JUNE 2022

 Hi Everybody!

In June, I worked mostly with the water-mixable oils, which are my new favorite medium. I love them because I can get more texture and leave more brush marks that I want the viewer to see.

The best part is that there aren't any harsh chemicals involved with this type of oil. I can clean up my brushes quickly and easily with H2O and a little bit of dish detergent.

I was honored to be asked to the be Artist of the Month for CreativeSpark, a website for artists and about artists. The interview will give you some insight into my artistic journey, which did not begin until I was in my mid-50's! 

Here is a link to the interview: https://creativespark.art/threads/richard-j-secor-aka-aspenman.4166/

Aside from that, all's quiet on the home front. It's summer here in southwest Florida, so not that fun to go out anywhere. Guess I'll be doing a lot of painting for the next few months!

Here are a few examples of what I painted in June:

Clouds Over the Marshland

High Country Pastureland

Idaho Plains

Yellow Trail

MAY 2022

 

Storm Moving Away from the Pedernal

New Mexico

I'm a bit late with this May post - not sure why - just that June seemed to sneak up on us! 

I turned 82 on May 15th and had a lovely, quiet birthday. We really still live pandemic-style, what with all the virus variants going around and people we know testing positive for Covid even though they have been vaccinated. 

Ahead of my birthday, I gave away 8 paintings in a raffle to our friends and family. It felt good to give gifts for my birthday!

I had a good painting month in May - really went to town with the new water-mixable and water-soluble oils. I love the results and you can see them below. 

My "frozen gait," which is a main symptom of Parkinson's, seems like it may be getting worse, and increasing my medication dosage doesn't seem to help, so I am stuck with just trying whatever I can to keep from falling. I've taken quite a few falls lately and it's pretty scary. So, every night that I make it to bed in my own bed and wake up and can go to my easel to paint the next morning is a good day.

We decided to give my studio a facelift by taking down some of the older paintings that don't reflect my current work, and hang some newer pieces. The whole arrangement looks less cluttered and makes me feel good when I come in. Here are some photos of the new arrangement - the empty frame is place-holding for the Pedernal painting while it dries. 

Here's what else happened in May:

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.