nature-the woman who casts no shadow.

While in Florida, I was so smitten by the palm trees that I just had to try to paint some. They are another kind of thing altogether. Oops! Painted in 10/22.

On my 4th G7/15 sensor for this morning. The one I applied yesterday fell off. Two that I tried to replace it with refused to pair. So now I’m on my fourth sensor. These things are not cheap and they’re not easy to get through insurance. If I didn’t have a 90 day supply, I would have run out last week because these sensors fail constantly.

6”x6” Handmade paper studies of one of my favorite subjects – petroglyphs. To me these ancient carvings, beg an explanation. The western world wants to ignore them because it doesn’t play well in their version of the universe. My version of the universe is perfectly happy with these lovely renderings.

I spent a wonderful afternoon with a couple of friends on this patio near museum Hill in Santa Fe, NM. Rumors have it that one of the movers and shakers from Los Alamos lived in this house back in the day. I wouldn’t doubt it. It’s such a lovely space. I’ve been all over north America, parts of Europe, and a couple of places south of the border and I’ve never seen anyplace with so many walls around their homes. It’s striking and a bit offputting. There are some lovely, lovely walls and gates, and there are miles and miles of cinderblock walls. Lighten up, Santa Fe!

A hillside of Chamisa after a snowfall first light in the morning. The air is still and crisp. This is how it’s been for thousands of years. Like this for indigenous peoples. Like this for dinosaurs. Like this for cavemen. Like this.

There’s a bend in the Rio Chama between Medenales and Abiquiu where elk can be seen crossing as they feed along the shore. Sierra Negra stands in the background.

I’ve flown many many hours above the clouds in the night, some with a
full moon, and every time I was awed.

To me, this is about as calm as things get; sitting at the edge of the ocean with a soft tide in the moonlight. The sound of the waves holding me there where the shore the moon, the horizon, the ocean, all blend together.

This started as a trial for the sky and just begged a foreground, so the tree popped up out of the top of the hill. It’s very quick. A very happy accident.

One of the very first online watercolor classes, I attended, 2018 not 2024, was conducted by a woman from Australia. I was still a newbie befuddled by what pallet to use. So I spent too much energy on that and not enough fun what she was teaching. I still picked up on many of the points she made and finished with a lovely painting. Lesson, don’t panic.

This is the painting that I started with and then I got feedback from my mentors and this is what they said: “the eye doesn’t know where to look first. The dark shrub on the right competes with the more interesting left tree, while the background is nearly as sharp as the foreground. Softening the background and controlling the darkest values will create depth, focus, and a stronger composition”. The next painting reflects the changes that I made based on their input.

Leaving Española towards Abiquiu, the left side of the road is the Jemez foothills and the right side is the Chama River Valley. This was right across the road from our driveway near the river. This canyon fed the Arroyo that ran across the back of our property. When it ran full, it sounded like a freight train and was about 40 feet wide, whereas normally it was just a trickle.

Bisti is a wonder. Petroglyphs, incredible formations, dark skies…it’s not just a place, it’s a time and feeling. Go there.

Wiyan (Lakota word for woman) is ‘Wi’ heaven ‘Yan’ standing on earth. This is the third painting I’ve made of her and I like her so much that I’m going to make several more. This one like, the first two, began as doodles on scratch sheets. I often test color samples on leftover bits of watercolor paper, and that’s where this started. I am excited about this series because I believe that women are the key to the future of earth.

10x10” palette knife and wash brush are a perfect combination to paint the sandstone formations found in so many western canyons.

We made the mistake of moving to Florida from New Mexico, so I had to figure out how to paint palm trees, and ocean scenes. It wasn’t entirely a mistake because we moved there so our horses could have a nice pasture to retire on. When they passed we moved back to New Mexico. Florida was beautiful, but the headspace is insufferable.