Happy Friday!
Posted on Mar 30, 2007
After a respectable week's work we're having a martini to celebrate Friday. Our usual companions are not present on this habitual occasion, as one has relocated to Pennsylvania, one to Alaska, and the rest remain in Oaktown. My husband is studying his Field Guide to Hot Sauces book in order to learn how to make hot-pepper infused vodka for a truly Southwestern experience! Compadres, you have something hot to look forward to when you visit!
Much of today was spent on office stuff and website work. We do have a press release now, ready to go out and just look! It's weeks ahead of time. Discussion and planning went into the postcard--we decided to do a small one for the opening and pull out the stops for the one we'll do for the High Road Tour--since that's where we anticipate the bulk of our attention will come from this year.
Now, since our friend Nathan is absent, as promised, we must drink his martini for him!
Cheers!
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Check Stamp, Credit Line, Opening Date
Posted on Mar 30, 2007
Oooo, my check stamp came today: For Deposit Only, Ghost Pony Gallery. How officially exciting. I also received notice of approval of my Platinum Business Card with a substantial credit line! I didn't actually apply for one though it must be part of the business account package. The merchant account paperwork for accepting Visa/Mastercard purchases should arrive in a few days--considering the credit line they gave me I shouldn't think there will be any problem getting approved for that.We've decided the gallery will actually open for business on May 1st. That's a Tuesday and we'll want the reception on a Saturday so more local folks can attend. The first Saturday is Cinco de Mayo which seems like a pretty big deal around here so our Grand Opening Reception will be on the following Saturday, May 12th, from 4 to 7pm.
I'm gathering deadlines up for the local papers in order to get the press releases out to them in time. Of course our timeline is way too short for Southwest Art magazine--they need 4 to 5 months in advance! With any luck we might get a listing in for the High Road Tour in September with them.
Soooo... I'm getting to work on a postcard for our first mailing and a schedule for our PR efforts.
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A Little Snow
Posted on Mar 29, 2007
Ja, it took a break from being just cloudy to giving us a bit of snow. The cats were fascinated--mostly it seems to snow at night here. So they had to go out. For about 2-1/2 minutes. Wizzy came in covered in snowflakes--he looked like a dalmation in reverse. I'm sure my husband is happy he loaded up his bike in the truck rather than riding it in!
Although Santa Fe is the nearest city (and where our weather predictions come from) it is 43 degrees down there now. Their weather hasn't the least correlation with ours. It's 31 here.
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Another Studio/Office Day
Posted on Mar 29, 2007
Husband is off with his motorcycle to SF to get new tires and pick up a sandblaster at the tool expo at the fairgrounds. He's got a good idea for some things to make for the gallery with a sandblaster. I'm painting today and when I need a break I'll put some time into re-building our inventory database--lost all but six records--so that's basically a complete re-do. At least the layout is still there.
Yesterday we had wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. That's all? Today not so much wind yet but very cold and cloudy. The half-gallon water bottle we keep in the truck was frozen solid this morning! Yep, another fireplace day.
Made an apple pie yesterday and I could not locate the apple corer/slicer so had to slice & chop by hand but I used the Ulu, an Alaskan knife that a friend brought back from a trip up there. So fast! So slick! Ulus are cool.
I finally downloaded the software I needed to stream our favorite Bay Area radio station (it seems like you need something new for each station you want to listen to) which is great because I can really only listen to so many oldies from the 50s. The stations around here are truly dismal.
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Thundering, Chill Winds; New Mexi-cat
Posted on Mar 28, 2007
All day and more tomorrow. The wind literally thundered, whistled, and howled all day! It was a good day to stay inside and paint in front of the fire. The wind-chill was below freezing. From one day to the next you really have no idea what the weather will be up here. Started the Monument Valley painting today, so far, so good. Husband is heading down to Santa Fe tomorrow to do manly, machine-like tool stuff so will let him go on his own and hang here with the paintings. We've got a play day in Taos on the schedule in the next several days, I'll look forward to that.
Miscevil has turned into a real New Mexi-cat. I can't keep her inside! Hope she can hold her own when she meets her first coyote. That's my only real fear of her being out so much--cats are coyote-candy. But she's scary smart like a monkey, so.
