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Woody's  December Blog  2009 Blog began March 2007 ........................................................................................................... |
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To See Where Woody's Watercolors Are On Exhibit in 2009 click on any photo with a blue border for a larger image |
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 Sandia Mountains from our Backyard in Albuquerque |
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Christmas Day (12/25): Blossom doesn't remember snow - so today was a shocking experience for her. It's really a white Christmas here, south of Kansas City. Blossom gave Tess a "Tea Set" for Christmas. Tess has already tried it out. We had a "Progressive Tea Party" this morning after we unwrapped the presents.   Blossom in the Snow on Christmas Day |
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Christmas Eve at the Duncan's (12/24): It rained all night and all morning - now it's starting to freeze. We are expecting snow tonight so it will be a white Christmas. Then I can take Blossom out to play in the snow so I can shoot photos of her to paint from. The photo I posted on the left is of our oldest grand-daughter and our youngest great grand-son. |
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 Grandma Binds Quilt |
Christmas With Family (12/22): Yesterday we drove into Kansas City to visit Frani's brother. We took our grand-daughter Tiffanie along. She loves to visit "old people". Tiffanie was on her best - as usual. Then we spent time with her Mom. Later we took our oldest son Jimmy, Mom and Tiffanie to Stroud's for a fantastic chicken dinner. Stroud's has a long tradition in the KC area. We went to the newest location in Fairway - at 4200 Shawnee Mission Pkwy. From there it's a short hop to the Plaza. So, after dinner we drove over to see the Christmas lights on the Country Club Plaza - also an old Kansas City tradition.  Tiffanie Above the Plaza Lights |
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 Paintings Hanging |
Watercolors of Triplets (12/20): I brought three framed watercolors to Kansas, of the grandkids, for my son and daughter-in-law. Buddy has already hung them in their house. The Triplets are my very best subjects.     Young Artist Tiffanie At Work |
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Good Mexican Food (12/19): Believe it or not, I drove 800 miles to get really good Mexican Food. We ate lunch today at Margarita's on Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri. A trip to KC would not be right without a stop there. The waitress at Margarita's told me that KU won their basketball game. Of course they did - they were playing at home, in Lawrence, in Allen Field House. Which was named for a famous KU coach - Phog Allen - Allen played for James Naismith. Naismith, who had invented basketball in 1891. In his senior year, 1908-09, Allen coached the KU team. Allen returned to KU as coach from 1919-20 through 1955-56, compiling an overall record of 770 wins and 223 losses. The game is a legend in Lawrence. Allen field house has been sold out for the last 136 games. Where else is the first practice of the year televised and has a sell out crowd for the first practice as well. My son was nice enough to record the game for me to watch later. snow on mount oread >>>
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| Holiday In Kansas (12/18): We drove to Lawrence, Kansas today to pick up 50 lbs of clay so I could help the triplets create some sculptures. I'll try to post some pics of our progress later on. |
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Sunday At Home (12/13): So far, I've posted 14 of my watercolors on the Artist Daily Gallery. Last night, I posted my newest painting - "Snow Rose". So far, in less than a day, it has had 26 views and three comments. I'm not sure who is looking at my watercolors - but somebody is. You can post your art http://www.artistdaily.com/ too. The website was created by American Artists magazine. The only issue, of their many publications, I subscribe to is "Watercolor". The most recent issue has a nice article about Dean Mitchell. The magazine is a great resource in improving my painting skills.  |
 Yago Sant Gr'ia |
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| Saturday Painters Group (12/12): I think I finished my "Snow Rose" watercolor this morning at the La Mesa church. This was the final session of our Saturday watercolor group. We went out to Dion's for Pizza afterwards. Frani is happy because I brought home 1/2 a pizza for her. Of course it was double sausage and green chili - Yum !!   Still not quite happy with the snow - I may work on that yet |
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 just bought tickets to see Arlo Guthrie in April |
