DOESN'T THE WORLD FEEL SMALLER?

NOWADAYS, IF ONE STATE HICCUPS, WE ALL HICCUP.  IF ONE COUNTRY COUGHS, WE ALL COUGH.  TO QUOTE A WISE WOMAN "WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER".  THE WORLD IS GETTING SMALLER AND SMALLER.  SO, IN KEEPING WITH THAT THOUGHT, BOTH PIECES BELOW, ARE ONCE AGAIN SMALL.  :)

'SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING'

4 x 4" Acrylic on Canvas

'IT LOOKS COLD'

4 x 4" Acrylic on textured canvas

BOTH OF THE ABOVE PIECES CAN BE FOUND  HERE

 If you receive my Newsletter you already know about the new 'Ajo Artisans' website. Ajo is a very Artsy place and several Artsy folks here (I was not one of them) put together this website to showcase the local work.  There are still more Artisans yet to come on, but please go have a look at those that have already joined.  I think you will enjoy what you see, and if you have a moment to share the site with friends and family, that would be appreciated.

https://www.ajoartisans.org

This is an old abandoned house across the street from us.  The owners are gone for the summer but, in the fall when they return, the plan is for this old piece of Ajo history to be torn down.  We had (another) spectacular Ajo sunset last week and I caught it just at the perfect moment as it momentarily brought this old place back to life.

'Strange things blow in through my window on the wings of the night wind and I don't worry about my destiny.

~  carl sandburg

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY . . .

That Sunset.

STAY SAFE . . .

Charleen

Gouache (Ga-wash!)

GOUACHE

I recently taught a class to a group of Artists down here in Ajo.  It was a fun 2 hr. class in painting with India Ink and Gouache.  Gouache is like an opaque watercolor but when it dries it has a somewhat velvety finish. In an ink and gouache resist painting, you draw out your subject on watercolor paper, then paint just inside the lines with the Gouache.  (You let your pencil lines show.)  When the gouache is dry (hairdryer!) you cover the whole picture with Black India Ink and then cross your fingers. When that step is dry you wash the ink off under gently running water.  I just use my fingers (with latex glove on) to help it along. This is where you hold your breath a little because you are never quite sure how the painting will wind up. Where there was gouache it will have resisted the black ink and stained the paper.  Some of the gouache will wash off too and that's o.k. because the color is now stained into the paper. Where there was no gouache (or in some cases it just wasn't thick enough to resist the ink) the black ink will show through.  The finished pieces usually have a fun, somewhat abstract feel.

You can easily see, especially on the cactus piece, where there was no gouache, or where I didn't have it quite thick enough.

Just in case you were wondering, no serious art here!

My favorite of the three

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Just a couple of photographs I took that I thought I'd share . . .

The desert is such a fascinating place.  

A restaurant plantscape

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Clouds of the Day . . .

I actually can see a dogs face (barely!) in the cloud in the upper left hand corner, but I just happen to like this photo because of how the grasses stand out against the sky.  It's those simple things.

Charleen