Friends and jury-riggings

Beatty is full of people who like to look after The Artist. The McCoys, caretakers of the Open Air Museum up the road a piece, drop in to make sure I haven’t fallen off the step ladder or been bitten by a tarantula. (No, Del, I won’t show another one of the critters, although I think they are  cute).

John Donahoe, who bought one of my paintings last year and who has a fine greyhound who respects the Studio and its artist, lent me the precise step stool I need to reach the top of the big canvases. I can actually reach the top standing on the floor, but it’s uncomfortable. With John’s stepstool, I can stand on the first step, hang onto the back of the stool with my left hand and paint with my right. Not a lot of danger there:

Then Richard Stephens showed up with a box of oil paints for me and two flutes that he made. They use a pentatonic scale, that sound that sends shivers up your spine. I made him play both in the barn and out, because I wanted to hear how the sound changed.

And I got a photo of the Red Barn from behind, looking out at the scenery from just up the hill to the north. I can never get enough photos of this scenery (although Jer seems to be stealing the show with his new equipment and better eye):

I have two small masonite board studies of Panels # 2 and #7, and I have started painting canvas panels #1 and #2. None are done well enough to be seen too publicly yet; i’m learning about clear gessoed linen and figure by the time I’ve finished the seven monsters, I might know something about how to paint it. I threw out the small-scale linen back wall panel; it was too muddy to save. I copied down where the big forms would be placed so I still have the scheme for the large pieces. Now all I have to do is paint them. Maybe next time I post I’ll have a painting worth showing. Or maybe not…… –June

Tags: Amargosa Desert, Beatty Nevada, Desert painting, oil painting