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Studio Photo, Wood Carvings, Santa Fe Author
Posted on Mar 27, 2007
Here's a little view of the studio fireplace and all those canvases ready to go. One has a complete underpainting now, and in about three minutes I'll get started on the coyote fence (more of a sky painting with the fence in foreground, really). Took a walk down the road in spite of today's ferocious winds. I went to visit the folks taking care of the Cardona-Hine gallery in the absence of the owners (they're in Mexico) but the caretakers were out and about today and the gallery was closed. There's a guy who parks his truck alongside the road a couple houses down and displays his woodcarvings (mostly of saints) on the hood for sale from time to time. I stopped to chat when I went by--his name is Ernie. His friend, whose name I've forgotten, said he was a sometime painter.
I told them I lived just up the road and as they were trying to figure out which house (we couldn't see it as it was just around a corner) I explained to them that it used to be Galeria de Amor. They both knew immediately which place it was--and acknowledged it with a big snort and boot kick into the dirt. "Gallery of Love!" they said, "can you imagine?" They both thought Ghost Pony Gallery was a far better moniker.
On Sunday I opened up the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper and who did I see a half-page photo of on the front page of the Neighbors section? None other than Robin Williams (not the actor, the female author of many of our favorite Macintosh how-to books). I worked with Robin at Peachpit Press where I wore many hats for many years. So I emailed her and she responded right away--we'll hook up when we're down in Santa Fe and she's promised to attend the High Road Studio Tour in September. She's really a very nice lady, and founder of the Mary Sidney society (which is why she was in the news.)
Yay! Husband's home! And he's fine with me using that stretcher so what's going on that one is a fabulous view of Monument Valley from our last trip there. The scene I'm working on is similar, yet far more fabulous, than these. Just wait. You'll see.
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The MasterCard man
Posted on Mar 26, 2007
Just spoke with the Merchant Account dude at the bank. It should take about two weeks to get set up. How exciting! Sounds like the credit card terminal will work through my DSL modem and router--I sure hope they have someone who can give me a hand with getting things set up--after the whole phone/DSL thing I worry.Now. Business cards. Inventory database. Build out the website. Make the sign for outside. Make the sign for the signpost down by Tafoya's store. Create a postcard. Send out press releases.
And paint, paint, paint.
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Painting Ramblings & Happy Accident
Posted on Mar 25, 2007
This morning I related I was finished painting Oakland. Soy libre!I dug into a new canvas today--my first "New Mexico painting as a New Mexico artist." I was a bit apprehensive as I haven't painted for awhile, what with all the moving preparations, moving, getting settled, etc. Really, it's been 3 or 4 months since I seriously set to canvas. And getting out of the groove is evil easy, getting back into it can be like making and baking bricks.
The best thing I've done recently was to quit the Oakland series and dig into new work. Should have done it a week ago. It's that stupid "clean up your plate" thing. Finish what you started. The Puritan work ethic. When was that? Like 300 years ago? What I say (ok, after a whole week of guilt) is if it's not working out then toss it out. Life is too short to "should" on yourself. Go forth and get a grip.
I've got 2 drawings on canvas--started painting today on the one I mentioned would be similar to Painted Desert (you can see it, along with a lot of my other work at: www.trishbooth.com). I tend to paint large, and although this one isn't big--it's only 36" x 36"--still it took me all day to get the underpainting done. I am as fastidious with the underpainting as I am with everything else--yes, you could call me "anal" when it comes to painting. I insist everything be as close as I can get it to final, even on the opening pass. I've found that saves me lots and lots of grief in the long run--especially as I want a really smooth, finished surface, and I work with lots of blending. Big gobs of painterly paint just don't do the trick for me. But that's not this discussion.
In another surprise on this piece--I see images emerging from the clouds that I'm going to leave in. Yea, it's OK to see anything in clouds when you're on your back in a meadow doing nothing, it's another, quite considered thing, to leave them in your paintings. Then it turns into a statement.
Since I grew up on a cattle ranch in Montana--that cloud image of the skull in the sky....reminded me of that. A narrative of sorts.
