I had some fun putting this together–wasted most of a day, in fact. I’ve had people tell me I look like Sigourney, and it happened again yesterday. I finally pulled up Google Images to see for myself. At first, the 65-year old actress seemed to bear little resemblance to me–but then I found some of her younger pictures. (This photo actually freaks me out a little.) What do you think? 🙂
If I were tiny I would ride a butterfly and travel the world with lots of adventures and create new inventions. We would be the best of friends.
-Zia Lucero
With 24 inches of snow outside our door, I thought I’d relive some recent warm, happy days. Not that snow makes us unhappy, of course. To take up the mantra of Coloradans everywhere, We need the moisture. Which is definitely true.
I made a vegan cashew cheesecake for David’s welcome home/birthday celebration. It was super yummy (and I always eat too much of it).
The kids also made chocolate-dipped strawberries while waiting for him to drive home from the airport Monday night.
The resident goat herder, on one of our warmer days.
Zia had her birthday celebration at school, waaay early…her birthday is in summertime, so they pick a random day during the school year to celebrate it.
She asked me to make another horse head cake–I think this is her fourth or fifth year going strong with that cake pan. At least we got our money’s worth out of it. 🙂
Zia is studying Thailand for her International Country research project. These are the informational poster boards she’s been working on.
Last night the kids and I hung out in the basement with the goats, watching the snow fall outside. The goats are always happy for a cozy rendezvous in the hay pile–and so is Cash.
I went for a walk this afternoon and took some photos of the snow. This is taken looking down our driveway–our retired snowplow rests in peace about halfway down.
The side of our house, from the the road. This is very zoomed in–you really can hardly see it from the road.
A selfie taken on the upper part of our road, about a mile from our house. It was t-shirt weather by the time I got up there.
Snow or no, gotta love these beautiful, wild mountains we live in! (Although I admit–I’m starting to long for warm, windy hikes and columbine season.)
How is spring in your part of the world? Got snow?
While David was away working at Master’s Golf for sixteen days, I made this oil painting for his birthday. I was thrilled to obtain generous permission from The Wild Horses of Sable Island Gallery in NYC to use Roberto Dutesco’s beautiful photograph Tenderness as my inspiration.
Sixteen days is a long time for us to be apart (we are one of those weird couples who don’t need much space from each other) and this photo expressed just what I wanted to convey.
Here is the sequence of my painting:
The White Elephant awaits! There is always some trepidation at this stage.
The rough sketch.
First bit of paint: Burnt Sienna, which I quickly switched out for Burnt Umber.
A few initial strokes.
The monotone sketch. Whew–the White Elephant has been conquered!
Putting in more tones.
And highlights.
Deepening the shadows.
Sculpting with more highlights.
Color!
I seem to have a rather vague sense of color, so it takes lots of experimentation before it feels right.
Putting color in, rubbing it out.
Adding more lights.
And more.
I felt I needed an undertone of Raw Sienna for the neck and forelock.
Defining more details.
I liked the white background, but took a jump and brushed in a glaze of Cerulean Blue Hue. Too blue. I let it dry a day and glazed two coats of white over it.
I love the end product–this very light blue with textural strokes of pure white going through it. I highlighted the mane and forelock and added some movement to them, edged the side of the canvas in a deep black/brown, and signed it.
From blank canvas to finished artwork, the painting took about 25 hours. I worked for ten days, 2-3 hours per day. It measures 24″ x 36″, the largest oil painting I have done, and I found it incredibly calming and non-tedious compared to my smaller works.
I love many things about the way this painting turned out, including how it changes the visual feel of our home. Most of all, though, I love the quiet joy and tender satisfaction these two horses find in each other’s company.
With David home again, I know just how they feel.
