Doll Doctor Antiques

I finished and delivered a new oil painting:
Doll Doctor Antiques, 24"x 30".


Marilyn and Ariel Baylen were very pleased, and I was too because frankly I didn't know how it would turn out. This was the first complete oil rendering I've ever done. It took me two months because I was very methodical and deliberate about it. Since it was a commission I wanted to do the best job I could. Oil paintings have always taken me a long time to complete, but I want to look at the reasons the Doll Doctor took so long.

RENDERING AS AN INCOME
A rendering is essentially a portrait of a building, and the more accurate the better.

I started rendering for an income when I won an art contest illustrating the Pioneers Museum.
I made my living for several years by rendering for developers and builders. They'd give me the blueprints for unbuilt houses and I'd draw an ink picture on milar of what the house would look like after completed, including landscaping. They have software to do that now. I'd get paid maybe as much as $150 per rendering, and they would sell their houses for $250,000 or so based simply on my drawing. I'd do two renderings a day or more if I could, but it was certainly a feast or famine business. I'd paint renderings in acrylics, watercolors or guache, but not often.

I freelanced lots of individual framed renderings of people's homes and businesses, that I'd sit in my car and usually do on the spot. I drew the Margarita at Pine Creek because it was such a good place to eat at, and I sold the drawing to the owner the next time we ate there.

I was always an oil painter at heart but never imagined actually making a rendering in oil until the Baylens commissioned me. They liked my paintings of Old Colorado City they'd seen in the history center, and they are located in the heart of old town. The first thing I did was to make a full-sized rendering for the painting.


You can see how I even cut it apart to make the perspective more dramatic. I traced the rendering onto the canvas after drawing it in charcoal on the back side.

I had to reorganize my studio and purchased a new portable oil palette, one with a lid to help keep the oil paints wet (I also covered the palette with Glad press and seal wrap at night).

I had to buy new smaller brushes that I'd never used to oil paint with before. In fact the whole idea of drawing the oil painting first is not what I learned in school, where my teachers would say, "Paint, don't draw! That's why they call these paintings!" And they wanted me to develop the painting as I went along, emphasizing layout and color balance and working all over the canvas. It quickly became clear to me that for this picture I was going to have to work from the top down so as not to smear anything below, and that I had to try to do as much of the picture on my drawing table instead of my easle. For one thing, sitting on my stool at that easle made my back sore.

After I traced the rendering onto the canvas I then used acrylics to completely cover the white of the canvas, and to make bright underpainting for the oils.


The edges of the canvas are taped, because Judy Wise taught me to paint my own frames. I then took the canvas outside to start the painting on site, paying lots of attention to layout, actual color and details.


This was where I learned that trying to paint all over the canvas was not such a good idea, because I had to wait for these oils to dry before I could continue to paint, or else I'd end up getting them all over my hands and arms. Waiting for the oils to dry so I could paint over them has always been the big slowdown in completing paintings, but even though I was trying to be very efficient I did end of having to repaint a lot. For one thing I had to redraw the windows, making them wider to appear more in proportion, and making the right color for those bricks was time-consuming. I finally had to end up shopping for more oils at Meiningers Art Supply in Denver.

At least now that I'm finished I'll be able to do it better and faster next time. It helps that time management is no longer that important for me, nor is making an income from my art.

Thanks to My Commenters

Or is that commentors? Commentees?
I very much appreciate everyone who has posted comments on my blog, you've all been very helpful. I've been at this for just four months now, and had no idea how my life was going to take off as a result of this blog. Plus, I didn't expect actual readers. I want to thank everyone and to let you know how you've helped me:
For getting me back to work: Judy Wise's last comment urged me to, "Congrats on a successful and beautiful show, Jack. Now get back into the studio; you'll need umpteen new paintings for the next one!"

Indeed. This is what I'm working on: Ariel and Marilyn Baylen have commissioned me to make a painting of their Doll Doctor Antiques store in Old Colorado City, which is located just down the street on 25th. They loved my paintings of Pikes Peak from Old Colorado City, which their store in is, and Two Old Twins, which they're just down the street from, which they saw in my art show. I love their store, it's the old Blunt Mortuary next door to the Templeton House. I gave them a sketch of the view they wanted. They want me to be sure to include both of them, and their darling dogs.

For getting me out there: To Marie in Larkspur who said, "I know it is hard to judge if you are getting 'out' there or not." It's always been that way, but that was in my "Pre Blog" days (P.B.) Now I'm very encouraged.

For introducing me to etsy: To Barb Greiner, tinygoldcrowns, and Christy, who also taught me about Red Bubble accounts and self-representing artists guilds. I do have an account now with etsy, and I have discovered there are more than 12,000 oil paintings available there. I want to put all my New Mexico paintings up for sale on etsy. Thanks for bearing with me as I learn how to do that.