Friday Painters Group (12/11): This morning, I painted with friends at the Unitarian Church. I made some progress on my "Snow Rose" - perhaps I'll have it finished by tomorrow. I brought two framed paintings for an exhibition the group is having at the "Around The Corner" Gallery. The exhibit should run January through March. After that, I spent my time getting my oil changed and my tires rotated and balanced. We drive to Kansas for the holidays and want a safe trip. I also made an appointment with the dentist as soon as we get to Kansas City. Seems like I broke a tooth when I bit into a Heath Bar. I guess when you get old - you just fall apart.   Progress on my "Snow Rose" |
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Critique Anyone ? Is It Finished ?  "Horn Blower" New Orleans |
Snow Rose & Horn Blower (12/10): I'm working on two new watercolors, one of a red rose with snow on it. The other is of a street musician in New Orleans - from our trip in October. Then, in November, we had one of our normal snows that melt off before noon. I took a few pics of the snow on my roses. Now, I'm trying out my new pigments arranged on a new pallet - so far so good. I have spots of liquid frisket protecting the white of the watercolor paper where the snow will be.  Frisket Removed   Two Paintings at Once - "Horn Blower" & "Snow Rose"   More Progress & Using A New Pallet   |
 "Snow Rose"  Starting a new watercolor from New Orleans |
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Best Green Chile Cheeseburger ? (12/9): Searching for the best Green Chile Cheeseburger has become easier with the posting of an interactive map of the many places around the state where you can satisfy your appetite. Now the New Mexico Tourism Department is making it easy to locate Green Chile Cheeseburgers. They have posted an map to help locate Green Chile Cheeseburgers around the state.  |
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 New Rose (in the snow) |
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 Some Progress Snow Rose |
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 Flights into Space from New Mexico in 2011 |
Ride Into Space From New Mexico: A sleek, bullet-shaped spacecraft about the size of a large business jet with wide windows and seats for six well-heeled passengers to ride into space from New Mexico's Spaceport America was unveiled Monday afternoon. Virgin Galactic took the cloak off SpaceShipTwo, which had been under secret development for two years. The company plans to sell suborbital space rides for $200,000 a ticket, offering passengers 2½-hour flights that include about five minutes of weightlessness. Virgin Galactic plans to operate commercial spaceflights out of a taxpayer-funded spaceport in Upham, N.M., that is under construction. The 2½-hour trips - up-and-down flights without circling the Earth - include about five minutes of weightlessness. VSS Enterprise will be carried aloft by White Knight Two and released at 50,000 feet. The craft's rocket engine then burns a combination of nitrous oxide and a rubber-based solid fuel to climb more than 65 miles above the Earth's surface. After reaching the top of its trajectory, it will fall back into the atmosphere and glide to a landing like a normal airplane. Its descent is controlled by "feathering" its wings to maximize aerodynamic drag. Virgin Galactic expects to spend more than $400 million for a fleet of five commercial spaceships and launch vehicles. Anyone got an extra $200,000 to spend on a ticket ?  SpaceShipTwo |
New Mexico Spaceport Under Construction in the Desert |
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| Did You See That Sunrise ? (12/8): That's the question I asked everyone yesterday. Am I the only one to see the sun come up ? Does everyone else sleep in ? I really think that mornings are the best time of the day. I get my morning paper and a hot cup of coffee and prepare for the day. I check my e-mails - even answer a few. A beautiful sunrise and a hot shower - what else would you need to start off the day.  Monday Morning Sunrise - Albuquerque, New Mexico |
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New Quilt Start Frani Going Strong To See More of Frani's Quilts Click Here |
Painting Taos (12/7): At 7:00 PM tonight on Albuquerque's PBS station, CH 5, is an hour long program titled "Painting Taos". It covers the history of the six artists who made up the "Taos Society of Artists". This program is, locally produced, don't miss it. The six artists who founded the society, essentially a sales cooperative, in 1915 were Phillips, Blumenschein, Joseph Henry Sharp, Oscar Berninghaus, E. Irving Couse and W. Herbert Dunton. Dues were $1/year. Duties rotated alphabetically; refusing the job when it was your turn meant expulsion. Their first group show took place at the State Fair in Santa Fe. The men scrambled to capture images of a West they were convinced was vanishing for an America on the cusp of modernization. With color photography largely unavailable, Americans sought their oversized, brightly colored and highly romanticized