October 2020

 

  

                         Morning Surf                     Across the                         Across to the

                                                                   Galisteo Basin                      Mangrove

Hello!

This weird year marches on...October has passed and it's November first. Melissa told me that, in Celtic tradition, today marks the beginning of the new year. So Happy New Year, everyone! Ordinarily, we don't like wishing time away, but I think we are all about done with 2020!

I'll be celebrating the New Year (the Celtic one) with a fall-into-holidays sale that I'm calling, "Small Paintings at Small Prices." 

These will be 8" by 8" to 14" by 11" paintings on linen canvas panels that can either be framed or displayed on easels without framing. Prices will be $40 to $60 (plus tax and shipping of about $15 in the U.S.). Purchasing two or more paintings will earn you a 20% discount (and shipping does not necessarily increase - unless of course you buy lots of paintings!) 

In October, I experienced some disconcertingly weird days with my Parkinson's. My mind and my painting arm just didn't feel connected or coordinated. It's a strange feeling. 

Sometimes the result of my painting session on those days was frustration, disappointment and fear of what may be happening. Other times, the result was a painting that came out  unexpectedly well! 

I've also been adapting to painting sitting down, which is helpful for keeping me from falling over backwards, but inhibits my ability to freely swing my arm while painting. So, I am learning to adapt and just continue to show up at my easel and see what happens - one day at time. 

Here are some of my October works, which are part of the Small Paintings at Small Prices Sale.  If you follow Melissa on Facebook, you will see these and others posted throughout November and December. If you don't follow her on Facebook, but would like to see additional paintings, (believe me, I have more!!) please email me at rvpainter@gmail.com.

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to look at my work.  Don't forget to stop by my website, JRSecorFineArt.com, where you can see and directly purchase my work. 

 

OCTOBER PAINTINGS

Path to the Moutains

8" by 8" on linen canvas panel

$40 plus tax and shipping U.S.

Path to the Mountains

on easel

Magenta Sunset

10" by 10" on linen canvas panel 

$45 plus tax and shipping U.S.

Magenta Sunset 

displayed on Easel

High Country Winter

10" by 10" on linen canvas panel

$45 plus tax and shipping U.S. 

High Country Winter

displayed on easel

AND A FEW SAMPLES FROM 

THE UPCOMING SALE:

Group I

12" by 12" on linen canvas panel

$50 plus tax and shipping U.S.

Calm Surf

New Mexico Aspens

Path to the Sea

Group II

10" by 10" on linen canvas panel

$45 plus tax and shipping U.S.

Into the Woods

Sedona Blue

Sunset Reflections

Group III

Still Life Paintings

These are a wee bit bigger at 14" by 11"

$60 plus tax and shipping U.S.

Antique Pewter Coffee Pitcher

Native American Pottery

Pitcher with Bowl

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

SEE YOU NEXT MONTH!

September Blog Post

This Land is My Land

Hello Everyone!

Well, we've made it through six full months of quarantine - I know some of you may have been in it even longer than that. With the end of September came some welcome relief from the heat. The last few days have been overcast but with pleasant temperatures that make it possible to sit outside for most of the day. It reminds me that nothing lasts forever - not the humid heat of summer in Florida and not Covid. It will end eventually and we'll all feel lighter.

In the meantime, I keep busy by painting. I watch a lot of videos put out by other artists to see their techniques and hear their tips. It can be very interesting! Some months I focus on exploring a new technique or style, but this month, I just painted whatever came to me when I showed up in front of my easel. 

I have always painted standing up, but have been having episodes of feeling like I'm falling backwards, particularly if I take a small step back to get perspective on my painting. This is a common symptom of Parkinson's. It's pretty scary though, and I find that I catch myself from falling at least a few times during each painting session. So, we bought me a chair and lowered the shelves of my set-up so that I can paint sitting down. It's taken a little getting used to in terms of how I swing my arm when I paint, but it feels MUCH safer. Here's the new set-up:

I added several pieces to my sales website at JR Secor Fine Art, so please pop over there via the link to check that out. Here are some pieces I did in September that aren't on that site, but of course all are available, and all one need do is ask! You can see that it's a pretty eclectic collection - I've got southwest landscapes, seascapes, and the last one just might have been influenced by the show Yellowstone, which Melissa and I have been enjoying this summer.

