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	Day After Halloween Night (11/1):          We only had about 40 "Trick or Treaters" come by our house last night. Now we have to hide all those left over candy bars so I won't be tempted. I did eat one BabyRuth bar - it was so-so goooood. We got an e-mail with pics of the triplets back in Kansas. Here they are all dressed up in their Halloween outfits. Tess, Tiffanie and Timothy		About Me March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007
.................................................................... click on ribbons to view juror's choices	2004 to 2007 Juror Choices to see which of my watercolors were chosen for exhibitions by professional jurors go to http://www.taospaint.com/Juror/Choice.xhtml		October 2007 November 2007 December 2007
click on cards to view more            ORDER FORM HERE	New Watercolor Today (11/2):          I'm working from another photo I shot up in Taos, this summer, for my next painting. It has lots of textured adobe, some interesting shadows, curving steps, flowers, a deep blue sky and touches of turquoise - a quintessential Taos painting. Taos, New Mexico is an unlimited resource of subject matter for artists to draw from. Mailing Out Note Cards:          I've started filling orders for my sets of note cards. I also plan to make them available at the opening of our "Friday Painters" exhibition this Sunday. Click Here if you want to see the images on all of my note cards. To see an order form Click Here.
	Drawing for Taos Stairway:          This morning I completed my drawing for my newest watercolor - "Taos Stairway". The great thing about drawing adobe buildings is that you don't need to worry so much about correct perspective. The artist can twist and bend the curves of the walls to fit the mood and the needs of the composition. A painting needs to be fun to look at as well as fun to paint. I think perhaps this painting needs a cat on the stairs.
	Hanging Friday Painters Exhibit (11/3):          This morning I'm dropping off my three paintings for our "Friday Painters" exhibition at the Unitarian Church. Tomorrow, Sunday at 12:30 is our opening reception. Click here for an invitation. The three watercolors below are the ones I'm showing. Each painting is framed 22 x 28 inches. They are each priced at $480.00.                       click on watercolors for a larger view
	Added the Cat:          I think the addition of the cat is going to make the painting work. It definitely will become the center of interest. Since I'm already playing with the colors in this painting - I'm considering painting the cat purple and doing the banister in sartruse. It's a bit of Sandy Skoglund in the Southwest - just not quite her "Radioactive Cats". Any comments or critiques on my watercolors are welcome at woodyduncan@comcast.net
Did You Change Your Clocks ?	Sunday Studio (10/4):          I'm making progress on my Taos Staircase watercolor working in my studio at home. It's turning into a fun composition. If I'm brave enough with my color choices - this may become a break through painting.          Today ends daylight savings time - so I'll have an extra hour to paint everyday. Too bad they didn't move the clock another hour so we would get two extra hours. Some Green Added:          I've got several bits of frisket yet to be removed in the flower bed. I also need to put a bit of green elsewhere in the composition. I'm still have a personal debate about a purple cat - but I can change it to a black cat later if the colors don't work out. Opening Today:          Frani baked one of her wonderful carrot cakes for the opening at the Unitarian Church. The opening is from 12:30 till 2:30 today.
click on logo	Congrats to David Drummond (11/5):          Yesterday's Albuquerque paper reported that David Drummond won 3rd prize in this year's "Artist's Magazine's 24th Annual Art Competition". His painting, "Morning South of Dangling Rope #2", was selected from more than 11,000 entries. David is most famous for his paintings of Lake Powell. Here is a link to paintings he has entered in the "Arts for the Parks". For anyone wishing to learn how to paint water - this is your teacher. David has a very famous daughter as well. Jae (J.K.) Drummond does wonderful watercolors. On her blog "Value Added Paper" you can even follow the development of her paintings step by step. J.K. (Jae) will be sharing a booth with her father, David Drummond, at Weems Artfest 2008. This years Artfest takes place November 9, 10, 11 at the NM Fair Grounds. Jae's watercolor workshops fill up quickly and I highly recommend her as a watercolor instructor.
