musings from the studio and beyond ~
dawn chandler’s reflections on art and life. . . .
my annual late summer ritual
I have a ritual that I perform every August 26. It began four years ago on the day I had to put down my sweet old dog Wilson. Earlier that week I had the staggering realization that the time had come for her life to end. On the 25th I called our vet in Taos and, choking my words, made the appointment for Thursday afternoon, August 26th. The question then became how the hell to spend that morning leading up to our appointment.
I don’t know how the idea came to me but before first light on Thursday morning I transformed the back of my car into a huge bed of pillows and flannel and fleece. I then lifted my old girl into the back, and off we rode. For hours we drove all over Northern New Mexico, visiting our favorite haunts: Across the Rio Grande… Up to the aspens high above Taos… On up around to Red River, over Bobcat Pass and down through the Moreno Valley… Often I just pulled over in a shady spot to lie beside my pup in our makeshift bed and breathe in her scent. Come afternoon we drove up and over Palo Flechado Pass, then down down down through Taos Canyon past the home where she and I shared the first years of our life together.
Later that day she died cradled in my arms in the back of our car.
When I returned that night to our empty home I had driven some 300 miles.
A year later on August 26th I decided to make the drive again. This time I took my camera. My phone remained turned off, locked away in the glove compartment of my car. The day was beautiful – as it so often is this time of year.
I drove and drove and drove, lost in memories and the beauty of the late summer New Mexico landscape.
A year later I did it again.
And this year, yet again….
Three years out and the day rarely involves tears anymore. Rather than being about mourning my sweet old dog, my annual August 26th “Wilson Tribute Drive” has become more about simply taking a day to immerse myself in the beauty of Northern New Mexico and to reflect. Reflect on death and life and family and friendship. On memories and regrets and hopes and plans. Though this drive for me is rooted in sadness, with each passing year it evolves a little bit more into a day of joy. Three years ago I couldn’t have imagined the 26th of August would become one of my favorite days of the year.
Maybe one of these years when I make my annual ritual drive, I’ll have a new pup to accompany me in paying tribute to the land and sky and life and love.
And to, of course, my Sweet Wilson.
Thanks for finding your way here and for reading my musings. If you think others might appreciate them, feel free to share this post. If you’d like to read more of my musings please consider subscribing to this, my blog.
Meanwhile, find more of my stories, insights and art here on my website www.taosdawn.com. Shop my art via my Etsy shop. And please consider joining me for TuesdayDawnings, my weekly deep breath of uplift, insight, contemplation & creativity. Find other ways to keep tabs on me via my connect page.
Be kind. Notice what you notice.
~ Dawn Chandler
Painting, writing, photographing, hiking, noticing and breathing deeply in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Free from social media since 2020
the very large triptych, part 9 ~ reflection
“How long did that take you?” is a question I’m asked often about my paintings, though rarely by other painters. That’s because they understand that the creation of a painting involves far more than simply applying paint to canvas.
And maybe that’s the key point I’ve sought to illuminate here in sharing the story of the Very Large Triptych: Applying the paint to the canvases was the least time-consuming part of creating the Very Large Triptych. If you were to add up all of the hours I spent with my paintbrush literally on canvas, it would probably add up to less than a day’s worth of hours; two entire days would be a stretch. Yet this painting consumed my time, focus, and creative energy — as well as my home — for nearly a whole year.
Was it worth it?
Absolutely. I wouldn’t have accepted the commission if I didn’t think it would be an enjoyable, positively challenging experience. Nor would I have agreed to do it if the other people involved were not a pleasure to work with.
RAS & TAC treated me with warmth, kindness and trust. They valued my thoughts and gave me plenty of space and time to do what I needed to do. They respected me, and that was vital.
Respect emanated from my family and friends as well. They accepted my need for privacy when I didn’t want to share photos of the painting process, and understood if I didn’t invite them in when they stopped by.
Especially respectful was My Good Man [MGM], who supported and encouraged me from day one. He assisted me anytime I requested help, and never balked when I needed more solitude than usual to focus on the Very Large Triptych. The support, interest in and enthusiasm that I received from friends and family for this project has been invaluable.
