Donna Clair

Southwest Contemporary Artist

Author: Donna Clair

LLANO QUEMADO – CLOUDS 9/15/21

 Llano Quemado 9/15/21 – From the little bench on the front portal – the clouds were so spectacular all day – I photographed until my little camera told me its “battery was exhausted”!

SILENCE – Thomas Merton

 “To deliver oneself up, hand oneself over, entrust oneself completely to the silence of a wide landscape of woods and hill, or sea, or desert: to sit still while the sun comes up over the land and fills its silence with light. To pray and work in the morning and to labor in meditation in […]

STUDIO #2121-THUNDERSPIRITS – 40″X30″ Work in Progress

 Studio #2121 – THUNDERSPIRITS  – Work in Progress – (Monsoon Clouds – Llano Quemado, New Mexico) 40″x30″ Original Oil on Belgian Linen    Darks: Payne’s Grey, Cobalt Blue, Blue Grey   Middle Tones Clouds: Mixture of Blue Grey, Light Greys, Portland Blue Grey Cool – variety of Holbein Greys – Sky:  Blue Grey, King’s Grey Lights: […]

WORD PAINTINGS #112 – DUST DEVILS AND A DOUBLE RAINBOW!

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  12 August 2021 -Llano Quemado, New Mexico – Early Evening view from my front portal – storm has moved off to Eastern foothills.  The sun is coming in low from the West.              _______________________________________________   15 August 2021 – Low rumblings and grumblings – thunder and dark clouds moving in from the eastern foothills […]

DON GREGORIO’S WINTER FIELD – 48″x36″ Original Oil – Available

     The view from my front door of the little adobe house I rented from Susie Romero when I lived in Truchas many, many years ago – always changing, always beautiful!!! Brought me great joy to look at this special place every day! Now available at Chimayo Trading del Norte in Ranchos de Taos […]

WORD PAINTINGS #111 – THIS HOUSE OF CLOUDS AND BIRDS

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1 August 2021 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) – Sleepy Sunday afternoon.  Actually a long nap sounds wonderful right now.  Waiting for my yard helpers Gerald and Junior.  These brothers have been helping me keep up landscape appearances for almost 20 years.  Only needed to do the yard once last year – no real monsoon season.  […]

Word Paintings #110 – MONSOON

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MONSOON – (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) – 6″x8″ Original Oil-Available  “Put a man in the wrong atmosphere and nothing will function as it should. He will seem unhealthy in every part. Put him back into his proper element and everything will blossom and look healthy.” ~LudwigWittgenstein   15 July 2021 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) –  6:30 […]

WORD PAINTINGS #109 – RETURN TO LIFE

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17 May 2021 – ON MY EASEL TODAY – Works in Progress (Underpaintings) – RIO FERNANDO (New Mexico) 40″x30″ and LOS CAMPOS DEL LLANO, 24″x30″ Original Oils. 20 June 2021 – 6AM (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) – A month since I’ve posted.  Joyfully returning to some semblance of normalcy. This was a week of firsts.  […]

Eight New Paintings to Chimayo Trading today!!!!

  25 May 2021 – Eight New Original Oil Paintings to be delivered to Chimayo Trading Del Norte in Ranchos de Taos Plaza today – New 4500 sq. foot expansion of original space – Gabe and Alicia Abrums, Owners – Stop in and say “Hi”. 

ON MY EASEL TODAY – 5/16/21

On my Easel today – Two Works in Progress (Underpaintings) – RIO FERNANDO, 40″x30″ and LOS CAMPOS del Llano 24″x30.

WORD PAINTINGS #108 – INTO THE DREAMTIME

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25 April 2021 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico – Sitting in front of a blank canvas waiting to make that first brushstroke is exciting-much like opening the first page of a much anticipated book – it is a mystery, a surprise and you never know how it will end ……unless you begin!  Real life is […]

IN THE STUDIO – PREPARING MY CANVASES

5/8/21 (Llano Quemado, N.M.) – A Toned Ground. Preparing to Paint. Mix in aluminum can (not plastic!) – I use Jerry’s Gesso (Artarama), acrylic Payne’s Grey and water – not too thck and not to thin.  It usually takes two coats for a good ground. I like a medium grey.  Apply second coat only after […]

HUICHOL

  Remembering the years when I did a lot of pastel paintings – A Huichol man from Mexico at the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe many years ago!

