I am an artist that paints in pastels, with some oils, and acrylics. I sketch in pen and ink. As an artist my original paintings are influenced from living in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Bolivia, Peru and Chile, and travels throughout much of Canada and all our fifty States.
This is my spot for posting paintings and sketches, to muse mostly about art, life and a little about UT Baseball.
An item on the Hunt was "sketchbook cover". I like this new Marker sketchbook. It is black with The Starry Night by Van Gogh on the cover. I haven't done more marker sketches. Should get with it. Well, I should get with all my art. Life has still been in the way. Getting better though.
Today I sketched at my desk in the Conda Sketch Pad, full size pages, so this is about half a page. Number 6 sketchbook cover - Marker sketchbook with a Micron 03
My niece sent me a few things Barbara (my sister that recently passed) wanted me to have. Some of the Christmas cactus that belonged to my Grandma Jennie. The main plant has to be 100 years old, wow. It is in a galvanized tub. Beautiful and blooms red blooms. I hope this one survives.
I have another plant that is from the same main plant. I had it in Lubbock back in 1980. I took a piece with me to Peru, it did well. Joanna had my plant and gave a cutting to her friend Kathy who took it to Oregon. My plant burned in the fire. Kathy gave me a cutting a few years ago and it did not survive so she recently gave me another cutting. Seems to be doing well. It is the more "traveled" cactus from the main plant. Fun and interesting.
My sister also sent a couple of cameras that belonged to Mom. The old Brownie took such good photos as the negatives/film were so large. She had to put tape around it to keep the light out when she changed film. I love the cameras and Larry will have them as he is the photographer.
Gene is slowly getting his strength back. We are alone tonight for the first time in ages as David went home. Different!
It was physical therapy day for Gene and a little warm to sketch outside. I picked up a leaf on the way in. Pretty sure it was an oak leaf as that was on the Hunt list. There are several kinds of oaks in this area so not sure which oak it is.
I sketched in the Canson travel sketchbook which has regular paper so no color. The leaf was brown and lighter on the bottom side than the top. It was about 4 or 5 inches long, so a good size to sketch. I sketched with a Micron 02 so a bit finer line which worked well for this sketch.
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I didn't mention that I had my outgoing email shut off for a day. Something weird on the email I sent of the sketch of the tree silhouette several posts back. So weird. Joanna came and worked on the problem for me. We first thought it was the Apple mail, but turned out it was the server. We re-installed the accounts several times. The server said "abusive pattern detected". My AOL account goes through my server too, so both outgoing emails were affected. My Fine Art Studio, web page hosts, figured it out, contacted the server and they turned my mail back on. Once Joanna and FASO figured it out it was fixed quickly. Hmmmm.
Sorry if I missed answering a comment or email.
Joanna is a great tech person for us. Thank you, Joanna.
If you have not decided where to start your website consider FASO. They specialize in websites for artists. A blog, newsletter, inventory, shopping cart, extra photos, etc. are included. Contest entries as well. You deal with real people! The headquarters is in San Antonio. You can work remotely if you would like to work for them.
I have my blog separately on Blogger (Google) just because I've had it there forever, well since 2006. I used to do my own website Adobe software I had purchased but it went on-line so I would pay monthly so I went to FASO it is so easy to use. No more dealing with the codes.
I sketched early today but after we came in from the porch. It was very nice out and I just enjoyed the cool morning. I used my footstool for a table and sketched in the Conda sketchbook with a Micron 03 pen.
Number 1 hand held - Apple TV control Number 2 stack of unrelated objects - blood pressure cuff, game and book, too small to really see. Number 3 clip - a plastic clip from a clothes hanger used now to hold a bag of chips closed
Sketching was good today, even if my perspective is a bit off.
I was looking for a poem this morning and saw this one - The Coyote. My mom used to sing it as a song. I had looked for the words a couple of years ago as I could only remember the start of it. Happy to find it today. Not sure who wrote it but it has been around awhile, there seemed to be no consensus on the internet.
The COYOTE
Way out where the sage and the “loco' grows. Way out where the wind is high. Where the dusty west wind always blows. You will see him loping by. And Just when the dusk and the darkness meet. You will hear him complain from afar. As he cries his woes, with uplifted nose to the points of a lonely star.
A shadow that slinks through the prairie dusk till he knows a herd is near— Then breasts the strong old west wind song to the side of a "locoed'' steer. And there his greedy watch he keeps with a flaring light In his eyes. While the water drips from his thin gray lips till the steer lies down and dies.
A vagabond thief in a tattered coat. Despised by all four-legg'd things. Yet we’ll wish him "speed.'’ though his pluck be greed. For the roving thoughts he brings.
For he belongs where the world Is wide And your pony Is all you own. And your blood comes strong as you lope along on the “Happy Jack Trail' —alone. Where the creeks run dry when the sun Is high. And flood when the great clouds burst.
And you "kick” all day In a cheery way At the glare and the dust and thirst. Where you push along with your hat jammed down _ „ Toward the "Iand-where-the-sun sets" And buffet a trail through the west wind's wail To the shanty on Middle Crow. So here's "a good health" and a long "whoop-ee!” To the prairie thief in gray. As with ragged coat the thin coyote lopes on his lonely way.
I also looked for a drawing my mom did of a coyote howling at the moon but didn't find it. Maybe next time. She used to draw on the calendar, envelopes, and scraps of paper. She was very good at it. Ah, sweet memories. She passed away in 1983 at the age of 78.
I found this song "This Flag" on Will Cain's show today by Chris Janson written in honor of D-Day. He says every day should be in honor of our Veterans. It is worth a listen.
We didn't do our usual Memorial Day things. We used to always go to the Bastrop celebration. I'm not sure why I never even saw what was going on here.
We will remember and think of the fallen.... family and friends and all the others we didn't know but gave their all to keep us free.
I love this post by Mikki Senkarik, a Texas artist that I follow. We saw some of her original paintings in Santa Fe a few years ago. Bright, colorful and tell stories for the folks that commission her work.
Remembering a few names Frank "Powder" Knoblock, brother, and Joe Montoya, Gene's uncle that served in World War II and survived. Neil Garrett, our sister-in-law's brother, killed in the Korean War. Robert Mowery, nieces husband. Just to say the names to remember them on this day.
I don't like to sketch "yourself", uh, me. But the model is handy and using FaceTime on my iMac for my mirror is also handy. I didn't have to go anywhere for the item to sketch or equipment to sketch with.
The fire here was mostly homes and the State Park. Two lives lost and almost 1700 homes. It was horrific and luckily we were gone to New Mexico so had our computers, etc. with us. The wind was awful here as well and it was very dry. The fire moved so fast. Evacuating people and animals was first and foremost before fighting the fire. The first responders did a fantastic job. The fire spread so fast. After the fire we at least had businesses, schools, restaurants, hotels and jobs.
The people in California lost homes, schools, businesses (jobs), and other infrastructure. They have nothing. I cannot imagine what they are going through. The people that didn't lose their homes will suffer power outages and water shortages.
We did have the theft. People stole the metal they could sell and things that didn't burn. That is the lowest to steal from people that are already down. Hopefully the Los Angelinos will help each other and can realize it is only "stuff" and be thankful their family is safe now. Thinking of them and hoping the people in charge will learn and plan better for future disasters. They knew about fires and earthquakes you would think.
Confusing title, eh? Punctuation means a lot... Should be Table That - Wait, no Don't - Sketch. Not No don't sketch... Well, if you are more confused that is me....
I sketched on the porch for the first time in ages. We got 1.16 inches of rain yesterday afternoon and early this morning. It came with lots of thunder this morning. Lovely rain and temperature of 72º when I got up. Already about 86º but a good start to the day.
Number 6 table - the dining table in the Canson large sketchbook with a Micron 03. I did the left side and quit since the door was in the way, wasn't too bad. When I was writing the info I thought maybe I should just finish it. So now it is lopsided and weird. Sigh....
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I follow Carol Marine, Daily Paintworks, and have for years. She lived in Austin and I first saw her work at the Wally Workman Gallery. She was one of the first daily painters that I saw after Duane Keiser really got things going. Anyway, she and her family moved to Bastrop and we corresponded. I never got to take one of her super popular workshops and we didn't get together here even though we tried a few times. Their home burned in the fire, too, and they moved to Oregon. At some point they started the website, Daily Paintworks. I used it for a while but kept on just doing my own website. She always said apples were her fallback item to paint so we had that in common. Now she lives in Montana and has had some extreme health problems. You can read about it on this blog post.
I have her book, Daily Painting. It is a very good book and inspiring. When I read about her health problems, I decided I would finally buy one of her paintings. I've wanted one for a long time but kept putting it off. I'm excited for it to arrive.
I like the ones with blue glass and cups. I may have to get another painting if she does another with the blue glass.
Daily Paintworks is a great host for artists to have their webpage. It is inexpensive and offers so much especially if you paint a lot. Auctions and easy sales, contests, education and more. You might check it out to put some of your work there.
Macaroni and cheese sketch minus the macaroni. Didn't think to sketch some dry macaroni with the cheese. Joan did that. Sigh...
Number 7 macaroni and cheese - minus the macaroni. The crayon is pretty orange, perfect for this Longhorn style Cheddar cheese (my favorite). The letters on the colored part should be white but the gel pen wouldn't write over the waxy crayons, did fine over the black ink.
This sketch is in the Canson sketchbook at the bottom of the page with the jeans from the last post. Micron 03 ink and Crayola crayons in the colors: macaroni and cheese, cerulean, scarlet, tan and brown. Gelly Roll for the white letters.
This is a YouTube explanation by Milton Friedman of how a pencil is made and explains as well how the free market works to help consumers and keep costs down.
I just saw an interview with a Chinese immigrant woman, Xi Van Fleet, that immigrated to the US after Tianaman Square. She is very against Walz. She said, “You can vote yourself into socialism but you cannot vote yourselves out of socialism ."
I agree with that 100%. You can look up more interviews with her on YouTube. Think of Venezuela, Cuba, etc. Free stuff like down payments on houses and student loan payments are not free. The folks that didn't go to college that work and pay taxes like you and me are paying for the loans of the elite that are now lawyers and doctors ... and congressmen. If anyone should pay off or forgive their loans it is the Universities that raised tuition when the government "gave" loans to students.
The glass is from some dishes I've had since the early 60s. Gen moved into an apartment with another friend. Gen's roommate was transferred. Gen and I moved to a house together. This set of dishes for 8 as I recall were in a closet in her apartment, brand new in the boxes. They didn't belong to the ex roommate so we shared. She took all the glasses and I took the plates, bowls, etc. Later we shared some of the glasses and dinnerware. My part all burned in the fire and she had some glasses left so ..... she gave them back to me. Gen lives in Utah so the glasses have been around. We worked together for years at Continental Airlines. Her late husband, Charlie, and Gene were great friends. I know there are stories here in the blog about Gen and Charlie. Do you have friends from 60 years ago?? Yikes.
One story is that when you hear Gene and Jo and don't know us, you might think it is Jeanne and Joe, right? Gen would say to someone, "Gene and Jo are coming to visit. I used to live with Jo." Leaving the friend to wonder what Charlie thought about Gen living with Joe and the couple coming to visit. :-)
Socks and shoes? Really? Gene got signed up for physical therapy again. I did a quick sketch after we filled in papers. The reception guy and gal had on black pants and the same style black shoes. That made me smile. The girls long flowing bell bottoms covered most of hers but she also had on black socks.
Number 2 shoes and Number 3 socks - in the small Canson Drawing sketchbook with the Acurit 3.
I will be looking for more shoes there I bet. There are some interesting lights and open air ducts in the ceiling.
We had leftovers but I couldn't decide what I wanted or was craving. I thought of Rena's but she hasn't been open when we want food lately. I decided we should get Gorditas at the Jalisco's food truck on the way home. They were very good. I had the pico on the side so we wouldn't have to eat cilantro. I put chopped green chile on mine. Gene ate the jalepeños out of the pico and some of their red salsa and of course, added green chile on his as well. Yummy late lunch/early dinner. Now tomorrow it will be back to our other leftovers.
When we got to Bolivia the first time we had a maid and gardener. Both were required I think to help with the food shopping as there were only open air markets. The gardeners took care of trash and fire wood. The gardeners worked in various houses and transplanted plants so the yards were full of all kinds of flowers and trees.
