Once again it is wonderful to be back in Taos, New Mexico.  The scenery is just "to die for"!  We have been painting everyday with the master, Albert Handell.  He has taken us to some of his favorite painting locations in and around Taos.

Our days are filled with old adobe buildings, cool mountain streams, whitewater, the Rio Grande and the gorge.  We also were treated to a wonderful morning of painting at Walt Gonske's home and studio just outside of Taos.  We painted in and around his lovely garden and then were treated to a tour of his home/studio.  It must be wonderful to be so totally immersed in your art that you live surrounded by your paintings and a few paintings of other artists you admire, as he does.  We also got to go through his "paint mobile".  He has set up a camper on a ford chasis that allows him to paint "indoors" on road trips.   The windows are placed so he has a few on three sides of the camper that he can paint from-standing in the camper-in warmth or cool(depending on the season).  His paintmobile also allows him access to places that might be hard to paint otherwise due to harrassment or weather.  I have not yet convinced my husband that we need one of these setups-but I'm still working on it!

If you get a chance to go to a workshop given by a nationally known artist-jump at the chance.  Albert's workshops are always interesting and a great treat.  The ones I attend are the mentoring ones where he paints along beside you.  We paint twice a day-once in the morning and once in the afternoon-for about four hours each session.  Be prepared as it is a FULL days work!  Some of the artists watch Albert paint, which I encourage you to do if you go to one of the workshops-you can pick up an incredible amount of information just watching Albert and how he approaches the subject.  You will also learn from seeing the other artists and their painting techniques.  Also don't be disappointed if not all your paintings live up to "your standards".  Remember to just have fun and learn.

I'll write more and post pictures from the locations we painted as soon as I get them out of my camera and into the computer.  For now take care and Happy Painting!
Jennylynne-from somewhere in New Mexico

Well,  it's finally time for a trip back to Taos, New Mexico for painting.  The colors of New Mexico are awe-inspiring.  It is easy to see why so many artists have gone there to paint.  The land that Georgia O'Keefe called home is a truly enchanted land.  I have never seen skies that color anywhere else.  Photographs do not do it justice.  The sunsets and sunrises seem swathed in hues hard to capture with paint or film.  But, we artists keep trying.  I wonder what Georgia O'Keefe would think of the land now-a lot of the land has remained the same thanks to conservation efforts to keep it that way. 

That to me, is what plein aire painting is truly about.  It is a chance for we, as artists, to capture a moment in time that may never be there again.  A small snipet of history recorded forever in paint, pastel or watercolor that remains frozen on the artists canvas.  I am not a building painter, but I know many artists who capture buildings in their paintings only to find them gone the next time they visit.  I painted a barn in Odessa, Mo. a couple of years ago and when I returned a year later, time and storms had taken it's toll. 

It is also the same with the rock and boulder formations of the west.  Nature and it's every changing landscapes provide the artist with constant change and challenge.  This is the true gift of being an artist-to see and record the changing of life.

Happy painting!
Jennylynne