For advising me on galleries: To Christy, who said "I can't imagine manning my 'wall space' at a gallery." Nor can I at this point.
To Peggy in Manitou Springs who said she'll check me out at Arati," and to Meri, who asked about my involvement with Arati Artists Gallery, "is this a co-op, with the membership fee and the mandatory staffing requirement?" Yes it is, and I haven't heard back from them after being put on their ubiquitous waiting list. My inclination now is not to join them when the next vacancy comes up.

For encouraging me: To Mindy Blanchard, femminismo, Ginny Gaskill, Lynn, Kely Kilmer, Snap, Kim Rae Nugent, Kasha Rolley, Paper Wings, and Janine.

For wanting my artwork: To Chris, who loves W. St. Elmo. You said to "Send right away." You got me thinking about just exactly how to send my artwork to anyone who wants to buy one. I'm afraid right now I'm just not sure how to send anything.
To Marie, who "would love to have one," but has her own stash like I do, and a family that has no more room for her "gifts."

For teaching me: To Heather, paperfollies, typepad.com, who taught me about Peter Parnall's wonderful illustrations in Byrd Baylor's books. I will get back to that arches painting as soon as possible.
To jgr, who likes my technique of oil over acrylics. I do have to make a correction, when I said that I cover my canvases with acrylics "like Gesso," that would be true only if I started with untreated canvases. What I actually do is underpaint completely in acrylics.

And to katie, who reassured me: "I do i do recognize that the 'goofing off' part, without the pressure of production, truly is a blessing - to play and experiment without trying to please. Stack those paintings up and make a wall if you need to,
the magic and joy is in the process, the learning and the discovery, where the artist lives on and our art thrives and expands".

Old Town History Center Wrap Up

Dave Hughes, the Treasurer of the Old Colorado City Historical Society and the person responsible for the revitalization of the old town, printed last month's expenses and income in September's monthly West Word newsletter.
"We got a windfall from the Art and Print Show Sales in our Center of Jack Ekstrom's work that dates back to 1976, when Old Colorado City first emerged as a visually historic part of town. He sold $1,872 worth on the evening of August 7th, and generously offered us 60% of that, or $1,123. He also drafted up, free, several of our advertising posters for Founders Day and the Cemetery Crawl."
There are five pictures left from the 13 in the show, and those will be put up for sale in the Silent Auction at the OCCHS Membership Dinner, Oct. 1 at the Ghost Town Wild West Museum.
You ought to be pretty familiar with those pictures by now:

1. An Act of God, oil, 20" x 28". Showing the effects of the lightning blast in 1995 that sent Sacred Heart Church's east steeple into the middle of Colorado Ave. We remember that strike, it was like an explosion. This picture, painted in October several months later, shows a Latino family Quinceanera celebration.

2. Mattress Factory, pen and watercolor, 12" x 14". The old firehouse, where Old Town Bed and Breakfast is now, just before the fire that ended it. The gentleman in the picture was a long-term resident of Norton's Home, across the street, who many people saw everyday striding in his distinguished gait.

3. Mrs. Morrison and General Palmer, pen and ink, 18" x 24" matted. In 1917 General Palmer, the founder of Colorado Springs, was riding from his home in Glen Eyrie to the Antlers Hotel when Mrs. Morrison came running out of her burning home at 2217 W. Colorado Ave., which is still there. She'd set her laundry on fire through using naptha. The general took her to the Antlers with him and provided her with a room until her home was repaired.

4. Pikes Peak from Bancroft Park, oil, 24" x 36". That's Michael Garman's truck. When I tried selling this to Michael, he exclaimed, "Why in *!!* would I want to buy that? The gentleman in the painting isn't Michael, but a familiar neighborhood figure at that time walking his dog.

5. Sacred Heart Church, oil, 18" x 24". This classic view was made from the end of our alley not long after we moved here, when beehive incinerator ovens were still in use.

I had put two other of my older renderings in the art show too, but those are not going to be auctioned.

Cliff House, pen and ink, 24" x 36"

Barker House, pen and ink, 20" x 28"

These are both buildings in Manitou Springs just to the west of us. When people asked me why I put them in my Old Colorado City show I replied, "Those are what I really like doing. I've always regretted that Old Colorado City doesn't have buildings like those."

El Camino Real

So long to Santa Fe, for another year. There were several scenic drives we could have taken out of Santa Fe to get back home to Colorado Springs including the freeway, which is the least scenic but fastest. But Hiway 285 takes you north from Santa Fe toward Espanola, and there are many scenic drives to get sidetracked on.

One junction to the left takes you past San Ildefonso Pueblo, a fascinating place that we'll get back to sometime.
You can't miss the Catholic mission at San Idelfonso, it's right in the middle of the Pueblo.