I once knew a gallerist who, whenever someone asked him how long it took an artist to create a particular work of art, he responded, “Their whole life.” Meaning that all of the artist’s lived experience — every painting they made before this one, every drawing, every photograph, every time they’d noticed shapes and colors and textures, every moment of being awestruck by a dramatic sky or dapple of light — ALL of it, had led to their experience and time creating that painting.
How long did it take me to paint the Very Large Triptych?
It took me my whole life.
Sangre de Cristo Sunrise ~ Peaceful Magnificence by Dawn Chandler
(The Very Large Triptych/VLT) ~ oil on canvas ~ 45″ x 162″
the very large triptych, part one ~ the request
the very large triptych, part two ~ the proposal
the very large triptych, part three ~ discovering the landscape
the very large triptych, part four ~ experiencing sky
the very large triptych, part five ~ painting the studies
the very large triptych, part six ~ new studio & first strokes
the very large triptych, part seven ~ the big reveal
the very large triptych, part eight ~ delivery & installation
the very large triptych, part nine — reflection*
Thanks for finding your way here and for reading my musings. If you think others might appreciate them, feel free to share this post. If you’d like to read more of my musings please consider subscribing to this, my blog.
Meanwhile, find more of my stories, insights and art here on my website www.taosdawn.com. Shop my art via my Etsy shop. And please consider joining me for TuesdayDawnings, my weekly deep breath of uplift, insight, contemplation & creativity. Find other ways to keep tabs on me via my connect page.
Be kind. Notice what you notice.
~ Dawn Chandler
Painting, writing, photographing, hiking, noticing and breathing deeply in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Free from social media since 2020
the very large triptych, part 8 ~ delivery & installation
All along as I painted the Very Large Triptych I had three concerns:
1) Was the Very Large Triptych really going to fit on the wall where it was intended? TAC and I had triple-measured the wall, and throughout the creation I had checked my notes multiples times. Yet on the easels in my living room, the triptych seemed so Very Large Indeed. Every time I looked at the photo of RAS’s wall and then looked at the canvases, the triptych just seemed soooo big.
Please tell me it will fit.
2) Would the canvases lie flat against the wall? I had invested in top-of-the line aluminum stretcher bars specifically to ensure that the paintings would stay true and not warp. But I’d never used these stretcher bars before, and, as I painted the triptych, the canvases were always on easels.
Please let them lie flat.
3) Would the Very Large Triptych look as good high up on the wall as it looked at eye-level on the easels?
Please let it look even better up there.
I was about 95% confident that the triptych would fit on the wall, that the canvases would lie flat, and that the triptych would look very good high up on the wall where it was intended. But sometimes that niggling 5% of doubt woke me at night.
Regardless, before signing the Very Large Triptych, I wanted one more set of eyes to see it — those of TAC , The Art Consultant, who found me for this project more than a year earlier. In mid-January I invited him over and handed him a cup of coffee as he walked through my door. His eyes lit up as he sipped coffee and took in the gigantic painting. “Wow, Dawn! Outstanding!” I exhaled a deep, satisfied sigh. “Nope; I don’t see anything,” he said when I asked if he saw anything that needed fixing. “Looks great!”
The next day I signed the painting. Now began the long wait for the paint to dry. In truth, it was pretty much dry already, but I had to be sure before applying the varnish.
Varnishing an oil painting is essential for two reasons: It protects the surface or skin of the painting and it evens-out the sheen of the paint overall. Individual paints can have varying degrees of glossiness, where some colors stand out unintentionally, while others fade into the background. Applying a varnish makes it all uniform. I use a special painting wax made by Gamblin that’s easy to use and creates a lovely matte finish when gently buffed.
A few weeks later I inspected the painting looking for protruding brushstrokes, and into these I pressed the edge of my thumbnail. If my nail left no impression, the paint was dry — as indeed it was. Then, with sunlight streaming through my windows and Miles Davis’ cool and confident notes filling the room, I took an old piece of flannel, dipped my hand into warm wax, and began caressing the surface of my painting. Round, round, round my hand went in slow, sensuous circles.
After two coats and two days, with another clean bit of flannel in hand, I repeated the slow careful circles as I massaged the skin of the painting to a luscious eggshell luster.
