A Week of Painting

Cloud Spinner by J. Binford-Bell
29 x 20 Mixed Media on Canvas $1300

I realized when I set down to write this weekly blog that it has been more than a week since I wrote a blog for here. It raises the question of what have I been doing with my life lately. Painting. Cloud Spinner was at last completed this week though I will always think of it as January's painting. Some compositions just take longer. And it was not just the detail in Cloud Spinner which ate up time but that the image was not totally formed in my mind, but seemed to develop through the month.

Sacrifice, however, was begun this week and will probably be finished today. I had been giving half my mind to it while finishing Cloud Spinner. The photo below is of it not totally finished but close. It seemed to almost jump onto the canvas. Especially the Raven in the opening for the celestial window. Through the drawing and painting of Sacrifice that window was empty. There is empty as nothing but sky and empty as there should be something other than just sky.


Almost finished Sacrifice
36 x 21 mixed media
Sacrifice is based on the ruins of Las Mesitas San Isadore Church. It has no roof and no windows. When I first discovered it on a photographic expedition with my friend during a fantastic aspen fall I took more pictures of it than aspens I think. There is something haunting about it. Church ruins often make me wish to see it as it was before it fell into disrepair. San Isadore did not.

Obviously the Catholic Church had been "retired" and striped of its bells and its windows and even it roof but to me it looked more whole as it was. It seemed to be a gateway to another world. Or gateways. So many openings to beyond it. I love the photographs I created in my dry darkroom but they are also a bit empty like that celestial window before the Raven flew in.

Yes, I think the Raven put himself there. So us artists are a bit crazy? But I was at the stage of waiting for the paint to dry (with oil sticks that is necessary before adding pen and ink details) and when away from my studio I kept seeing a Raven in the painting. Maybe on top of the wall? But after a trip to Taos yesterday to swim laps in the indoor pool I knew it had to be the window. And it had to be the Raven I met at the Petrified Forest with the shiny rock in its beak. I did mention us artists are crazy, didn't I?

The Raven is perfect because he brings the beliefs of the native peoples into the painting. They that sacrificed in the building of the churches to the will of Spanish masters and priests.

Have already walked into the studio this morning and added some detail work to the glow of the candles. And my mind has already been working on my next painting.

Comments

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f
Read more

Eagle Nest Dam

Image
Tour of Eagle Nest Dam Eagle Nest Dam is the largest privately built dam in the United States. It was begun by the Springer family in 1917 and completed in 1920. It and the reservoir beyond it one was privately owned by the CS Ranch which recently sold it to the state of New Mexico. Eagle Nest Lake is now a state park, but the dam and the waters in the lake are another matter all together. Water is well regulated in New Mexico especially during a drought. The lake is now at 25% of its normal capacity, and the water in the lake are water right lease holds of Raton, Cimarron, and historic ranches in the area like the UU Bar and the CS Ranch. Game and Fish department also get involved because the Cimarron River is an active fishery of the state. Our guide was a state engineer and the Gateway Museum secured permission of the land owners below the dam for us to gain access to the area. Some 100 locals and tourists attended this rare event. I have lived here almost twenty years and th
Read more