Kneeling Figure of Nekhthorheb Height 44 3/8 inches	Taos Staircase Finished:          I put the finishing touches on my painting today. I hope the purple cat was a good addition - I doubt I could lift her out without making a mess. I darkened the shaded area on the left and balanced it with the column details on the right. Of course, the center of interest is the cat and the interesting curve of the stairs.         I began this painting on Friday. To see the drawing I started with on Friday morning click here. To critique my painting e-mail me at woodyduncan@comcast.net <<<   click on painting Egyptian Training Today:          Our last training session on Egypt is this morning. The exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum opens to the public on November 18th. On display until February 10th will be a collection of magnificent objects spanning the full range of pharaonic history, from shortly before the Third Dynasty, about 2686 B.C., to the Roman occupation of the fourth century A.D. The exhibition provides Albuquerque a rare opportunity to view renowned Egyptian masterworks. All of the objects are on loan from The British Museum. NMAEA:          This afternoon I need to buy poster board for my Tessellations workshop for New Mexico art teachers. I maintain the website for NMAEA. This year the annual state conference is being held in Albuquerque. My friend Michael Cellan will be staying with us. He is driving down from Colorado Springs to do his a sampling of his famous Wax Crayon workshop for the art teachers at NMAEA.
"Babe in Toyland" 1962	Nostalgia 1962 (11/6):          In my senior year at Wyandotte High School, our school art club went to Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, an upscale shopping center. While on that trip I did a sketch of one of the girls in our group. Later in art class, I created a monoprint on newsprint from the sketch. The framed print still hangs in our home in Albuquerque. They made better newsprint in 1962 - but I'd never wish to open the frame to see if the paper crumbles. It now hangs on a wall that does not receive direct sun exposure.         To create the print: I first enlarged my small sketch then, I took the glass covering my art teachers desk to place over the drawing. Next, I used a toothpick to trace my drawing onto the glass surface using a black waterbase printing ink. Finally, I lightly pressed a dampened sheet of newsprint onto the glass. The print you see is the result. Go Bulldogs
click on picture for John Prine interview	Fond Goodbye (11/7):          In loving memory - we say goodbye to Kuan-Yin. She was our faithful companion for the last 14 years. I painted the watercolor of her when she was three. <<<   We are making the trip to Santa Fe to hear                           music by John Prine tonight.
John Prine He played and sung for over two hours straight in his Santa Fe concert last night. We especially enjoyed his rendition of "Sam Stone". Click on the words "Sam Stone" to hear the Prine singing his anti-war tune. 3.9 meg download	Early Morning Light (11/7):          I took this photo, from our back yard, right after I got up this morning. Click on the pic to see a larger view.
	Fire in the Sky (11/7):          A few minutes later the sky above Albuquerque was ablaze with color. Click on the pic to see a larger view.
Frani Decorating for Christmas	NMAEA at UNM (11/9 & 10):          My friend Michael Cellan from Colorado Springs stayed with us for three days while the New Mexico Art Educators had their conference at UNM - here in Albuquerque. Both Michael and I presented at the conference. When I get caught up on everything I'll post lots of photos of various workshops that were presented this weekend. I'll post the photos on http://www.newmexicoarted.com/  That's the website I maintain for New Mexico art teachers. Right now I've only got enough time to post a couple of pics here on my blog. <<<   Michael's               Wax Crayon Woody's                     Tessellations   >>>           My "Tessellation Workshop" was full and everyone seemed to appreciate the lesson. Michael's "Wax Crayon Workshop" was overflowing, as his usually are. These state conferences are a lot of fun to present at. Perhaps I'll try a few other parts of the country. It was also great to have time to visit with Michael and exchange ideas about the present state of education in the arts. Michael said, "Woody, you sure have it good here in Albuquerque. You do anything you want to - and Frani does all the rest." I thought that was a very astute observation.