WORD PAINTINGS #107 – WITH EYES TO SEE…

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  28 March 2021 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) – By definition I am a “studio” painter – which means I bring my source material back to my easel and stay with the work until it is finished.   There must be a million ways to make a painting.  the key is to just start and […]

  SANTISTEVAN LANE (Taos, New Mexico) – Prints, greeting cards and many other great items now available at Fine Art America…https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-donna-clair  

DON JUAN’S PARADISE – Studio Edition Print

  DON JUAN’S PARADISE (Valdez, New Mexico) – Studio Edition Print – (17″x22″ paper size) now available at my online Gallery/Store – https://www.ebay.com/str/Donna-Clair-Art… 

CHIMAYO TRADING DEL NORTE (Ranchos de Taos Plaza)

  Twelve small to medium original oils will be delivered to Chimayo Trading Del Norte (Ranchos de Taos Plaza) later this morning. A few of my larger paintings are also on display. Gabe and Alicia Abrums have expanded their space from 2000 sq. ft. to 4500 sq. ft. When in Taos, stop in to say […]

WORD PAINTINGS #106 – AWAKENING

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13 March 2019 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico…..8:30 AM…..Taos Mountain obscured by heavy clouds, hazy poetry.  Brief weather forecast last night – snow in the mountains. It snowed in Denver yesterday.  The weather is changing, the time changes on Sunday – everything is Change!  Went to the clinic yesterday for my second vaccine – easy […]

CIELO AZUL – NEW 40″X40″ Original Oil, Framed

 CIELO AZUL (Cerro Pedernal, Abiquiu, New Mexico) – NEW 40″x40″ Original Oil Painting on Belgian Linen, Framed – now available at Online Gallery/Store –https://www.ebay.com/itm/393148600329  

Camino De Llano Quemado

                   2/20/21 – Camino De Llano Quemado, New Mexico – fifty degrees!

WORD PAINTINGS #105 – FINDING SANCTUARY

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“The images of peace are ephemeral. The language of peace is subtle. The reasons for peace, the definitions of peace, the very idea of peace have to be invented, and invented again. Children, everybody, here’s what to do during war: In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. […]

  Have been saving this Langston Hughes poem “The Dreamkeeper” for many years – time to share these beautiful words….   Bring me all of your dreams you dreamer Bring me all of your heart melodies That I may write them down In a blue-cloud cloth Away from the too tough fingers of the world.

LAZY RIVER DREAMING (Pilar, New Mexico) – 30″x24 Work in Progress

LAZY RIVER DREAMING (Rio Grande at Pilar, New Mexico) – New 30″x24 Work in Progress – Glazes & Middle Tones. Glazes are usually the dark colors on your palette thinned to a transparency with painting medium.  Middle tones are a mixture of opaque colors and glazes. Color Notes:  Sky: Permalba wite, Cerulean Blue.  Hills: Holbein […]

ALMOST HOME – Studio Edition Print

ALMOST HOME (RIO CHIQUITO, NEW MEXICO) – Studio Edition Print – (17″x22″ paper size) now available at my online Gallery/Store – https://www.ebay.com/str/Donna-Clair-Art?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

DON JUAN’S PARADISE – Studio Edition Print

DON JUAN’S PARADISE (Valdez, New Mexico) – Large Studio Edition print (17″x22″ sheet size) now available at my online Gallery/Store – https://www.ebay.com/str/Donna-Clair-Art?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

EL VALLE SIN NOMBRE – Studio Edition Print

EL VALLE SIN NOMBRE (Valley Without a Name – Northern New Mexico) – Studio Edition Print (17″x22″ sheet size” now available at my Online Gallery/Store – https://www.ebay.com/str/Donna-Clair-Art…

MORNING POEM – Large Studio Edition Print

MORNING POEM (Santistevan Lane-Taos, New Mexico) – Large Studio Edition Print (17″x22″ Sheet Size) – now available at my Online Gallery/Store – https://www.ebay.com/str/Donna-Clair-Art…

CANTO HONDO (Deep Song – Llano San Juan, New Mexico) – Large Studio Edition Print – 17″x22″ sheet size. Now available at Online Gallery/Store – Preview/Purchase