Two days before delivery I packed the canvases for transport. We’d be hauling them in the back of TAC’s enclosed pickup truck with layers of blankets to cushion them. Although they’d be traveling only 12 miles, I packed them as though for a cross-country journey.
At 9:00am Tuesday, March 1st, TAC and his installation assistant showed up at my door, and by 10:00 we were unloading the Very Large Triptych at RAS’ Las Campanas home. While I worked in the front hall to unpack the canvases, TAC and his buddy focused on moving furniture to make way for ladders. Finally, once all three canvases were unwrapped and lined-up in the correct order, I allowed RAS to enter the hallway and view their Very Large Triptych. This was their first time seeing the actual painting, and would be their only chance to look at the canvases up close. For once the Very Large Triptych was high on the wall, it would be out of reach. With palpable excitement RAS studied the canvases carefully, intrigued by the paint layers and brushstrokes. I pointed out that that I’d essentially painted for them a self-portrait [Sunrise = DAWN!]. Fortunately for them they’d have to endure my sense of humor for just an hour or two longer.
TAC then moved into action, focusing first on the center panel, while RAS and I conversed in the kitchen. Once the central panel was hung, TAC called us in to check the placement. I suggested raising it just a few more inches, but beyond that it was perfect. RAS and I retreated back to the kitchen so as not to distract our ace installation crew.
As RAS and I stood in the kitchen sipping coffee, I noticed and asked about a a shiny new grill on the patio. “We used it last night — made a whole bunch of pork ribs! In fact, we made far more than we’ll ever eat in a day. Hey! You should take them! Do you eat meat?”
I thought for a moment. The truth is, being plant-based I almost never eat meat anymore. And yet…
“I do when it’s a gift!”
“Great! Don’t let us forget to send them home with you!”
A little while later TAC called us into the living room.
There it was.
After fourteen months of being consumed with this project, the Very Large Triptych was finally on the wall:
BEFORE
AFTER
Sangre de Cristo Sunrise ~ Peaceful Magnificence finally installed on the wall.
My worries had been for naught: The triptych fit perfectly on the wall. The canvases laid flat. And high up on the wall, the painting looked even better than I’d hoped.
After rounds of joyful exclamations and high-fives, I pulled out of my bag the final tool for the project: My trusty red button. I placed it on the coffee table and slammed my hand down on it, it’s robotic voice echoing through the room…
[click image below to hear it 😆]
Later that night, with my fingers sticky with barbecue sauce, I received a message and photo from RAS:
“We are… basking in the glow of “Sangre de Cristo Sunrise ~ Peaceful Magnificence.” If you zoom into the photos you will see the most happy reflections of the vista in all of the windows. It wraps almost the entire room. Everyone around the dining table will have a splendid view of your creation no matter where they sit! We are ENTHRALLED with the triptych! I’m sure it will be the topic of conversation for all who come to our home. It enlivens the space immeasurably and brings such a tremendous amount of joy to gaze at it. Thank you so much for creating it and sharing your gift of art with us. I’ll always marvel at how you did it.”
And with that I licked barbecue sauce from my fingers, looked at the three huge empty easels in the center of my home and wondered…
What next?!
Sangre de Cristo Sunrise ~ Peaceful Magnificence ~ by Dawn Chandler
oil on canvas (triptych) ~ 45″ x 162″ ~ private collection
This is part eight of a several part series:
the very large triptych, part one ~ the request
the very large triptych, part two ~ the proposal
the very large triptych, part three ~ discovering the landscape
the very large triptych, part four ~ experiencing sky
the very large triptych, part five ~ painting the studies
the very large triptych, part six ~ new studio & first strokes
the very large triptych, part seven ~ the big reveal
Thanks for finding your way here and for reading my musings. If you think others might appreciate them, feel free to share this post. If you’d like to read more of my musings please consider subscribing to this, my blog.
Meanwhile, find more of my stories, insights and art here on my website www.taosdawn.com. Shop my art via my Etsy shop. And please consider joining me for TuesdayDawnings, my weekly deep breath of uplift, insight, contemplation & creativity. Find other ways to keep tabs on me via my connect page.
Stay safe. Be kind. Notice what you notice.
