El Santuario de Chimayo

The village of Chimayo is located just north of Santa Fe and is known for its church which was built in 1816 after a crucifix was discovered buried in the dirt. El Santuario de Chimayo has a long and interesting history (you can read more here about it's history) and is often referred to as the "Lourdes of America."

I have had my reference picture for this painting for several years now, but it wasn't until I was able to visit Santa Fe this winter and walked through several galleries, admiring the use of colors that I finally understood what I wanted to portray with my Chimayo painting.

I could've painted it exactly like my photo - a truer visual representation - but it was more important for me as an artist to capture my feeling of New Mexico, it's culture, it's local color. I'm so glad I did, because this was a lot more fun!

El Santuario de Chimayo

16"x20" acrylic on canvas, private collection

Autumn Gloria (Small Study)

For the beauty of the earth,

For the glory of the skies;

For the love which from our birth,

Over and around us lies;

Lord of all,

to Thee we raise

this our hymn of grateful praise!

~Folliott S. Pierpoint

"Autumn Gloria" (Small Study)

8"x10" oil on canvas $55+s/h

St. John's Anglican Church, Richmond

Last week, I had my first experience painting "en plein aire," French for "in the open air." For those of you who have never heard of that, it means that the artist paints outside, exposed to all the elements, straight from life. Let me tell you, it's very different from painting from a photo...mainly in that there's no cropping feature when you've got a wide panorama in front of you. I rely on my computer far more than I realize. I loved experimenting with the much looser style than I am used to painting indoors. You also have to paint quickly enough that you don't lose track of your lighting from when you started the painting.

A friend that I paint with from the gallery was kind enough to organize this for us at the Old South Plantation in Richmond. Located on the plantation is this quaint church, St. John's Old South Anglican. The plantation home was built in 1890, but I neglected to find out the history of the church itself and now can't find anything about it online.

I chose the angle from the pond across the road as I wanted the reflection of the church in the water. Strange noises which members of my group identified during our lunch break as ALLIGATOR made for a less than relaxing finish to my painting day. I was constantly looking behind me to make sure nothing was back there. I'm pretty happy with my first attempt, even if I did rush the end!