Looking Ahead

Here it is, New Years Eve morning. A good time to look at the new year that will be here in less than 24 hrs. I'm not going to look back however. 2009 wasn't much to look at.

I've got a few things on the books for the coming year that I will share with you so you can know what to expect. That and I'm hoping by posting these "resolutions" you will help me stay on track.

First off I hope to paint more for myself. Ideas I've been putting off for sometime now. Not neccessarily stuff that will appeal to anyone else (as in sales) but paintings and drawing that will satisfy me.

I'm also going to try to post at least a small painting a week that will go to auction. Similar ideas that I started before the Holiday Season that is now coming to a close. I've got a couple done already that I will post them next week after everybody gets back into the routine.

Another effort I will make is to do more life drawing and painting as in working from a model. I used to do a lot of this and I miss it.

In the coming year I am going to try and slow down a bit too. Maybe a lot. I want to think about my paintings more and try hard to make each one something unique and worthwhile. Not that they aren't all unique (they are after all originals) but work that has a little more significance.

Lastly I really need to find some time to organize all the photographs I take, whether for professional purposes or for reference for paintings. Completely out of hand at this point. Hundreds of them.

There. I've committed this to the world. The list isn't long or particularily lofty but if I can accomplish this much then it will be a better year.

Happy New Year!

Capella Hotel Reception

The Capella Hotel in Mountain Village, Telluride, Colorado hosted a reception for me for a one man show that opened last night. A fantastically beautiful facility over looking the ski slopes. Brenda, owner of East Meets West Gallery represents me in the area and hung 40 pieces for the show which hangs through January. A great time was had by all. http://www.capellatelluride.com/

Waiting for Abe to Open

This is a full sheet watercolor I finished last week of a "client" waiting for Abe to open his Old Tumacacori Bar which is in extreme southern Arizona near the Mexican border. This painting is entered into the Colorado Watercolor Society show coming in the spring.

Winter Fun

Here's a watercolor I just finished a couple of days ago for our Christmas card this year although I realize that I'm running out of time for printing and mailing. Maybe I'll use it for next year instead...we'll see how it goes.

The Old Adobe

Here is a little 6 x 8 oil that I did a couple of days ago of an old adobe house just off of Canyon Rd. in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Canyon Road is a famous art district in Santa Fe. I used to show in a gallery there. I love to wander the side streets in the area. It is really, really old, going back to before the days of the Santa Fe Trail. The streets are very narrow, originally made for donkeys and carts I suppose. It is a challenge to get around in a large F350 pick up. I generally find a place to park and strike out on foot. This painting sold at auction.

A New Market

I just listed two paintings, small ones, on eBay. This is a new market for me. I've read mixed reviews on the matter but decided to go ahead and try it. I can definitely get a lot more exposure this way for sure. We'll see what happens. Click here to see what I've got. I'll keep you posted on this new venture.

Baby it's Cold Outside

8 degrees with a wind chill of -5 this morning when I got up . Guess I won't be riding my motorcycle today. Nor will I be painting outside either I suppose. I have painted out  in the cold before but it is hard to get the fingers to move in the way I want and the oil paint gets a bit thick to work with. Forget about watercolors.

I was doing a watercolor of a ranch house and barn up near Sheridan, WY one winter and I knew it was cold but the sun was shining and it felt warm. My clue that it was below freezing was that my watercolors kept sticking to the palette. I finally gave up and finished the painting sitting in my Suburban looking through the windshield with the engine on and heater running.

Waiting for You

Here is my painting for today, a new little 8 x 6 oil painting I just did of a sidewalk cafe near the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. I painted it from a photo I took as part of a series while out there a couple of years ago. I just love the bouganvillea that are so poular in Southern California. This painting sold at auction. Thank you.

Garden Fountain

This is my painting for today. It is a little 6 x 8 oil I just did of a fountain in a garden at a winery in the Napa area. It is from a photo I took when we road our motorcycles out there in June of '08. A lot of inspiration there for sure. Click here to bid on this painting at eBay.

The Navajo Nation

We traveled across the Navajo Reservation on the way down to Tucson for the opening of the Mountain Oyster Club Art Show I mentioned last week. I’ve traveled across the rez numerous times. In the late 1980’s when I was showing at the Grand Canyon and other venues in Arizona, Highway 160 became all too familiar.

Not much has changed since then. It’s still a long drive. A few signs along the roadside warning the weary driver of the possibility of horses on the pavement. Signs warning of cattle, flash floods and ice too have been added. Nothing mentioning sheep, goats, dogs or Navajos however.

