musings from the studio and beyond ~
dawn chandler’s reflections on art and life. . . .
08.16.2012 ~ summer comes to dixon, new mexico
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| the road to miya’s ~ oil on panel ~ 12 x 24 inches ~ by dawn chandler ~ copyright dawn chandler 2012 |
I’m a romantic at heart. And there’s just something kind of romantic about an empty country lane or pathway… I’m always drawn in by them, wondering what lies around the bend. I guess I’m an optimist at heart, too, for I tend to imagine something positive lying ’round the corner. Despite the shadows, there’s opportunity waiting — even if that opportunity is merely to walk a little further down a quiet New Mexico lane, smelling the sage as the day folds in to twilight…
The lane here is the road to my friend Miya’s home and pottery studio in Dixon, New Mexico. It’s based on a walk I took there one evening back in June…
Click here and here to see other images of Miya’s place.
Some details of the painting:
08.07.2012 ~ la luz trail
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| morning on the la luz trail ~ by dawn chandler ~ oil on panel ~ 12 x 24 inches ~ copyright dawn chandler 2012 |
I’ve been looking forward all summer to posting my painting of the La Luz Trail. But I had to earn the right to post it.
What’s significant about La Luz?
Well, it’s a winding, steadily climbing trail from the base of the Sandia Mountains to the tip top of Sandia Crest. The trail starts just to the northeast of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico and ends at the radio towers at the top. It is truly one of the most beautiful, glorious trails I have ever hiked. Down below is the desert southwest yet there are moments on the trail when, if you didn’t know any better, you’d swear you were in the Appalachians or some other lush mountain forest.
But what’s really significant about La Luz (at least in my little world) is the epic La Luz Trail Run, which starts two miles out on a paved forest road, and climbs the steep heights of the trail to the top of the crest: 9 miles of steady, grinding uphill. And what’s significant about THAT is that my running partner, Alex and I — against all odds — actually DID the 47th Annual La Luz Trail Run this past Sunday and FINISHED.
Hooray for us!
Hooray for Team Tortoise!
Hooray for the 300+ other finishers!!
Really? I think I’ve earned bragging rights. Especially when you consider that I’m not a very good or fast or efficient runner. “Plodding” more accurately describes my movement. I like to say that I have two speeds:
1) Slow
and
2) a little less Slow
Which is why I’m not going to hesitate to toot my horn a little bit here and mention that Trail Runner Magazine has rated the La Luz Trail Run one of the top 12 most grueling trail races in the United States, with an elevation gain of over 4,000 feet
DANG! To think I did that!! And survived! 😀
The winner runs the race in an spectacular 01:20:00 (!!!!) — I wasn’t even at the halfway point at that time!
But the folks who have really earned my respect are the handful who were behind us. They were cranking away their exhausted bodies for hours and that takes extraordinary passion and stamina and drive. Hat’s off!
I’ve pasted my number above my bathroom mirror and am considering taking up a friend’s urging to wear my La Luz shirt every day for the next year. Here’s a pic of Sunday’s morning run:
And here we are — Team Tortoise — before and after the race (I’m the one with the curly, greying hair).
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| undaunted, doubtless desiring a bit more coffee and/or sleep, team tortoise considers the route of the la luz trail ahead |
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| a victorious (if tired) team tortoise after completing the la luz trail run august 5, 2012. |
Details of the painting:
Scroll to the top to see the whole painting again. The painting view is looking south, from partway (1/3? 1/2?) up the trail.
Thanks, all, for reading! 🙂
08.03.2012 ~ sojourning artist, iv
My Italian art kit was fine for working with a limited palette. But for my summer trips this year, I’m wanting more color.
And here, finally, is the perfect medium:
Watercolor pencils!
Here’s why they’re so cool:
– They’re not messy. At All.
— They’re totally transportable.
— No clean up.
— You can work them wet OR DRY because….
— You get two art supplies in one: colored pencils AND watercolors.
— They come in a stunning array of colors.
Okay, there’s one caveat:
— The colors are incredibly vibrant; it’s hard to get subtleties. Or rather, it takes practice getting subtleties.
I suppose one could argue that they are relatively bulky and heavy. But compared to a big easel and paintbox? Come on — these are nothing. When traveling I stash my pencils in a zippered pencil holder — the kind you find in the school supplies” section of an office store (….or at least that you used to find back in the days when kids actually wrote with implements other than a keyboard. See previous post for what I’m talking about).
