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.

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.