Tuba City has grown some as has Keyenta. One noteable addition on Red Mesa is a housing development that would rival something in a southwest metro area. Red Mesa isn’t even close to anything. As you come over a rise in the road you can’t help but notice a number of red roofed stucco houses on the north side of the highway. From the road they look right uptown except for the chain link fence surrounding the subdivision, if you can call it that. Pretty impressive out there in Navajo Land. Our tax dollars at work there no doubt.

When I was on the Crow Reservation working as a lease agent, Melvin Lefthand told me about a similar attempt by the white man to integrate the Crows into “civilization”. The feds built a bunch of houses for them some years ago. All wired for electricity, with indoor plumbing and propane furnaces. The problem was that the closest electricity was miles away from the homes and the Crows couldn’t afford the propane. He told me that they did make an attempt to live in them but that when you build a fire in the middle of the wood floor in the living room to heat and cook with, the fire has a tendency to burn everything else down around it. He just laughed. I hope the Navajos fair better.

I said I’d report on my findings at the Mountain Oyster Club. I must say that the facility is impressive and they did serve up some Mountain Oysters for the patrons and artists. Tasty they were. Attendance was good and a lot of pretty good art hung for the show and sale. It was encouraging to see a number of the paintings had sold within the first couple hours of the preview. No word on mine however as of yet. A good time was had by all. The show hangs through December so if you are passing through Tucson stop in and check it out. Tell them I sent you.

No doubt everyone who wanted it got their fill of turkey yesterday. I hope you all were properly thankful for whatever is important to you too. I know I am.

This column originally appeared in the Scene Magazine of the Montrose Dailly Press. http://www.montrosepress.com/

The Little Colorado Canyon

OK. As promised...here is my painting of the view from our room at Cameron Trading Post at sunset. It is a little 6 x 8 watercolor. I painted it from a photo I took. I had my watercolor kit with me at the time but the light was fading so quickly, I knew I couldn't get it set up in time to do the painting so I took a photo with my cell phone instead. I'll put this one in the front window of my gallery as my Painting for the Day. At $45 it'll make a stocking stuffer for someone. I thought it would...SOLD

Mountain Oyster Club Art Show

Well, we're back from Tucson and the Mountain Oyster Club Art Show and Sale. It was great. Lots of people, lots of good art, warm weather...what more could I ask for. It was encouraging to see that a number of paintings had been spoken for within the first couple hours of the preview on Saturday. The actual sale was on Sunday but I couldn't stay for that so at this point I don't know how I personally did but the show and sale continues through December. We stayed at the Cameron Trading Post on the way down. Neat place. I've driven by it many times but have never stayed there. We were treated with a nice sunset over the Little Colorado Gorge right outside our room. I've got a little watercolor I did of it which I will post maybe later today or tomorrow. A good time was had.

Winter Wonderland

Here's a new oil painting I just finished. It is based on a series of photos I took a couple of winters ago when I took my son to Telluride to go snowboarding for the day. I don't do that, so I turned him loose on the slopes and I went in search of a painting. This scene is from the creek next to the town park looking upstream. I really enjoy doing snow scenes in either oil or watercolor. This piece will go into my show at the Capella Lodge in Mountain Village on December 27th, 2009, unless it sells beforehand. Hope you enjoy it.

As I See It...

Such a title as “As I See It…” generally suggests that a personal opinion is coming. Don’t worry. You know that I don’t do that here. Well…OK, sometimes (as in often) I do but this time I’m referring to something different.

I often make much to do about the importance of “seeing”. I’ve mentioned it here before. For an artist, the ability to “see” is paramount. Now I’m not talking about having good eyesight, I’m talking about recognizing certain traits about whatever it is you are looking at. I’m talking about noticing an interesting characteristic about a view down the street or across the landscape or how the light is cast on that lady’s face sitting across from you in the restaurant or the way a wave rolls and crashes on the beach or the colors in the snow, or…it is endless. Of course sometimes there is nothing there to get very excited about. The light is flat, the shapes are boring, I’ve got a headache, I’m hungry or I’m just not interested. More often than not however, it is there. One just has to look for it. The light and the shapes. That’s what to look for.

Former students from the classes I teach relate that learning how to see was the best thing they got out of the class. You should try it. It is not that hard. You just need to be paying attention. My wife Kathy has gotten pretty good at it. Of course if your mind is on other things then it is like having blinders on and believe me it, is all too easy to forget to just look around, and like most things in life it isn’t always about the big picture. More often than not it is in the little things. If you can see the little things in your life, the bigger picture will come into focus.

