Cerro Pedernal Storm

Cerro Pedernal Storm 

Near Ghost Ranch, NM

8x6" oil on canvas panel  $150.SOLD

Artist Note.

Georgia O'Keeffe's ashes are spread

at the top of this mountain.

I enjoyed an annual visit 

for five consecutive years at

  Ghost Ranch, NM.

A stunningly gorgeous area in 

northern New Mexico.

Sometimes with an artist friend 

and other times with my

hubby who would patiently

read while I painted.

The water you see is Lake Abiquiu

- an important reservoir 

for this high desert area.

The Plein Air Convention (2018)

which was held recently in Santa Fe,

enjoyed a painting trip out there

 and I confess to being totally envious.

O'Keeffe's Pedernal

O'Keeffe's Pedernal

6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100. SOLD

Cerro Pedernal is a narrow mesa (mesa means flat/table top)
and is the Spanish word for Flint Hill. Abiquiu Lake lies at its feet.
Georgia O'Keeffe loved to paint Cerro Pedernal. She apparently
loved to hike up it too and would clamber right on up there...
all 9,862 feet, just for the view.
She would also lie under her car for shade during the hottest
part of the day.
That's what I call one amazing and sturdy woman
Her ashes were scattered from the top of Pedernal at her request.

Artist Note.
There are deliberate repeats of the mesa shape in the clouds,
ground, and bushes. I was testing something I recently read.
My internal jury is still out on it.

Painting a "site specific" view is hard on an impressionist like me.
A lovely blue blur of a shape would have been much easier.
Georgia Okeeffe was a modernist and clearly defined shapes
were what made her tick.  I am confident she would never have
considered working on a 6"x6" format...especially to capture
a vista view of Pedernal.
Forgive me Georgia -  but I do love your work.