Donna Clair

Southwest Contemporary Artist

Author: Donna Clair

WORD PAINTINGS #96 – LISTENING TO MOUNTAINS III – AWAKENING

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“HIGH COUNTRY MONDAY MORNING” It wasn’t difficult for me to adjust to life on the horse ranch.  In the beginning I felt caught between two very alien planets.  Santa Fe’s over the top social scene, the intense competition in a newly developing art market, trying to earn a living from making and selling paintings was […]

WORD PAINTINGS #95 – GONE TO SANCTUARY

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Llano Quemado Studio this morning – finished paintings and works in progress. 3 July 2020 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico) – Up at 4AM today – thinking, thinking, thinking- bad case of monkey-mind.  Turned on Morning Joe – he is such a bloviator! Switched him off after five minutes.  Tried to go back to sleep…nope…fixed a […]

WORD PAINTINGS #94 – LISTENING TO MOUNTAINS II

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There definitely is a certain poetry to life and it is usually discovered through the distance of time.  Waking up to reality, deep awareness is not for everyone.  I did not choose to wake up and gratefully scotch was helping me stay numb to many events from my childhood.  Debilitating panic attacks were frequent visitors.  […]

WORD PAINTINGS #93 – LISTENING TO MOUNTAINS Part One

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  7 June 2020 – Llano Quemado, N.M. – Caught up in all the drama and chaos of these past three months – have been self-isolating since the beginning of March.  Relearning how to live on my own….laundry, mopping and the damned dishes!  Can’t comprehend the scope of the death from the virus and the […]

WORD PAINTINGS #92 – INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN

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Llano Quemado, New Mexico –   Unable to think of much else since making the decision to go ahead and share my experience, strength and hope.  Have tried to talk myself out of this, but the urge to persist is with me every day now.  Perhaps there might be just one other woman out there struggling […]

WORD PAINTINGS #91 – CLOUDS FROM BOTH SIDES NOW

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26 May 2020 – Llano Quemado, N.M. – Sat in the sun on the old railroad bench in front of the house this morning.  A wide band of low clouds forming in the northeast over Taos Mountain and the Pecos foothills.  A matching bank of clouds slowly building over the low mountains to the southeast, […]

WORD PAINTINGS #90 – REBIRTH

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24 MAY 2020 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico – An old habit of mine is to give permission to start life over anytime I experience major shifts or changes.  Turning 80 last year and after some major health issues, every day has been a New Beginning.  The minute my eyes open, I experience a delightful […]

WORD PAINTINGS #89 – FROM DARK TO LIGHT!

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21 May 2020 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico – One day it dawned on me that the way I painted (dark to light) was a metaphor for all of Life!  My darkest times have usually been followed by a blissful period of “enlightenment”…a time when I breathed a sigh of relief to have run the […]

WORD PAINTINGS #88 – SPRING CLEANING

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20 May 2020 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico – Turned off the heat, opened the windows, changed the bed – did the laundry.  Washed my summer painting clothes – linen pants, blue jeans.  Doing simple tasks for the past two weeks, trying to gain some equilibrium in what is being called our “new normal”. Adjustments […]

WORD PAINTINGS #87 – INTO THE LIGHT

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LLano Quemado, New Mexico – 25 April 2020 –  The coyote family down by the river sang me to sleep last night!   Smiled on my way to Dreamland. Unable to write for a while – have truly been “out of words”. Began my quarantine March 1st, so today I’ve had time to think about […]

WORD PAINTINGS #86 – RADICAL FAITH

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Llano Quemado, New Mexico – 2 April 2020  Sometimes a ray of hope is a simple shadow made by a ventilation pipe and a canale on a certain day every year – and that is the day you just happen to plan a field trip shortly after the loss of a child. And there it […]

WORD PAINTINGS #85 – RESPITE

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Llano Quemado, New Mexico – 3/17/20  – Taking the day off today.  All hell broke loose last Friday when the shelves at Smith’s Grocery in town were bare to the bone!  Thought I was calm as a cucumber until today when I STOPPED!  I bought into the panic buying with a large pantry order on […]

WORD PAINTINGS #84 – SOCIAL DISTANCING

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Llano Quemado, N.M. – 13 March 2020…..Taking stock today – going to give in and self-quarantine for two months.  A lot of work to do – many changes.  Above image is my new 40″x40″ painting of Truchas – “First Snow”.  The frame has been delivered just waiting for me to complete this canvas.  Another instance […]

WORD PAINTINGS #83 – O WHERE O WHERE IS CHICHICASTENANGO?

