APRIL 2022

 

Happy first of May! I'll be turning 82 this month - WOW! That's OLD! But I am very happy and grateful to be able to say that I'll be turning 82 this month! To celebrate that, I gave away six paintings by lottery draw to appreciators of my work. It felt good to give presents for my birthday.

April was a strange month for me - I had difficulty sleeping and would be awake almost every night after just a few hours sleep. I'd come out into the living room, sit in my comfy chair, and watch artist videos on YouTube. Sometimes I'd fall asleep again, but sometimes not for long. I was also very unsteady on my feet, and twice my left leg just gave out and down I went! 

This past week I went to my chiropractor, who specializes in cervical readjustments using sound waves. He thought that my vagus nerve might be compressed, and did an adjustment with that in mind. And you know what? I've slept through 7 to 8 hours every night since. And I'm much steadier on my feet, though that's not really saying much!

Despite all that, my art month was quite productive. Toward the end of the month, I did a couple of pieces in water-soluble oils on 11" by 14" linen canvas panel.  Here they are:

      Mesa on the Horizon                                             Zion Watchman

 

I love using WSO, but they take a LONG time to dry. For someone who paints as often as I do, that creates a storage problem. If I used WSO every day, the whole house would be filled with paintings drying. So I've decided that I will do a WSO of the month - just one painting per month on very large paper. That will take longer to paint so I will get to enjoy the process a little longer and won't build up inventory. 

 On a daily basis, I'll keep painting with my SOHO acrylics, which I love too!  Here is a selection of work I did in April using the SOHO acrylics. You can see I explored a number of different styles, techniques, and subject matter. 

The first one is my Piece de Resistance, Sunset on the Dunes. We're framing this one to hang in my studio.

Sunset on the Dunes

Canyon Road Door

The Great Ouse River, St. Neots, UK

Golden Light on Bell Rock

Autumn Aspens

Sunrise

Sunset Distant Mountains

Early Morning Bog

Last Light of Day

California Cliffs

March 2022

Sand Dune Shadows

I'm a little late posting my March blog because we had this stretch of really perfect weather toward the end of the month, and Melissa and I enjoyed just being out on our lanai and watching all the spring wildlife activity. Now we've got a stretch of humid and warmer-than-normal weather, but there's another cold front coming - probably the last of the season, so we'll enjoy that. Pretty soon it will be hot and humid here, so all of you who are sick of your cold winters now will have your turn to gloat.

Here I am enjoying some sunshine and relaxation on one of those perfect days.

The thing that's weighing heaviest on all our minds now, is of course, the stupid, cruel, pointless invasion of Ukraine by Putin. Just as we were all feeling a glimmer of hope that the pandemic was winding down, after two years of isolation and death...this egomaniac does this terrible thing. What a waste of life, living, time, money...everything. The only positive is how united we all are against him and this obscene act of murder and violence and mayhem. Why can one person hold so much power and sway over all of us here on earth? 

In my sadness, I painted this piece showing a field of sunflowers, which we all know by now is Ukraine's national flower. I hoped to capture their simple beauty- the way life should be, but also the weight of sadness they feel. This was done with the gray sky, and the slightly drooped posture of the stalks. The painting is called Peace for Ukraine. It has found a home with a friend who is of Ukrainian descent.

Sunflowers for Ukraine

Here are some other paintings I did in March. I've been working a lot on these new canvas boards from Soho, the folks who make the great paints I use now. They're a nice size, and I love working on them. I really just painted scenes that called to me, not particularly focused on exploring any new techniques. But already in April I've been playing around with something new, which I will share in my April post at the end of the month!

As always, thanks for coming by. Enjoy the art, and be kind to each other.

JR

Sentinel

Cerrito Blanco, Abiquiu, NM

Lone Mesa

Crashing Waves

Sand Dune Shadows

Winter Beach, Cornwall, England

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.

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.

JR

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