A drawing technique development by Paul Klee—transfer drawing with oil paint onto watercolor paper and then painting the image with watercolor paint—suits these images from rural New Mexico. The oil resists being covered by the water-based paint, keeping the painting fresh, interesting, and intimate.

Taos Pueblo vies with Acoma Pueblo/Sky City for the title of oldest continuously inhabited community in New Mexico, if not the whole USA—for thousands of years. I have visited Taos many times over the 40 years I’ve traveled to New Mexico. The only things that change are fresh paint on San Geronimo church and their acceptance of smart phone photography (where they previously required permits for every kind of camera).  Framed, 11″ x 14″, 2019. This painting is included in Art Works Downtown’s 2019 Small Works Exhibition.

Truchas is a small village along the High Road between Santa Fe and Taos. Whenever I visit this area in the fall, I always stop at a special spot in Truchas where cottonwoods are gloriously, vibrantly yellow. Well, of course there are vibrant cottonwoods all over the place, but this one spot just has the best compositions for photographing and sketching them. It always feels special to me.  Framed, 14″ x 11″, 2019.