Instead we took the next intersection to the right, toward Nambe Pueblo. It's our most favorite drive, that follows the El Camino Real to Taos. It has provided me with much subject matter for paintings and drawings.

Sacred Heart Church at Nambe, oil 16" x 20"

That's John Prescott standing in front of Nambe Mission. The old Catholic missions on the Indian pueblos are all classic Southwestern scenes, and I'm as big a sucker for them as any artist.
The next stop on the El Camino Real is Chimayo, one of the most scenic historic stops, with the famous El Santuario. That place also calls for us to stop for awhile, so we'll certainly go back there too.

Continuing on the El Camino Real, we always stop at Truchas. How could anyone not? The site of Robert Redford's movie "The Milagro Beanfield War," Truchas is a town of galleries, and in the center of it is another venerable mission. You have to admire adobe construction that's lasted over 300 years.

Old Truchas Mission of Holy Rosary, 1764, oil 18" x 24"

Las Trampas, the next stop on the El Camino Real, features a famous Catholic church that I've painted a few times.

San Jose de Gracia Church 1760, oil 18" x 24"

I couldn't keep from painting the church at Las Trampas from two different views.

Las Trampas San Jose de Gracia, oil 18" x 24"

Continuing once more on the El Camino Real north toward Taos is Picuris Pueblo, with the mission having been restored by the people at Picuris.

San Lorenzo de Picuris, oil 16" x 20"

And finally you come to Taos. There is indeed a famous Catholic church painted by Georgia Okeefe south of town, as well as a mission at Taos Pueblo. But I love the pueblo itself, and its location.

Holy Taos Mountain, oil 30" x 48"

Do you see the face of the holy mountain, looking straight upward? I don't know where he came from, but appeared as I was painting it. To me he seems to have a headdress flowing down his left shoulder. When we were at Taos Pueblo in one of the shops we met Carol Suina, who said the name of the holy Taos mountain was "A-che-yats" (my spelling).
Again looking forward to coming back to this magical place, and all the others I've shown you, we continued home, going through San Luis, Ft. Garland and Walsenberg, a beautiful drive with continuously changing epic vistas. San Luis is one of our favorite stops, it's back in Colorado but still very much Hispanic, in fact it's the oldest town in Colorado.
And now that I have such good space in my basement studio, thanks to this blog and to all you gracious people who helped me with your comments, I can begin to paint again -- I must have a dozen paintings that need finishing, most from the El Camino Real!

Santa Fe Indian Market

Our trip to Santa Fe last week was the best one yet. We've gone there several times in August with our family, the best time of the year to leave our gardens and to drive through gorgeous Colorado and New Mexico scenery. We've always loved the Indian Market itself, and all the associated art openings at the many excellent Santa Fe galleries, as well as the many great scenic drives in every direction from Santa Fe.
The highlight of our trip was on Saturday before noon on the first day of the market, when we met Vernida Polacca Nampeyo, a Tewa/Hopi potter, at her booth on Palace Ave. beside the Plaza.


Judy spotted the Hopi pot from a ways off. You could say it pulled us to it, and as with all wonderful works of art it just kept pulling on us, becoming more and more attractive, even now. It was small, 3 1/2" by 5 1/2", with a beautiful, simple polychrome design and was very reasonably priced. She graciously accepted a check from us, carefully perusing my Colorado driver's license. It was very busy and we didn't stay to talk with her, but I got her address and promised to send her a picture of her pot.


It was a thrill to meet the actual creator of a Hopi pot. Vernida is a Tewa and lives in Polacca, a village near in Arizona on the Hopi reservation, and is a great granddaughter of Nampeyo herself, the most honored of Tewa/Hopi potters.
In the excellent book "Hopi-Tewa Pottery, 500 Artist Biographies" by Gregory Schaaf (yes, they had super book booths in the market, and we got a few--mostly cookbooks) is a photograph of a 1906 seed jar by Nampeyo that is very similar to ours, with an "Eagle Tail Feather Skirt" design and "fine line migration patterns featuring curling wave-like designs with parrot tail tips." These, plus "negative stars," are Vernida's favorite designs.
The book tells about the great migrations of the Tewa clans from southern Colorado into New Mexico following the Rio Grande, establishing pueblos at Nambe, Picuris, Taos and many more locations. The route of the Tewa led to the Hopi where the Tewa warriors protected the Hopi from attacks by the Spanish, Utes, Navajos and many others. The earliest pottery in this area dates to 300 B.C.
Our family in Farmington, Arizona, Emli and Paul Jaeger, who located between Mesa Verde and the Hopi reservation will love this story about the Tewa and Hopi. We've spent much time together in Mesa Verde and other locations in the Southwest, wondering where the people who lived there went to, and why they left. Maybe if they migrated, it may not be such a great mystery. Frank Waters in "The Book of the Hopi" emphasized the moral imperative for Indian people to complete their migrations as the Hopi did.
Next: The El Camino Real, featuring all the rest (almost) of my extant paintings!