All accidental! All marvelous! Oh the happy accident....I'm out of, or lost, or misplaced, my Cereluean Blue. Necessary for the top part of the sky. All I have are cool blues with the exception of one, Indanthrone blue--a recent discovery and new favorite. I couldn't make Cereluean but I made something that gave me close to the effect I required (without a three-hour trip into Santa Fe and back, YAY!!). Turquoise/Indanthrone.
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Remoteness & new paintings
Posted on Mar 25, 2007
Another story about just how remote we are. I can't pick up a public radio station. I have to stream NPR on Mac. Mac seems to increase in importance every day--he's truly THE link to the outside world!OK, I'm through with painting Oakland. I'm calling Gateway to Dogtown finished and I'm abandoning the freeway painting altogether. I've been stalling around all week avoiding working on them and I don't have the time to waste. Besides, I think they've been dry too long for new paint to stick. I'm drawing the new compositions on canvases right now--one is a scene similar to Painted Desert, with the landscape being that right on the ridge over by Cordova. The other is a scene right out in the back yard--the sun going down behind the coyote fence and glowing on the house Therese's cousin is building back there. Nice glow-y clouds in the sky.
I've got a couple small canvases ready and one additional normal-sized one, though I used the stretcher bar my husband was saving for himself so I feel a little guilty about claiming that one. I don't have anything planned for it but if I come up with something that is the right size for it....I don't think he'd be too upset ;-) He's sweet like that.
All our snow is gone!! Not a scrap left. If I hadn't gotten up early that day I'd swear it never happened. It's a pretty spring day out, though chilly in here. I've rolled the easel over by the fireplace to work.
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Snow & Sunset Photo links
Posted on Mar 24, 2007
Sunset reflecting off clouds over Truchas Peaks.
Snow out back this morning.
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Snow!
Posted on Mar 24, 2007
Yesterday it was spring and this morning it's a Winter Wonderland! Everything is covered in snow! We've got 2 or 3 inches and the snow advisory is up through noon today.No wonder. Last night, for various parts of the state, there were warnings out for tornado (yes--one blew through Logan in the eastern part of New Mexico, destroying 25 mobile homes), hurricane, severe thunder storms, snow, and flash floods. Yowza.
After breakfast I'll go take some pictures.
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The Biz Bank Account
Posted on Mar 23, 2007
Way! Ghost Pony Gallery has a business bank account. And tomorrow, or probably Monday, I'll speak with the Merchant Account dude---cross your fingers everything goes right--this is to be able to accept credit cards. You know this is how EVERYONE on vacation is going to pay for their paintings so we REALLY NEED this. A fellow artiste friend called me today--she's worked in a lot of galleries, gift shops, that sort of thing, and mentioned a very important thing I hadn't even considered. Most of the folks coming through this way are on vacation (check). They'll pay by credit card (again, check). They'll want the paintings shipped to them. All righty, then, that means 3 things to me. I'll need to standardize my canvas sizes when I'm able (there are standard sizes though I generally design something somewhat wonky to fit my image rather than the other way around), have crating materials at hand, and get an account with our man in brown. All righty, then. Add it to the long and growing list. And sweet talk my husband into being the "go-to guy" for crating. He's got that swell workshop practically set up and he likes this sort of thing anyhow. Besides, ALL the retail and deal with the clientele is on me.
I picked up a pair of black mocassins with shiny silver buttons down in Santa Fe today. Yes, it's a business expense. You can't wear fringy jackets and southwesty skirts with stinky athletic shoes for heaven's sake. Or Doc Martin's even. I mean, really. We're in the image business here. I still think I need something with or of turquoise.
Now for the weather. What a downpour today! Not even like a monsoon, here and off again. This was all day! Halfway through my journey parts of the rubber started ripping off. Like wiper blades with tails.
It is Friday and I'm taking the evening off with the kitties, the fireplace, and The New World.
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Trish's 12-step creativity plan OR How to make art!
Posted on Mar 22, 2007
1) Build two fires in two fireplaces in your house.2) Leave a ladder with steps wound in jute for cats to climb, so they may enjoy the rising heat and the climbing of walls.