~ Dawn Chandler
Painting, writing, photographing, hiking, noticing and breathing deeply in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Free from social media since 2020
the very large triptych, part 7 ~ the big reveal
Let’s step back for a moment.
Recall the study paintings; I never revealed which one RAS chose.
In the photo below, the studies are numbered and were painted in chronological order:
1 – late April sunset over the Jemez
2 – mid May sunset over the Jemez
3 – late June sunset over the Jemez (the evening of the nighthawks)
4 – same June evening as 3, a little bit later
5 – early July sunset (“paella night“) over the Jemez
6 – mid July sunrise over the Sangre de Cristos
7 – same July morning as 6, about an hour later, looking west toward the Jemez
All along I think we all had in mind a sunset or late afternoon view for the Very Large Triptych. Yet as we narrowed down the selection, several of the evening scenes felt a bit too dramatic. While awe-some, there was concern that, say, number 5 (paella night) might overwhelm the room. And more than anything, RAS desired at view that felt calm and peaceful.
After much consideration and conversation we narrowed it down to two. A bit to everyone’s surprise they were the morning views — the last two studies I’d painted. In fact, they were still wet.
Of the two, we were leaning toward #7, for those puffy white clouds, blue sky and sage- and pinon-dotted hills seemed so quintessentially “New Mexico.” The painting just seemed to invite you to enter it and explore.
Yet when I Photoshopped the two onto the living room wall, the choice was clear. I remember feeling a mix of excitement and dread as I thought to myself GREAT… of the seven studies, we’re going with the most challenging sky to paint! Still, there was no doubt in my mind that we had made the right choice. Besides, stepping up to the daunting challenge seemed to be what this whole Very Large Triptych project was all about!
Here we go then.
Ready?
. . . . . .
At this point — mid December — I knew the Very Large Triptych was approaching completion. No one had seen it in person yet, but I wanted another set of artist eyes to take a look and make sure I wasn’t overlooking anything. So often when I’m really focused on painting I can become a bit blinded to what I’m working on. ‘Kind of like writing and not spotting an embarrassing typo until you hit Send. One of my biggest fears with the Very Large Triptych was that I would unwittingly paint brushstrokes in the shape of a face or body organ and not notice it until it was hanging on the wall. For this reason I had my longtime friend and fellow landscape painter Shawn come over and take a look. She was kind and generous in her praise (and Whew! saw no phalluses in the clouds!). The one tiny suggestion she offered was that I consider adding a bit of glazing to the large cloud formation just left of center. The moment she suggested it I knew it was a great idea.
A few days later — on the Solstice — I met RAS at their Las Campanas home. Not since my initial brushstrokes had they seen photos of it. Though it still wasn’t quite finished, I thought that before I put any more time into it I’d better make sure they were happy with it.
They were. Very much so.
In early January I made a few more tweaks: To add more visual interest to the foreground I painted in some smaller bushes. I then broke up some of the larger clouds and added a smattering of smaller ones. Finally I added a bit of glazing to the large cloud mass.
And then on January 18 a thought occurred to me:
It’s done.
This is part seven of a several part series:
the very large triptych, part one ~ the request
the very large triptych, part two ~ the proposal
the very large triptych, part three ~ discovering the landscape
the very large triptych, part four ~ experiencing sky
the very large triptych, part five ~ painting the studies
the very large triptych, part six ~ new studio & first strokes
the very large triptych, part seven ~ the big reveal **
the very large triptych, part eight ~ delivery & installation
Thanks for finding your way here and for reading my musings. If you think others might appreciate them, feel free to share this post. If you’d like to read more of my musings please consider subscribing to this, my blog.
Meanwhile, find more of my stories, insights and art here on my website www.taosdawn.com. Shop my art via my Etsy shop. And please consider joining me for TuesdayDawnings, my weekly deep breath of uplift, insight, contemplation & creativity. Find other ways to keep tabs on me via my connect page.
Stay safe. Be kind. Notice what you notice.
~ Dawn Chandler
Painting, writing, photographing, hiking, noticing and breathing deeply in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Free from social media since 2020
the very large triptych, part 6 ~ new studio & first strokes
The most dreaded phase of this whole Very Large Triptych project involved zero skill or creativity. It required planning, patience, hefting and heaving. That dreaded phase? Swapping my living room with my studio.