To Santa Fe

Judy Wise and John Prescott left for home this afternoon, after a wonderful 5-day trip to Santa Fe. We're full of great memories, and we feel both refreshed and inspired.

Colorado Springs is 6 hours from Santa Fe. We went the scenic route, via San Luis where we had lunch in the convenient Coffee House Cafe. From left is John, Judy, our daughter Christine, Judy Ekstrom and son-in-law Rick Munoz.
Last weekend was the Indian Market, and our aim was to see as much artwork as possible.

Judy Wise is a treasure to view art with, she has an eye for finding great works and then can tell you easily what makes them so good. One high point of our trip was the first day, on Canyon Road in the Winterowd Fine Art Gallery. She led us to three works by Don Quade, large, colorful mixed media panels based on journaling. Above, Judy Ekstrom and Judy Wise view "Journal of the Butterfly," 48" x 72".

Here they're viewing two 48" x 48" panels by Don Quade, "Journaling July" and "Meadow."

She led us into another room with works by Michelle William from Houston, not the gorgeous large yellow paintings but the two smaller plexi-framed paintings.

She was very taken with those works by Michelle.

We got another look at one of Michelle's works on our way out.

And when we got back to our motel we discovered that Judy had purchased one of Michelle's mixed media on metal paintings.
Be sure to see Judy Wise's blog for more information.

The next day we went straight to the Plaza to view the Indian Market booths. More about this later.
I want to thank Judy and John, as well as Chris and Rick and Judy Ekstrom, for a marvelous, unforgettable time.

The Big Show was a Success!

I'm pleased to report that my art show and special one-time sale last Friday at the Old Colorado City History Center was a great success, with a fine turnout and excellent sales.


I did make the entrance to the center more obvious, with 4 homemade posters that at least let people know what was going on inside. I nailed another poster on the tree down on the corner, directing people in this direction (and I did take down all the posters afterwards). Since the history center was one block off the avenue where all the other artwalk galleries were located, we were concerned that people might not know where we were. Joanne Karlson even had a volunteer standing down there handing out flyers part of the time. Those were all efforts that paid off.


I cleaned up the main display and put a large spotlight on it, which made a pretty dramatic entrance to the display that got everyone's attention. Four of these five paintings sold.


It was a beautiful evening and people came from all over. The interior of the history center was quite attractive, and the evening sun coming in through the old church windows was gorgeous.


There was lots of room for people to mill around and to look at the history exhibits as well as the art.


The old church pews were set around the edge of the space and lots of people spent their time just sitting and socializing on the comfortable seats. In the photo I'm picking out another red dot from my folder so that one of the super volunteers, Jan deChadenades, could affix it to another sold picture, to the amusement of our neighbors, Jane and Kurt Weiss from Texas, and Barbara and Joe Vuillemin from Arizona. Jane and Barbara purchased the two views of Sacred Heart in the winter and in the summer, both of which had the back yard of their home just down the street in them.


The displays were easy to look at and even the pictures on the back display were well lit. Here's Paul Jaeger, my son-in-law from New Mexico, deciding which picture to buy.


Judy Ekstrom and I stand with Ann Washburn in front of the picture she purchased. Ann lives just down the street from us, and was very happy to have the scene of Pikes Peak from Old Colorado City on her wall.


Nearly everyone I invited showed up. Here's Judy with Kaye Grant, the Marketing Director for Services at the Air Force Academy. Kaye was my boss for nearly 20 years. She was pleased to purchase a picture. Serving wine was volunteer Werner Karlson, who also helped clean up afterwards.


Kaye and I were happy to see each other. She's still working at the Academy, from which I retired over a year ago.


My old friend and fellow painter Warren Schroeder came with his girlfriend Jeannie. He'd long waited for me to have a show, now I'm waiting on him to have one.


Long-time friend Betsy Evans goes through the box of prints I had made, while Jan watches. I produced 60 prints, 5 of each picture, and put them in clear plastic envelopes. They were very popular and 35 sold.


Here I am talking with another long-time friend, Fred Clark, the President of Warren Tool Co. and a long-time sponsor of the old National Carvers Museum.
I give my sincere thanks to everyone for helping me with this show, it's gone a long way to accomplishing one of my goals in this blog: to figure out how to sell my old paintings so that I can have room on my walls for new ones. I especially want to thank my long-time friend and co-worker Todd Ryan, who took most of these pictures.

The Final Show

Tomorrow is the day of my big show and special one-time sale at the Old Colorado City History Center, Friday, Aug. 7, 5-8 p.m. I took all of my paintings and drawings to the center to set up on Tuesday.