Note that I’ve divided the pencils into three groups: on the top, “cool” colors (blues, greens, purples certain browns and greys) and on the bottom, “warm” colors (reds, yellows, oranges, corals, other browns and greys). In the center are the darkest darks I could find (recently purchased at Artisans)
Look at how dark the pencils and their “lead” seems, but the colors they become when drawn and painted — quite a difference.
Here’s a couple samples of recent watercolor pencil sketches I did last weekend, sitting on a friend’s porch in Ute Park, New Mexico, looking north to Baldy Mountain. The first is based on the evening view; the second on the morning.
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| sketch of baldy mountain from ute park (evening) ~ 4″ x 6″ ~ watercolor pencil ~ copyright dawn chandler |
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| sketch of baldy mountain from ute park (morning) ~ 4″ x 6″ ~ watercolor pencil ~ copyright dawn chandler |
07.26.2012 ~ sojourning artist, iii
No, you can’t get a lot of subtlety of stroke with this brush, but if you’re on the go and want to add a general wash of color to a sketch, it’s perfectly adequate.
Other tools in my kit (pictured below) ~
And, of course:
— a small digital camera
Undoubtedly the most curious item in my kit is the bottle of Aveda hairspray. Why is this in my art kit and not my shower kit? Because it makes an excellent spray fixative for pencil drawings, preventing them from smearing [a nifty little trick I learned from Dory Kanter in her delightfully inspiring book, Art Escapes].
Below, some pages from my Italy sketchbook:
07.23.2012 ~ sojourning artist, ii
Okay, so…to pick up from a couple of weeks ago… what art supplies to bring on a trip?
Oils?
There’s something really cool about setting up your portable easel and paint box in the 150+year tradition of en plein air painters and becoming one with those master impressionists — as I’m doing in Gunnison Colorado in that photo to the right (Thank you Mr. Mayor of Gunnison for taking that photograph!)
BUT
Here’s why bringing oils is a Royal Pain:
— they dry slowly, especially in humid environments
— they are a mess to clean up, as they require solvents
— they are relatively heavy
— the portable easel/paint box is cumbersome to set up and haul around, especially on a bike or on foot.
Granted, there are some really cool products out there that can make all of the above easier, including agents to add to the paint so they’ll dry faster, newly fabricated oils that clean up with water, specially designed boxes for transporting wet paintings, and even more compact and lightweight paint boxes and easels.
Let’s face it though: If you don’t already have all of those groovy gadgets and supplies, amassing them for a trip can easily cost as much as the trip itself!
OILS: Not an option for me this summer.
No, for me oil painting while traveling is best reserved for road trips from home, when I can easily dump everything in the back of my car, without having to be concerned about weight and bulk and Homeland Security.
For travel by plane, my art supplies need to meet the following criteria:
— be compact and easy to transport (especially if I’m walking or on a bike)
— be lightweight
— be easy to clean up (with water, if anything)
— not be fragile
— not require shipping or special handling of materials and/or finished works
Acrylics?
I’ve been thinking about these a lot. Acrylics are the foundation of my mixed media collage paintings, since I can build upon them with layers of glue and paint (you can’t glue onto oil paint, but you can onto acrylic paint). The layering of colors en plein air could be cool and interesting.
BUT
— the tubes of colors are big and bulky and, en masse, relatively heavy.
— though they clean up in water, I usually have a sloppy mess in the palette that can be a hassle to dispose of; dumping this slop in a nature preserve isn’t an option, and carrying it out is a pain.
— preserving the wet paint in the palette could be problematic.
All in all, acrylics wouldn’t be convenient at all.
Hmmm….
Watercolors?
These are a real possibility. Their main benefit? They clean up easily with water. And you can get these nifty little travel watercolor sets with tiny “pans” of dried color and even a tiny little travel brush and water reservoir (mine made by Windsor Newton pictured below).
Perfect for small sketches!
This set up was ideal when I rode my bike across Mexico for a month and a half and space in my paniers was at an absolute premium.
But if you want to work larger than 4″x6″ this set up is a bit limiting. And if you want more colors than the 10 or 12 “pans”, you’re out of luck.
Alternative: Bring a folding a palette and tubes of watercolor paints
BUT
— There’s the mess of the wet palette (especially if you bring a folding palette and paint tubes), which always seems to drip and dribble and merge colors when folded for transport.
— And you need to remember to carry water, and a water vessel of some sort — ideally two: one for clean water, and one for cleaning your brush.
— And then there’s the drying time, which can seem interminable in humid climates.
Granted, these aren’t huge issues. I’ve traveled frequently with watercolors in the little kit as well as via the folding palette and have had decent results with few headaches.
Still… I’m undecided.