The Stillness of Time

 

My painting, titled Stillness of Time, oil, 30" x 40" received the Wilson Hurley Enchantment Award recently at the Masterworks of New Mexico Fine Art Show in Albuquerque. This is a prestigious award, and I am honored to have been awarded this ribbon for the second year in a row. 

Canal Walk at Sunset

The City of Albuquerque purchased my painting Canal Walk At Sunset, oil, 22" x 28". The painting was one of 31 works (out of 500 entries) selected by the Public Art Urban Enhancement Division to be displayed in public buildings. Below is a photo of Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and me standing beside my painting, which was hung on the mayor's floor in City Hall. The mayor said he looks at the painting everyday on his way into work. The painting is of a view of two small figures walking beside an acequia that flows through the city. The late afternoon sun shines on the Sandia Mountains in the background.

Desert In Spring

 

This studio oil painting, 14"x18", is of an area along highway 87 between Payson and Mesa and is one of my favorite scenic routes to drive in Arizona. For a desert, the Sonoran can be quite green, especially when there is a little water around. This is a backlit subject, one of my favorite vantage points from which to paint.

Untitled

Here is a small 6 x 8 oil painting I did as a demo for a student this morning. A larger studio piece of a similar theme shall be forth coming. BTW, I am offering an 8-week oil painting class titled, Clouds & Sky in the Landscape starting July 7 in my Albuquerque studio. Please visit my website for details: www.tomblazier.com.

Before the Storm

My intention with this 14" x 18" oil is to convey a moody, dramatic scene with cast shadows from clouds of an approaching storm.

October Afternoon

Here is another plein air piece, 11" x 14", oil, painted over two afternoons in October near Taos, New Mexico. Placing everything in cloud shadows except the area around the tree allowed for heightened drama and focus on the middle ground.

Arroyo Seco

Arroyo Seco, 11" x 14", oil. A two morning effort near Taos, New Mexico. Finished in the studio.

Field of Dreams

This studio piece titled Field of Dreams, oil, 14" x 12" is another attempt at keeping the composition simple/minimalist. The result is a meditative, serene or even dream-like effect. I am drawn to the beauty of clouds, which are, themselves, formed from a few simple ingredients: moisture, dust, heat and air currents. From these is formed towering giants containing incredible energy, all of which happens over a period of just a few hours — only to fade away by day's end. The water particles suspended in the cloud can reflect light from the ground, sky, other clouds and city lights as well as direct light from the sun and moon. Changing shape, size, value and color from one moment to the next, clouds are a constant source of drama and mood throughout the day.

Afternoon Cloudburst

Recently completed, Afternoon Cloudburst, oil, 30" x 40", is an example of how I am working toward a more minimalist approach to my sky-themed landscape paintings. The location  is nowhere in particular. Therefore, attention is focused without distraction on the drama playing out in the sky. The ground, although subordinate, holds its own with a dramatic play of light and cast shadow. Overall, I feel the painting has an almost meditative quality to it.

Raindrop Road

Here is another painting I had ready for the gallery, but the pandemic has shut everything done. Raindrop Road, oil, 40" x 30" was recently completed.  I was striving for a sense of monumentality and distance in the sky by minimizing the value and color contrasts between sky and clouds.

Serenidad de la Playa

Serenidad de la Playa (Serenity of the Beach), oil, 36" x 36".  This painting is one of five larger paintings I have recently completed with intentions of placing them in galleries. Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closing of galleries. Artists are not "immune" to the negative financial impact brought on by the virus. If it is within your budget, please consider purchasing some original artwork from a favorite artist. They (and I) will appreciate it!

Elephant Rock — old and new!

"Elephant Rock," oil, 24" x 36" is a painting of a butte in Sedona that I painted some time ago.  I decided to make some changes/improvements on it recently. I decided to change the sky, adjust the foreground values/hues a tad and ad a yellow glaze in the sunlight areas. Below is the painting the way it looked originally. Last, I changed the title of the painting from the mistitled "Mammoth Rock to "Elephant Rock".  I think the changes were an improvement, heightening the drama. Well, maybe not with the title.

"Elephant Rock" is one of my paintings that will be available for purchase August 15-19 at the 2019 Albuquerque Art Showcase, New Mexico's Fine Art Expo. The event begins with the Gala Preview August 15, drew which show opens too the public August 16 - 19 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. More than 125 artists will have works in the show. Stop by the booth featuring the banner with my name, where I will have framed and unframed oil paintings - including some award winning - for sale. I look forward to seeing you there!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

GALA PREVIEW NIGHT

Benefiting Children's Cancer Fund of NM — I will among the participating artists who have agreed to donate 20% of proceeds from sales this night to the Children's Cancer Fund.

Tickets are $75 each

Thursday, August 15, 2019 - 6-9 p.m.

Purchase tickets for the gala at www.holdmyticket.com.

VIEWING HOURS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Friday August 16 - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. - $10 admission

Saturday August 17 - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - $10 admission

Sunday August 18 - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - free - Local Treasure

Monday August 19 - 19 a.m. to 4 p.m. - free - Business Brunch 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

For more information about the 2019 Albuquerque Art Showcase, visit the website: www.abqartshowcase.org.

Visit my website at www.tomblazier.com.

