Flaming Red Tree, Ghost Ranch 10

Flaming Red Tree, version 2, Ghost Ranch 10

Flaming Red Tree, version 1, Ghost Ranch 10

New Mexico is known for the yellow of its cottonwood trees in the fall. The only red in the landscape at Ghost Ranch that I noticed before this, was the color of the hills in the painted desert. I drove up to the Ranch to teach a plein air painting class at the end of September and as I reached the top of the hill leading into the Ranch, this tree presented itself. I have had many mysterious, mystical experiences at Ghost Ranch. I have heard strange noises in the desert and seen trees where only the top was lit up at night with no obvious light source. I had never before this, seen a red leafed tree at the Ranch.

Most amazingly, it is the only one there. Seen against the muted background colors of distant mesas and mountains, the red-orange color of this tree standing alone, took my breath away. I was stopped in my tracks by the intensity of the color.

The first version of this painting has been sitting on my easel since before Christmas. Even though I had sent it out in my newsletter as completed, there was something about it that seemed unfinished and nagged at me. I had intentionally left the background details out because I wanted the focus of the painting to be only on the intense color of tree, as I had experienced it. But I realized in doing that, the tree could have been growing anywhere. There was no reference that identified its location. I knew that was why the painting felt unfinished to me.

Finally today, I sat down to add the most identifiable symbol of the Ranch, Pedernal Mountain, to the painting. In the course of doing that colors and values shifted slightly. I am much happier with the outcome, though think I have lost something of the color intensity of the tree in changing the color of negative space to blues and greens which separates the leaves more than the earlier version. I am still not "feeling the love" as my friend Lori says, so there is more work to do.....tomorrow.

Paula Modersohn-Becker

Paula Modersohn-Becker
1906 Self Portrait with Gold Leaf and Collage
©Ann Painter, 2010, ATC 001/10

There is a new art form happening in cyberland called ATC or Artist Trading Cards. There are sites where you can register and trade your cards with other artists all over the world. Media can be anything you can think of but the size has to be 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I like to work small so the idea sparked my interest.

I have always loved art history, though most of the focus for me has been on the male artists that I learned about in school, with the exception of Georgia O'Keeffe. This past Jan Term, one of the projects was to do a self portrait. As part of that assignment, I started looking at the self portraits of other artists so that I could show examples of different approaches that have been taken to my students.

Because my students were all female, I searched specifically for self portraits by women artists. I discovered wonderful gems that I had been unaware of. I started reading and looking and became interested in the lives of these artists and the works they had produced. The idea of making small cards using their self portraits and studying their work and lives grew out of this. There is so much that I have overlooked and can be learned by studying the work and lives of these courageous, talented women who came before.

Paula Modersohn-Becker was a German artist, born on February 8th, in 1876. She died a mere 31 years later, but in her brief life created more than a 1000 drawings, 400 paintings and extensive journals and letters documenting her creative process and life. She studied in London and Paris where she became interested in the work of the post-impressionists, particularly Cezanne and Gaugin. She introduced post-impressionist ideas to Germany and is considered to be part of the early German Expressionist movement.

Her early works were meticulously naturalistic but as her style evolved, she found naturalism too limited and became more concerned with the expression of inner feelings than the portrayal of natural reality. Her later paintings combine lyrical naturalism with broad areas of simplified color similar to the styles of Cezanne and Gaugin. Her goal as she stated it was "to strive for the greatest simplicity together with the most intimate observation".

Modersohn-Becker was dedicated to her art, choosing to live in an artist commune with other artists for several years and preferring to dedicate herself to her art rather than to a traditional domestic role. She was the first female artist to paint herself nude. Still, her work, like that of many of us who have grown up under the influence of great male artists, was strongly influenced by them as seen in the self portrait above. We will never know, if she had lived longer, whether she would have moved beyond this to develop her own uniquely personal style.

Blue Ladder to the Sky, Ghost Ranch 9

6 x 6 inches, oil on masonite, ©2009 Ann Painter
SOLD

One of my students was staying in Coral Block in October. The room was not the best but she discovered this blue ladder leaning up against a cottonwood tree when she looked out the back window of her room. She pointed it out to me and I thought I knew exactly how I wanted to paint it. The challenge was putting a vertical image in a square format. I lay on the ground to photograph it hoping that would forshorten the ladder enough. There are several blue ladders leaning up against things at Ghost Ranch. It is a New Mexico thing originally intended to give access to the flat adobe roofs. Now, the ladders are mostly decorative, and some, like this one, are painted turquoise.