As I look at this photo of the entrance to the center I immediately see I need some posters out there, but because of my lack of foresight and planning it's now too late to make anything of any size. I'll see what I can do tomorrow (famous last words) to at least put up some signs. I have printed and distributed several hundred flyers, all in color, but nothing big.
Setting up this exhibit has been all-consuming. When I first started on Tuesday I used the history center's big 8' square heavy display that was designed to be kept erect by two 18" panels on each end which turned opposite 90 degree directions. But when I had two pictures on it, held by "invisible" plastic line, the entire display simply fell over with a tremendous crash, totally shattering one frame and glass (but not hurting the picture, which I reframed that evening). A few people were inside the center viewing the history exhibits and volunteering help. Luckily no one got mooshed (colloquial term for smashed flat).
So I rushed to Bruno's Rentals and managed to put up another 8' x 10' display by the next day.


Hanging the pictures on that metal frame on both sides of black drapes was not easy, they wouldn't hang straight and I finally had to string extra plastic lines horizontally to help hold the pictures steady. At least the lighting isn't too bad, with a good spotlight to shine on the front display.


As I look at this photo I see I've got to clean that display up by removing those two silly signs with arrows, as well as that flyer display. The back side of the draped display panel is problematical, but I don't see what more I can do to make it look better. I'm embarrassed by how sloppy this all appears. Two pictures are on tripods and lack good light.


I did add one more painting, a picture of Sacred Heart Church I found in my cellar, showing the effect of the terrrific lightning blast in a 1995 summer storm, which threw the east cupola and cross into the middle of Colorado Ave.


I finally got over there in October to make an illustration of how it still looked, and while I was there a latino family was having a celebration. They even posed for me. I only saved this picture because it was my first effort to make a rendering in oil, it's another picture I'm very eager to get rid of.
I'll let you know how the show and sale goes.

Art Show Countdown

This is the first day of a very busy last week until my art show, this Friday Aug. 7, 5-8 p.m. at the Old Colorado City History Center. This is my first actual scheme to accomplish the one main goal that was the reason I started this blog: to get rid of all the old pictures I've had on my walls for years.
I've now got my first 12 pictures completely ready (I am working on a few more, but more about that next blog) and I've actually moved them out of my basement studio and have them (once again) displayed on our living room walls.



We invited our next door neighbors over a couple days ago to see the art, since I'd sent them an invitation and they replied by apologizing for being unable to make the art show, but that since their back yard was in four of those paintings, they did want to have "first choice" of the pictures. I want to thank Barbara Vuillemin, who will return after the show to take Sacred Heart in the Summer '77 (lower right corner in the photo) back home to Tucson Arizona with them.
I love finding good homes for my pictures.

The Flyer Brigade

I've made my living in part by producing flyers, you know, those pesky 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of paper that end up even lying around in gutters. I was hoping I was done doing that, but no, I'm now producing flyers for the Old Colorado City Historical Society, because that's what I can do in return for their helping me with my art show on Friday, Aug. 7, 5-8 p.m. Here's the flyer about it:



Flyers are one of the main ways of advertising for OCCHS. Many of its members also volunteer their time and so these flyers have presumably been going to all the local merchants and to people on the mailing list.
The price on the flyer for my painting says $800, but I'm actually going to sell it for less than that. This is, after all, a sale.
That weekend of Aug. 7 & 8 is a big weekend here, since it's the Sesquicentennial Celebration of Old Colorado City. Here's the flyer:



It's black and white because that way anybody can produce these flyers on their home printers.

I also made another flyer for the other August event for OCCHS, the annual Cemetery Crawl:





The Cemetery Crawl is a lot of fun and is popular. It raises funds for OCCHS, which I'm doing as well. These funds help pay the mortgage and big monthly utility bill for the center, just to start with. And the activities of the history center help attract lots of people to the area. Their operating budget allows them to accomplish a lot in historical documentation and preservation.





The illustration for the Cemetery Crawl is from a photo of Dave Hughes as Anthony Bott. Dave is the Treasurer of OCCHS and he asked me for a caricature of Anthony Bott. This is the best I could come up with.

New Photos of Old Art

I'm getting 12 paintings and drawings ready to sell on Aug. 7, 5-8 p.m. at the Old Colorado City History Center, and it's been keeping me busy every day for the past two weeks. Only the 2 oils have escaped being taken out of their frames. I've taken each picture outdoors on our western patio in the bright southern sun and photographed it with my Minolta DiMage S414. I photoshop each picture in Corel 9, and am currently printing sets of 12 on my Canon Pixma pi4200 photo printer. Most of the new photos I've already posted among the 12 following pictures, but here are the two I finally just got done.
Sacred Heart in the Summer, 77, acrylic 18" x 24" matted



This is a startling improvement over the past photo I've posted (which I've left for comparison's sake in the June 24th post, to my embarrassment).