Valles Caldera Sky

The challenge here is to portray grasslands that stretch for miles. Cast shadows from clouds and modulation of values and color saturation help to create the effect. This 9" x 12" oil started out as a plein air piece and was completed in the studio.

Santa Rita Mountains

Here is another, somewhat quickly done, plein air piece, 9" x 12", painted during a recent trip to southern Arizona. A birder's paradise, the Santa Rita Mountains are said to be the only place in the United States inhabited at times by four species of cat: mountain lion, bobcat, ocelot and ... jaguar. On a previous trip, we caught a glimpse of a coatimundi, an unusual looking member of the raccoon family.

Tumacacori Mission

This plein air piece, 8" x 10" oil, was painted recently at Tumacacori Mission in southern Arizona during the Plein Air on the Santa Cruz event and exhibition (in the town of Tubac). It was a fun, multi-day event and participants stayed at Rancho Santa Cruz in the verdant riparian zone of the  Santa Cruz River. The painting was awarded a second place prize.

Roziamento Trail Arroyo

 
Here is a view from the arroyo along the Rozamiento Trail in Albuquerque during a morning plein air painting session Saturday. The backlit Sandia Mountains loom in the distance behind a cottonwood tree and blooming chamisa on this beautiful early fall day. 12" x 9" oil. 

Overlook View

Here is a painting done at the White Rock Overlook during the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico's paintout last week in Los Alamos, NM. This was a stunning vista view with the Rio Grande winding its way below. The painting was completed in consecutive mornings.

Hiker's Reward

"Hiker's Reward", oil, 11" x 14" is a plein air painting of the Sandia Mountains as seen from Elena Gallegos Open Space in Albuquerque. I spent parts of three August mornings working on this painting on location. The open space is a popular hiking, biking horseback riding and picnicking area immediately east of the city. Albuquerque is at an elevation of 5,312 feet. Add another 5,367 feet and you are on the top of the Sandias. On the crest of the mountain is a restaurant that is accessed by the Sandia Peak Tramway, the worlds longest aerial tram ride (2.7 miles).

La Cueva Arroyo

Plein air piece, La Cueva Arroyo, oil, 9" x 12", painted at the end of August near the Sandia Mountains in Albuqueque. Clouds cast shadows on a varied terrain in the afternoon. Gnats are particularly abundant in this area of the foothills. They're just one of an assortment of distractions intended to torment the plein air painter. They get in the corner of your eyes, around your nose, and they buzz in your ears. Repellent works to an extent. The breeze, or wind, can, at times, also be trouble. But on a day like this, when the gnats are around, regular breezes can be your friend! Another challenge are the occasional vehicles that drive by, stirring up dust. A couple from Spain who were walking along the road, stopped to talk. They knew a few words of English, and I, even fewer words of Spanish. It's amazing how much you can manage to communicate, even with such limitations. I completed this painting in two outings. Some gnats are probably embedded in the painting surface. A true mark of authenticity!

At Pecos Monastery

Here's a plein air painting, 9" x 14", oil, done this past Sunday on the grounds of Pecos Benedictine Monastery in Pecos, New Mexico. Members of Plein Air Painters of New Mexico were there to paint for the day.

Afternoon Shower

The summer monsoon has finally begun to bring much needed precip to the Southwest, which is in the midst of a severe drought. This 12" x 10" oil on panel helps preserve the memory of what are usually brief events. Storms in the Southwest are much more appreciated and anticipated than storms experienced in Pennsylvania, where I spent my younger years. The wide open spaces also can make for more dramatic skies as formation of towering cumulonimbus clouds take center stage.

Ghostly Ranch

This nocturne painting titled Ghostly Ranch, 9" x 14", oil, is of Georgia O'Keeffe country in northern New Mexico.  Silhoutted shapes in moonlight create a dreamy nighttime perspective of  this enchanted landscape.

Full Moon and Clouds

Here I have a photo of a 14" x 6 studio oil painting I snuck into my recent Twilight Skies show a couple of weeks after the opening. I am intrigued by the subject of well formed cumulus clouds surviving after sunset and illuminated by the moon, something I don't see very often in Albuquerque.  I thought the strong vertical format of this painting imparted a greater sense of towering clouds. Diagonal lines in the lower cloud and sky helped to reinforce that effect. I am considering doing some larger paintings of cumulonimbus (storm) clouds in moonlight, which will probably be best suited to a much larger sized painting.

Canal Walk at Sunset

I was recently notified that my painting, "Canal Walk at Sunset," oil,  22" x 28", is among 31 pieces by local artists that will be purchased by the City of Albuquerque for display in public buildings. I feel fortunate and honored that my painting was selected from the 500+ entries by more than 200 artists.

In New Mexico, canals and irrigation ditches are more commonly referred to by their Spanish name, "acequia." The cottonwood tree-lined acequia in the painting is west of the Rio Grande River in Albuquerque. The dirt roadway offers hikers and bikers a view of the Sandia Mountains in the background.

Jemez Moon

Jemez Moon, 8" x 10", oil is among the nocturne and sunset paintings included in my solo show, Twilight Skies, at Purple Sage Gallery in Old Town Albuquerque, which shows through the end of June.  This painting went through a major transformation from its plein air origins through the finished studio piece. Specifically, I've made the cloud and tree shapes more interesting.
Below is the early version, which is closer to the original plein air attempt.