This ladder seems to reaching for the sky which is not a surprise at Ghost Ranch where many believe the space between heaven and earth is very thin. I don't know if this is why so many people are called back to Ghost Ranch over and over or if it is simply the beauty of this place that is filled with spirit and mystery. I wanted this painting to represent my spiritual experience of the Ranch. Since I started this painting, snow has started to fall from the heavens and accumulate on the earth. It seemed an interesting an appropriate addition to the painting.

Almost Home, Ghost Ranch # 5

6 x 6 inches, oil on masonite, © Ann Painter 2009

SOLD

Originally, I titled this painting "The Road to Ghost Ranch" but when I looked at it after it was finished the title that came to mind was "Almost Home". Even though I only live at the Ranch during the 6 weeks or so that I teach there, it is my spiritual home. When I reach this point in the road I know that the entrance is just on the other side of the hill. The spot I painted from is directly across from Pedernal and Abiquiu Lake and also marks the beginning of the Red Rock at Ghost Ranch. It is a spectacular location like so many others that inspire me at Ghost Ranch.

"Feeling the Love", Ghost Ranch 6

6 x 6 inches, oil on masonite, © Ann Painter 2009

SOLD

The title for this painting came from a student's comment when describing how she felt when she saw something she wanted to paint. The day we were out in the Painted Desert at Ghost Ranch, this was it. We hiked into the desert to get a really good look and make a decision about where to set up. The weather was clear and sunny when we started in the morning but by afternoon, clouds built up and our perfect light was gone. The painting had to be finished in the studio but while we were there, the morning light was intense turning the normally brownish hills, an sunlit red color. I actually see these hills as intensely saturated and painted them that way building layer upon layer of color until I get the effect that I want. I suppose I judge whether I have achieved what I am looking for more by feeling than sight. I know in my gut when a painting is finished. There is simply nothing left to do, no place else to go and I have no anxiety about any part of it not working. Over the years I have come to trust that feeling. As with other paintings, I have simplified reality to suit myself and still capture the essence of the place.

San Francisco Rooftops

8 x 10 inches, oil on masonite, © Ann Painter 2009
$125 + Shipping

It has been a while since I have done one of the painting challenges posted by Karin Jurick on her Different Strokes blog, but this one appealed to me. It was not the best timing with all that is going on for me at the moment but I had time yesterday and today and so decided to tackle it. The paining is very linear which made it impossible to photograph without some distortion. I don't know how to deal with the side distortions I get with both of my cameras. Usually, I crop the photo and the distortion is not obvious but with this painting that was not the case. I may try to scan it once it has dried.

I had taken the photo provided by Karin and bumped up the color and then cropped it to make it more interesting to me. This explains the intensity of the color although, I generally use saturated, bright color in my paintings. I wanted to focus on the negative space between the buildings. The stormy, dark sky contrasted with the bright light in the forground. I don't think this comes off in the photo but does in the actual painting. This is why seeing the original work is so important. There are few cameras that can accurately represent a painting's color or surface texture.

3 Pinions and Pedernal, Ghost Ranch 7

6 x 6 inches, oil on masonite, © 2009 Ann Painter
SOLD

In Northern New Mexico, Pedernal Mountain is an immense presence. Georgia O'Keeffe looked out at Pedernal from the patio of her house at Ghost Ranch for almost 50 years and loved it. She climbed to the top of its 10,000 feet at 62! She painted the mountain over and over saying that "God told her that if she painted it enough, she could have it". When she died, her ashes were scattered on top of it.

Pedernal is not an easy subject. Most of the time it appears flat or is hidden in the clouds that congregate around its peak. When it rains, it can disappear altogether. Depending on the time of day and weather conditions, its color changes minute by minute. Over all these years of visiting Ghost Ranch, I have avoided painting it. She was just too grand, too big and overwhelming a presence. I couldn't imagne how to get what I felt and experienced of this place into a painting, especially one that is 6" x 6".

The day I painted this, it was early morning because that is when the color on the mountain is most saturated and 3-dimensionality of it apparent. It was very cold and windy. We chose a place where we could see Pedernal across Abiquiu Lake. The first thing I noticed, after the mountain, were the three Juniper bushes in front of me. I decided to try and make them the focal point with Pedernal and the lake in the background. I am happy with the results though still think, there is no way for Pedernal not to overshadow everything and make its presence known. But that is how I experience it so it works.