Sacred Heart in the Winter, 76, acrylic 18" x 24" matted



This is my favorite picture, and although I once sold cards of both of these paintings, I've never had the paintings up for sale before. I guess I just thought I'd keep them on my wall forever.
One big thing I've learned from this blog is how important it is to have good photos to post, especially of art. Now because my printer is so good I'm getting carried away making prints of all 12 pictures, which I'm signing in pencil and putting in clear plastic envelopes which I got from clearenvelopesonline.com. Each print, on 45# Canon matte photo paper, is ready for an 8" x 10" frame.
The thing about printing on a home printer is that the ink is not archival, and no matter how good the paper is the pictures may not seem so sharp after a few years or so. And besides, toner is darned expensive. I just like the control I have, but I'm too cheap to buy a printer that uses better ink.
So I have a question, please:
Should I instead pay to have these painting photos printed for me (from the UPS Store for example), or is home printing ok on a good printer?

My Art Sale

I'm working full speed on my art sale at the Old Colorado City History Center, Fri. Aug. 7, 5-8 p.m.



I've printed a few hundred of these two-page flyer/brochures and with the history center's help I'm getting them distributed.



Please excuse my current lack of frequent posts, I've made myself quite busy with this art sale -- which was one of the objectives that started this blog: "What am I gonna do with all my old art on my walls?" And since I don't have a website I'm directing people to this blog, and am trying to keep the 12 following pictures at the top of the queue.
I've finally got the details about how the show will be set up, with wine and cheese, and a volunteer to run the desk and take credit cards. Judy Ekstrom and daughter Chris Tilson will help. If things aren't too busy they can see some of the other galleries on the Artwalk. There are at least 12 galleries up and down the avenue, and I have to get to them with my brochures.
Figuring out how to display my art has taken awhile, I'm going to use 5 tripods and the large display panels that the history center has. What's kept me the busiest is getting the 12 pictures themselves ready, with clean glass, good mattes and frames; only the two oils are not under glass. And I've been making new photos of them all, for good prints and better display on this blog. I'll have two to show next post, to compare with the old photos.

Views from our Windows

My mantra in this blog has been "What am I gonna do with all my old pictures?"
I'm putting a collection of 12 old Old Colorado City paintings and drawings in a special one-time art sale to benefit the Old Colorado City History Center, the Friday of Founders' Weekend, Aug. 7, 5-8 p.m. at the center. I really appreciate this opportunity to get that number of pictures actually possibly moved.
The final 4 pictures (I think) I've chosen to put in that sale are my favorites, the last of the views of Sacred Heart Church I've painted from our upstairs bedroom windows since '76. It's great having a good view.

Cinco de Mayo '98, oil 30" x 40"


Sacred Heart and Cheyenne Mountain, acrylics 20" x 28", 1987


Sacred Heart in Winter, acrylics 18" x 24", 1976


Sacred Heart in Summer, acrylics 18" x 24", 1977


And then no sooner did I get these pictures ready for sale, I discovered about 8-12 more old drawings of Colorado Springs that are from this same era, just sitting in an old folder in our crawl space waiting to be matted and framed. I wonder if I can get them ready for this sale at the history center?
Is there no end to this?

Old Colorado City Pictures

I am going to exhibit and have a special one-time sale of as many as 12 of my Old Colorado City pictures, on Friday, Aug. 7, 5 - 8 p.m. at the History Center, One South 24th St., Colorado Springs, 80904 (719) 636-1225. You're all invited to enjoy an Open House at the center, with wine and cheese, as part of the first friday Old Colorado City Artwalk. The next day are the Founders' Day events and the Sesquicentennial Celebration of Old Colorado City, 1859-2009. Sales of my artwork will benefit the history center. Prices will range from $95 to $795. Art includes:

Pikes Peak from Old Colorado City, oil 24" x 36", 1998



Pikes Peak from Bancroft Park, acrylic 24" x 36", 1980



Sacred Heart Church, oil 18" x 24", 1996



Two Old Twins, guache 18" x 24", 1987



Mattress Factory, ink & watercolor 14" x 15", 1996



Old Town Rehabs, Ink 18" x 24", 1985



General Palmer & Mrs. Garrison, Ink 18" x 24", 1981



Party Table, Ink 9" x 12", 2009



I'll have four more pictures to add in my next post.

Free Art

In my quest to get my old art off my walls I've gone to two places in Old Colorado City where I already have artwork on display: the local Carnegie Library, and the Old Colorado City History Center. This old part of Colorado Springs is a National Historic area, and the business district, which is only a few blocks from where we live, is gradually becoming more art-oriented. In addition to my giving art to my family, in the past few years I've given an oil painting to each of those places.
The Carnegie Library, where all our family (and Judy's Chickadee Child Care kids) have always walked to, had its centennial celebration recently, and as they had an old illustration of mine already hanging in the library, I was asked to make a picture for them to use for the celebration and to raise funds for its renovation, which is now done. I was happy to paint a picture for them, in return for all they've done for my family.

The Red Balloon, 18" x 24" acrylic/oil


The Old Colorado City History Center is on one side of Bancroft Park, while the Carnegie Library is on another side. I knew that the library might be scheduling exhibits for 2010, which entailed submitting artwork to be juried, but instead I walked across the park to the history center. Local icon Dave Hughes secured the old church years ago for the history center, and has turned the Historical Society (OCCHS) into an active part of the local community.
I started my art career in the 1970s making posters, maps and illustrations for Dave. He used one of my ink illustrations as the logo for OCCHS, and a few years ago I painted a large oil of the church in order to give them a color logo and help usher them into the modern world of color advertising.

Old Town Holy Day, 30" x 40" oil


The weekend of August 7-8 is the Sesquicentennial Celebration of Old Colorado City, and Dave Hughes and OCCHS have been instrumental in making that into a big Founders' Day weekend that will draw lots of people to Bancroft Park. I produced a flyer for them to use for the Arts and Crafts event in Bancroft Park this Saturday, June 20, and I will help them with flyers for Founders' Day.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned to Dave that I've got a dozen old paintings and drawings of Old Colorado City, and I asked him if OCCHS could help me sell those, that I would even be willing to give OCCHS the majority of the sales. I would advertise such a sale with "Proceeds to Benefit the Old Colorado City History Center." Dave and the society president Joanne Karlson have taken my proposal under consideration.

Included in the sale I want to include the cartoon that I featured in another flyer I've done for OCCHS for their July Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social.

So now as I wait to hear from Dave and Joanne, I'm wondering if I've done the right thing. I've actually offered to give them a commission of 60% or higher. Is this just another form of giving away my art? Am I nuts? What do you think I should do?

Thick Oil Painting

My mission is to do something with my old pictures that are just hanging around. Since starting this blog I've had no success, but I'm certainly working on it.
We just got back from a great driving trip to see our family in Farmington NM. No, they have no more room on their walls for more artwork--Emli is an artist herself, and so are her boys; Paul's a poet. I've always given artwork to all our family, it's been "cheap man's gifts" for me to give.

I did hang in their hallway the last two ink and watercolor portraits of their boys, that I gave them for Christmas: William Jaeger, above, and Thorin Jaeger, right.

And I had time to study the Christmas present I gave them the Christmas before that, a large thick oil of Shiprock, where they took us on a trip a couple years ago.
Shiprock (shown below) was an experiment, I always wanted to goosh onto on my pallette all my reds (14), purples (14), yellows (11) and oranges (7), and use them all as fast as I could, slapping them on with all my brushes, not mixing them, getting them as thick as possible while still letting the underlying acrylic colors show through, not worrying about drawing. So that's what I did, it was a frantic painting frenzy that was lots of fun.


I was trying to emulate the style of our favorite artist, Darren Vigil Grey, a New Mexico painter who uses thick acrylics to create myth-like scenes of pure, frantic color.
I always loved Kandinsky and those wild expressionists, I bummed my way to galleries around Europe, in Germany, Belgium, Spain, England and France to see original thick paintings. I even got kicked out of the Louvre for touching a thick Rembrandt (that oil was definitely dry). My bad!
As I studied the oils on Shiprock in my daughter's living room, I discovered that lots of them were still wet, the thicker layers were firm on top but soft when you gently pushed them. I love the sculptural quality of oils, I don't use any medium and don't varnish or protect the finished canvases. The paintings are literally alive and vibrant, and subtly change over the years.
Next post I want to talk about some other art I gave away in the past couple years, especially since I may find a way to move a dozen more of my old pictures.

The Ubiquitous Waiting List

Yesterday I took 5 works into Arati Artist's Gallery, a co-op of 19 artists who had their monthly meeting this morning.
In addition to my new Old Town Mazatlan painting and West St. Elmo, I took:

Holy Taos Mountain, oil 30" x 48"


San Jose de Gracia church at Las Trampas, NM, oil 20" x 30"


Geronimo, walnut carving, 10" x 20"


I took the carving in mainly as an amusement, it was my least expensive item, they have good 3-d displays at Arati but no carvings, and I've got a few old carved Indian heads just sitting around, waiting for me to do something with them. They're a little bit like puppets, I find myself talking to them, and even talking for them like a ventriloquist when I'm holding them.
Anyhow, before noon I got a pleasant phone call from Janet Oyler, an excellent scenic watercolorist whom I talked with a few times over the past week, and she explained I'd not been chosen but it was "very close", that there were 5 artists vying for the one opening and that others had been on their waiting list. She asked if I would like to be added to their waiting list, and I said by all means.
The ubiquitous waiting list. "It could be a month or a year," Jan said.
I felt relief because then I could continue goofing off, but then as I returned those pictures to their walls and the carving to its empty spot I realized that once again I was faced with my same old question:
What am I gonna do with all these pictures (and carvings)?

What am I gonna do with my new paintings?

Do painters even have logos? I'm gonna quit worrying about my header.
In the past several wet, cold months I've put my basement studio back in shape and I've finally started painting again.

I went back to work on the two Mazatlan pictures I started in acrylics last year after we got back from Mexico. I oil paint on top of acrylics and use acrylics like gesso.

I finally made a place for my oils and have got them organized, including putting up a 4-bulb fluorescent light above my pallette so I can actually see what I'm doing.

And I've started a 3' x 4' canvas of Arches National Monument, where we just went a couple months ago.

When Judy Ekstrom saw the mess I'd made down there she asked the 2 pertinent questions that are the drivers for this blog:
"What are you gonna do with those new paintings? What are your plans to move the paintings you've got?" 
I had to admit I had no plans at all, but it's clear that if I'm gonna keep painting I do have to make space to hang em.
And to hang em I'm gonna have to do something about all the pictures already on my walls.
So my immediate plan is to take my most recent picture and try to get it into a gallery. It's a view of Old Town Mazatlan.

Luckily, there is a local gallery only a few blocks away that has an opening for an artist. I'm going to try to join Arati Artists Gallery. They're going to look at five of my works, which I have to take over there tomorrow afternoon.
Arati Artists (http://www.aratiartists.com/) is well known to me, they're just a few blocks away on Colorado Ave, a pretty good location for them. They started in 1977 just as I was starting selling art, it was a recession and my heavy equipment operating job had ended, I was substituting  in schools and scrambling for work. I joined them for a few months in '78 until I went to work for the National Carvers Museum. The fact that they've been open all this time is impressive.
Their commission is 25% and they charge $50 a month membership, in effect renting me about a 10' x 10' spot on their wall. In return they want me to man the gallery at least 5 half-days a month. For a fee they'll add me to their website. I'll find out after tomorrow if I can join.

Plein Air Painting

For my new Galloping Goose header I found the only picture of me actually oil painting plein air at St Elmo, Colorado, an old ghost town that burned in 2003. My good friend and sister-in-law Judy Wise took that photo in 2002, when we were all on a big hiking trip (okay, I wasn't even planning on hiking). I had two 30' x 40" canvases attached to a 6' cedar garden pyramid as an easle, which I hauled in the back of my pickup with my oil palette and a big tarp in case of rain. Judy Wise was stranded, wondering where John had gone in their car with her drawing book, they'd gone to hike way above treeline, when a huge rain/hail/wind storm hit. That's where I learned that plein air painting really can suck. With Judy's help I got the easle into the back of my truck and tied down the tarp over the wet oil and then we just sat in the cab during that storm, wondering how anyone out there was ever gonna survive. When John et. al finally returned they were in a lot better shape than we were.

I still have those two paintings framed nicely on my basement wall, which brings me to ask a third question to the two I started this blog with:

3. Where and how do you sell old paintings? 

Often galleries such as the Business of Art Center in Manitou Springs only want you to hang new work, no older than two years. I think those two old paintings must have some value, at least historically as these views no longer exist as they did.

Here are those paintings, East and West St. Elmo, oil, 30" x 40".

As I continue, I hope to answer my three questions:

1. What are you gonna do with all those old pictures you have?

2. Where are you gonna put those new pictures you're starting?

3. How do you sell old paintings and drawings?

Please don't call me Galloping Goose

It's not my Handle, it's my Logo. My device, or hook. I just thought of it as I was making this blog on bogspot -- er, blogspot, and it asked me for the name of this blog.

I use that because of the old narrow gauge Galloping Goose that daily roared and clacked through the back acreage of the silver fox farm I was born on in Ridgway, Colorado, in the lee of Mt. Sneffels. My brother and I played on those tracks, it was all very formative.

I'm starting this blog because my good friend and sister-in-law Judy Wise urged me to. I asked her -- and I ask you, the so-called reader -- two pertinent questions:

1. What do you do with all those old framed paintings and drawings that you just found in your attic/cellar?

2. Where are you gonna put those new paintings/drawings you're starting?

Those are certainly my questions, which I'm going to attempt to answer through this blog.

Thanks for bearing with me, I have to see my thoughts in print so that I know what my thoughts are. 

Here's one of those pesky old paintings that I simply have to get rid of so I have a place to hang the new paintings I've already started. Pikes Peak from Old Colorado City, '98 (actually started years before), 24" x 36", oil.