3) Record your favorite shows so as not to let the creative spirit be interrupted.
4) Listen to the sounds of the day change.
5) Employ the night, the moon, and the fireplaces.
6) As they make the music of the muse, set yourself aside and capture it.
7) Keep your cats (pets) in, away from the coyotes.
8) Let your pets pony-run rolic be an inspiration.
9) Make your magic, for it is within you now.
10) Snuggle up with your lover (or pets, depending upon availability) and connect, fuzzily, with your muse.
11) Don't be too hard on yourself in the morning for staying up late to be creative.
12) Viola! Art!
*) REPEAT AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE
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BLISS!
Posted on Mar 21, 2007
Well, except for my husband's not here.The storm has rolled in! It's raining and blowing and being inclement in general. It's twilight (if you can have twilight inside a raincloud). They say it even might snow at higher elevations, and we certainly qualify. So I'm painting in the front room/studio and decided to fire up the little fireplace out here. First time, cause we hang out evenings in the third room. But since there's no one to hang out with...
This is AWESOME!! Storm outside, painting inside, fireplace right smack in the studio! Ha! I hope the storm rages all day tomorrow too! Snow me in!
I finally could not bear the radio stations around here--all there is are Oldies, oldies, oldies (like stuff you were sick of 20 years ago) and Mexican radio (which is OK sometimes) Mexican oldies (like we'd know) and lots of religious stations. Had to load up the new iTunes and dig out the CDs. A few downloads too--after days of oldies from ancient times The Pogues just sound SO good!
I think I'll go download that Mekons CD that walked off from my collection so long ago.
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Storm Coming In, Studio Time, Tafoya's
Posted on Mar 21, 2007
The wind sounds like thunderous waves smashing up against the adobe. It was raining over towards Abiquiu when I came back from the PO today (mailed out Ghost Pony Gallery's first official snailmail). We're due for rain on Friday but it looks like it will be much sooner than that. The sky is full of banks of clouds, depending on which window you peer out they are different: looming cumulus in one, a solid sheet of whitish grey in another, and a curious mixture out to the southwest toward the Española Valley.I brought tonight's wood in early and will have to paint tonight with the ventilation that's blowing under the door, it's too much to crack a window, things scatter throughout the studio.
I found out today that a small painting I donated to a fundraiser for a humane society sold. I'm quite pleased, although I liked it and would not have been sad if it did not. But saving stray and surrendered kitties is important!
I'm getting started in on some ideas for the Española Valley Arts Festival poster contest. I can enter as many as I like so I think I'll come up with at least 2 or 3 ideas. Just because the first idea is always the most cliché and they generally get better the further one goes.
Since the wind is so strong today I opened a back window for the kitties. It's away from the road and the wind always seems to come from the east so it's much nicer for them. Plus the woodpile on the outside is up to the sill so it's a small jump for them to get out. Even Wizzy went out on his own for quite awhile.
Stopped in at Tafoya's store today to check it out. It's like a ghost town store. It's huge, dim, and a bit musty inside with well worn wooden floors. It's also quite empty. Way over against one wall is an ice-cream bar freezer. Then waaaaay over empty space on the other side are three beer coolers, well apart from each other with about 4 six packs in each. Sort of in the center is a pathetic little aisle with Comet and the like, shelves on the wall by the ice-cream freezer have a few canned things, including Spam. It was too weird. The place could be so cool! It's got so much potential, it's a shame to see it in such a state of decay and emptiness. My footsteps echoed when I walked in. I introduced myself to Chris, the store minder. He welcomed me and we shook hands. I noticed a sign about a Land Grant meeting coming up (This entire town and a huge chunk of land all around is an old land grant from the King of Spain in 1763 or 64). I asked what that was all about and Chris said, "The land. You know this is a land grant." So I mumbled something about it must pertain to property owners, bought some beer (they actually had Sam Adams) and called it an adventure.
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OMG!! An actual person at Windstream!