	Sunday (11/11):          Last year I lost my roses on November 11th when our first real freeze hit. This year it looks like I'll have them to enjoy for a while longer. I took the photo today of cut blooms floating in our birdbath. Perhaps we are back to the winters I moved here to enjoy. Floating Roses
	New Web Pages (11/13):           This morning I published a start at new pages on the web site I maintain for the New Mexico Art Education Association (NMAEA). They are still "under construction", but so is everything on the internet. I'm creating pages to show some of the workshops that were presented at the New Mexico Art Ed State Conference on the UNM campus last week. Of course, the first one I created was my Tessellation workshop. I'll add samples of several more workshops before I link all of them to the NMartED home page. "Life is like a blog - it is continually under construction"
Join the Edwards Campaign to Change America For all the Candidates Click Here	Doctors and Politics (11/14):            I went in for my medical checkup this morning. (I really go just to get more drugs) Today, I discovered that my doctor is both liberal and that he favors socializing the medical system in the US. He figures that any democrat will make major changes but worries that they too are in the pockets of the big drug companies. He's even a populist, like I am, but doubts John Edwards will make it. Edwards has promised to take away health care from all the members of congress if they don't pass universal health care within the first six months of his administration. Check out this Edwards ad being run in Iowa. With so many states voting early - the Iowa caucus will make all the difference. New Mexico and a plethora of other states vote on February 5th. So, my candidate must break out and pull ahead in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.           Web Design:         I also went to a planning meeting at the Arts Alliance today. They are putting together artist workshops for next year. One workshop will be on presenting your art - matting, framing, etc. I volunteered to do my "Build Your Own Website in Three Hours" workshop for them next fall. I was already planning to do it for Colorado art teachers in Breckenridge next October anyway. So now, I'll be testing it out here in Albuquerque first. Digital into Slides:          I got my slides in the mail today. It's so easy using a service here in Albuquerque called Gamma Tech. You can order from anywhere transferring the digital pics over your computer to them. I sent the pics to Gamma Tech at noon on Monday and got my slides in todays (Wednesday) mail. They do a great job and there is no more need to tape over part of the slide to block light. I highly recommend them if you need slides made. Why waste a roll of slide film for a few slides when you can shoot digital, then crop and send it by computer. They charge $2.50 per slide or just $1.00 for each duplicate of a slide.
click on the quilt design to see a larger section	Quilts (11/15):          My beautiful wife, frani, is working on a fantastic quilt. The pattern is called "Mexican Stars". It was complicated to understand at first, but it's all going together smoothly now. Frani took a class to learn how to do this design. I was on the phone speaking to Tiffanie, our grand daughter, telling her that grandma was taking a class to learn how to make quilts. Tiffanie replied, "It's about time grandma learned how." You can check out other quilts Frani has made (before she learned how) by clicking here. Bus Trip (11/15):          Tomorrow the docents at the museum are taking a day trip by bus south on I-25. We are stopping first at the El Camino Real Heritage Center 30 miles south of Socorro. For lunch we are going to the village of San Antonio to eat at the Original Owl Cafe. Our next stop is Fort Craig, a civil war era fort which was abandoned in 1885. It is now a national historic site. This is a history study year for docents so we are trying to emphasize history on the trip. We end our day watching the cranes fly in at Bosque del Apache. Our timing is perfect because this time of the year is a celebration called Festival of the Cranes at this important National Wildlife Refuge. Hopefully I'll get a few photos I can turn into watercolor paintings.
drawing for new watercolor      started yesterday morning            before our bus trip	Wonderful Trip (11/17):          I arranged a very successful trip bus trip for Albuquerque Museum Docents Yesterday. We left at ( am and returned at 7:45 pm. We traveled by bus to El Camino Real south of Socorro. Went to the original Owl Cafe, in San Antonio, for lunch. Next we toured Fort Craig and ended up at Bosque del Apache. There we watched the cranes fly in at sunset. It was a good trip. Too bad only 22 docents made the trip this time. In the spring we hope to make an over night trip to Taos. I shot the pic below yesterday around 5:30 pm at Bosque del Apache.
Last Rose ?	Saturday Painters:          I cut roses for our painting group this morning. We must of had a freeze last night because my birdbath was frozen solid. That may well mean the end of my roses for this year. At least I got some good photos to paint from this winter. We went out for Chinese buffet after our critique. I could paint alone, at home all the time. But getting together with good friends and discussing each others work is quite valuable. I also sold my newest watercolor (Taos Staircase) to a friend, a fellow painter in the group. It will be nice to know someone who cares about it has it hanging in their home. That's better than any ribbon in a watercolor show. It's a bit like having your children adopted - at least you know the family they are going to. XHTML Fix:          It was so simple. I've been building web pages with a newer version of Nvu. They are written in xhtml rather than html. I then find out that people using "ie" (internet explorer) can't view the pages. In other browsers (like Firefox) they show fine. I was perplexed, but a friend on an Art Teachers List Serve told me to simply drop the x from the extension. I did it and now everything is fine. Of course I had to drop the x from every link as well. Soon, I'll go through all my new pages and fix everything. I hope Bill Gates is happy now. The world always adjusts for microsoft. Egypt Tonight:          Frani and I attended the members opening tonight of "Temples and Tombs" at the Albuquerque Museum. It was packed, which is a good sign. Perhaps it's a good omen foretelling greater attendance for our museum. Tuesday our team will be taking students through the museum. We will take them through part of the Egyptian exhibit. I'm first docent so I need to plan an art activity related to the exhibit.
