Time to Sketch

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**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

I love sketching trees, the deader, the better.
(Well, I do like live trees, too!)

This past week, I made my presentation to the committee that will determine which of the five finalists will be awarded the project to create public art for the McKinley County Courthouse Rotunda.  It's been fun – it's always fun to be in the running for a $100,000 award – and I learned a great deal about the county's cultural diversity and history while putting it all together.  Plus, I had the pleasure of figuring out my new Wacom tablet and tuning up my Powerpoint skills.  (In a future post, I'll write more about this project.)

But that's all done now.  While I wait for a decision, it's time to get back to tuning up some other skill – drawing.  Here in New Mexico, we have entered the monochrome season, a time best interpreted in pencil.  The glorious color of fall has passed.  Instead, the landscape is filled with ochres and umbers, dull yellows and browns.  Even the greens of the junipers and pines don't offer any relief, as they are a very dull, greyed-down green.  It's as if the world has been pulled into Photoshop with the color saturation dialed down to 5%.

While I wait for the snows of winter, which act as a sort of prism, breaking up the light and decorating the landscape with a rainbow of hues, I have pulled out my sketchbook and pencil.  It's a nothing-fancy kit.  The sketchbook is just something cheap I had lying around, and the pencil is so non-descript it doesn't even have a hardness rating stamped on it.  But I can make a dark mark, so it's probably something softer than a #2.

It's a very portable kit, and I am now taking hikes down into the canyon with it.  I find a rock outcrop with interesting shadows and cracks, or a tree (nearly dead or completely dead, the best kind of subject) and sit down.  Or, if I can't find a level-enough rock to sit on, I stand; a sketch only takes a few minutes, so I can tolerate standing.  It's a meditative process, and it's so much more satisfying than sitting at the computer, playing with the Wacom tablet and tweaking Powerpoint slides.  

But as enjoyable as sketching is, I am patiently waiting for this monochrome season to end.  My tubes of paint are at the ready.

New Mexico Arts Project: Working on the Proposal

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**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

Making some templates for sketches

I promised I'd offer updates on my New Mexico Arts Project, so here's the first!  If you didn't read my initial post on the McKinley County Courthouse Rotunda project, here's a quick summary.  I'm one of five finalists for the project, and I have to present a proposal to a committee on November 8th.  The project has as $100,000 budget and is part of the New Mexico Art In Public Places (AIPP) program.  The theme is:  "Culture of Place."

I'm doing the easy things first:  using the logical half of my brain to decide what materials to use, how to install the finished works, and what it will cost.  For the past few weeks, I've been seeking information from framers and installers.  Why don't I do these jobs myself?  I've decided that my true expertise lies in two fields:  making the art, and managing a big project.  (I have managed several over the years, some in the art business, others in IT.)  As for all the other tasks the project requires—mounting the artwork and framing it to AIPP standards, and hanging it on curved walls, with some locations being 12 feet above the floor—I want people who know what they are doing. Oh, and I need a plaque maker.  AIPP requires little brass plaques mounted on wood blocks for each work.  I've never had a brass plaque before.

(You might ask why I'm doing all this work first, before having fully fleshed out the concept.  Figuring out the physical constraints of the project—the materials, the sizes—will help me cut the concept to fit.  Maybe it's just me, but it's the way I go about creating art:  Okay, here's a 9x12 panel, now what part of the landscape will fit on it?)

In addition to presenting a budget for the project, I will need to present samples of materials to be used.  Originally, I'd planned to create oil paintings on aluminum Dibond.  But I began to think I might want to include digitally-enhanced photographs, in the way of prints on metal.  I liked this idea.  Then my next thought was, Why can't I reproduce my paintings and put those on metal, too?  This would allow me to make smaller paintings—I was starting to find the idea of creating a series of 4-foot by 6-foot paintings a bit intimidating—which I could then have enlarged.  Enlarging the images won't be a problem.  Because the paintings will be seen from a distance, I can accept a certain amount of loss of resolution.  And because of the distance, texture—an important part of any oil painting—will be lost, so why bother?  This lightning bolt of inspiration filled me with joy and relief.  With all this in mind, I've ordered samples of the product, printed with an image of one of my paintings, to show.

Some metal print samples

(If you're concerned about longevity, my research shows that the images will be "infused" into the surface of scratch-resistant metal with reasonably lightfast inks.  The inks will last over 65 years without noticeable fading.  Better yet, the exhibit space is completely shielded from direct sunlight.)

I am now at the point where I am trying to finalize the concept and its presentation.  This is, for me, the most difficult part because it's the non-logical, artistic part of my brain that now needs to jump in with something that makes sense.  I want to include the cultures present in the county:  the Zuni and Navajo tribes and the ranching community.  But then there's also the mining industry and the railroad, the latter of which has had a huge impact here over the years.  

There are so many details to think about.  For example, will the Native Americans be insulted if I present images of their landscape?  Do I need a permit to go onto their lands for photography?  (Turns out they won't, and yes, I do.)  The more I research and think and sketch out ideas, the more I find important things I would like to include.

What once seemed a huge space to fill now seems to be not huge enough.  I need to decide what's most important.  And isn't that what we landscape artists do, anyway?  I can do this.

Sketch of the rotunda interior walls

New Mexico Arts Project: The Start

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**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

Good news, it seems, is always just around the corner.  Recently, I learned I'm one of five finalists for the New Mexico Arts/Gallup Arts McKinley County Courthouse Commission Project.  I'm due to present my proposal in early November, and if I win, I'll have a year to complete and install the work.

This is the biggest project I've been involved with.  The courthouse rotunda, where the art will be installed, consists of three areas, totalling around 360 square feet of space.  It's a little hard to visualize that number, so let me convert it to something most plein air painters are familiar with, the 9x12-inch panel.  The amount of space to be filled is equal to around 485 of those little panels. 

It's possible I won't win the whole project; up to four artists may be selected.  I may be selected for one, two or all three areas—or none at all.  The budget, the total of which is $100,000, gets split up by area.

I thought my readers might like to follow me on this project, so I plan to post updates as time goes by.  Right now, I'm working on my proposal and scratching my head on a technical problem.  How does one install work permanently on curved walls—yes, curved walls!—and can a security hanging system handle that?  I have research to do, for sure.  Then I need to think more on my chosen theme and see how I can make it work if I don't win all three areas.  Will it make sense if I just get one or two areas?   And finally, I need to create a body of exciting but informative visuals.  The more, the better, I'm told.  I've already picked out the graphics tablet I'll order when I get back to New Mexico.

Wish me luck!