The maid, Felipa, asked me what she should fix for herself and the gardener for lunch. I couldn't think of how to say leftovers in Spanish. I told her she could fix whatever she wanted like soup and sandwiches or burgers or "los restos". I was thinking in my Spanglish that sounded like "the rest" of food. She looked at me in a very strange way and sort of laughed but seemed to get my drift and then told me that "los restos" are "human remains". Ooooouuuuu, nice lunch!!
I looked it up now, and see that on the internet at least it shows los restos as the remains of dinner or wreckage of a plain along with human remains. It was in 1974 that my conversation took place .. maybe I started something.
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A new Hunt and old items. We don't do a lot of upgrading on the house in our dotage so not many new things to sketch except food. I don't think I've sketched a kitchen rubber glove before. I wonder.
Number 1, for use on our hand - rubber glove. In the Little Fingers Sketch Pad tablet with a Micron 03 that is on its last leg. The ink and nib running out. It made some fuzzy lines which was good. I did have to sharpen it in my Photoshop app so you could see it here.
Blogger and Apple Safari are having a thing. I tried to sign in on Safari and Blogger/Google wanted me to use cookies for all my Google surfing. I fiddled with it a few minutes trying to use cookies just for the blog with no success so I went back to Firefox. Firefox probably uses cookies but doesn't lecture me about it. Ha.
Google wants me to use Chrome but I don't use it unless some site doesn't work with Firefox or Safari. What a mess. More security seems to me like I just get more information on line all the time. Google wants me to use my fingerprint .. not sure how good that is. It would be handy on my computer but seems more invasive than my passwords. It will check with my tech support -- Joanna.
Hope you are having a great week. We are going to check out a new place for PT for Gene. It takes time to go there but I can sketch and shop for an hour each time. We will see what they have to offer.
We went for our Medicare checkups. About an hour each. I sketched in the waiting area. It is blocked off from the clinic side with the big planters and big screen TV. Propaganda about health (exercise, drink water and plans to help you) shown on the TV. It is darkened so you don't really see the other side.
Plastic ... hmmm lots of plastic in our worlds. The planters and plants are plastic, too dark for real plants I think. They are about 6 feet tall.
Number 3 plastic - in the Canson small sketchbook with plain smooth paper with the Acurit 03 pen. This pen is lasting well. May get some more and a plus the cover (plastic) is red.
Nothing about art in the following......sorry.
We get our test results on the 30th. The doctor gave Gene a much more expansive brain test than me.
Our President should have his Medicare exam. I wouldn't want either Gene or me in charge of the country. We are too slow. We need some younger and saner people in charge. Congress needs term limits, but they won't change their money game. Every one of them have increased their wealth. It wasn't designed that way, they were supposed to serve and go back home to work. Sigh..... We can't change minds but we could work on the things where we agree. Everyone wants to be safe, have a good job and independence. Instead it is all about power and greed. My way or no way.
Just think how much plastic and other oil based material is in our lives and how we need oil to
get by. We could be using our USA resources where it is pumped cleaner
and more efficiently. The oil companies are working on innovations and ideas to save and have new energy resources, they know oil isn't lasting forever. We could be energy independent. No, we have to buy from
Venezuela and Iran. The government has been using our reserves to keep
the price down. How to replace that inexpensively??
Well, not actually a curly logo. Items on the Hunt were Logo and Curly. I sketched in the large Canson Mixed Media sketchbook with fine line markers. They didn't bleed through, I was surprised.
Number 7, logo - the N for New Balance on my shoes. The whole sole is pink. The yellow is darker and doesn't show up as much but looks bright here. The grays are darker as well. The darker one looks green but is dark gray. I really like these shoes, comfortable and fit my feet well.
Number 8, curly - some curly ribbon or ribbon that curls with scissors or flat edge
There is an artist I follow that paints beautifully with pastels. Don't remember but surely I have linked to her before. Mary Aslin paints beautiful portraits and people.
And a gremlin story for you. Over the years we have carried a tire gauge in our cars. Fairly recently we kept having a "Low tire" indication on the dash. We put air in the tires with Gene's automatic air pump to 35 psi but it didn't do anything to the indicator. We went to get a gauge to see if the pressure was the same as the machine. Well, we could not find a gauge in either car. What? We both knew there had been a blue one in the Escape (low tire car). I had seen at least 3 silver guages. We searched both cars, no gauge.