canvases of high desert views paired with the noble men and women of Taos Pueblo. The artists all came from somewhere else, primarily the East Coast and the Midwest. Taos Pueblo and its Tewa inhabitants became the focus of their yearning. Phillips fell in love with the local doctor's sister and stayed. Blumenschein returned to Taos every summer to paint before settling there in 1912. Sharp had already started spending a few months a year in Taos when he met Phillips and Blumenschein in Paris and settled here permanently in 1925. Berninghaus had been commissioned to produce a series of watercolors of the West for travel pamphlets. When he saw Taos, he was hooked. The documentary also explores the artists' unique relationship with the railroad industry and how their advertising work helped turn their paintings of an isolated place into iconic images beckoning the outside world. "We looked closely at the land. We looked closely at the light. We looked closely at the pueblo," Kamins said. The producers also took high resolution photographs of paintings in museums from Notre Dame to Albuquerque. They talked to surviving family members, including Couse grandchild Virginia Couse Leavitt. They also interviewed New Mexico writer Max Evans, author of "The Hi-Lo Country." "He just understands place," Kamins said. "He can talk about Taos in a way that just brings it alive." Oscar-nominated actor/artist and Taos resident Dean Stockwell provides the narration for the artists' letters. The story begins with that broken wheel and extends up to the beginning of modernism and the arrival of socialite/art patroness and salon hostess Mabel Dodge Luhan in 1919. Modernists like Marsden Hartley, John Marin and Nicolai Fechin showed up. By the late '20s, the Taos artist style, rooted in traditional academic training, was considered passé. "Painting Taos" is under consideration for national distribution. By Kathaleen Roberts
Albuquerque Journal 12/6/09  |
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My Exhibit at Placitas: Yesterday Frani and I attended the opening of my exhibit at Placitas. It's always a nice crowd - because of the concert that follows the artist's reception. This is a wonderful venue, but my timing was terrible this year because the opening was at the same time as the New Mexico Watercolor Societies Holiday Party, and a meeting of the NMAEA Board, as well as the KU vs UCLA basketball game. We did get home in time to see the last five minutes of the game - KU won of course. <<< Frani at Placitas (looking good)  My Watercolors at Placitas  Placitas Sunset |
 Me at Placitas |
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| Watercolor Opening Today (12/6): Yesterday I drove the 20 miles up to the Village of Placitas and hung my eight watercolors. Were we live in Albuquerque's North Valley it's 5000 feet above sea level. Placitas is only 800 feet higher, but they seem to always get the snow. Of course they are close to the Sandias. They are in the foothills of our mountains. The Artists Reception is at 2:00 PM followed by a concert at 3:00 PM. The exhibit is in Las Placitas Presbyterian Church. Placitas is off I-25 (exit 242) drive East on NM 165 for 7 miles toward the beautiful Sandias. The historic Placitas church will be on your right.  Snow in Placitas |
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 Making Progress |
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| Out Of My Comfort Zone (12/5): Yesterday I started a different kind of watercolor - at least different for me. I'm painting a portion of our mountains - the Sandia - shrouded in clouds. I began with very few lines of drawing - done with a pen that disappears when the ink gets wet. I also relayed on no mask and no salt. It's very wet-n-wet so far and looks oriental in feeling.   Started on Friday, December 4th, 2009 |
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Christmas Carol in 3-D: Yesterday, we went to see Jim Carey in Disney's version of Dickens's "Christmas Carol". This movie is a jewel that every family in the country should take in. I'm sure it is enjoyable in 2-D, but I highly recommend seeing it in 3-D if at all possible. My bride had not seen a 3-D movie since she saw "House of Wax" with Vincent Price in the 1950's. Frani really enjoyed the movie even if we did have to pay full price to see it.  Scrooge With the Ghost of Christmas Present |
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 Dean Mitchell |