Why bother?
I needed to be able to step away from the canvases while painting so that I could take in the full panorama. My studio just didn’t have enough space. Despite the utter pain-in-the-assedness of reconfiguring my entire home — hauling trunks, taborets, lamps, tables, shelves, chairs, bins of paints, and books and books and books and books — it was essential that I do so. That process began in late July.
In August two huge new easels arrived [“some assembly required” READ: complete assembly required] as well as a shipment of 8′ x 4′ sheets of cardboard for the floor.
Easels? Why not just hang the canvases on the wall?
Because I wanted to be able to turn away the paintings easily [“easel-y” ? ]. Much as stepping back from the canvases is important, so is taking breaks from looking at them. Also, I didn’t want anyone else to see the Very Large Triptych while I was working on it. Although I’m confident in my painting abilities, with such a new, huge and challenging project, the slightest eyebrow raise from the wrong person might cause me to second guess myself, and I wasn’t taking any chances.
A few days later the canvases arrived. WOW! They were gorgeous!
A blank canvas can be damned intimidating, and here I had three of the largest, most pristine and expensive canvases I’d ever painted on. That blindingly white, intimidating pristine surface had to go. I grabbed a large piece of graphite and wrote in huge sweeping cursive across the canvases statements of affirmation: “I am painting a beautiful New Mexico landscape!” “Joy!” “This painting radiates peace!” It may sound hokey, even — GASP!— WOO-WOO, but why the hell not? I wanted the very foundation of this painting to be rooted in positivity.
Next I sketched in the basic shapes of the landscape: foreground trees, mountains, clouds overhead.
Finally, I was ready to begin painting the Very Large Triptych.
Well… no — not quite. First I needed to wake-up my Muse. I pulled out my watercolors and cut several panels of Multimedia Artboard., then put on my headphones. Cued up was a very special audiobook that I knew would speak directly to my Muse: The Creative Act, written and read by Rick Rubin [O Wise One]. For me, Rick’s sonorous Buddha-like voice and wholly inspiring message is like an IV drip of motivation. During those first couple weeks that I worked on the Very Large Triptych, I warmed up with watercolors and the voice of O Wise One.
Warm-up complete, now it was time to get down and dirty with my oil paints. Large brushes were needed, and knew just where to find them. I opened a drawer in my taboret, and there they were — my huge old brushes from grad school. Pride rushed over me as I admired how well kept they were; it had been decades since I last used them.
When it comes to painting traditional/representational landscape in oils, I more or less follow Kevin McPherson’s approach: Figure out your darkest darks, and block them in boldly and simply. The darkest darks were the foreground trees, so I started there. Fortunately, as I created the study panels in Phase Two, I had made detailed color notes and swatches, and referred to these now to figure out the foreground colors:
Next came the mountains.
Because my painting style is quite loose, I don’t usually get too caught up in getting the silhouette of a mountain range exact. But, since I was commissioned to paint a specific view, I felt it important to depict the lay of the mountains as accurately as possible — hence the numbering of the peaks:
Now to begin the sky.
This is part six of a several part series:
the very large triptych, part one ~ the request
the very large triptych, part two ~ the proposal
the very large triptych, part three ~ discovering the landscape
the very large triptych, part four ~ experiencing sky
the very large triptych, part five ~ painting the studies
the very large triptych, part six ~ new studio & first strokes **
the very large triptych, part seven ~ the big reveal
the very large triptych, part eight ~ delivery & installation
Thanks for finding your way here and for reading my musings. If you think others might appreciate them, feel free to share this post. If you’d like to read more of my musings please consider subscribing to this, my blog.
Meanwhile, find more of my stories, insights and art here on my website www.taosdawn.com. Shop my art via my Etsy shop. And please consider joining me for TuesdayDawnings, my weekly deep breath of uplift, insight, contemplation & creativity. Find other ways to keep tabs on me via my connect page.
Stay safe. Be kind. Notice what you notice.
~ Dawn Chandler
Painting, writing, photographing, hiking, noticing and breathing deeply in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Free from social media since 2020