Cartouche	Training on Egypt Today (11/19):           The docents have a walk through of "Temples and Tombs" this morning. This walk through is our best opportunity to learn about any new exhibition. Having the actual objects right in front of you as you hear stories about it is the best way to learn, at least for me. Going through the exhibit catalogue just isn't the same. Watercolor Meeting Tonight:          Dan DiMaria will be demonstrating the "Reilly Technique of Quick Figure Drawing" at the NMWS meeting tonight. We have arranged for a model and members are invited to try their hand using the technique after Dan's demo. This should be a great meeting. Here is a sample of DiMaria's Figure Drawing - it's a nude, but our model tonight "Isabell" will be clothed. Here are some samples of his paintings. Tour Tomorrow:          I'm first docent for our tour groups time tomorrow (we have every other Tuesday). Tomorrow it's 3rd graders coming to tour Four Centuries (New Mexico History) but we also plan to include part of Egypt. I've developed a short (25 min) art lesson where the students create a personal Cartouche using Hieroglyphic symbols from the exhibition.
Click Above for Registration Form	Egypt A Success (11/20):          Perhaps the word got out. The billboards and newspaper inserts may have helped. As we took our 3rd graders on tour this morning, it was refreshing to see the large gallery full of visitors (on a Tuesday morning) checking out "Temples and Tombs". Our museum is a wonderful venue and it is good to learn that the public finding out about us. Perspective for Painters:          MasterWorks is not until April but everyone needs to be aware of Bud Edmondson's "Perspective for Painters" workshop. The Watercolor Society is sponsoring this "drawing" workshop for artists working in any media. Good drawing skills are essential for all artists and Bud is an excellent teacher as well as expert in his craft. The dates are April 8 - 10 from 9:30 to 3:30 at the MasterWorks Venue in the Hispanic Arts building at Expo New Mexico. The cost is $155. Click Here for a registration form.  You can check out Bud's paintings on his web site http://www.budedmondson.com. Bud wins prizes all the time. He got 1st Place in the National Pastel show going on right now at the NM Fair Grounds. Bud was also voted "best painting" by viewers at our recent watercolor show.
	Turkey Day (11/22):          I hope everyone is having a wonderful "Turkey Day" with family and friends or home alone with your special someone. We had a turkey cut in half because it's just Frani and I. She made dressing, bread pudding and pumpkin pies for the feast. Of course we will freeze most of it for later meals. I finally turned the heat on for the winter. Today is our first real freeze. It's a record late freeze for Albuquerque. Frani is finishing her Mexican Stars quilt. It's turning out beautifully. <<<   click on quilt for larger view		Happy Turkey Day
	As a Boy (11/23):          For my grand daughter Tiffanie, I wrote a short account of my childhood. It was for her 3rd grade assignment to interview her grandparents. I typed my story on the computer and sent it to her in an e-mail. Of course she has her own e-mail account. Click on the highlighted text to read "When Poppie Was A Boy". That's me with my birthday cake at age two in our yard in Pittsburg, Kansas. Christmas Puppy (11/24):          When We go back to Kansas for Christmas a "warm & fuzzy" present will be waiting for us. The triplets were on the phone last night suggesting names for the new dog they are adopting for us. Grandma and I settled on the name "Blossom" for our new puppy.
	Blossom:          The newest member of our family has has a bath and photos taken of her. On Monday she goes to the vet for a checkup. When she comes home to Albuquerque we will have her fixed and a chip put in so she will be totally legal. Right now she is getting lots of love from Tiffanie, Tess and Timothy. She may never want to leave Kansas after all the attention she is getting from the triplets. Tiffanie took a video of her getting a bath. To down load the video - click here.
	Gourd Art (11/26):          For table decorations, the NMWS is having different artists decorate gourds. The two on the left are my contribution. They will be giving away as door prizes at our holiday party next Sunday. Members who bring a watercolor to trade in our "Chinese Auction" will take home someone else's painting. It's a potluck dinner and a whole lot of fun. The only sad part is yours truly will play Santa.
Tiffanie Caring for Blossom	Caretaker Tiffanie (11/27):          Tiffanie phones us regular reports on our newly adopted puppy. She tells us how Blossom is eating and learning to do her jobs outside. Tiffanie is doing a wonderful job taking care of Blossom in our absence. Thank you Tiffanie, now don't get too attached to Blossom because she is coming back to New Mexico with Grandma and Poppie. Orders Keep Coming:          I filled more orders today for my Quality Art Lessons and for sets of Note Cards showing my watercolors. Click here for an order form. My note cards are fairly new but my middle school art lessons on CD's have been around a long time. I assumed every middle school art teacher in the country had them already. But, I guess we get new art teachers all the time. I even got e-mails from a teacher in Bangkok, Thailand this morning. She is teaching art in two prisons over there. This internet sure is creating a smaller world. Daniel Pink says the planet is getting flatter. And, I thought only Kansans thought the world was flat.
	Cluster Map Added:          Today I added a Cluster Map to my home page. This morning I was having an e-mail discussion with an artist in Puerto Rico. Her blob is called "the itinerant artist". On her blog was a world map with red dots showing where visitors to her blog were from. Real neat - so I found out how to add that feature to my home page. If you want to get one for your site just click here. It's free - all you need to do is insert some extra html code into the page you want the map/counter on.   this map will not update  the real cluster map is on http://www.taospaint.com
Too Cool Websites:           Want free music of your choice? Go to: http://www.pandora.com/ type in the artist or type of music you like and listen to your hearts content. I've got Allison Krauss on my computer right now. I put 22 different artists on my pandora list. I can listen to one or listen to a mix. Thanks to Robin Phillips for telling me about Pandora. Robin even has surround sound in her art class room so students can create while listening to soothing sounds.          Want to know about a guy who makes quilts? Go to: http://www.michaelcummings.com/ Thanks to Judy Decker for reminding me about Michael Cummings. I use to use him as an exemplar in my art classes. Judy is the web mistress who maintains the incredible@rtdepartment.	Map Counter Works (11/29):          It doesn't take much to impress me. I checked my Cluster Map this morning. It has red dots in 15 locations in the US as well as dots in England, SE Asia and New Zealand. The location of each visit is based on the IP address of the computer used to access my web site. I'm posting a copy of todays map below. The actual counter/map is on my home page. I'm not sure if it counts hits that go directly to my blog, but I think it does.                                                                                        As time goes on the map should fill up with dots. The web stats from my hosting company show hits from dozens of countries over the last three months. Now I have one more new toy to play with which will visually display the future hits.
	Going to New Orleans (11/30):          I just got word in the mail today that both of my proposals to do hands on workshops at the NAEA Conference in New Orleans next March were approved. My "Hands On" workshops are scheduled as follows:     Collograph Printmaking                              Build a Kaleidocycle: Art That Moves              sample                                                              sample   Friday, March 28th  6:30 to 8:30 pm            Saturday, March 29th  6:30 to 8:30 pm        Elmwood 3rd Floor Hilton                              Elmwood 3rd Floor Hilton         It's also good news that both are in the same location so I'll be use to the location. This will also be a great chance to again meet my list serve friends from the web. For NAEA Conference highlights in pdf click here.                                         Hilton New Orleans Riverside
Read Today's Article on David	Congrats to David Drummond:          New Mexico artist, David Drummond, was honored to design this years White House Christmas Card. David is of course the father of the famous Jae Drummond of Albuquerque. Jae posted the news about her dad on her blog "Value Added Paper". This mornings Albuquerque Journal carried the news at the top of it's front page. David has a phd in Physics but retired 20 years ago to paint. He is most famous for his watercolors of Lake Powell. David's original painting "East Colonnade" will be placed in the White House art collection along with work by Norman Rockwell and John Singer Sargent.                 David will be doing a demo at the January 21st meeting of the New Mexico Watercolor Society on his approach to painting flowers and clouds. His daughter Jae will demo for the NMWS on June 16th about how she finishes a painting. Both Jae and her dad are represented by the Weems Gallery in Albuquerque.
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