Dean Mitchell (12/4): When I ask about artists who employed strong darks in their watercolors, the answers came back Dean Mitchell. I'd spoken with the artist, a few times, when we both lived in Kansas City. Dean spoke to art teachers often. I can even brag that we were both juried into the same exhibit. Still, my painting skills have light years to travel to catch his talented brush. Perhaps if I'd gotten fired by Hallmark Cards things would have been different. So, when my copy of the winter 2010 issue of American Artist Watercolor magazine came in the mail, I turned first to the article on Dean Mitchell. In this issue of Watercolor magazine - Dean said, "I've always been attracted to light and shadow for conveying mood and space in a painting. Watercolor is the perfect medium when it comes to this, as the white of the paper can become a strong element in achieving this quickly with little effort if you know how to use it boldly. Watercolor forces me to see masses before detail." It's refreshing to hear about the power of strong contrast in watercolor from a respected expert in the medium like Mitchell. I had tried to persuade others, in New Mexico, that Dean would be our best choice as the Western Fed juror for 2011. But, since he had been a juror, for WFWS, six years before we looked to other watercolor artists to make our selection. |
 "Waiting for Customers" |
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Visitors ? My new, or updated, Map/Counter began on November 28th. In those few days, my website/blog has recorded 688 visitors, 150 visited just yesterday. Who are they ? or who are you ? (assuming that you are reading this). Are the hits real people on their computers ? Or, are there spiders in cyberspace just randomly looking for websites ? If My writings or postings have a fan base - that's OK. But who are you ? My Map/Counter only tells me where you are not who you are. It shows me that 30 people from Saudi Arabia looked in during the last few days. Perhaps somebody will send me an e-mail an introduce themselves. |
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 Blossom |
Above The Clouds: I got the camera out to take a few pics as the clouds cleared a bit in the mountains. I'm going to try to do a watercolor of the Sandias and the clouds twisting around them. Or, perhaps I should do another portrait of Blossom.  Sandias From Our Backyard - Dec 3rd |
 Eats Toys |
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 Moon rise Dec 2nd 2009 |
You Are Invited (12/3): Sunday, December 6th from 2:00 to 3:00 PM is the opening of my watercolor exhibit at the Las Placitas Presbyterian Church in Placitas, New Mexico. Placitas is off I-25 (exit 242) drive East on NM 165 for 7 miles toward the beautiful Sandias. The historic Placitas church will be on your right. This is the third time I've been invited to exhibit as part of "The Placitas Artists Series". Four artists are invited each month. After the reception for the artists there will be a concert. Tickets are required for the concert but are not needed to attend the artist's reception. December's concert is "De Profundis Chorus" - (a cappella men's ensemble of Albuquerque).  |
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Docent Training (12/02): On Monday, three experienced docents led model tours of exhibits in Common Ground. It's always a good experience when we train each other. Our teachers sure did their homework. Monday, we all gained new knowledge and unique perspectives from these great trainers.  Docents Training Docents Elaine de Kooning:
Above is a photo of Docent Diane Shoemaker discussing a painting, in Common Ground, done by Elaine De Kooning. She painted this "Bull Fight" while she was teaching at UNM in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Diane
also mentioned that De Kooning painted a portrait of President Kennedy,
which now hangs in the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri.
"Ms. de Kooning was commissioned to paint a portrait of John F. Kennedy
and spent two weeks in 1962 at the Winter White House in West Palm
Beach, Fla., the only painter to sketch the President from life.
Because Kennedy had no time for formal sittings, Ms. de Kooning climbed
a stepladder toting her charcoal, pencils and pad for a better view of
Kennedy, who fidgeted constantly as he conferred with aides. Caroline
Kennedy, a toddler, painted beside Ms. de Kooning." New York Times - 1993 One of the great things about being a docent is the continuing education I get about subjects I love.
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 Morning Sunrise |
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 Eight Watercolors Framed on Tuesday |
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Welcome
to December (12/01): Eighteen days until the movie Avatar opens - I mean to watch it in 3-D when I'm in Kansas City for Christmas. The hero [a crippled soldier, outwardly--in a wheelchair, inwardly--because he's a tool of the oppressive military force planning to relocate or kill the "totally-in-tune-with-their-environment natives" who are sitting atop a deposit of the most valuable power source in the known galaxy] takes on the alien form to infiltrate the populace of a planetary paradise, but has a change of heart, and sides with the aliens against the imperialist earthlings. Sounds like we never will change - even in the future.  click on scene from the movie above for a trailer |
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