WORD PAINTINGS #104 – MAKING A PAINTING

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It takes patience and courage to “become” an artist – the truth is you never stop “becoming”.  This is the best part! That blank canvas staring at you from the easel is full of mystery and promise. Then again it might turn out to be the ugliest things the world has ever seen!  You will […]

WORD PAINTINGS #103 – A WANDERING MIND

FIRST SNOW (Truchas, New Mexico) New 40″x40″ Original Oil – Sold   16 October 2020 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico.  Can you believe it? Only 18 more days until the election!  Morning memories, thoughts are sometimes very powerful. Today a connection was made to my childhood comparing that time to these last four years of […]

LAZY RIVER DREAMING (Rio Grande at Pilar) – New 30″x24 Work in Progress – Glazes

LAZY RIVER DREAMING (Rio Grande at Pilar, New Mexico) – New 30″x24 Work in Progress – Glazes & Middle Tones. Glazes are usually the dark colors on your palette thinned to a transparency with painting medium.  Middle tones are a mixture of opaque colors and glazes. Color Notes:  Sky: Permalba wite, Cerulean Blue.  Hills: Holbein […]

LAZY RIVER DREAMING (Pilar, New Mexico) – NEW 30″x24″ Work in Progress

 LAZY RIVER DREAMING (Pilar, New Mexico) – 30″x24″ Work in Progress – Underpainting.  On Blue Gray toned ground.Most Colors mixed with Grumbacher MG Underpainting White & Winsor Newton Distilled Turpentine. Hills: Burnt Sienna, Ochre, Payne’s Grey.  River: Prussian Blue, Permalba White.  Foliage: Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque.

WORD PAINTINGS #102 – MAKING SPACE TO CREATE

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Creativity begins with the heart and mind….however there is so much more to making a painting than hopes and wishes….. Here is the first in my series of “sharing my painting secrets” blog posts.  Back in the day I created and taught a very popular workshop called “The Craft of Painting”.  Artists and newbies came […]

WORD PAINTINGS #101 – SECOND THOUGHTS

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9/23/20 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) – Yesterday the United States reached a turning point of over 200,000 deaths from the Corona virus.  It was 191,000 when I wrote the following blog post on the 9th.   In light of all the losses this year – jobs, incomes, fires, hurricanes and all the ever-emerging human tragedies at […]

8/31/20 – MY MORNING STUDIO

8/31/20 – Llano Quemado, NM – My morning Studio today. Hunter’s Moon on the big easel will be varnished today and will be framed to ship to a new client in Massachusetts. First Snow (on the floor) – hope to have it completed by the end of the week – then shipped to long time […]

WORD PAINTINGS #100 – TODAY IS ALL WE HAVE

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DON GREGORIO’S WINTER FIELD – 48″X36″ ORIGINAL OIL  23 August 2020 (Llano Quemado -Taos, New Mexico) – Life is uncertain.  Taos Mountain is obscured by smoke from the raging fires in California and Arizona.  The Medio fire that began in Tesuque near Santa Fe contributes to the soft blurry haziness.  My neighbor’s forty or fifty […]

WORD PAINTINGS #99 – LISTENING TO MOUNTAINS V – Birthday Girl!

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COSME’S OAKS – Friend Cosme Romero Mayordomo of Truchas for many years LLANO QUEMADO – TRUCHAS, N.M. – September 3, 1984….We had a party! My 44th birthday celebration. Made pots of green chile and posole, nachos, tortillas – and many, many margaritas.  Pedro Ribera Ortega the local geneologist and historian sat under the portal for […]

WORD PAINTINGS #98 – MONSOON!!!!

7/18/20 – MONSOON CLOUDS – LLANO QUEMADO, NEW MEXICO 3 August 2020 (Llano Quemado, N.M.) 6AM – The kitchen window is open about 6 inches – very cold air is pouring in – thinking that it will only be about five weeks before there will be the first snow on Taos Mountain and Truchas Peaks. […]

WORD PAINTINGS #97 – LISTENING TO MOUNTAINS IV – NEW LIFE

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HOME, HOME ON THE RANCH (LLANO QUEMADO, TRUCHAS, NEW MEXICO) 1983 – Llano Quemado, Truchas, New Mexico – The horse trailers with our six new guests arrived in late winter after the first of the year.  Three were definitely with foal.  We purchased many bales of hay in anticipation and when the day came, we […]