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21 February 2020 -Llano Quemado, New Mexico –  Last night Josh Gates, Archaeologist and Explorer (Expedition Unknown) began a trek to the Pre-Classic Mayan site of El Mirador in Guatemala (dates back to 2000 BC!).  Was so excited to see them fly into Guatemala City, stock up supplies, load their gear onto helicopters and fly […]

WORD PAINTINGS #82 – DOING DISHES

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Llano Quemado, N.M. – 20 February 2020 -A light snow this morning – whole bunch of jobs lined up, a resistance to all of them at first – too easy to stay in bed!  One foot in front of another; one day at a time!  Still playing catch up after last year’s dramas.  Yes, a […]

WORD PAINTINGS #81 – RACHEL CORRIE

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  THE WORDS OF RACHEL CORRIE (b1979-d2003) ON LEAVING HER HOME IN OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON… We are all born and someday we’ll all die. Most likely to some degree alone. What if our aloneness isn’t a tragedy? What if our aloneness is what allows us to speak the truth without being afraid? What if our aloneness […]

WORD PAINTINGS #80 – FROM THE PORTAL

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“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with… There’s no place like home.” Dorothy – The Wizard of Oz Studio #5/20 – HUNTER’S MOON (10/12/2019 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico […]

TAOS SUMMER STORM – New Archival Print

TAOS SUMMER STORM – Now available as an archival print, along with many other great items at Fine Art America – https://fineartamerica.com/…/taos-summer-storm-donna-clair.…

WORD PAINTINGS #79 – TO BE CONTINUED….

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5 December 2019 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico    Snowstorm predicted for today – all hunkered down and ready to hibernate.  The pantry and freezer are all filled up.  You would think I live a thousand miles from the nearest store…got caught in that great Chicago blizzard (’67 ?) with 3 hungry babies – have never […]

WORD PAINTINGS #78 – ORDINARY DAYS CONTINUED….

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THANKSGIVING DAY – 28 November 2019 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico Up at 6AM – Out to the kitchen to make my coffee….silence. Snowstorm during the night – about two inches on the ground.  A soft light creeping over the foothills towards Pecos.  Nothing moving – complete stillness – a moment in time when the […]

GIVING THANKS….

“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. […]

WORD PAINTINGS #77 – “ORDINARY DAYS”

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TAOS MOUNTAIN – 7 NOVEMBER 2019 “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. […]

WORD PAINTINGS #76 – “OUT OF THE WILDERNESS”

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                                  ROAD TO WILDERNESS GATE (Truchas, New Mexico) Llano Quemado, New Mexico – 2 November 2019 – This painting always reminds me of the day I was lost in a small meadow while hiking to the top of Truchas Peaks with a group of friends.  So out of shape from sitting at the easel every […]

IN THE STUDIO TODAY!

10/29/19 – Llano Quemado, N.M. – Today in the studio!  (Photo Credit: Doug Yeager)

YOU ARE INVITED…..

Inviting you to take a peek at the paintings and prints now available from my Online Gallery/Store: DIAS DE ORO (Days of Gold, Truchas, New Mexico) – Studio Edition Archival Print – PREVIEW…. ENJOY!

WORD PAINTINGS #75 – GOING TO GROUND

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Hunter’s Moon – view from the front portal Llano Quemado – 19 October 2019 Some people are slower than others to understand what it means to live in the present; I was one of them!  Seemed to bounce from one drama to another this year – very little painting – until now.  This weekend a […]

WORD PAINTINGS #74 – THE LAY OF THE LAND

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LLANO QUEMADO, NEW MEXICO – 13 October 2019   The studios in Tesuque and Victor Court were not open to the sky and they were very claustrophobic.  Had talked with a friend and discussed a field trip north to Cimarron or the San Luis Valley.  Almost gasping for space – clouds, sunsets – mountains….views!  Saw some […]

WORD PAINTINGS #73 – FIVE FINGER EXERCISES

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6 October 2019 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico   SMALL PAINTINGS 2020 Coming back to life is a slow process.  Have not been able to paint very much this year.  Likening this time to what a ballerina must feel like after breaking a toe – all the muscle memory must be brought back to life before […]