Posted on Mar 20, 2007
Whew! DSL is up and running. It wasn't my fault! My password was something different than I was told on the phone or in the letter! Plus I had to re-set the modem, which isn't indicated in the instructions at all. It was so funny when I actually reached the tech help at Windstream--for the first few minutes I thought I was talking to an automated voice! I was really suprised when it turned out to be a real person.
So everything's up and running here--I don't think I'll turn it off! I've ordered the router for home networking, to hook up my husband on the connection...who knows, that may be another adventure.
Now I've got to get a few things ready to put in the mail and run down to the PO.
Studio afternoon.
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OMG!! An actual person at Windstream!
Posted on Mar 20, 2007
Whew! DSL is up and running. It wasn't my fault! My password was something different than I was told on the phone or in the letter! Plus I had to re-set the modem, which isn't indicated in the instructions at all. It was so funny when I actually reached the tech help at Windstream--for the first few minutes I thought I was talking to an automated voice! I was really suprised when it turned out to be a real person.
So everything's up and running here--I don't think I'll turn it off! I've ordered the router for home networking, to hook up my husband on the connection...who knows, that may be another adventure.
Now I've got to get a few things ready to put in the mail and run down to the PO.
Studio afternoon.
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DSL Hell (rant)
Posted on Mar 19, 2007
I have never had so much trouble getting something as simple as DSL set up.My service was turned on 4 days ago so that's not it (they just never told me when it would be connected, I guess they forgot). Yesterday the ethernet connected, today no. So I can't even make it up to the password problem. The password problem. I got a user id and password from the CS person on the phone I spoke to when I first requested Broadband. I wrote them down. Then, the letter comes assigning me a completely different, vastly unrelated user id. And they say I know my password. Well, I thought I knew my user id too, but apparently not. Then in the letter they say one thing about which part of my email address is the user id and in the setup instructions they say something else entirely.
I have tried every available combination of all the ids and pws they gave me and nothing works. I even tried inventing some new combinations. Ugh.
So I call tech help and when I get them (after a 45 minute wait) they tell me I dialed the wrong number and they tell me to call the number I dialed. I wrote it down. It was the same one I called. Then she threw me back into voicemail hell again.
So I'm still on dial-up. I'll try again tomorrow.
WINDSTREAM SUCKS!! Their customer service is NON-EXISTANT!
And now I'm going into the studio, I'm not even going to think about it again today.
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http://www.ghostponygallery.com/
Posted on Mar 18, 2007
I'm getting our site up and running. Well, I'm cleaning up the "place-holder home page." It's live, though, www.ghostponygallery.com.
Go check it out.
It will have pages with all the artist's work, eventualy.
Right now it has a really cool logo that tok me hours to do. Everything you think will be easy takes five times as long. So go have a look, and there will be way more cool stuff, professional stuff, and business stuff just as aoon as I can get at it.
Tell me. What do you think of the horse? Do you read it as a ghost?
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Slinging paint!
Posted on Mar 18, 2007
Yeah, yeah! I've just taped up plastic painter's dropclothes over all the paintings on the walls in preparation for gessoing those three canvases & an honest-to-goodness painting session! The two linens tightened up acceptably. If they just stay that way I'll be happy. So I'll dig into those today as well as the little one of the cooling towers. Depending on how things go--I just may start one of the Truchas Peaks ;-)
Ah, the sweet smell of turpentine.
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Top O' the Day to Ye! & a buncha art stuff
Posted on Mar 17, 2007
This morning I saw my husband off to yet another California Road Trip. It feels lonesome by the time he gets out of the driveway.So I washed the dishes, did all the laundry, cleaned the whole house, stretched three canvases, and had a nice personal visit with some great folks in one of my new tribes on tribe.net. They live up near the Colorado border but were down here in Truchas to pick up some fruit trees for their place, so they stopped by to say "Welcome to New Mexico!" There's a nursery just up our road with the finest fruit trees in the entire state. Peaches, cherries, yum! So when hubby returns we'll make a trip up to visit them in their town that was "picked up from someplace in Texas and dropped into New Mexico."--Oh no! Here I go again, making plans without consulting my husband ;-)
And now, it is most definitely beer-thirty.
