J.R. Secor, Painter of Southwest Visions: May 2021

Sunday, May 30, 2021

May

Today is Memorial Day, so I hope everyone has a good day remembering loved ones and honoring those who served our country. We have much to be grateful for.

May was a pretty busy month for me. I turned 81 on May 15th, and celebrated by doing quite a lot of painting!

Melissa has been on a roll recently with ways to be less wasteful and more eco-minded, with a focus on "re-use, recycle and repurpose," so I figured I would get in on the act. After working on small pieces - 8" by 8", 10" by 10" and 12" by 12" canvas panels - I suddenly felt the need to paint BIG, so I pulled out a box of large paintings that I did a long time ago, and started re-purposing them into completely new scenes.

This is the first one I did - I painted over a southwest landscape scene and now we have ocean!

This one is called Summer Day, and it's 22.5" by 30.25" on heavy watercolor paper, which holds up well to water-based paints like acrylic, with no buckling.

Then I repurposed this one - it was another southwest landscape and still is - I just re-did the foreground and sky to create a completely different effect. Next time I'll remember to take a "before" picture so you can see the change.

This is called Reflections of the Arizona Badlands, also 22.5" by 30.25" on heavy watercolor paper.

I'm still very happy with the new SOHO paints I've been trying - the depth of color is terrific, the tubes are big and they are a great value.

Here are some smaller works I did earlier in the month:

High Country Sunset

8" by 16" on heavy watercolor paper

Along the Mangrove

8" by 16" on heavy watercolor paper

Oh Happy Daze

12" by 12" on linen canvas panel

Foothills, Carefree, Arizona

10" by 10" on linen canvas panel

Sunset Waves

8" by 8" on linen canvas panel

Across the Plains

12" by 12" on linen canvas panel

Across to the Canyon Walls

12" by 12" on linen canvas panel

Nightfall Descends

12" by 12" on linen canvas panel

As always, thank you for stopping by to read my blog and check out my work. You can also click on the "pages" along the top, which have my various collections - Southwest Landscapes, Seascapes, etc.

Take good care, everyone, and continue to stay safe.

Sunday, May 2, 2021

Apri into May, It's Birthday Month Again!

Well, I'm happy to report that I had a much better painting month in April than in March!

I've been using the new SoHo Heavy Body Acrylics that I told you about last month, which are much less expensive than the paint I was using before. I absolutely LOVE them! The paint is thick and juicy and goes on easily with both brush and palette knife. I couldn't be happier, and you can see the results in my work, which you can view down below the words. Don't skip over the words though, because it's my Birthday Month again and I'm having another Birthday Sale-abration!

Here are a couple of my favorite April creations, and as I said, there are more below. As you can see, the depth of color I'm getting with this paint is amazing!

Acadia Cliffs

Canyon Sentry

So, last year when I turned 80, we celebrated big-time with the creation of an art book and a month-long sale. I remain grateful to all of you who joined the fun by making a purchase or just bothering to look at my work!

If you do the math, you'll quickly figure out that I'm turning 81 this year! I think that deserves celebrating too, so I am having another sale. Throughout the month, I'll feature different things here, and Melissa will also share them on her Facebook page.

The first Sale-abration is that I've created a DISCOUNT for purchases of items using my images over at Fine Art America. This is one of those sites where you can use my art to create things like tote bags, prints, t-shirts, coffee mugs, phone cases, beach towels - all sorts of fun things for yourself OR to give as gifts. We've created items ourselves and have found the quality to be really good!

The discount is 18% (that's 81 inside-out 🤣).

This link will take you directly to my page. JR Secor on Fine Art America.

Use DISCOUNT CODE: JJKRBL to get the 18% discount when you check out.

Coffee Mug using Canyon Sentry:

Throw Pillow using Boca Bliss

Gallery-wrapped Canvas Art Print using Native America Pot with Decoration

I'll be sharing more about an upcoming 8" by 8" small painting sale, and special prices on all of my recent work throughout the month. In the meantime, have a look at what I did in April. As always, thank you for coming by, reading my words and checking out my work. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!

April's efforts: