OPPORTUNITY DANCES . . .

WITH THOSE ALREADY ON THE DANCE FLOOR.
~ h. jackson brown, jr.

"MAMA SAYS THE BIRDS ARE SPECIAL ANGELS SENT HERE TO SHARE THEIR MUSIC."

'HERMOSA MUJER'

A little color.  A little influence influence from the sights and sounds down here in Ajo.  The last 2 weekends at the Saturday Farmers Market the local Folklorico Dancers performed.  Their costumes are beautiful ~ full of color. I think the littlest dancer was probably about 3 and she was simply adorable. Unfortunately, I didn't have a good vantage point to be able to catch her in a photo.  

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Ajo 

During the Market this coming Saturday, Artists will be coming from all over to paint murals on the back walls of several of the buildings here in the plaza.  These will be added to the array of vibrant, multi-cultural murals already adorning the walls of several other buildings.  New white under-coating was applied to the buildings and now they wait to be filled with color. Below is one of the existing murals.  I love this piece.  It is so indicative of the area. The Artists name is on the bottom but unfortunately I can't read it so I'm unable to give them credit.

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY . . .

A Sunset, if you want to call it that, from the other evening here.  This is across the road from our property.  I like how this photo turned out because, without doing anything, it has the look of an old black and white photo.  This was the actual color of the evening sky. 
And yes, we did get rain during the night.
And yes, when I squint a see a puppy dogs face.

Have a great week!

Charleen

DUSK

“...dusk is the time when men whisper of matters about
which they remain silent in the full light of the sun.”   
~  simon raven

'CONVERSATION WITH DUSK'

12 x 12" Acrylic on textured canvas

For more information on this piece Please click HERE

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A few weeks ago I mentioned, that when I retrieved my photos of our trip over to St. Ignatius Mission in Montana off my camera, I would post them.  I finally managed to get that done. I hope you enjoy the tour!

Remember, these were painted by the Cook!

They were working on renovations when we were there.

And no Catholic Church is complete without one of these . . . The Confessional! 

Some of the surrounding landscape in the area . . .

and ...

CLOUDS OF THE DAY . . .

It's dusk here too, and foggy, as you can see.  

Have a great day!

Charleen

A SEPTEMBER CONVERSATION ... WITH BUDDHA?

'CONVERSATION WITH DUSK'

12 x 12" Acrylic on textured canvas

For more information Please visit my Website at

www.charleenmartin.com

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Charleen Martin Studio

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We took a ride over to Montana (which sounds cool but it is actually only 6 miles from us :) this past Saturday.  We went a little more than the 6 miles ... we actually were headed to St. Ignatius, MT to visit the old Native American Mission there.  It was built in the 1800's and has since been beautifully restored.  Those photos are on my 'real' camera which I haven't downloaded yet, so I will share them on another day.  BUT ... while over in that area, we also visited the 'Garden of 1000 Buddhas' out in the middle of Nowhere, MT (really, it's Arlee, MT., but it feels like the middle of nowhere.  There are no signs to direct you there.  I found this online and we used our GPS to actually locate it.  Don't know if that is a 'neighbors don't want the traffic so you can't have signs' kinda thing, or, because it's all about Peace and Serenity, and the owners don't want signs. Whichever it is, it is not exactly the easiest place to find.  It is an extremely peaceful place to take a walk, and read the many writings of Buddha, and others who promote Peace, Tranquility, and Wisdom. Below are some photos I took that I thought you might enjoy ...

  

 

See.  I told you it was in the middle of Nowhere ...

 

Have a great Day ...

Charleen

STORMY SKIES AHEAD ...

'AND THE STORM APPROACHED
FROM THE WEST'

8 x 8" Acrylic over an Acrylic Pour

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY . . .

There is a storm a comin'

The adjective I think of when looking at this is Power.  There's such strength in those clouds.

If you want to see the sunshine, 
you have to weather the storm.
~  frank lane

LET'S FISH!

If people concentrated on the really important

things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles. 

~ doug larson 

 EARLY MORNING DOWN AT THE OLD FISHING HOLE 

 12 x 12 Acrylic on textured canvas  

For more information on this Piece Please click HERE

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

I love how the light is reflecting off the Church steeple in this photo, and the wisp of the white cloud peeking out above.  I took this photo when we were down in Arizona. :)

Charleen

IRIS . . .

Taken from the Greek word for Rainbow.  Rainbows.  For which the Irish also know quite a bit about ...

'WHEN IRIS EYES ARE SMILING'

6 x 6" Acrylic 

For more information on this Piece Please click HERE

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How's this for a Sunset?!  :) 

I took this photo down in Ajo not too long before we left.  

Charleen

I DON'T REALLY GAMBLE (EXCEPT ON LIFE AS WE ALL LIVE IT) BUT IF I LIVED NEAR A RACETRACK I'D PROBABLY BE IN TROUBLE!

'AND THE RACE IS ON'

12 x 12 Acrylic

I have been to the races a few times when I lived down in Boise, Idaho.  I usually rooted for the Horse whose name I liked best, or the color of the Jockeys uniform.  That's how I know I'd be in trouble.  I don't think you usually win that way! :(

This was a pour that couldn't get away.  The horses were 75% there.  I just needed to figure out where I was going with them.  The Raven, of course, needed to dive in to the race.  Not sure who won this one.  

The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.

~  john steinbeck

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I shared the top Cactus below in my recent Newsletter but thought I would share both here today.  After all, I'm back in Idaho and we don't have Cactus up here, so I won't be able to share photos of cactus again for the next 6 months.  Anyone out there that wants to use these as a reference for a painting, please feel free.  

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY . . .

These four photos are all one Sunset taken the week before we left Ajo.   This was our last drive out into the Desert before we left and it certainly didn't disappoint us.

Charleen

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