It Rained in the Desert Today

We dance, we sing, we rejoice when it rains in the Southwest. This letter, written in November of 2007, was about a day when it rained here, but I still had to water the plants with a hose. 

The text: 

Sunkist, burnt to a crisp...It rained in the desert today. 

The ground began to gather in small circles as droplets struck its roof. 

The rain could not soak in very far, because the celebration was short. 

As dirt met heat, the dance burned away water

as birds watched and 

quail waited patiently in creosote ancestors. 

It said, "I could be a rainmaker and this gave me joy! I waved my arms holding the water's source, drinking in the smells of earth and green. 

Then, sky looked down and called clouds to gather like the pebbles on earth--coolness moved in to see what all the talk was about.....If there are snow flurries to the east, surely we can share our bounty here in the west. In the sharing, we free up space to be replenished. 

O Earth. O Sky. 

Let Go!

©2008 Melinda S Esparza

Mail Art and Letters to Ell

What do you do when the passage of time abruptly interferes with your routine, and your child, once the toddler, now takes off for university? You write letters.

But, as an artist mom, it's a lot more fun to make sermonettes more palatable by making art out of them.

This week, in this last week of summer vacation, I'm preparing for an empty nest again. I don't like it.

I wouldn't have it any other way: 

In the company of angels 

In a complex world I think of what it is-- 

To be a simple kind of man 

To be a simple kind of woman 

Arcing a lifespan 

Resorting to good-- 

Making courage jump from a pool of fear 

Making gratitude sing from a selfish mouth 

Graphing a perimeter > (greater than) a stony heart

 

Staying on target 

IHOP toward my landscape

 

oK Ma rt!

 

A new GAP

 

Sears my gray and we UTurn

 

That will be our Gold Bond 

(Then we get a bickie) 

© M. S. Esparza (Jan. 2008)

Tobacco Sphinx and Datura

In the studio, I've got five little paintings and one medium sized one in the works. Until I can say they're finished, I've got the following: Two more journal studies--one Tobacco Sphinx moth, and a Datura drawing I made sitting out when it wasn't blistering hot. 4" x 5," on paper.

Definitely feeling the dog days of summer and looking forward to cooler temperatures. What's the weather like where you are? Does it affect your artwork...the subjects, the number of paintings you make?

Helper Dogs and What's on the Easel Today

It's really great to see inside the studios of other artists. Thought I'd share one view of my humble studio. I'm lucky to have two good dogs offering support today as I revisit a painting of San Felipe de Neri, Albuquerque, NM. This painting has been languishing for awhile and I just can't stands it n 'more! Must finish it up. It adds a little variety on the blog and reminds me that missing New Mexico is an ongoing feeling. The press waits quietly to the left, knowing that the monotype I made the other day is just the beginning.

Back to Landscape Studies...for now

Working on three pieces in one day? I don't recommend it! Makes you crazy with paint fumes and you can drive yourself so far that your body says, "Hey. You're not taking care of yourself!" Here are two of those studies. I'm liking these two subjects. They provide some dramatic lighting as I try to learn how to transfer impressions into paint. This is proving more challenging than I had thought. I wish I could travel more. Wish I had more energy. I'd paint twelve hours a day. 6" x 8" and 5" x 7," oil on panels. 

Oh, but the critical mind is very, very tough. Reminds me that the more one paints, the quieter that left brain criticism becomes. Yet, even a few days away can limit creativity!

 

A question from Writing About Art, "Who creates 'meaning'--artist or viewer?" Roy Lichtenstein is quoted as saying, "I wouldn't believe anything I tell you." Today, I will consider this to be my left brain's cautionary note...