Bear Mountain Trail, Sedona, Arizona

Saugaro Sunset

Shore Breezes

Taos Sundown

Visions of Yellowstone

As always, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my words and look at my art. Stay safe and well!

JR

 

August Post

Stormy Night, New Mexico

Well, here we are at the end of August, and I think this 2020 calendar meme pretty much sums things up, don't you?

Anyway, we've been hunkered down for 5 full months now, and while we are grateful to be safe at home, the isolation and constraint definitely get to us sometimes. Really, we'd just like to be able to go to a favorite breakfast place. It's even too hot to go to the beach down here right now. But fall is around the corner, so we will take a deep breath and carry on.

How do I cope? I think you know the answer to that! I paint! I had a pretty busy and successful painting month. I've continued to create what I call Mindscapes - landscapes that represent places I've seen, but are not specific places. They are meant to capture a mood, or the feeling of such places. Sometimes after I've painted these, I don't actually remember doing it....

Toward the end of the month I got into a Purple Phase - for some reason I was drawn to incorporating shades of purple, and boy, I think that worked out pretty well! The first painting at the top of the post is the most extreme outcome of this exploration - most are more subtle. 

And the other thing I did was some studies in shades of gray, which create a Black and White study effect. Those two are at the very end.

As always, you can check out my work for sale with sizes and prices at JRSecorFineArt.com.

Here you go - check my month's efforts out below:

Mindscapes

Dusk Settling In

Morning Marshland

Wetlands

Ocean/Seascapes:

Rise and Shine

Low Tide

As the Day Ends

Southwest Landscapes

Cathedral Rock, Backside

Monument Valley, Beyond the Mittens

View of Cathedral Rock from

Red Rock Crossing

Shades of Gray

Shades of Gray III

Shades of Gray IV

Hang in there everyone! I'll see you at the end of September.

July Post

Sunrise, Gulf of Mexico

Well here we are, more than halfway through 2020. As August begins, we find ourselves continuing as we have been, for four months now, sheltering at home. It's hot down here in Florida, so being out and about in the heat of the day is not an inviting prospect anyway. Most mornings and some evenings, we sit out on the lanai and enjoy pleasant temperatures, breezes, and the beautiful setting of our pond. We have fewer ducks now - the huge flock of whistling ducks has mostly gone north, but a small flock of wild ducks has settled in and seems to like having the place to themselves without all those noisy whistlers around. Each morning they gather on the water and do what look to us like maneuvers - we call them an armada or a flotilla - or sometimes we combine the words and call them an artilla or a flotada....

And of course there are almost always a great white egret and some interesting Ibis varieties wandering the shoreline. One morning we saw our Common Gallinule couple leading their six babies across the pond. Out front we had a morning dove couple with a new baby, whom we watched grow big enough to fly off. And we've got lots of bunnies, who don't bother anyone and like to shelter from storms under our grasses. So, never let it be said that we don't have entertainment! 

In July, we promoted my Fine Art America site, where you can use images of my artwork on all sorts of products, like t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, MASKS - even shower curtains! The masks were pretty popular - as one buyer said, "If we have to wear masks, why not ones with beautiful art work on them?"

Here's Melissa and I modeling two of my southwest landscapes on a t-shirt and a tank. The fabric quality and feel is very soft and comfortable, and the sizing is not skimpy. I'm wearing a size large Men's and Melissa is wearing a size medium Women's. The tote bags are excellent quality - we've given them as gifts and a number of people have gotten them for themselves and as gifts, and they've been a big hit. If you would like to check it out, here's the link: JR SECOR ON FINE ART AMERICA

I've stayed inspired by switching my focus to smaller paintings - mainly 8" by 8" linen canvas panels. I'm anticipating a fall sale of what I'll call "minis"prior to Christmas, so stay tuned. The canvas panels are nice because they can be framed, but can also be displayed on tabletop easels. A nice size for that small space or hallway that just needs a little something, not too big. These are all 8" by 8".

Across the Galisteo Basin II

Galisteo Basin I

Morning Surf

Storm Moving Out

Autumn Starts to Speak

Cedar Point Sand Dunes

Cedar Tree Ridge

Sunrise Surf

Across the Plains

High Country Grasses

Peaceful

Dusk Descends