A week or two later we had the oil changed and the car checked over. The tires were checked and rotated and now there is no indicator light on. Applause for them.
I put tire gauge on my grocery store shopping list for "next" time. The first time I went to the store we were in a hurry and I decided to skip until next shopping day. Next shopping day, the store was out of stock on the gauge. By now it had been about 3 weeks without checking the tires with a gauge, just the pump.
Next grocery day, I ordered groceries to pick-up instead of going inside and shopping myself. I had the gauge on the list and it came with the groceries!! Yay. We are now prepared for next time.
We went out to the Escape to go to dinner or town for something. I put my phone in the console cubbyhole. Guess what? There in plain sight was the blue tire gauge. Impossible but there it was. We had both looked there more than once, digging around to the dark corners. We always have mints there and get them out. Phone, mail, lottery tickets whatever and we had not touched or seen the gauge. There are gremlins in our life!!!
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We actually went to baseball yesterday. It was a great day for it. Good weather not too sunny or hot. About half full. Saw a few folks from the old days. Visited with Joanna and Esther, Joanna's friend from work, and baseball. I forgot my sketchbook. An item on the new Hunt was people in uniform so my plan was to sketch the players. Because sketches for the Hunt are supposed to be from life and I wouldn't be back to a game soon, I decided to sketch on my phone with the app, Brushes.
The sketches took forever so I missed some of the action. Players all stand in similar stances but I tried to do the sketching of gestures when the same player was batting or pitching. Not so good, but not so bad.
Number 1 people in uniform - batter for UT, batter for OSU and pitcher for the Longhorns.
Photo with the colors. The Longhorns are burnt orange and white and Oklahoma State Cowboys are bright orange and black.
They used to play the song, "Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" at the end of the game, but that is not allowed anymore. Sigh..... They used to play "God Bless Texas" but not now.
Universities allow hate speech and intimidation from the far left but no positive conservative speech. Only free speech if you agree. I saw on the news that something like only 20% of young students or other youngsters are proud to be Americans these days. I'm embarrassed for them. They should try living in one of the countries they are supporting and see how free they are.
God Bless Texas and America! Thanks to all our military and first responders that keep us free.
Actually I'm using a selfie sketch, my face, for four items on the Scavenger Hunt list. I took the idea from Joan, seems a good way to quickly sketch all the items. I used Facetime on my computer instead of a regular mirror. Very handy here at my desk.
#6 has hair, #7 a pair of eyes, #8 nose and #9 mouth - I sketched in the BookFactory sketchbook with a Micron 01 freehand. I never like photos of myself and I'm not fond of self portraits, maybe because they look like me! Anyway about 30 minutes.
Posting these for the record, not too exciting. The point of Inktober is to sketch in ink every day of the month, so that is what I have been doing.
Day 25, dangerous - a box cutter which to me looks dangerous even when closed. This stays in Gene's desk drawer.
Day 26, remove - from a photo online, removing or trimming the beard.
Both sketches in the BookFactory sketchbook with Micron 01,02 and 03. Those pens have finer to thicker nibs on the pens.
Yesterday we went to pick up a prescription for Gene. We had been talking about candy corn after seeing it on a Hallmark movie. So for a surprise for Gene, I picked up a bag of candy corn for him. It was called Harvest, I think, and had some chocolate tipped (can't really taste it) and some little pumpkins. Perfect for the Hunt. We don't have any pumpkins. If we put a real pumpkin outside it would cook in the sun. Most folks put out plastic or metal Halloween decorations. A neighbor has a small cemetery in his yard. Another has lights with skulls and pumpkins but to small to sketch from the mobile studio.
This is in the large Canson mix media sketchbook on the page with the old pickup and Texas stars. I used both Piochoo and Wexford pens. They don't blend very well, acting somewhat like markers.
I don't care much for candy corn as it is mostly just colored sugar, right? But I did give in and eat my models. Not bad, but as I said, it all tastes the same regardless of color. Old fashioned and brings back memories of our school days and Halloween. You can read this here:
This is the last day of Hunt 87. I looked for something on my desk to finish up the Hunt. One of the items was "has an odd outline". There it was - a hole punch.
