J.R. Secor, Painter of Southwest Visions

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

FEBRUARY 2022

Winter Beach

Through the Forest

Spring is springing down here in Florida...February always brings the best weather with cool (chilly) nights and mornings, low humidity, and afternoons just perfect for sitting out on our lanai and watching the sun sparkle off the pond.

Feet up and chillin' on the lanai

We don't have nearly as many of the Whistling Ducks this year, but instead had a nice small group of wild ducks and some darker-colored Ibis that decided to make our pond their home. Entertaining to watch, but nice and quiet, unlike the whistlers who could get a little rowdy sometimes!

A small contingent of Whistling Ducks

I watch a lot of YouTube videos created by other artists demonstrating their techniques, because I am always looking for inspiration to do what artists do - CREATE ART!

I came across an English artist who now lives in France. He uses CHEAP 😏two-inch brushes that he buys from a local hardware store. So I went to Home Depot and they only cost $1.50, so I bought FIVE of them!

Now STOP LAUGHING, 😂😂😂 because I am having more fun than a seagull with a French Fry with these brushes!

What I like is the texture I can get with them because of their very stiff bristles. But even though they are stiff, I can get a nice smooth sky with them, as you can see in the following paintings.

I'ma SOOOO Happy!

Salt Marsh, UK

Baseline Trail, Estrella Mountains

Regional Park, Arizona

Here are a few other pieces I created in February. As you can see, I created a lot of work for a short month! As always, enjoy the art, and thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

JANUARY 2022

Wow! The end of January already! Seems like just a minute ago that I wished you all a Happy New Year. Once January ends, it's like the year just goes on a sprint and the next thing you know, I'll be wishing you Happy New Year again!

So as we end January, not much has changed - we're still wearing masks and trying not to get a virus....

I painted a LOT in January, and have started a new series called In the Moment. These are peaceful landscapes done in a style called Open Impressionism. So far I've done three and expect to do five or six total.

This is a new brush style that is looser than my typical style. It's called "open" because the brush strokes are not connected to other strokes - creating a sort of mosaic appearance. I have been studying the work of Erin Hanson, an artist who demonstrates the style on YouTube.

Hope all is well with everyone out there. If you see something here you like, let Melissa or me know.

A couple of example of the open impressionistic style. Notice the longer, disconnected brush strokes in the foreground.

And some of my other work from this month:

Aspens Aspens Aspens

The Calm Before the Storm

Storm Clearing the Wetlands

Aichen Triad, Scottish Highlands

Loebar Beach, Cornwall, England

Distant Hills

Dunes

Saturday, January 1, 2022

DECEMBER

Happy New Year, Everyone!

The holidays have come and gone and so has 2021, but the extra five pounds I gained over the holidays are still here and probably will be for a while! It's not like we went to parties or feasted, but there were some nice goodies to be had around here, and I confess that I partook thereof!

Last month, I highlighted the sketches I was doing in the cool notebook my brother-in-law Tom gave me, and I have a few more of those to show you this month. I had a ball with these, and as I neared the last page of the notebook, knew I wanted to do more. So I used the Jerry's Artorama gift card my SIL and BIL Jess and Terry gave me for Christmas to get a new one so I could continue my fun! I've included the rest of the ones I did in the first notebook down below.

Two new series ideas came to me - the first is called Time and Space, and the second, Softly Spoken. I have a couple of paintings in the Time and Space series, but I'll save Softly Spoken for the January post, because I've only just begun. I do think you're going to like them though - very mellow and peaceful!

I hope you are all doing well and avoiding the virus and all it's offspring. We continue to live our days quietly, Melissa writing or working on yoga classes, and me painting. If you happened by on any given afternoon, you might also find us napping.

Here's a photo we took to share on Facebook to wish our family and friends Merry Christmas.

It's New Year's Day, and when I got up this morning, the house was still decorated for Christmas. But now it's almost one in the afternoon, and the only decorations left are this Christmas tree, one out on the lanai, and the front door wreath! Melissa had the tree up by Thanksgiving and we've enjoyed having the house look festive. But once it's over, boy does she move fast to put the holidays behind us. I'm hoping she'll leave the tree up for another week.

I hope that 2022 brings you all sorts of wonderful things and is good to you. Be good to yourself!

(Sketches and Paintings below)

Here are the 5.5" by 8.5" sketches I did to finish out the first notebook. I did the first two when I was feeling the holiday spirit before Christmas, and we might make them into cards to use next year.

Christmas Barn

The Animal's Christmas Tree

Long Mesa

Abandoned Barn

Winter Woods

Deserted Island

And here are two paintings in the Time and Space Series.

These are both 18" by 24" on heavy watercolor paper.

Distant Barn

Between Crop Plantings

Sunday, December 5, 2021

NOVEMBER

I have good news to report as we head into December and the holidays! My doctor put me on a new Parkinson's medication (in addition to the old one), and it's made a significant difference in what I call my "with-it-ness." I feel a lot better - I have more energy and my brain seems to be functioning better. Also, I'm not losing my voice as badly or as often as before. My imbalance and not-so-sure-footedness hasn't really improved, but I FEEL better - like I'm actually present and accounted for.

You'll remember me mentioning in previous posts that I was starting to lose concentration while painting. As they would say over in the UK, I lost the plot. (We've been watching so many Britbox and Acorn shows during the pandemic, I'm starting to talk like a Brit.)

(If you don't know, that's Brenda Blethyn playing Vera Stanhope in the Vera series - a great show!)

And I'd be exhausted afterward from trying to concentrate so hard. Because of that, I cut back to painting only two days week. But with this new medication, (Ropinarole) I feel so much better, that I am back up to five painting days/week and really having FUN again.

I think this might be the first medication 💊I've ever been put on that seemed like it actually DID something, and I am very HAPPY about this! 😊

My brother-in-law, Tom, gave me a gift 🎁. It's a very cool sketch book, with pages that open like an accordion. The size of the sheets is 5.5" by 8". I have to say, it's not something I would have thought of getting for myself. But what's interesting about that is that sometimes you need to be prodded to approach things in a new and different way. This little sketchbook has forced me to take a whole different approach, which has turned out to be a really fun creative challenge. Plus, I love how the scenes have come out!

What I do is this: I sketch the scene using a Pigma Micron pen, and then I paint 🖌with very watery (much more watery that usual) SOHO HB Acrylics (love these paints!!)

I have worked hard over the years to evolve to the loose style of painting I have now. Interestingly, creating these small paintings has made me paint even looser! I think that's because the more structured elements of the scene come from the ink sketch, so I can be freer with the painting part.

Melissa says she likes these scenes so much she is going to use the images to make cards. If you're interested, she can have some made for you and can give you a price on that.

Here I am holding the sketch book so you can see the accordion pages. The only drawback is that I drop it a lot and all the pages fan out and then Melissa has to help me pick it up! 🙄Fortunately, it all folds back up nice and easy.

Below are some of the scenes I created in the notebook. Thanks again, Tom, for an unexpected gift that kicked me out of my comfort zone! 🙏 A couple of years ago, my sister-in-law, Jessica, gave me some nice brushes, and now Tom gave me this sketchbook, and I have to say that these are some of the best gifts I've ever gotten. Keeping me at my easel has become a Family Affair.

(You have to be of a certain age to remember this cast of Family Affair!)

The next time we talk, it will be 2022! So I'll wish you a beautiful December, Merry Christmas, Happy All the Holidays, and a very Happy, Peaceful, and Productive New Year.