Southwestern Landscapes in Pastel by Alene: 6/28/09

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Fourth of July

July is the perfect time for a road trip to the desert. Next week I'm going out to Death Valley to work as a medical volunteer at the Badwater Ultramarathon. I can't wait to get out there again. I'm flying to Las Vegas, but after that it will be road tripping.

It's been hot, in the 120s. It could be 130 degrees. I love the blast of heat, rolling the windows down, no A/C, like driving through an oven. I look forward to taking some time after the race, on my way back, to take pictures and check out some of the scenery that I've never had a chance to look at closely. All the times I've been out there in the past I've been either training, racing, or crewing.

Badwater, Panamint Dunes, Devil's Cornfield, Devil's Golf Course, Artist's Drive, and many other places along the race course will be great subjects for painting.

Too hot, you think? Not for me. I titled this old painting:

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Sometimes, it sucks...

Some days are better than others. When you end up with something like this, you have to laugh at it, get it off the easel, and move on.

Almost a Mohawk...

I showed this to Dennis when he got home and he thinks the spikes are too light. I will have to think about it...

The Mohawk Strikes Again (Still in Progress)

Cactus with a Mohawk Too
24 x 18 on Mi-Teintes paper

The Mohawk needs some work.

About the Artist

Artist Bio

Alene paints southwestern-inspired landscapes in pastel. Her formal art training began after her academic training in forestry and earning a doctorate in natural resources recreation. She started painting in acrylics and mixed media, then discovered pastels as her favorite medium, studying under pastelist Alene Rucker of Mesa, Arizona. She now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she works from her home studio.

As an outdoors enthusiast and longtime ultraendurance runner, she loves to run in the desert and mountains. Her paintings are inspired by the sights, sounds, and energy of the landscape in the colorful and rugged places through which she runs. Alene observes the subtle and dramatic changes in light and shadows throughout the days and seasons, and re-creates these in her paintings. She accentuates the effects of wind, sun, weather, and time, and emphasizes motion in the skies, using rich textures of paper and bold colors of pastels to draw the viewer into the scene and share the feelings of being there.

Her work has been described as "imaginative and inspiring" and "a sense of wonder in vibrant color". Alene says of her work, "When I'm running, I go way back on trails into places that most people never see. I see old buildings and structures remaining from the past, they remind me of how we used to live in a simpler time. The elements of the desert and mountain landscapes inspire me, clouds moving across the sky, colors in the rocks, energy in the trees and plant life, I try to capture all of this in my paintings."

Southwestern Landscapes in Pastel by Alene