I love northern New Mexico. I don’t see barrenness, instead I see a desert floor crawling with purple and sage bushes topped with yellow blooms. I marvel at the pastel canyons with watermarks running horizontally across the face of the red sands. On route to Albuquerque from Pagosa Springs, north of Espanola in the Chama Valley, stands a canyon with a lake. I painted this image, Water in the Wilderness, 15X30 in oil. This painting hangs in the home of one of my friends. Were these markings l…

When a man meets himself and comes before almighty God, he’s in a fight he can’t win, a fight he can’t afford to lose. Years ago, in a very clouded moment of time, my Sweet Al came to a point where he met God. It was a time he saw the man he was. A man he didn’t like. Once a No. 1 national salesman in a company of 3,000, he was honored with high accolades. He drove new cars and wore sharkskin suits and polished Florsheim shoes. His family enjoyed a comfortable living, too. He ran a rat race dis…

A friend and I stood looking out my kitchen window and I made the comment, “Look how the light is hitting on the leaves of those trees!” My friend couldn’t see it and replied, “The light is in your heart.” I was baffled by the comment and questioned her, “If I see it, doesn’t everyone see it? It is there to see.” But, after reading about the masters of the arts, I realized how much we are not seeing. What makes the masters see more uniquely, and behold beauty in a way that others do not see? …

Are you disturbed, or are you a disturbance? When I asked my sweet Al what he thought I was and what my art was doing, he did not hesitate to say “You are a disturbance. You throw tacks in people’s beds.” “Does that mean I cause people to lose sleep?” I laughingly whirled a retort. Humor always softens the blow and it’s a good way to dodge bullets. “I can’t help myself, I’m an artist and I have to paint and write as I know truth today!” Truth will cause a disturbance because it demands an answ…

We are who we are. Can’t help ourselves. We all process ideas, information, and emotions differently. I jump from one idea to another. Some people think I’m all over the page, but I think I’m very organized. I have a filing system in my mind. I connect the dots no matter how disjointed they seem to others. I’ve been told I drive people up the wall. I wonder why? This week I learned about a rare genetic condition called synesthesia. It’s how the brain thinks — people’s senses are cross-wired. One…

Spring awakens the earth and brings forth its praise. Snow turns to mud and rivers bulge with overflowing banks. Hidden in cold darkness and one of the first to appear to drink in life are the tulips. They poke their heads through still-frozen ground and turn their eyes to the sun. Nature knows when it’s time to be enjoyed. I painted these tulips in oil on a 16X20 Masonite board. The image is different from my traditional style of painting. I titled it, Earth brings forth its praise. I wanted to…