WORD PAINTINGS #72 – SEEING DINOSAURS

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  Las Nubes de Truchas (The Clouds of Truchas) As soon as there is stopping, there is happiness. There is peace. When we stop like that, it looks as if nothing is happening, but in fact everything is happening. You are deeply established in the present moment, and you touch your cosmic body. You touch […]

WORD PAINTINGS #71 – INTO THE DREAM

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Making Room “Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall […]

#1519WorkinProg. – DON GREGORIO’S WINTER FIELD, NEW 48″X36 – UNDERPAINTING

Srudio No. 1519 Work in Progress (Underpainting)-DON GREGORIO’S WINTER FIELD – 48″x36″ Oil on Belgian Linen – Painted over toned ground and oil sketch.  Sky: Paynes Grey, Prussian Blue & Mars Black.  Trees, Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna – some Chrome Oxide Green Opaque. Snow (all blue & White middle tones: Titanium White and same […]

WORD PAINTINGS #70 – DANCING WITH MY EASEL

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Llano Quemado, New Mexico – 8/16/19 – My synapses are firing again!!! It has been such a long time since I felt connected to my easel.  It is almost human – stares at me accusingly if I am not working, laughs at my avoidance routines, makes me feel guilty for taking a nap when I […]

48″x36″ WORK IN PROGRESS (Oil Sketch) -DON GREGORIO’S WINTER FIELD

  STUDIO #1519 WORK IN PROGRESS – DON GREGORIO’S WINTER FIELD 48″X36″ – Centurion Linen Canvas.  Toned Ground: Two coats Gesso mixed with Payne’s Grey acrylic – mix intensity to your liking.  Sketch – Oil paint mixed with Winsor-Newton Distilled Turpentine – Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue, Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and some Ochre and […]

WORD PAINTINGS #69 – HEAVEN, I’M IN HEAVEN!

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Llano Quemado, New Mexico 8/11/2019 – Moved into this new studio/home exactly three weeks ago.  Most of the moving boxes are gone – now it is down to sorting and putting things where they belong.  Windows everywhere –  360 deg. views – monsoon clouds and spectacular sunsets.  Last night hellacious thunder and lightning.  Three easels […]

WORD PAINTINGS #68 – THE SHAMAN’S BLESSING

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9 August 2019 – Llano Quemado, New Mexico…..Back in the day I had close connections in El Paso.  And today I am thinking of the people who live there.  Some of my best days were spent selling paintings, having lunch at Juliio’s in Juarez, grocery shopping at the Pronaf – making new friends on both […]

WORD PAINTINGS #67 – A BLANK PAGE IN MY BOOK OF LIFE

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30 July 2019 – Llano Quemado, N.M.   How do you eat an elephant? …..one bite at a time!  Heard this expression years ago.  It is so good to be reminded that whenever Life comes at me in big, unmanageable chunks, I need to stop whatever I thought needed to be done immediately and just sit […]

WORD PAINTINGS #66 – FIFTY-TWO MONSOONS

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Llano Quemado, N.M. – 27 July 2019 – This year’s monsoon season seems to be happening all around me, only one brief storm Thursday afternoon.  No reason for complaint – have lived in this new studio for about ten days. Surrounded by mountains, I sit on an old railroad bench under the portal and watch […]

WORD PAINTINGS # 65 – LEAVING SANTISTEVAN LANE

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Taos, New Mezico – Sunday morning, 14 July 2019.  Have tried not to think too much about my departure from this place – this move was not planned – it was harsh and sudden.    Two months after my surgery, I was basically evicted.  AAAArgh!  Santistevan Lane has been my home for 25 years – […]

WORD PAINTINGS #64 – LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES!

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Seven days in the hospital and finally I was told I could go home.  Said goodbye to all the wonderful nurses and aides on the Trauma Ward.  Wheelchair to the parking lot and reintroduced to brilliant sunshine – clouds, fresh air.  A friend drove the shortest route back to Taos.  To my great surprise, I […]

WORD PAINTINGS #63 -ADIOS A LA VIDA AND HELLO AGAIN!

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“And the Moon said to me – My darling, you do not have to be whole in order to shine!” Taos – 29 June 2019 – Yesterday I called my genius computer friend, Dan Kuehn, and asked him if we could revive my Word Paintings blog – I was ready to tell my stories again. […]