I took the two "in progress" Oakland paintings (the full-size ones, not the sketches) outside today, propped them up backwards against the adobe and soaked the back of the linens with boiling water, then left them in the sun to dry. These linens have sagged and sagged and sagged, and I have re-stretched, and re-stretched, and soaked, and every thing else under the sun to get them to remain taut. After all that they seemed fine but the move here undid all my good work. Puzzling, since humidity is generally the thing that makes them sag and there is certainly very little of that here! They seemed to tighten up pretty well after my efforts today--and if they're still snug by tomorrow then I'll dig in and finish the paintings. If not, well then I'm done with them and they'll join the rolled up "paintings for reference" out in the garage and that'll be the end of the Oakland series. (you might imagine that painting Oakland is not the first thing on my mind just now).
But! I have three brand-new canvases stretched today and I'm rarin' to go! (Technical note: canvas is not nearly as fussy as linen, but linen is so much nicer a surface to paint on....that's why I TRY to put up with all the frustrations. Canvas is also incredibly cheaper. So you probably won't hear too much more ranting about the linen, once the situation with these two is resolved --whichever way the table tips.)
It's sunset time now but nothing is happening. Generally, something interesting, or unusual, or downright spectacular happens almost every evening but tonight is like someone forgot to plug the cord in. It's getting darker with no fanfare whatsoever.
My tasks remaining for this evening (before I put Banditas! back in the DVD player) are to cover over all the paintings displayed on the walls (the gallery) with plastic drop cloths to protect them from the gessoing and painting going on on the floor (the studio). Architectural distinctions become vague. Functions blur. It's two, two, actually 3 rooms in one. It's also my office.
Slainte!
May the road always rise to meet you and may the wind always be at your back.
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The Modem is here!!
Posted on Mar 16, 2007
And I got all the way up to the last step and no connection. Sooooooo, either my user name and password are screwy or they actually don't have service started yet. The modem thinks we have a connection. Just the PPP Authentication failure. Of course I called tech support right away but this is New Mexico. They are only available until 7pm Monday through Friday. You know, not like Earthlink that you can get any hour of the day or night. So, it looks like dial-up through the weekend.
;-)
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We have Wild Bunnies!
Posted on Mar 15, 2007
No lie. There are rabbits living out behind the furthermost woodpile here! Leonardo's seen them a couple of times, he fetched me today to come see one right at sunset. I ran out with my reading glasses on so did not get the best look, but right enough! it was a little brown bunny with white snowball tail! Went hopping away from us toward the old family plot.0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top
Chili painting
Posted on Mar 15, 2007
Espanola has a poster contest--chili themed. You know I will take a painting down for that, I've got a canvas ready to go. Santa Fe has an annual "City Different" poster contest but they only allow artists who actually live in Santa Fe to enter (Santa Fe, it seems, is rather stuck on itself). There's a "Southwest Realism" show way down in Pinos Altos that I may enter--though I'm not exactly a realist my work will fit right in.I've got an entire roll of Rives BFK here and have been contemplating some landscape drawings in ink.
We took a different road through town (there are only 2) the other day and found a magnificent adobe ruin. This place was huge--it's right next to the biggest church in town. I'll get some photos of that in late afternoon light.
I'm finishing up the chili curtain for the kitchen island today. I've been a slacker getting that finished. I was going to make a curtain for the doorway between rooms 2 & 3 but it's getting warm enough here that I may just skip that altogether. It was 70 down in Espanola yesterday, we're about 10 degrees behind up here.
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DSL!!!
Posted on Mar 14, 2007
Today was the day I was instructed to call Windstream back to find out if DSL is available in my area. I mentioned yesterday that the library has DSL so I was hopeful. I call--full of anticipation. I'm informed that "that order was placed last week, is scheduled for the 15th, and your modem shipped today." Which is all well and good, but why couldn't they have told me that last week? And if they placed the order last week, they also could have placed the order the minute they finally got the phone hooked up correctly. Arrguuuh! When I decide to go back to work (if I do) Windstream needs me. The newspaper here also needs me, in the most serious way.
Note to folks with my email address---the Earthlink address will be going away!! This week! So please make a note to use ghostponygallery@gmail.com from here on out.
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