Ruidoso Morning

If you want a wonderful trip to a cooler climate that we have in Texas, you need to make the 10 l/2 hour drive to Ruidoso. Six artist friends have just spent a week up there painting and it was such fun. Our hostess was Greta Faulkenberry from here in Tyler and she has a fabulous place in the mountains. We visited art museums, played a little at a wonderful casino several nights, did some sightseeing, visited her club for a wonderful lunch one day (salmon cakes and all the trimmings...yummmm), went to the top of a mountain and actually climbed the steps up to the forest ranger's lookout on the top (huffing and puffing) and best of all...just painted and painted on her porches outside. We had put up two hummingbird feeders and they kept us entertained the whole week as they are not shy at all when they find the east pickings. I had never seen Broadtails and only once had I seen a Rufus (who is bright orange with a bright red neck in the sunshine). We had mule deer who came right up to our porch and also enjoyed easy pickings of cracked grain. Had also never seen a mule deer as we only have whitetailed deer here. What a lovely trip we had.

Debbie Cannatella and I were in separate auto from the other 4 artists so we left a day early (so sorry that we left the other girls to do the maid duty)and we made our way to Big Spring on Saturday for a visit with another artist friend, Kay Smith. Kay's work is fabulous as is Debbie's. Debbie is actually the Tyler artist's watercolor teacher and one of the girls from their group couldn't make the trip so I got to fill in. Lucky me!!!

For any of you who read my little blog, Kay is also an Artcolony blog contributor and you need to check her work out along with Debbie Cannatella's.

This "Ruidoso Morning" painting was my gift to my hostess as she had this marvelous set of dishes and I couldn't resist painting them. I took lots of reference pictures of other set-ups with the blueberries and plan to do many more pictures as I loved the colors and the nature subject. The motifs were fish and dragonflies on the cups, saucers, plates, etc. Just too many to make one selection, but I love to paint color. My camers is throwing the picture rather blue, but the morning sunlight was too enticing not to try to grab a bit of the bright shadows.

I also did a painting of some Noonday onions on a blue checked tablecloth that I will post with my next pass. Really am not through with deepening some shadows here and there, but will get that up within the next day or so as I like to live with the piece a bit. One thing, this was my first painting plein air and I must admit that I really enjoyed it. I always thought I had to be in the studio or paint inside, but I think I'm hooked on the wonderful outdoor light now.

We are already planning another trip back up there to Ruidoso, but for now my suitcases are calling for me to get the washing machine cranked up so I know what my next day or so will entail around here. And, husbands don't really pick up after themselves so this is my fate for several days. Yipee!!!