A good customer of mine was in the other day to purchase one of my prints and pick up some framing I had done for him. He was telling me about a 23 day float trip he had just taken through the Grand Canyon. I thought WOW! We talked about the wonderful scenery he had drifted by and he made a comment that he wished he could’ve seen it all through my eyes. I gave him a puzzled look and he said “You look at things differently. You can see things out there that I would never see.” I have to admit that I didn’t know what to say. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, and I mean that. He made my day. Thanks Richard.

This column appeared in the Scene Magazine of the Montrose Daily Press. http://www.montrosepress.com/

One Man Show

Just got a call from a gallery that represents me. She has booked a one man show at the Capella Resort in Mountain Village near Telluride, Colorado. The reception is Dec 27th at 6pm to 9pm. You can check them out on their website... http://www.capellatelluride.com/ ...quite the place.

Well...I Did It

Those of you who have been following me for very long know how much I resist advances in technology. If you have been paying attention, you probably also know that sooner or later I succumb to the perceived need and wind up using it.

For many of us artists, the primary way to market our art has been through galleries. After all there is a certain prestige to being accepted into a gallery, or so it seems. A gallery/dealer that does a good job of marketing, i.e. selling, is well worth the commission they receive. However, the greatest benefit to having a successful gallery/dealer relationship (by successful I mean they are selling our paintings) is that it leaves the marketing of us as artists and our work, to them, and frees us up to paint and pursue our creative inclinations. Then there are a few artists who like me, have their own gallery.

Of course, there are other venues for artists to sell their work but they all require some marketing effort on our part. Art association shows, art auctions, art festivals and self promoted showings to name a few. The current recession we are in has had a huge impact on the sale of our art and how it is sold. The relatively comfortable days of yesteryear (in which we consigned our art to a gallery and relied on them to sell it) are no longer. I believe that we artists have to take our futures into our own hands, that is to say that we need to become more responsible for the promotion and marketing of ourselves and our art. We can no longer leave that up to someone else.

For a number of years now, many of the trade magazines I read and those “in the know” that I listen to, all have stressed how important it is for an artist (or any business for that matter) to have an internet presence, a website. Now, over the last year or so, the focus has been on expanding that presence to more than just a website. Now they say that having a blog and being on Facebook is necessary also. The primary purpose being that interested followers of an artist now have a way to keep up with what is happening in an artist’s career and life. I know that is important to folks. It should be. So…OK.

I have updated my website, I now have a blog at www.mikesimpsonart.blogspot.com and I’m on Facebook (a Facebook Account is for a person and a Facebook Page is for a business…I have both). There. I have opened the internet doors to my life. Let me know what you think.

This column appeared in the Scene Magazine in the Montrose Dail Press at http://www.montrosepress.com/

New Website

Just got an email from my web-designer that said the new "beta" form of my website is up and running. We have a few bugs (discovered and as yet undiscovered) to work out and I have to populate the site with more images of art and photos etc. but this is the new look. Let me know what you think.

http://www.mikesimpsonart.com/

Mountain Oyster Club 40th Annual Art Show and Sale

Earlier this year I received a letter of invitation for 40th Annual Western Art Show and Sale at the prestigious Mountain Oyster Club in Tuscon Arizona. Of course I accepted. The show opens to the public on November 22, 2009 with a private reception for the artists and invited patrons the afternoon before. I'll be there. Check them out at http://www.mountainoysterclub.com/

This is the painting that will hang and show and will be for sale. It is a full sheet watercolor of an Adobe just off of Canyon Road in Santa Fe.

My wife Kathy and I will head that way on Thursday the 19th of November and spend the night at the Cameron Trading Post and Lodge on the Navajo Reservation just north of Flagstaff, AZ. The Cameron Trading post is an old historic facility on the Rez. I've been there before but have never spent the night there. Might even get a little plein air painting done while I'm there. They said our room over looks a canyon right off of the deck. Sounds good.

While in Tuscon we will run down to Tubac. I did a show there a couple of years ago and rather enjoyed the experience. Tubac is kind of a little funky artist community full of gallerys and studios. Should be fun.

First Post

In the begining there was the word...and this is it. As I get used to this method of communication you can look forward to news about me and my career as an artist. I write a weekly colum for the local newspaper and I will post it here as well as upcoming events, shows, new paintings and anything else I feel is worthwhile. Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned.