Thank you for dropping by. I hope the holiday season treated you well and that the New Year brings all the happiness and well being you can possibly stand. I was lucky enough to spend Christmas with family and as I drove home the sun was setting into the Beartooths across the Yellowstone. There must have been a big wind up there as snow plumes were blowing hundreds of feet in the air. From my vantage rolling west on I-90 they were backlit by the golden glow at the end of the day, looking like great solar flares and crowning the mountains in a fantastical fire, a sight fitting for Jesus’ birthday. I was enjoying the scene happy to know I was headed home to my cozy cabin in those mountains when I passed a billboard with one of my paintings on it advertising the Whitebird Gallery in Absarokee, Mt. It made me grateful and happy to be living my life where I am and making a living as a painter of pictures.
A couple days after New Year’s I said farewell to the horses (a friend will be watching them so don’t worry) loaded the truck with dogs, cat, brushes, easel, a load of wood and a pair of flip flops, said good bye to the snow and headed south where I find myself in sunny Scottsdale for another winter respite. It is a balmy 78 to 80 degrees during the day and I already finished a painting with another on the easel. My mission statement at the moment is to create a body of work for the big Artful Event in the Beartooths where I am featured artist next summer in Red Lodge. I hope many of you can make it to this fun fandango under the big tent. If you don’t, you can always find everything in New Work as it is uploaded when finished. I am uploading the first two pieces with this blog. They are smaller works and come out kind of blotchy on the web site but it will give you an idea of what I’m up to. I don’t know what the signature piece for the Red Lodge show will be and am interested in your opinions so please let me know when I see you or send them via the comment section on this site. The other part of my mission statement for this period is to prepare for a show as guest artist at the Sandstone Gallery in Billings and finish a few commissions for those kind enough to order them. Of course the annual Absarokee Quick Draw is in the mix and I will be teaching a 10 day art class in March as well so there is plenty to do here in the sunny south.
Just in case you think it is all work and no play here in the sunny south I bought a bicycle the other day and am having a ball riding it around. For example, tomorrow evening Lynn and I will ride down to Old Town Scottsdale for the gallery art walk and a bite to eat at one of the many funky eateries in there. A tough job but somebody has to do it. Of course I miss the cozy evenings by the fire back in the cabin in Montana as well as the driving winter blizzards and seven layers of clothes. However, I will try to survive here in the clutches of civilization as best I can…
Thanks for dropping by the site and I look forward to making it interesting for you by posting plenty of New Work in the next couple of months. Until then, Happy Trails!
Enjoy the good life and "paint fiercly" my dear...I will be thinking of you in the sunny south from sunny Borneo! Cheers. mm
Posted by: maxey megrue | January 17, 2012 at 02:41 PM