I've always loved mountains. I grew up a few hours from the Blue Ridge and spent my childhood visiting every year. The endless sweeps and drops of green and blue and gray. So much beauty.
Now I have new mountains to admire and love. All the rust, gold and tan with splotches of green. So much beauty.
And inspiration...
The photos above are spreads in one of my art journals I did not long after my return from New Mexico.
When I first returned, I was obsessed with painting an image that had formed from my flight home.
I call it Above the Clouds. I'm not sure if I'll keep it this way or if it will go into my re-use stash. At one point on the flight, I looked out the window and all I could see was the blue above and clouds below. It seemed like that was all that existed.
One of the New Mexico sights I've found inspiration from is Cerro Pedernal. I already shared images that I made in our class project.
This is Pedernal Weeps. If I remember the story I heard correctly, the indigenous peoples of the area believed that the world was formed from that mountain. I think the creators came from there. I really wish I could remember the story I heard. I've tried to google it and could find nothing.
Anyway, I'd done the painting and while I liked it, it just didn't seem finished. I remember waking in the middle of the night and going to the studio. I took the closest matching acrylic inks I had and dripped along the sections. I kept thinking, the world weeps because of all the chaos and terror in the world now.
I really like how it turned out.
Just before I left for that trip I was experiencing bouts of insomnia and ended up in the studio late night/early morning several times. This acrylic and pastel is what came from those couldn't sleep sessions.
I call her The Guardian.
I think this about wraps up my experience of New Mexico. I'm going to have to find something else to share about. :-)
I guess I need to go on another trip. Or maybe just leave the house. ;-)
What have you been up to lately?
Thanks for stopping in to read...
love & blessings
~*~
Back to Ghost Ranch once again. This time I want to share the art made during the trip.
Our project was a book, with a stitched cover. The photo above is where I headed with my cover. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the fabric is representative of the mountains with a heart shaped rock I found on one of my walks there. I'm actually still working on my cover, so I can't show it yet. Once I finish I'll post it.
Here is my book, put together. The stitched piece will be glued over the current orange fabric. The piece of paper will be incorporated somehow. I used a burning tool to try to make it look branded.
The inside cover and the pages all tied in. There are several blank pages that I can still work with. I want to get some of my photos printed to place inside.
On my initial walk around the area where I was staying, I found a couple of pieces of charcoal from a nearby firepit. So I did a couple of sketches, the top is of chimney rocks and the bottom of pedernal. (click to make the photo bigger)
This is a watercolor I did from my view from my room or pedernal.
One of the pages of cyanotype papers.
An acrylic of pedernal.
An impressionist type of the mountains using milk paint and a tongue depressor.
This is a few of the things I brought back. Some large rocks, a bag with small rocks and sticks, a bag of clay from the creek and a few art supplies I picked up at an art store in Santa Fe.
I think that's enough photos for now. I'm sure I'll revisit and share once I finish putting the book together. Most people would be done by now and I'm sure the majority of my classmates have long finished their books. I tend to take things slow and I'm okay with that.
Soon I'll share the art I've made since my return that was inspired by my time in New Mexico.
Have you been on a trip that had a profound impact on you? I'd love to hear about it.
thanks for stopping by,
love & blessings
~*~
I'm choosing Gratitude as my word for this new year, 2020. I spent time the last few weeks trying to decide if I would choose a word for the year. I don't think I've done it in a long time. One word kept coming to mind and I'd pretty much settled on it. Then yesterday, as I was working with my tarot and oracle cards I thought to pull an oracle card to see what word they would recommend.
Gratitude was the card and just seemed perfect...
I do have a lot to be grateful for and I think too many times I ignore that and focus on what I feel I lack. So, gratitude for this new year and I'll see how things shift.
Three things I am grateful for from 2019...
The gift of a trip to the beach to celebrate my 50th birthday...
The amazing adventure that was my August trip to New Mexico and all the wonderful people I met there...
Last, but, most importantly, YOU.
I am so grateful for those who read my blog and take the time to comment and interact with me. I know I've been an intermittent blogger and not very good at replying to comments. (I hope to do better this year!)
Truly, there are more things I'm grateful for from 2019. But I think those are the top three.
Wishing you a fabulously happy new year and new decade!
thanks for reading...
love & blessings
~*~
ps...the top two photos were taken today, it's the last night of our neighborhood holiday light display and my traditional southern New Year's day lunch just before we dug into the food. :-)