Number 11 has an odd outline - hole punch in the BookFactory sketchbook with a Micron 02 pen.
Rant below, not art..... I don't expect comments.
I don't read blogs to see political ranting so sorry for my readers, but
I want people to know where I stand. Silence may signal acceptance of
evil.
I'm not sketching the prompt for Inktober. The prompt is demon. I don't care to draw that. A few years back on wetcanvas one of the threads was sketching bad guys and robbers from the wild west. I didn't do that either. I don't care to glamorize bad folks.
We have some very bad folks in our world at this time. The terrorists, Hamas, Hezbollah, Isis and others, are demons enough. I'm amazed that people can't see that their purpose is to kill Jews and Americans. The government of Iran backs and funds them. I have empathy for the everyday people but the terrorists have to be stopped.
I also can't see that our politicians in Washington are not concerned about the open border in our own country. I'm sure the terrorists and gangs are waltzing in to the United States via our southern border. Any country is not safe and secure without a closed border. We welcome immigrants that want to be Americans. Our country was founded by immigrants. Illegal immigrants are not the same. We need to take care of our citizens first.
We need to support law and order in our country. We need to believe in the Constitution. That is the basis for freedom.
Thanks as always to our service men, police, and first responders. God bless America.
Sentinentals Pastel 16 x 20 inches Our flag at the old house.
We have been watching all the memories of 9/11 on Fox News Channel. It is sad and amazing that the ceremonies are so well attended and remembered.
What were you doing on 9/11? We were at the old house in Bastrop. Gene had been to New York City on a trip for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He appeared on Univision and they cut his time short after promising the Center for a couple of spots to talk about the Center. He decided to come home a day early and arrived back on September 10. He was up early on the 11th and rode his bike (not trike at that time). I was on the porch and Joanna called and told me to turn on the TV. No one could believe it.
When Gene got home on the 10th he took a nap. His mom called me to chat and I told her he came back early and was sleeping. Then we forgot to call her back. On the morning of the 11th she called and I told her Gene was on his bike and would call her. He came back and we watched the news and didn't think to call Mom Frances. Yikes. Soon she called and demanded to talk to Gene. I think she thought he was not home and I was covering for him having a problem in New York. Poor Mom.
So sorry for the victims and the first responders. Just as many of the responders and people near the towers have died from cancer and related illnesses that helped that day. Then I'm sorry for our military that went off to Afghanistan to protect us at home. Those are more victims of 9/11. 22 years of tragedy and never ending victims.
Yep, same old, same old. Sketching on the porch before it gets to the sweltering temperature today. I used a Micron 08, I liked the thickness and fuzziness of the pen. This is in the BookFactory sketchbook. Probably about 30 minutes while I had my coffee and a loaded rice cake.
Number 1, greenery/leaves - by the shed. I think the vine on the little pine might be poison oak or ivy. Not good.
I hope to do it again. It will have some of the same items as I don't have many silver or copper things, etc. A couple of plants now and zero flowers at the moment. Looks like the geranium may get a bloom so I'll watch for that.
Come play along!
Oh, it is National Day of the Cowboy.
You can read about my dad here. He was one of the last working cowboys for room and board.
He was an amazing person and is very missed in our family.
A Scavenger Hunt item was vehicle. Nothing exciting here. We
heard the sirens from the firehouse so we went over there thinking the
truck may be back and being cleaned. One truck was gone but the bay
doors were open. We are so thankful for our volunteer fire department in Circle D. I posted about a lunch we had for them, I think the truck I sketched might be in the photos. https://jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/sketching-update-pastel-plein-air-and.html
Number
4 vehicle - I sketched parts of the three vehicles I could see. I
sketched in the Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook with a Micron 03 and added
the color at home. Not sure how long I worked on the sketch. It took
just a few minutes to sketch and much longer to color.
The
Super Regional Tournament is set. The Longhorns will travel to
California and play at Stanford's Klein Field at Sunken Diamond, 5:00
p.m. Central time. Stanford is always difficult to beat. Hook 'em
Horns!!
I Grew up in a small town , Magdalena, New Mexico. I enjoy art and the pleasure other people get from my work. I always donate some of my sales and art to charities, especially for children. That started in Bolivia with Para los Niños.
"I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns." --
Winston Churchill
